The Piano Trio in Contrast

Three works spanning Russian Romanticism and 20th- and 21st-century American music place the piano trio in sharply different expressive settings at All Souls Episcopal Church in Miami Beach. The South Beach Chamber Ensemble presents the program on Saturday, November 14, pairing Anton Arensky’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 32 with Carlos Simon’s be still and know and William Grant Still’s Three Visions. Together, the works move from late-19th-century lyricism to music shaped by reflection, spirituality and Black American musical traditions.

Arensky’s 1894 trio is among the Russian composer’s best-known chamber works, written in memory of cellist Karl Davydov. Simon, a contemporary American composer whose work frequently draws on African American history and culture, composed be still and know in 2015. Still’s Three Visions, written in 1936, is a set of atmospheric pieces originally conceived for piano and later arranged in other forms.

Founded in 1997 by Michael Andrews, the South Beach Chamber Ensemble presents chamber music throughout South Florida through its Music in Beautiful Spaces series, with an emphasis on accessible performances and local musicians.