Conservatorium of Music
Thursday Concert Class
Thursday Concert Class
| Sonate für Fagott und Piano | Paul Hindemith (1895 - 1963) |
| I, II | |
| Ellan Hyde, Bassoon | |
| David McFarlane, piano | |
| This two movement work was composed by Hindemith just before the outbreak of WWII. It is often described as a foreboding piece. The melody of the first movement is insistent yet uncertain; perhaps a reflection of the political and social unrest at the time in his homeland of Germany. In fact shortly after this piece was written the composer and his wife (of Jewish ancestry) immigrated to Switzerland. The second movement perhaps conveys the sense of juxtaposition for Hindemith. The piano and bassoon melodies fall in and out of favour with one another reflecting Hindemith's standing in the Nazi hierarchy at that time. | |
| Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22 | Henryk Wieniawski (1835 - 1880) |
| 3rd Movement, Allegro con fuoco – Allegro moderato (à la Zingara) in D minor/D major | |
| Emma Martin, Violin | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22, by the Polish violin virtuoso, Henryk Wieniawski, may have been started in 1856, but the first performance did not take place until November 27, 1862, when he played it in St. Petersburg with Anton Rubinstein conducting. It was published in 1879, inscribed to his dear friend Pablo de Sarasate. | |
| Concerto for Flute and Orchestra | Jacques Ibert (1890 - 1962) |
| Movement III | |
| Kim Falconer, Flute | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| The Concerto for Flute and Orchestra was written for Marcel Moyse. Movement 3 was later used for a test piece into the Paris Conservatoire. In this lively movement, the influence of jazz is apparent. This Concerto is a great addition to the Flute repertoire. | |
| Slavonic Fantasy | Carl Höhne (1870 - 1939) |
| Oscar Mason, Trumpet | |
| Peter Baker, piano | |
| Born in Germany Hohne was a 19th century romantic composer. He is best known for his piece Slavonic Fantasy (Slavische Fantasie) which he wrote for cornet virtuoso Franz Werner in 1899. The work features rich, sweeping melodies and fast moving passages which call on the player's full range of technical and musical facilities. Hohne is little known for any other works appears to be a one hit wonder. | |
| If Music be the Food of Love (First Setting) Z.379 | Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695) |
| Leighton H. Triplow, Tenor | |
| Donald Nicolson (Harpsichord), piano | |
| Purcell employs a strophic form for the two verses. A clear example of music's perceived mystical power to effect the soul and move the passions, the narrator here wallows in his lovesick melancholy and supposed madness. If music be the food of love, sing on till I am fill'd with joy; For then my list'ning soul you move to pleasures that can never cloy. Your eyes, your mien, your tongue declare that you are music ev'rywhere. Pleasures invade both eye and ear, so fierce the transports are, they wound, And all my senses feasted are, tho' yet the treat is only sound. Sure I must perish by your charms, unless you save me in your arms. | |
| Lord, What is Man, Lost Man (A Divine Hymn) Z.192 | Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695) |
| Leighton H. Triplow, Tenor | |
| Donald Nicolson (Harpsichord), piano | |
| In this soliloquy, a so-called 'divine hymn', the narrator questions man's worthiness of God's grace. With a contemplative yet somewhat disheartened tone, he ponders that Jesus suffered and died for our sins but we as humans are merely a 'worm' of the Earth in comparison to his glory. Nonetheless, the narrator finds satisfaction in envisaging the peaceful turtledove spreading the word of The Lord. His concluding 'Alleluia' passage is hence a rejoicing of Christian faith. The music is typical of Purcell's style with elegant control of basic word painting, although perhaps not as exaggerated as his music for the theatre. | |
| Il Naufragio (The Shipwreck) | Attilio Ariosti (1666 - 1729) |
| Aria (Allegro) - Recitativo - Aria (Largo) | |
| Anna Plotka, Mezzo-soprano | |
| Anna Plotka (mezzo-soprano), Natasha Taneja (baroque flute), Hannah Spracklan-Holl (baroque violin) & Donald Nicolson (harpsichord) | |
| Ariosti was a contemporary of Scarlatti and Handel. This cantata is from a once-famous collection of "6 Cantatas and 6 Lessons for the Viola d'Amore" which the composer published at his own expense and made available through subscription only - one of the largest of the 1700s. The six cantatas all have texts either literally or metaphorically about love. This cantata is of the metaphorical kind; a shipwreck in a tumultuous sea is described, the boat's destruction being caused by the wild waves which are a metaphor for unfaithful love: "Waves shudder and the wind whistles, the sky thunders, the sun doesn't shine and the port is still far." | |
| Piano Trio No. 4 Op. 11 in B-flat | Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) |
| First movement | |
| Tiffany, Piano | |
| Emma Williams (violin), Jonathan Chim (cello), Tiffany Tan (piano) | |
| The Opus 11 Trio was composed in 1797 and dedicated this work to Countess Maria Wilhelmine von Thun. The first movement, Allegro con brio (4/4), begins with a brilliant unison statement of the first theme and arrives at a surprising key change to D major during the second theme. The rest of the movement develops in the traditional sonata form used by Haydn. Beethoven's style and sense of drama are evident through his use of short motives, syncopations and emphasis of sforzandos on off-beats. | |
| 6 Etudes de concert Op. 35 No. 2 \\ | Cecile Chaminade (1857 - 1944) |
| Henry Lee, Piano | |
| One of the relatively few women composers of her time to achieve great popularity, Cécile Chaminade was a child prodigy; she began playing the piano very early, and her first compositions date from the age of eight. | |
| Konzert in D minor BWV 1060 | JS Bach (1685 - 1750) |
| Arranged by Klaus Hofmann | |
| I. Allegro II. Adagio II. Allegro | |
| Katie Hewitt, Violin | |
| Eddy Chen (oboe), Katie Hewitt (violin), Kevin Suherman (harpsichord) | |
| In 1729 Bach took charge of the Collegium Musicum in Leipzig, originally founded by Telemann, where there was a need to compose music on a regular basis for the weekly instrumental recitals. Originally written for oboe and violin as in this performance, the work in fact only survives in a version for two harpsichords. The original violin and oboe lines can, however, be traced from the right hand keyboard parts, and this version is commonly held to be the more attractive, since the two solo instruments not only offer a contrast in tone, but are also capable of maintaining a true cantabile in the beautiful slow movement. | |
| Piano Trio, Op.87, No.2, | Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) |
| I. Allegro | |
| Joshua Dema, Cello | |
| Ashlee Maimur- Violin; Joshua Dema - Cello; Janielle Beh- Piano | |
| The opening theme of the first movement establishes a characteristic pattern. Here (and throughout the trio) Brahms treats the piano and the two string instruments as two separate voices. The violin and cello so often play in octaves that the notion of a trio–of music featuring three separate voices–seems to become instead a duo: a sort of massive sonata for piano and a huge, eight-stringed instrument. The Allegro is built on three theme-groups: the strings’ athletic opening theme (violin and cello are in octaves), a chordal second melody introduced by piano, and a lilting idea in triplets played by the strings, once again in octaves. | |