Conservatorium of Music
Thursday Concert Class
Thursday Concert Class
| Vedrai Carino | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) |
| Don Giovanni - Act II, Scene I | |
| Leah Phillips, Voice | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| After Masetto has been beaten up by Don Giovanni (who is disguised as his servant Leporello), Zerlina finds him and asks what happened. He replies that Leporello beat him up and Zerlina promises to soothe his wounds with her love. | |
| Winter Words, Op.52 | Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976) |
| Midnight on the Great Western | |
| Thomas Harvey, Voice | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| 'Midnight on the Great Western' is the second song in Benjamin Britten's song cycle 'Winter Words,' featuring settings of the poetry of Thomas Hardy (1840–1928). This song retells the journey of a boy on a train, and is told through the perspective of the narrator who marvels at the child's composure as he is pushed towards the destruction of innocence that inevitably occurs in the city. The piano accompaniment acts to imitate the movement of the train, as well as the initial whistle motif. | |
| La bonne chanson, Op.61 | Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924) |
| N'est-ce pas? | |
| Thomas Harvey, Voice | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| 'N'est-ce pas?' ('Is it not so?') is the eighth song in Gabriel Faure's song cycle 'La bonne chanson,' utilising the poetry of Paul Verlaine contained in the collection of the same name. The words of this piece describe a picture of what love is, and asks rhetorically as to its accuracy. Journeying through descriptions of the nature of love is accompanied by Faure's masterful movement through different keys and harmonic devices, before returning to the original key and asking the same question that the piece began with: 'Is it not so?' | |
| Sonata in E Flat, 'Quasi una Fantasia', Opus 27, no. 1. | Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) |
| I. Andante-Allegro II. Allegro molto vivace III. Adagio con espressione IV. Allegro Vivace | |
| Louis Nicoll, Piano | |
| Beethoven's 13th piano sonata is often overshadowed by the other work in the opus, the 'Moonlight' sonata (op. 27 no. 2). However, I think this sonata is also wonderful and important in Beethoven's output. The first movement is in ternary form (ABA) with a B section that contrasts wildly with the outer A sections; this formal conflict is unresolved when the second movement, a demonic scherzo in triple meter, begins without any pause between the movements. The lack of pausing between movements ensures that the tension keeps pushing forward into the final two movements, which combine to form one long third movement with a slow introduction. | |
| Madrigal | Philippe Gaubert (1879 - 1941) |
| Adam Richardson, Flute | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| The Madrigal is one of Gaubert’s most often performed works because of its simplicity, but it also serves as a logical piece for becoming acquainted with Gaubert’s style. At first glance this work can appear to be very straightforward, but it requires much attention to tone production and good ensemble with the piano, particularly in the rubato sections. This piece is just one of Gaubert’s works that provides the flutist with extraordinary melodies and chances for tonal variety, and should be included in every flutist’s repertoire. | |
| Après une Lecture de Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata | Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886) |
| Christopher Wong, Piano | |
| In the late 1830s, Franz Liszt initially sketched a piece consisting of two movements for piano entitled Fragment after Dante. He then revised his work to its finalised adaptation in 1849, until it was finally published in 1856 as a component of Années de pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage), a cycle of pieces for piano inspired from examples of art ranging from literature to architecture. Based on a reading of an epic poem, the Divine Comedy, written by Dante Alighieri, an imaginative vision of the afterlife was conveyed through his description of his journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio) and Heaven (Paradiso). | |
| Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano | Claude Bolling (1944 - ) |
| V. Irlandaise VI. Véloce | |
| Sean Edward Paul Marantelli, Flute | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano (aka Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio) 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 (piano, string bass, and drums). | |
| Transcendental etude no.4, 5 | Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886) |
| Kevin Chow, Piano | |
| Liszt's Transcendental Étude no.4 is inspired by Victor Hugo's poem "Mazeppa", in which Mazeppa is strapped onto a horse and the horse is set free to run wild. | |
| Ramble on Love from Der Rosenkavilier | Grainger/Strauss (1882 - 1961) |
| Kevin Chow, Piano | |
| Grainger was a great admirer of the music of Richard Strauss, considering him to be a genius and ‘a humane soul whose music overflowed with the milk of human kindness’. | |