Antonin Dvorak's Trio in G minor op. 26

     (An Ode to my grandson Nicholas, and to Dvorak, my favourite composer after Mozart)

by Agnes Selby

Nicholas, dearest, do you hear the wind, do you see the wind as it holds the tree in its caress and sends the unsuspecting leaf beyond its bounds of endurance?

Nicholas, dearest, do you hear the sound of eternal music, the Allegro Moderato as it pulls at your heart’s strings with familiar tones of childhood scenes, of long forgotten mountains and yellowing fields clad in their autumn glory?

Nicholas, dearest, do you hear the Largo, the sweet sounds of a countryside swept under a blanket of snow, Do you hear the hush of the river as it flows with the promise of a Spring not yet born but ever present?

Nicholas, dearest, did you see the noble mare, Tara, galloping on the wind when the Scherzo Presto began, dancing, dancing as only a magic horse can in a meadow of spring flowers and the trees greening, full of hope.

Nicholas, dearest, do you hear the tempest of the Allegro, no longer a dance of shadows as it sings of Spring and of the mellow nights of Summer, of birds nesting and chirping in the willows as they go to sleep. And Tara - her white coat glowing silver lit by the moon, forever young and living in the G minor Trio.

(Mrs. Agnes Selby is the author of Constanze, Mozart's Beloved.)