Endymion trio: Brahms and Ligeti, Kings Place

Endymion are celebrating their 35th birthday with a series of February concerts at Kings Place. Of all the festivities we’re most excited about this concert, which brings together violinist Krysia Osostowicz, horn player Stephen Stirling, and pianist Michael Dussek. 

Osostowicz and Dussek, an established pairing, take the stage to perform Beethoven’s Violin Sonata, with Stirling joining later for the two horn trios. Although all of Endymion’s players boast international repute, the thought of Stephen Stirling adding his agile and precise playing to the mix is a particularly enticing one.

Ligeti’s and Brahms’s horn trios sit either side of the interval, providing the conscientious concert- goer with the perfect programme through which to consider the relationship between the two. Ligeti’s trio was professed by the composer to be an “homage to Brahms” on its completion in 1982, probably because the piece uses the same unusual combination of instruments. Ligeti’s piece also marks a departure from his earlier, forward-thinking style to a more conservative musical idiom - this is also comparable to the work of Brahms, who liked to draw upon older styles and forms in his own music. Brahms’s trio is the first of its kind, and its first three movements possess a distinctly mournful character, having been written following the death of the composer’s mother. It may warm your hearts a little to know that Brahms played all three instruments as a child. We think there is something absolutely adorable about that little fact.

Kings Place is a bit more of a squeeze than the other big London venues, so do book while you have the time. This concert promises to be an evening that is intriguing for some and moving for others. And for many, both.