We have played together as a trio since 1996. To put it another way, we have been practicing quite regularly since then (about two to four times per month). And when the desire arose to occasionally play for some friends, who might be interested, some of the pieces practiced so painstakingly, we had to find a suitable name for our ensemble of three. We settled for terzando (sometimes referred to more clunkily as Ensemble terzando). Some people wonder about the name when they first come across it, and it has sometimes been "interpreted" as scherzando; well, that is what you get for trying to be too creative.

Michael Knoch – flute

Mathias Bell – violoncello

Sean Nowak – pianoforte

A piano trio is a chamber-music ensemble that plays piano trios, i.e., compositions for one piano and two other instruments, usually violin and cello. But there are also other combinations, such as clarinet, cello, and piano (e.g. Beethoven's Gassenhauer-Trio, op. 11) or clarinet, viola, and piano (e.g. Mozart's Kegelstatt-Trio, KV 498), both called "clarinet trios." The "flute trio" (flute, cello, and piano) is another variant (e.g.  J. Haydn's Tios Hob. XV, Nr. 15, 16 and 17 or C. M. von Weber's Trio op. 63). We, however, do not find the term "flute trio" convincing because it can also refer to a trio of three flutes (and that is probably how it is used more often). So, we use the phrase: "piano trio with a flute." 

The nice thing about a piano trio with a flute is how wind, string and piano timbers can mingle in varying appealing ways. Less ideally, the corpus of original literature is somewhat limited – which, on the other hand, gives us a strong excuse for adapting other piano trios to our setting. Not any and all pieces lend themselves to adaptation, but it does often work out quite well – please see ► Pieces and ► Performances. The voices / pieces arranged by us can be purchased at ScoreExchange - simply click on the red highlighted ► link.

Are there more paintings, drawings or sketches with "our" trio, i.e. flute, violoncello and pianoforte?
We would be very happy to receive your suggestions.

Well, here are a few quartets:

(All pictures on this page are taken from ► Portraits of Unknown Baroque & Classical Era Musicians)