One reviewer described David Matthews’ string quartets as ‘musical thinking of the highest order and quartet writing in the great tradition of Beethoven, Bartók, Britten, and Tippett’ – influences Matthews readily acknowledges. These three piano trios evoke two other masters, since they have something of the drama of Shostakovich and the lyrical intensity of Vaughan Williams – all elements drawn together in Matthews’ own voice to make these works some of the most moving chamber music of recent years.
