Conservatorium of Music
Thursday Concert Class
Thursday Concert Class
| Sonatine | Pierre Sancan (1916 - 2008) |
| Georgia Williams, Flute | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| Both a pianist and composer, Pierre Sancan was a prominent figure among French musicians in the mid-twentieth century. He taught at the Paris Conservatory for nearly thirty years and won the Prix de Rome in 1943. The Sonatine was composed in 1946 as an examination piece for the Conservatory and is dedicated to a flute professor at the Conservatory, Gaston Crunelle.The work displays a concise structure in three sections, moderato, andante espressive, and animé which are separated by a cadenza for the piano and then a cadenza for the flute. Technically, the work is demanding for both the flutist and pianist, so it is seen as more of a duo. | |
| 5 Préludes, Op. 74 | Alexander Scriabin (1872 - 1915) |
| I.- Douloureux, déchirant II.- Très lent, contemplatif III.- Allegro drammatico IV.- Lent, vague, indécis V.- Fier, belliqueux | |
| Quetzal Rodriguez, Piano | |
| The five preludes of Opus 74 are the last work published by the composer: Scriabin would die just a few months later, leaving his Mysterium, a titanic work that would combine all senses, unfinished. By then he had perfected his own version of atonality, an interesting parallel development to that of Arnold Schoenberg in Vienna, considering they were not conscious to each-others work. Interestingly, the second Prelude from Op. 74 was considered by the composer as his best work. | |
| Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano | Claude Bolling (1930 - ) |
| Part 5. Irlandaise Part 7. Veloce | |
| Sean Edward Paul Marantelli, Flute | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano is a "crossover" composition by the jazz pianist and composer Claude Bolling. The composition, originally written in 1973, is a suite of seven movements, written for a classical flute, and a jazz piano trio. The suite was recorded in 1975 by Bolling, classical flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal, bassist Max Hédiguer, and drummer Marcel Sabiani, and originally released as an LP album by CBS Masterworks Records and Columbia Masterworks. In the U.S., the album was nominated in 1975 for a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance. | |
| Piano Sonata | Carl Vine (1954 - ) |
| I | |
| Timothy Liu, Piano | |
| Carl Vine’s Piano Sonata creates a unique sound world through rhythmic energy and momentum, and pushes pianistic virtuosity to its limits by displaying extreme tempi, dynamics and registers. In the first movement, a slow section introduces a descending motif that is referenced and expanded upon as the piece gains momentum. The movement ends with new material of an improvisatory, jazz-like style. | |
| Piano Sonata in C Major, Op. 53 | Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) |
| I: Allegro con brio | |
| Timothy Liu, Piano | |
| After acquiring an Erard fortepiano in 1803, Beethoven was inspired to write this sonata. The composer had known for about two years that his hearing was declining, which caused him both personal grief and a creative crisis. However, his hearing had not completely faded and the crisper tones of the new Erard instrument were much more appealing to him than his old Walter piano. Dedicated to the composer's patron and friend Count Ferdinand von Waldstein, the "Waldstein" sonata came onto the scene as a unique challenge for pianists. The first movement famously features a theme like no other - based upon soft but obsessive repeated chords. | |
| The Key | Ruben Toledo (1980 - ) |
| Stuart Brennan, Trombone | |
| Stuart Brennan, Trombone; Mandy Lo, Trombone; Stephen Gould, Trombone; Ming Yeung Li, Trombone | |
| 'The Key' by Puerto Rican composer Ruben Toledo, was chosen as a finalist for the 2011 European Trombone Festival Slide Factory Composition Competition, written for and performed by the New Trombone Collective from the Netherlands, making this a very new piece in the repertoire. 'The Key' refers to the energy necessary for one to reach any important goal in life. This work's complex and vivacious use of metre and rhythm combined with lyrical, melodic lines display the wide variety of colours and techniques capable of being produced by the trombone ensemble. | |