Conservatorium of Music
Thursday Concert Class
Thursday Concert Class
| Étude Op. 42 No. 4 | Alexander Scriabin (1872 - 1915) |
| Jiawen Chen, Piano | |
| Scriabin’s étude in F# is drawn from his Eight Studies published in 1903 during his middle period. This etude is a study in cross-rhythms and in defining the beauty of the cantabile melodic lines. | |
| Transcendental Étude No. 10 | Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886) |
| Jiawen Chen, Piano | |
| Liszt’s dazzling Transcendental Études are a set of sublimely moving sound illustrations. He made extensive revisions to his works, such that 25 years has passed between the set’s first conception and final form. This étude is possibly the most played – the music starts out agitated yet turns into a vivid romantic melody. | |
| Suite No. 1 for cello solo | Ernest Bloch (1880 - 1959) |
| III. Canzona IV. Allegro | |
| Yhizaira Libertad Rodriguez Burge, Cello | |
| Ernest Bloch was a Swiss-American composer. He composed three suites for solo cello while living in the small coastal community of Agate Beach, Oregon, only a few years before his death. The first two suites were dedicated to the cellist and family friend Zara Nelsova. The first suite has a close structure to a Baroque Suite, having the usual contrast in mood and tempo between its four movements. | |
| Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 | Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856) |
| I. Allegro affetuoso II. Intermezzo: Andante graziosa | |
| Priscilla Luu, Piano | |
| Konrad Olszewski, piano | |
| Although Schumann had worked on several piano concerti during his lifetime, this remains the only piano concerto he has completed. The concerto was initially written in 1841, as a fantasy for piano and orchestra. However, Schumann later decided to expand his composition into the 3 movement piano concerto we have today. | |
| Variaciones sobre un Tema de Sor op. 15 | Miguel Llobet (1878 - 1938) |
| Deniz Kaplan, Classical Guitar | |
| Miguel Llobet was a renowned classical guitar virtuoso who toured Europe and America extensively. Llobet made well known contributions to the classical guitar repertoire; his arrangements of Isaac Albeniz's piano works have been immortalised by Andres Segovia. La Folia or Folies d'Espagne is one of the oldest European musical themes. The theme has inspired a great number of works, including Fernando Sor's own variations on a Folia. Llobet borrows from this work and adds his own virtuosic variations including a romantic Intermezzo. | |
| Etude in C major op.10 no.1 | Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849) |
| Ian Mercado, Piano | |
| Chopin's Etude in C major op. 10 no.1, the first etude of the op. 10 set, was written in 1829. This etude is famous for its big and fast arpeggios, moving up and down in the right hand. | |
| Etude in C minor op.10 no.12 | Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849) |
| Ian Mercado, Piano | |
| This work finishes the op.10 set of etudes and is known as the Revolutionary etude. The C minor etude appeared around the same time as the 'November Uprising' in which Poland was rebelling against the Russian empire but failed. Chopin poured his emotions on the matter into many pieces that he composed at that time, the "Revolutionary Étude" standing out as the most notable example, as he cried "All this has caused me much pain. Who could have foreseen it!." | |
| Sonata for Flue, Violin, and Piano H. 254 | Bohuslav Martinu (1890 - 1959) |
| I. Allegro poco moderato II. Adagio III. Allegretto | |
| Anastasia Tionadewi, Piano | |
| Charlotte Strong (Violin), Gabriella Alberti (Flute), Anastasia Tionadewi (Piano) | |
| Bohuslav Martinu was a Czech modern classical music composer. He withdrew from the Romantic style in which he had been trained. Sonata for Flute, Violin, and Piano is very classical in terms of form and structure, however the content of the work features modernistic traits of the 20th century. | |
| Violin Concerto in D major Op. 35 | Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893) |
| Allegro moderato | |
| Tahli Elsner, Violin | |
| Konrad Olszewski, piano | |
| A visit from his former pupil and violinist Josef Kotek with whom he played Lalo's 'Symphonie espagnole'', inspired Tchaikovsky to begin working on his violin concerto. Tchaikovsky initially dedicated the concerto to Auer who rejected the task of premiering the concerto claiming that 'some passages were not suited to the character of the instrument'. Due to its difficulty the concerto was beginning to develop a reputation of being 'unplayable' until good ol' Brodsky came along determined to play it, premiering it in Vienna 1881. The concerto is now dedicated to him (Auer soon regretted his decision). | |
| Impromptu Op.142 No.1 in F Minor | Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828) |
| Chris Yuen, Piano | |
| Schubert wrote 8 impromptus in 1827, a year before his death. The first set of four (op.90) was published in his lifetime, but the second set (op.142) was published in 1857, 30 years after they were composed. Despite being 'impromptus', there is very few improvisational qualities and they have even been labelled by some as 'sonatas in disguise'. | |