Above the Thomas Gate (2001)

Stookey's lovely Above the Thomas Gate is a kind of free rumination on the second of Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze (Dances of the David Brotherhood), Op. 6. This larger set of movements was written just before Schumann's wedding to Clara Wieck, and indeed they were written specifically for her. Stookey's title actually derives from a letter in which he tells her he thinks of her constantly and hopes she does the same of him, so that their thoughts might meet each other "... above the Thomas Gate." He also wrote that in the Davidsbündlertänze she would find the sounds of "an entire German wedding-eve celebration." In other words, Davidsbündlertänze was a musical love letter.

It was not uncommon for Schumann's passages to feature repeated bell tones in the accompaniments, and sometimes in the melodies. Stookey zeroed in on such effects, and on the general mood of the second dance, quoting only a tiny scrap of it near his closing pages. This seven-minute work shows that he is obviously modern in his outlook on harmony and texture, but he displays a restrained romantic mood that is utterly seductive. Stookey, a San Franciscan, is clearly a poet to be reckoned with, for he has managed to fill a crying need in chamber music: shorter works that can soften longer, formal compositions. Such pieces are few and far between.

This evening stood out as one of the most memorable of the Mendelssohn Festival: not only does the masterful… [Lee Trio] establish themselves as sensuous and impassioned performers, they have also brought along a contemporary composer: Nathaniel Stookey [born 1970], whose Above the Thomas Gate[…] makes a case for the genre of the piano trio in the 21st century.