Conservatorium of Music
Thursday Concert Class
Thursday Concert Class
| Konsert för Saxofon och Stråkorkester, Op. 14 | Lars-Erik Larsson (1908 - 1986) |
| II. Adagio III. Allegro Scherzando | |
| Michellina Chan, Alto Saxophone | |
| Leigh Harrold, piano | |
| Lars-Erik Larsson's Konsert för Saxofon och Stråkorkester, Op. 14 was written for Sigurd Raschèr in 1932 but only premiered in 1934. In 1930, Raschèr had already demonstrated the possibility of the extended range of the saxophone, achieving four octaves instead of the conventional two and a half. Larsson wrote this concerto with Raschèr's abilities in mind; testing the performer's ability of altissimo. This Swedish work is also one of the first major works for saxophone to utilize ideas of non-standard tonality. The beautiful thematic material is angular and intricately woven throughout the piece. | |
| Etude No. 3 Op. 40 "Toccatina" | Nikolai Kapustin (1937 - ) |
| Connor Taylor, Piano | |
| Ukraine-born Nikolai Kapustin studied at the Moscow Conservatoire. Originally intending to pursue a career as a classical pianist, he had already begun to compose, becoming increasingly aware of jazz. Today his music bridges the worlds of classical and jazz music in ways, which, upon discovery, appreciation and analysis, are being hailed as the work of a true genius. His piano works form the bulk of his output, are written in a highly pianistic way and lie beautifully under the fingers. The Eight Concert Etudes, op. 40 demonstrate Kapustin’s composition style at its broadest and most inventive, blending technical challenge with jazz idioms | |
| October | Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893) |
| Henry Lee, Piano | |
| Tchaikovsky wrote 12 separate pieces as part of a commission from Nikolai Bernard, publisher of the monthly music magazine, Novelliste. The composer was to provide an appropriate piece for each of the 12 issues of the magazine, a work reflecting feelings or images associated with the month in the title. The slow main theme of October ("Autumn Song")is melancholy, featuring a refrain-like phrase of mostly ascending notes that is the heart of its sad nature. | |
| Opus 118 | Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) |
| II. Intermezzo in A Major | |
| Louis Nicoll, Piano | |
| Brahms' opus 118 is a set of 6 piano pieces, published towards the end of his life. The individual pieces in the set have formal connections that allow them to function together as a larger composition, but Brahms' choice to publish them under the title 'six piano pieces' suggests their effectiveness as stand-alone miniatures. One of the most popular of the set, No 2 in A major, is in ternary form. The A section begins with a yearning, lyrical melody, from which a kind of subdued passion gradually emerges before receding again into tranquil calm. The B section, in the relative minor, culminates in a chorale-like texture at the piece's centre. | |
| Chi il bel sogno di Doretta | Giacomo Puccini (1858 - 1924) |
| Helen Ling, Soprano | |
| Leigh Harrold, piano | |
| From Act 1 of the Italian opera, La Rondine (The Swallow), Chi il bel sogno (Who the beautiful dream of Doretta... (could guess?)) is set in the salon of a Parisian house circa 1860. The aria is sung by the courtesan Magda, and tells about the dream of a girl Doretta, whose first love for a student was so ardent that she later rejected the proposal of a King. Her warning was to follow real love over riches. Magda was transported by reollections of her own first love, no doubt aided by the multitude of rippling chords that open this aria. Chi il bel sogno is a very well know aria. The soaring dolcissimo sostenuto lines ensure delight. | |
| Clarinet Sonata no.2 Op.120 | Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) |
| 1. Allegro amabile | |
| Jess Hort, Clarinet | |
| Leigh Harrold, piano | |
| Towards the end of his life, Brahms composed two clarinet sonatas, dedicated to German clarinetist Richard Muhlfeld. The sonatas stem from a period in Brahms’s life where he “discovered” the beauty of the sound and color of the clarinet, and are today considered two of the greatest masterpieces in clarinet repertoire. Brahms also produced a transcription of these works for viola with alterations to better suit the instrument. | |
| Sonata Op. 14 No.2 | Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953) |
| I. Allegro ma non troppo -piu mosso -tempo primo II. Scherzo. Allegro marcato III. Andante IV. Vivace-Moderato-Vivace | |
| Ann Anh-Thu Nguyen, Piano | |
| This piano sonata was first performed in Moscow in 1914. Prokofiev dedicated this sonata to his friend Maximillian Schmidthof who studied with him at St. Petersburg Conservatory. His friend committed suicide in 1913. | |
| Etude Op. 8, No. 12 | Alexander Scriabin (1872 - 1915) |
| Christopher Wong, Piano | |
| Alexander Scriabin's Etude Op. 8 No. 12 maintains a repetition of being one of the best known pieces throughout his works for the piano. An aggressive and tumultuous character is cultivated throughout the whole work, along with the numerous leaps on the left hand, creating an effect of a storm. In addition, this piece was a favorite encore of Vladimir Horowitz. | |
| Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 28 in A minor | Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953) |
| Allegro tempestoso - Moderato - Allegro tempestoso - Moderato - Più lento - Più animato - Allegro I - Poco più mosso | |
| Christopher Wong, Piano | |
| Sergei Prokofiev premiered his work in 1917, the same year when his fourth sonata was composed. He used sketches of this work from 1907, as this sonata bears the title, "From the Old Notebooks". As this work features only one movement, it is comprised in sonata form, despite the many sub-movements throughout. It juxtaposes two diverse themes—an angular theme in Prokofiev’s “motoric” style, and a lyrical second theme. Both themes are then worked extensively in the Sonata’s development. After the climax, the recapitulation abandons a restatement of the first theme the lyrical second theme returns in an almost unrecognizable transformation. | |
| The Impossible | Mike Dawes (1989 - ) |
| Tim Lukey, Guitar | |
| Mike Dawes posted a video of himself playing his original composition "The impossible" in 2012 and it has since become standard repertoire in the acoustic fingerstyle genre. The piece features an off-setting 5/8 rhythm with complex poly-rhythms throughout. It also uses almost every extended guitar technique including artificial harmonics, slap harmonics, body scratching and array of percussive sounds using only the guitar | |
| Ballade No. 4 in F-minor Op. 52 | Frederic Chopin (1810 - 1849) |
| Kevin Suherman, Piano | |
| Ballade No. 4 in F minor was composed in 1842 in Paris and dedicated to Madame la Baronne C. de Rothschild. It is the longest and most challenging of the set musically and technically. This ballade is a real human drama that unfolds right from the very start, and the texture becomes increasingly rich and polyphonically intricate as it progresses. There are incredible harmonic modulations and effects, like a foretaste of Wagner. The structure and its thematic developments are complex and fascinating. A passionate surge before the Coda ends abruptly with three strong chords which then are followed by a pause, a moment of peace before the Coda. | |