Conservatorium of Music
Thursday Concert Class
Thursday Concert Class
| Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra | Launy Grondahl (1886 - 1960) |
| I 'Moderato assai ma molto maestoso' II 'Quasi una leggenda(In the manner of a tall tale): Andante grave | |
| Stuart McKee, Tenor Trombone | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| Launy Grondahl's piece, 'Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra' is one of the most frequently performed tenor trombone works ever written. Considered his most famous work, 'Concerto' was commissioned by friend and then principal trombonist of the Royal Orchestra of Copenhagen, Vilhelm Aarkrogh, inscribing on his program notes "to my friend, Vilhelm Aarkrogh." | |
| If music be the food of love [Third Setting] | Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695) |
| Nathan Camilleri, Voice | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| This is Purcell's third setting of the text inspired by the Shakespearean quote "If music be the food of love, play on." Melisma is heavily featured in this baroque piece, perhaps more-so than the previous settings. The piece swiftly shifts between recitative and a tempo passages. | |
| L'Eco | Amilcare Ponchielli (1834 - 1886) |
| Nathan Camilleri, Voice | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| The protagonist appears to be disillusioned, or suffers from multiple personality disorder. He is convinced by his own echo that he is destined to die young. Translated, the text reads, 'Slowly rides a horse through shadowy valleys; A youth! "Go toward sweet arms loving, or go instead into the dark tomb?" The echo answers, "Into the dark tomb!" His sad path continues; A youth! "Into the grave then go so early? Why ride? The peace is in that!" The echo responds, "The peace is in that!" Secret tears fall from the youth's eye. "Ah, if only the tomb gives me quiet, happy here I dismount, sweet is the tomb!" The echo answers, "Sweet is the tomb!"' | |
| Piano Sonata No.2 Op 19 "Sonata-Fantasy" | Alexander Scriabin (1871 - 1915) |
| Arranged by - | |
| 1st Movement | |
| Melinda Seaw, Piano | |
| Scriabin took five years to complete this sonata. It was finally published in 1898, at the urging of his publisher. The piece is in two movements, with a style combining Chopin-like Romanticism with an impressionistic touch. The piece is widely appreciated and is one of the more popular pieces of Scriabin. | |
| Trombone Sonata, "Vox Gabrieli" | Stjepan Šulek (1914 - 1986) |
| Ming Yeung Li, Tenor Trombone | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| Stjepan Sulek‘s trombone sonata was composed in 1973. The word-Vox Gabrieli means "voice of Gabriel". This piece is a well-known and high demanding repertory for trombone. It requires challenging ensembleship for both piano and trombone. The tempo of the piece is frequently changed. The music of the trombone sonata is lyrical and dramatic, which began slowly and quietly before escalating to louder and more somber notes, and finally ending with a round of staccatos, short, choppy notes that involved short, fast breathing. | |
| Elegy for Mippy II (for Trombone Alone) | Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1990) |
| Ming Yeung Li, Tenor Trombone | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| Elegy for Mippy II is jazzy and light hearted piece which was written in memory of a mongrel named Mippy owned by Bernstein’s brother in 1948. The music is an unaccompanied trombone piece yet the score indicates that “the trombonist should accompany himself by tapping one foot, mf, four to the bar.” | |
| Cello Concerto No. 2 Opus 126 | Dmitry Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906 - 1975) |
| 2 - Allegretto | |
| Jovan Pantelich, cello | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| Written while on a bit of a holiday in Crimea in the Spring of 1966, Shostakovich's second Cello Concerto (also known as Cello Concerto No. 2) shows a new stage in the development of Shostakovich's musical language. This concerto is quite removed from the structure and concept of tonality of Shostakovich's first concerto from 1959, however, contrary to popular belief it was written by the same composer. The second movement - 'Allegretto 100 crotchet beats per minute' is very march-like and quotes an apparently popular Ukrainian street song from the 1930s 'Kupyite bubliki' or better known in Australian as 'Buy my pretzels' | |
| Concerto in C major RV 443 | Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741) |
| 1- Allegro | |
| Hank Clifton-Williamson, Piccolo | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| Although the RV 443 concerto is often listed as a work for piccolo, it can also be played by a recorder or flute. The instrument originally specified by Vivaldi was actually the flautino (a word that in Italian literally means “small flute”), a Baroque cousin of the recorder, but because the editor of the first published edition of this concerto assigned it to the piccolo, it was generally performed by that instrument. The movement starts with a lively orchestral refrain (usually called ritornello in Baroque music), after which the soloist enters with a display passage that dazzles with its rhythmic drive and virtuosic writing. | |
| Sonata in C minor No.14 K. 457 | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) |
| I. Molto Allegro | |
| Ann Nguyen, Piano | |
| Composed in Vienna in the fall of 1784, the C minor sonata was entered in the thematic catalog Mozart started earlier that year on October 14. The title page of the first publication bears a dedication to Therese von Trattner, who was a pupil of Mozart's and the wife of Johann von Trattner, a printer and publisher who was also Mozart's landlord at the time the works were composed. This movement begins with a fiery Mannheim rocket figure and presents a mood of high drama in the operatic sense. | |
| Romance for Bassoon in D min, Op. 62 | Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934) |
| Ellan Hyde, Bassoon | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| Composed between Elgar's Violin Concerto and Second Symphony, this piece is considerably more gentle and much shorter. Themes from the Symphony can be heard within this short work. Elgar utilises the often underplayed sonorous quality of the instrument to present a more poetic and less comical exposé. Though originally written for bassoon and orchestra, once transcribed for solo and piano this piece quickly became a student favourite and is now a standard of the repertoire. | |
| Romance for Bassoon in D min, Op. 62 | Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934) |
| Ellan Hyde, Bassoon | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| Composed between Elgar's Violin Concerto and Second Symphony, this piece is considerably more gentle and much shorter. Themes from the Symphony can be heard within this short work. Elgar utilises the often underplayed sonorous quality of the instrument to present a more poetic and less comical exposé. Though originally written for bassoon and orchestra, once transcribed for solo and piano this piece quickly became a student favourite and is now a standard of the repertoire. | |
| Années de Pèlerinage, Deuxième Année en Italie : Napoli e Venezia, S. 161 | Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886) |
| Gondoliera | |
| Claire Di Lallo, Piano | |
| 'Années de Pèlerinage' (Years of Pilgrimage) is a set of three suites for solo piano, inspired by Liszt’s travels throughout Europe. 'Venezia e Napoli', composed in 1840 and published in 1861, forms part of Liszt’s second year ‘Italy’. The 'Gondoliera' (Gondolier’s Song) is based on the song 'La biondina in gondoletta' by Giovanni Battista Peruchini. | |
| Slap Me | Barry Cockcroft (1972 - ) |
| Anthony Vouliotis, Saxophone | |
| Hysteria Duo - Anthony Vouliotis (Alto Saxophone) & Justin Kenealy (Alto Saxophone) | |
| Written for Australian saxophonist Michael Duke, Slap Me is a quasi-jazz style piece that should be performed on two saxophones of the same key. After a free and bluesy opening, slap tonguing is used to simulate percussive attacks similar to bongo drums. The slapping begins with the two saxophones fighting with their individual cross rhythms. Each saxophone performs a ‘solo’ over the top of the other saxophone’s accompanying figure, before the two parts gradually merge together in a section of free-flowing quavers. The piece disregards the vertical relationship between the notes but focusses instead on the horizontal movement of the music. | |