Conservatorium of Music
Thursday Concert Class
Thursday Concert Class
| Piano Concerto No.1, Op.11 | Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849) |
| 1st movement: Allegro Maestoso | |
| Chai Jie Low, Piano | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| Written when Chopin was only twenty years old, this concerto was first performed in Warsaw in 1830 before the composer left Poland. Although it was the first of Chopin's two piano concertos to be published, it was written after the premiere of his Piano Concerto No.2. It is dedicated to Frederich Kalkbrenner. The first movement has three themes which are introduced by the orchestra, followed by the piano. | |
| Hungarian Rhapsody No. 5 | Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886) |
| Nicole Ng, Piano | |
| It is in the key of E minor, marked lento con duolo. It is nicknamed Heroide-elegiaque by the composer himself. It is very different from his other Hungarian Rhapsodies, as it does not follow the usual structure as it seems. It is considered the darkest and most melancholic of the ser. This was later arranged for the orchestra. | |
| Sonata in A major | César Franck (1822 - 1890) |
| I. Allegretto ben moderato II. Allegro III. Ben moderato: Recitativo-Fantasia IV. Allegretto poco mosso | |
| Philipp Eversheim, Flute | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| The Violin Sonata in A was written in 1886, when César Franck was 63, as a wedding present for the 31-year-old violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. Twenty-eight years earlier, in 1858, Franck had promised a violin sonata for Cosima von Bülow. This never appeared; it has been speculated that whatever work Franck had done on that piece was put aside, and eventually ended up in the sonata he wrote for Ysaÿe in 1886. Since then the Violin Sonata has been transcribed for numerous instruments including flute. | |
| Toccata in G minor BWV915 | Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) |
| Tian Tian Lan, Piano | |
| Bach's G minor toccata is an example of Bach's early experimentation with the form. A brilliant improvisatory introduction drives forth to the first brief Adagio section, generous in its room for ornamentation. An expectant dominant chord in the home key is countermanded by the Allegro section in the relative B flat major, demanding a light touch for differentiating its distinct 'tutti' and 'solo' textures. A second Adagio exhibits a slightly different voice to the first, yet in the same meter, this time resolving to the tonic. The final gigue-fugue is rather uniform in texture, somewhat experimental in its countersubjects and inversions. | |
| Concerto Op.52 | Anthony Ritchie (1960 - ) |
| 2. Lento 3. Allegro | |
| Wil Rigby, Flute | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| The New Zealand composer, Anthony Ritchie, wrote his flute concerto in 1993 for the Dunedin Sinfonia and Flautist Alexa Still. The piece in itself is styled to represent aspects of Alexa Still's personality and her playing style with a combination of lyricism as well as more forceful themes present throughout. | |
| Rapsodie Espagnole | Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937) |
| I. Prélude à la nuit II. Malagueña c. | |
| Michelle Duong, Piano | |
| Michelle Duong, Piano; Richard Liang, Piano | |
| Composed between 1907 and 1908, the Rapsodie is one of Ravel's first major works for orchestra. The piece draws on the composer's Spanish heritage, and is one of several of his works set in or reflecting Spain. | |
| Piano Sonata No. 12 in F Major, K. 332 | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) |
| Edited by Ernst Herttrich | |
| II. Adagio | |
| Jungwoo Kim, Piano | |
| Piano Sonata No. 12 in F Major by W. A. Mozart is in B-flat Major and it sounds very relaxing and calm. | |