Conservatorium of Music
Thursday Concert Class
Thursday Concert Class
| Concerto for Flute and Orchestra | Carl August Nielsen (1865 - 1931) |
| I. Allegro Moderato | |
| Alyse Faith, Flute | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| 'Concerto for Flute and Orchestra' was written in 1926 for Gilbert Jespersen, who was a flautist of the Copenhagen Wind quintet. The concerto contains two movements instead of three, as in classical concerto form. It was premiered in Paris in October 1926 where Nielsen had introduced a temporary ending. The first complete version was played in Copenhagen the following January. The work is generally neoclassical in style and reflects the trend of the 1920's of tonal instability. The concerto contains dialogue between the solo flute and bass trombone, timpani and clarinet. | |
| Mein Herr Marquis | Johann Strauss II (1825 - 1899) |
| Ruth Blythman, Voice | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| Also known as 'The Laughing Song', this aria is from one of Strauss' most well known operetta's, 'Die Fledermaus'. In a show full of mistaken identity, Eisenstein suspects that an actress at a ball is his wife’s chamber maid. The actress is, in fact, his wife’s chamber maid, Adele, but she laughs off the accusation with this playful aria. | |
| Five Bagatelles for solo piano | Carl Vine (1954 - ) |
| I. Darkly II. Leggiero e Legato III. IV. V. Threnody (for all of the innocent victims) | |
| Louis Nicoll, Piano | |
| Carl Vine composed the fifth bagatelle, the Threnody, for the National AIDS Trust in 1994, in commemoration of those who had lost their lives to the disease. According to the composer, the other four bagatelles were composed to give this work a context in which it could be published. In 'Right Composition', an article published on online magazine 'The Monthly', Anna Goldsworthy has described them as emblematic of his style- they abound in ‘motoric and jazz influences, the command of sonority and space, and those brief, heart-stopping moments of lyricism, when the cosmic textures compress to something singular, to the human voice.’ | |
| Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 57 | Louis Spohr (1784 - 1859) |
| II. Adagio III. Alla Polacca | |
| Magdalenna Krstevska, Clarinet | |
| Amir Farid, piano | |
| For the Adagio, Spohr chose one of his favourite keys, A flat major, which he had also opted for in the C minor Concerto. Here, though, we have a full-scale movement which beautifully exploits the clarinet’s rich low chalumeau register as well as including a wonderfully powerful contrasting section in C minor where the soloist executes dramatic runs and leaps. The finale (‘Alla Polacca’ – in the then fashionable polonaise style) begins with solo timpani answered by the horns before the clarinet introduces the main theme. This opening timpani–horn exchange goes on to play a prominent part in the movement. | |
| Slavonic Dances No. 2 & 3, Op. 72 | Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904) |
| Christopher Wong, Piano | |
| Ann Nguyen - Piano I, Christopher Wong - Piano II | |
| Dvorak's Slavonic Dances were inspired by Johannes Brahms's own Hungarian Dances and were orchestrated at the request of his publisher soon after the Dances were written. The pieces, lively and full of national character, were well received at the time and today are among the composer's most memorable works, occasionally making appearances in popular culture. The types of dances upon which Dvořák based his music include the furiant, the dumka, the polka, the sousedská, the skočná, the mazurka, the odzemek, the špacírka, the kolo and the polonaise. The dumky and skočná dances are correlated in Dances No. 2 and 3 respectively. | |
| Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2, Op. 121 | Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856) |
| I. Einfach, leise II. Bewegt | |
| Emma Williams, Violin | |
| Stefan Cassomenos, piano | |
| Robert Schumann was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann’s second violin sonata was written in 1851, only a few weeks after the first work for this combination of instruments. The highly virtuosic sonata, especially in the finale, is characterised by the close thematic dovetailing of the single movements. Wasielewski, who later became the composer’s biographer, reported that “smiling in his kind-hearted manner” the composer had said to him: “I did not like the first violin sonata; so I then wrote a second one, which is hopefully better.” | |
| Nouvelles Étude in A-flat Major | Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849) |
| Nicole Ng, Piano | |
| Chopin's Trois Nouvelles Études are without a doubt the most successful of all the contributions to the Perfectionnement. These works focus more on areas of phrasing, nuance, and cultivation of the imagination to protect musical ideas than on development of power and velocity. In this Nouvelles Étude, it has a forward moving, expressive melodic line in the top note of the right hand chords, which is done within the subdued dynamic range of the work. The 2-on-3 polyrhythms that is set in this piece, creates complexity, and a joyful mood with the melody. | |
| Piano Trio No.3 | Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904) |
| 1. Allegro, ma non troppo | |
| Joshua Dema, Cello | |
| Kathy Chow-Piano, Marrianne Liu- Violin, Joshua Dema-Cello | |
| Many regard Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 3 in f-minor as a milestone. It is uncharacteristically serious, stormy and fraught with tragic conflict, its style perhaps inspired by Johannes Brahms. The first movement Allegro is an epic sonata, elegiac with its complexity of moods, its stages of realization from shock and restless agony to bright, aching nostalgia and supplication. Fleeting moments of shining triumph are soon swallowed by despair. A mighty contest of moods inflames this drama with roiling struggle, hope, exhaustion and finality. -K.Christiansen | |
| Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17 | Clara Schumann (1819 - 1896) |
| III. Andante | |
| Ann Anh-Thu Nguyen, Piano | |
| Hui Yan Yap (Violin), Daming Tan (Cello) | |
| Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio in G Minor, Op.17 was written in 1846, six years after her marriage to Robert Schumann. The Trio today is regarded as her best composition. Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio consists of four movements. The slow third movement is simple in the form of a modified ABA with a nocturne-like, somewhat melancholy first section and a more animated B section. But the effect is enriched by constant changing textures. Although the piece overall is quite simple, hidden within it is a subtle complexity, not of technique but one of emotion, thoughts, and desires. | |
| String Quartet No. 2 Op 13 | Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847) |
| 1. Adagio - Allegro vivace | |
| Yunan Wang, Viola | |
| Christine Daly-Violin, Nyssa Sanguansri-Violin, Yunan Wang-Viola, Jaiden Shapcott-Cello | |
| Though Mendelssohn was still a teenager when he wrote this quartet, he was already an experienced composer of chamber music. He had already written the string quintet opus 18, the octet for strings opus 20, and three piano quartets. Despite its official number, this was Mendelssohn's first string quartet. The quartet draws much of its inspiration from Beethoven's quartets, especially those of his later years. | |