5 Bagatelles

The composer tells us that when he was deeply occupied exploring Beethoven’s 6 Bagatels op. 126, he then tried to translate their “contents” into his own musical language, taking up Proust’s and T.S. Eliot’s tenet that many minor things in life appearing negligible because of no great importance at first sight, are, in fact, of the greatest distinction.The title „5 Bagatels“ refers simply to the short duration of the movements, lasting 2-4 minutes each. Their character however should be described as “being rich in substance, depth and meaning“.The piano trio is dedicated to Oleg Kagan, Natalia Gutman and Eliso Virsaladze who premiered the work at the Music Festival in Telavi (Georgia) in Autumn 1984.