Conservatorium of Music
Thursday Concert Class
Thursday Concert Class
| Concerto in G Major for Flute and Orchestra, KV 313 | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) |
| 1. Allegro Maestoso | |
| Alyse Faith, Flute | |
| David Barnard, piano | |
| In 1777, Mozart was commissioned to write four flute quartets and three flute concertos for the Dutch flautist, Ferdinand De Jean. However, he only completed two of the three concertos: concertos in G major and D major (the latter being an arrangement of an oboe concerto he wrote in the previous year.) Writing to his father on February 14 he complained, “it is not surprising I have been unable to finish them...you know I become quite powerless when I am obliged to write for an instrument I can't stand.” Nonetheless, the concerto certainly doesn't reflect his seeming dislike of the instrument, through his idiomatic writing for the flute. | |
| Violin Concerto No. 2 | Bela Bartok (1881 - 1945) |
| Allegro non troppo | |
| Emma Williams, Violin | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| Hungarian composer and pianist, Béla Bartók, was one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. Through his collection and analytical study of folk music, he was one of the founders of comparative musicology, which later became ethnomusicology. Bartók\'s Violin Concerto No. 2 was written in 1937-8 and was dedicated to the Hungarian violin virtuoso Zoltán Székely, after he requested the composition in 1936. The concerto is written in the \'verbunkos\' style, showing heavy influences of 18th-century Hungarian dance and folk music, and also uses 12-tone technique in the main themes. | |
| Sonata in A flat Opus 110 | Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) |
| Moderato Cantabile e Molto Espressivo Allegro Molto Adagio ma non Troppo- Fuga: Allegro ma non Troppo | |
| David Soo, Piano | |
| This sonata is Beethoven's penultimate sonata which was composed in 1821. Beethoven reinvented the use of the fugue which is seen through the final movement, where the fugue appears in its original form as well as in its inversion. Like most of Beethoven's works, there is a unity of mood which is seen write from the very start of the concerto. | |
| Cantata No.189 BWV 189 | Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) |
| Arranged by Possible contribution by Georg Melchior Hoffmann | |
| 1. Meine Seele Rühmt und preist (Aria) 2. Denn seh ich mich und auch mein Leben an (Recitative) 3. Gott hat sich hoch gesetzet (Aria) 4. O was vor große Dinge treff ich an allen Orten an (Recitative) 5. Deine Güte (Aria) | |
| Leighton H. Triplow, Voice (Tenor) | |
| David Macfarlane (Organ), piano | |
| Now thought to be in part contributed by Hoffmann, this cantata was written entirely for tenor and accompanying ensemble. In each movement, the narrator rejoices in his Christian faith and believes that God is an enduring presence in his life. The opening and closing movements in particular highlight this buoyancy and feeling of ease. My text translation of the well-known first movement is provided below to give a sense of the atmosphere created throughout: 'My soul praises and extols God's grace and rich goodness. And my mind, heart and spirit - my whole nature rejoice in God. God is accordingly my saviour and helper in life.' | |
| Kikimora, Op. 63 | Anatoly Liadov (1855 - 1914) |
| Celinna Mawar, Piano | |
| Celinna Mawar (Piano), Fiona Chin (Piano) | |
| Kikimora, Op. 63, subtitled 'fantastic scherzo', is originally a tone poem by Anatoly Liadov, a student of Rimsky-Korsakov. In the bizarre Russian fairy tale depicted here, Kikimora is a witch raised from infancy by a magician, who regales her with stories while rocking her in a crystal cradle. The slow, still, once-upon-a-time opening sets the stage for the arrival of the mature beastie, for her diurnal rattling and thumping, her nocturnal screeching and whistling while spinning her mysteriously menacing strands, but notice how Kikimora slips away in the last bars, presumably to go and plague another household. | |
| Stabat Mater | Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710 - 1736) |
| 1. Stabat Mater Dolorosa 12. Quando Corpus Morietur - Amen | |
| Fiona Craig, Voice | |
| harpsicord, piano | |
| Helen Ling - Soprano, Fiona Craig - alto, Sophie Di Tempora - violin, Andrew Aronowicz - violin, Katherine Fazzolari - cello, Issie Trollope - double bass, Donald Nicolson - harpsicord | |
| Written on his deathbed at the tender age of twenty-six, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater is one of the most celebrated sacred works of the late Baroque period. The first movement, in F minor and marked ‘Grave’, sets the tone for the piece with a sombrely plodding baseline coupled with continual suspensions in the violin and voice parts. In the finale the rising voices sing a final prayer against a flowing accompaniment of downward arpeggios, symbolising the soul rising to heaven while the body is buried below the earth as described in the text. The piece is finished with a vigorous and almost fugal ‘Amen’. | |
| Piano Concerto No.1 Op. 11 | Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849) |
| I. Allegro maestoso | |
| Ann Anh-Thu Nguyen, Piano | |
| Kevin Suhermann, piano | |
| This is the crowning masterpiece of his early period. This concerto was first performed in Warsaw by the composer himself in 1830 during one of "farewell" concerts before leaving Poland. The long orchestral build up before the piano's entry evokes Chopin's courage to leave home. | |
| Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, Op. 114 | Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) |
| II. Adagio | |
| Joshua Hooke, Piano | |
| Magdalenna Krstevska, Clarinet. Jovan Pantelich, Cello. Joshua Hooke, Piano | |
| The Trio for clarinet, cello and piano in A minor, Op. 114, was one of four chamber works featuring clarinet composed by Johannes Brahms in rapid succession after emerging from retirement toward the end of his life. Brahms was inspired to compose these works by the playing of clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld. In November 1891 Mühlfeld participated in the first private performance, in Meiningen, with Robert Hausmann on cello and Brahms on piano. The following month they had a triumph with the public premiere in Berlin. | |