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 III 'Finale: Maestoso - Rondo' | |
| Stuart McKee, Tenor Trombone | |
| Leigh Harrold, 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." | |
| Vocalise Op. 34 No. 14 | Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943) |
| Transcribed by Larry Teal | |
| John Lauricella, Saxophone | |
| Leigh Harrold, piano | |
| The last of Rachmaninoff's fourteen songs without words continues to be popular amongst a wide variety of instruments. This song allows the instrumentalist to enter the mindset of the vocalist, opening up a new realm of expressive possibilities. It is said that the saxophone is the instrument which is closest to the voice, and this almost vocal quality of the classical saxophone sound is highlighted in this vocalise. | |
| Tableaux de Provence | Paule Maurice (1910 - 1967) |
| I: Farandoulo di Chatouno | |
| John Lauricella, Saxophone | |
| Leigh Harrold, piano | |
| Tableaux de Provence (Pictures of Provence) was written by the female composer Paule Maurice based on her experiences in the Provence region in southeastern France, where she and her husband went on holiday with the great saxophonist Marcel Mule, to whom the suite is dedicated. The first movement is entitled 'Dance of the Young Girls'. Tableaux de Provence is an essential staple of the saxophone literature, and the sole work of Maurice that remains in print. | |
| Sonata for Clarinet and Piano No 1 in F minor Op 120 | Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) |
| I. Allegro appassionato II. Andante un poco adagio | |
| Magdalenna Krstevska, Clarinet | |
| Leigh Harrold, piano | |
| The Clarinet Sonatas, Op. 120, Nos. 1 and 2 are a pair of works written for clarinet and piano by the Romantic composer Johannes Brahms. They were written in 1894 and are dedicated to the clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld. The sonatas stem from a period in Brahms’s life where he “discovered” the beauty of the sound and color of the clarinet. The form of the clarinet sonata was largely undeveloped until after the completion of these sonatas.These were the last chamber pieces Brahms wrote before his death and are considered two of the great masterpieces in the clarinet repertoire. | |
| Flute Sonata No.1, Op.1 | George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759) |
| Edited by Jean-Pierre Rampal | |
| I. Grave II. Allegro III. Adagio IV. Allegro | |
| Adam Richardson, Flute | |
| Leigh Harrold, piano | |
| The Flute sonata in E minor (HWV 359b) was composed around 1724 by George Frideric Handel for flute and keyboard (harpsichord). The work is also referred to as Opus 1, No. 1b, and was first published in 1732 by Walsh. The sonata was originally composed as a violin sonata in D minor (HWV 359a). The flute sonata version is a compound work—compiled by Handel himself. It is the only flute sonata for which an autographed manuscript survives (which is currently held in the British Library). | |
| Piano Sonata No. 8, K. 310 in A minor | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) |
| I. Allegro maestoso II. Andante cantabile con espressione | |
| Christopher Wong, Piano | |
| Mozart's Piano Sonata K. 310 in A minor depicts the anguish and devastation Mozart felt during the time of his mother's death in Paris. This is one of the two sonatas Mozart wrote in a minor tonality, the other being Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor, K. 457. The relentless pulsing of the accompanying chords suggest majesty of a demonic and sinister character in the first movement, while the second movement exudes the emotional depth Mozart felt despite being marked 'Andante cantabile con espressione'. | |
| Miroirs | Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937) |
| Alborada del gracioso | |
| Ling Ling Chen, Piano | |
| Around 1900, Maurice Ravel joined a group of innovative young artists, poets, critics, and musicians referred to as Les Apaches or "hooligans", a term coined by Ricardo Viñes to refer to his band of "artistic outcasts". To pay tribute to his fellow artists, Ravel began composing Miroirs in 1904 and finished it the following year. Movements 3 and 4 were subsequently orchestrated by Ravel, while Movement 5 was orchestrated by Percy Grainger, among others. | |
| Divertimento | Francis Baines (1917 - 1999) |
| I. Allegro II. Andante III. Allegro | |
| Hank Clifton-Williamson, Flute | |
| Hank Clifton-Williamson (Flute), Jess Hort (Clarinet), Jye Torodov (Bassoon). | |
| Francis Athelstone Baines was a British composer and double-bass player. He taught at the Royal College of Music and performed at the Aldeburgh Festival. His Fanfare was included in Gerard Hoffnung's first Music Festival Concert along with works by the better-known British composers Malcolm Arnold and William Walton. His compositions include two symphonies, a Divertimento, and a set of Comic Variations. | |
| String quartet in C minor, Op.18 No.4 (1788-1800)) | Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) |
| Movement I: Allegro ma non tanto | |
| Louisa Guo, cello | |
| Chon Chan - violin I, Aaron Chng - violin II, Won Hee Lee - viola, Louisa Guo - cello | |
| Published in 1801, this is possibly the last of the Opus 18 string quartets to be written by Beethoven, and the only one in a minor key. It opens with a stirring violin melody, fierce with energy and rhythmic drive. There are two main themes in this movement, the first being championed in C minor, and the second in the relative major of E flat. The competitive interplay between the passionate minor and the lovely relenting major continues throughout, finally burning out to an unapologetic end. | |