Conservatorium of Music
Thursday Concert Class
Thursday Concert Class
| Scherzo No. 4 in E Major, Op. 54 | Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849) |
| Christopher Wong, Piano | |
| Chopin’s 4th scherzo was one of his contrasting pieces from his works of scherzos. His scherzi consisted of a series of dark, menacing and serious characters, however his 4th scherzo featured a somewhat humorous, lighter and playful character, which reflects Chopin’s blessed and joyful moments within his life as a composer and virtuoso. The term “scherzo” is defined as “a joke” and “a play” in Italian in a vigorous or light character. Chopin’s 4th scherzo demonstrates the traits of a typical scherzo due to the light character being portrayed within the soft dynamics in the primary theme within the piece. | |
| Napoli - Variations on a Neopolitan Song | Herman Bellstedt (1858 - 1926) |
| Oscar Mason, Trumpet | |
| Leigh Harrold, piano | |
| Born in Germany, Hermann Bellstedt immigrated to America in 1867, where his family settled in Cincinnati. A prodigy on the cornet, he played with Patrick Gilmore as cornet soloist and assistant to the famous Ben Bolt, and, in 1904, joined the Sousa Band, playing alongside Walter Rogers and Herbert L. Clarke. Bellstedt's variations on Napoli feature the popular Neopolitan song "Finiculi, Finicula" (composed by Luigi Denza in 1880) that celebrated the funicular railway built up the side of Mt. Vesuvius in 1880. | |
| Fantaisie sur un Thème Original, Op. 32 | Jules Demersseman (1833 - 1866) |
| Edited by Ted Hegvik | |
| Michellina Chan, Alto Saxophone | |
| Leigh Harrold, piano | |
| Jules Demersseman was a flute virtuoso and well known French composer during his time. He entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of eleven in 1844 and wrote some of the first works ever written for the saxophone because of his friendship with saxophone inventor Adolphe Sax. This work was written just 20 years after the invention of the instrument and it shows the promising potential of the saxophone; demanding extreme virtuosity from the performer. The piece is highly melodic and is a roller coaster of different moods and tempos. | |
| Piano Sonata No. 13, 'Quasi una Fantasia', Opus 27 No. 1 | Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) |
| I. Andante-Allegro II. Allegro Molto e Vivace III. Adagio con Espressione IV. Allegro Vivace | |
| Louis Nicoll, Piano | |
| Numerous commentators have noted the significance of Beethoven’s opus 27 sonatas as an important turning point in Beethoven’s compositional style. The first sonata is often overshadowed by the second, the famous ‘moonlight’ sonata, but Opus 27 No. 1 has a particularly interesting form. Like a fantasy, it employs an attaca principle, where the player does not pause between the movements, instead continuing straight through without interruption. This foreshadows Beethoven’s later interest in individual movements of a work being indivisible from the full work itself, as opposed to the classical principle of independence between movements. | |
| Three Pieces for Clarinet Solo | Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971) |
| I. Sempre piano e molto tranquillo, Semiquaver = 52 II. Semiquaver = 168 III. Semiquaver = 160 | |
| Magdalenna Krstevska, Clarinet | |
| Stravinsky wrote his Three pieces for Clarinet Solo for his patron Werner Reinhart. The first of these very brief pieces remains in the instrument's low chalumeau register. This register's cool tone proves an apt match for the meandering, introspective melody which at times seems ready to to fade into silence. It perks up just before its close, leading nicely into the second piece. Written without bar lines, this miniature opens with cascading, high arpeggios, moves into a middle section distinguished by hiccuping appoggiaturas, and brings back the arpeggios at its end. The third piece, a jazzy little essay that whizzes by at breakneck speed. | |
| Piano Sonata No.21 Op.53 'Waldstein' | Ludwig van Beethoven (1912 - 1973) |
| Mvt.1 | |
| Kathy Chow, Piano | |
| Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, known as the Waldstein, is one of the three most notable sonatas of his middle period (the other two being the Appassionata, Op. 57, and Les Adieux, Op. 81a). Completed in summer 1804 and surpassing Beethoven's previous piano sonatas in its scope, the "Waldstein" is a key early work of Beethoven's 'Heroic' decade (1803–1812) and set a standard for piano composition in the grand manner. | |