Fesca’s Piano Trio No.1 in B flat Major was dedicated to his friend, the German playwright Wolfgang Robert Griepenkerl. It was completed in 1843. Robert Schumann damned the work with faint praise in his Neue Zeischrift für Musik, calling it graceful and elegant and in someways like the trios of Mendelssohn, Thalberg and Henselt, but then stating for the most part, it reminded him of the trios of the French composer Henri Bertini, which he did not think was a good thing. However, Schumann's opinion was not shared by nearly everyone else, including the editor of Cobbett’s Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music, nor by performers, nor by the concert-going public. For the better part of the next 50 years, it remained in the repertoire and was a popular program choice. The lovely main theme to the opening Allegro moderato is first given out by the violin and then the piano. Drama and excitement follow. Succeeding melodies are lyrical and appealing. It was probably the second movement, Andante ma non troppo, quasi Adagio, which reminded Schumann of Mendelssohn, as it is in the form of a Song Without Words, beautiful and calm. The lilting Scherzo, allegretto ma non troppo, is a kind of wistful dance. It is followed by a stately and nicely contrasting trio section. The finale, Allegro molto, opens in triumphant fashion, lively and optimistic. This is followed by a gorgeous, almost religious, introspective sounding section before the original mood is restored.
Alexander Ernst Fesca (1820-1849) was born in the German city of Karlsruhe, where his father Friedrich Ernst Fesca, also a composer, was serving as music director of the Ducal Court Orchestra of Baden. Fesca received his first lessons from his father and was considered a prodigy on the piano. He attended the Prussian Royal Conservatory in Berlin, where he graduated with a degree in composition at the young age of 14 after which he enjoyed a career as a pianist and music director. Though he did not live very long, he composed a considerable amount of music. His chamber music includes six piano trios, two piano quartets, and two septets for piano, winds, and strings.
We have reprinted the original edition dating from 1843. The piano part is not a piano score but just the piano part. Even Schumann admitted in his critique that amateurs would certainly enjoy it, as would many professional ensembles.
