Arthur Foote was the first important American composer of concert music wholly trained in the United States. From the early Piano Trio No. 1, Foote’s first large scale composition, to the Dvořák-inspired Ballade for Violin and Piano of 1910, Foote’s chamber works are distinguished by their exquisite writing for string instruments and imaginative piano textures. Though his music seldom departed from the models of Brahms and Wagner, he found his own confident voice, instilling in his works a reflective quality not to be found in the music of his European contemporaries.