Conservatorium of Music
Thursday Concert Class
Thursday Concert Class
| Someone to Watch Over Me | George Gershwin (1898 - 1937) |
| Arranged by Joseph Turrin | |
| Adrian Meyer, trumpet | |
| Leigh Harrold, piano | |
| “Someone to Watch over Me†was originally written as an up-tempo rhythm song. While experimenting one day, George played it at a slower pace, and the brothers immediately recognized it as the wistful, warm song that we know today. The song became a highlight of “Oh Kay!†as a forlorn Gertrude Lawrence, alone on stage and dressed in a maid’s uniform, sang “Someone to Watch over Me†to a rag doll. Broadway critic Percy Hammond wrote that Lawrence’s performance had “wrung the withers of even the most hard-hearted of those present.†Taken from www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/someonetowatchoverme.htm | |
| Étude Op 25 no 2 | Fryderyk Chopin (1810 - 1849) |
| Matthew Serelis, Piano | |
| The Op 25 études were published in 1837, and dedicated to Marie d’Agoult. No. 2 is nicknamed “The Beesâ€. It features a continuous rhythm of quaver triplets in the right hand, and crotchet triplets in the left hand. | |
| Polina\'s Aria from Queen of Spades Op.68 | Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893) |
| Act 1 Scene 2 | |
| Olivia Federow-Yemm, Voice | |
| Leigh Harrold, piano | |
| Pauline sings Lisa and her friends a plaintive song about a person who, like them, was enjoying life. However, it admonishes that the only reward for that enjoyment is death. | |
| Two Rhapsodies op.79 | Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) |
| No. 1 in B minor. Agitato No. 2 in G minor. Molto passionato, ma non troppo allegro | |
| MINGZE SUN, Piano | |
| The Rhapsodies, Op. 79, for piano were written by Johannes Brahms in 1879 during his summer stay in Pörtschach, when he had reached the maturity of his career. At the suggestion of the dedicatee, Brahms reluctantly renamed the sophisticated compositions from "Klavierstücke" (piano pieces) to "rhapsodies" No. 1 in B minor is the more extensive piece, with outer sections in sonata form enclosing a lyrical central section in B major and with a coda ending in that key. No. 2 in G minor is a more compact piece in a more conventional sonata form. In each piece, the main key is not definitely established until fairly late in the exposition. | |
| Concertino for Trombone Op. 4 | David Ferdinand (1810 - 1873) |
| Edited by Robert Muller | |
| I. Allegro Maestoso II. Marcia Funebre III. Allegro | |
| Michael Lo, Tenor Trombone | |
| Leigh Harrold, piano | |
| Ferdinand David wrote this concerto for Karl Traugott Queisser who also played in the Gewandhaus Orchestra, where David was concertmaster. There are many myths about how this concertino was written, but the most popular being that David rewrote one of his unfinished violin concertos. Queisser initially asked Felix Mendelssohn to write him the piece, but as he did not have the time for it, Mendelssohn gave the task to David. This piece represents one of the first major solo works for the tenor trombone and it appears on virtually every orchestral audition. It is often wondered: “If Mendelssohn had written this work himself, what would trombone | |
| Concerto for flute and string orchestra | Gordon Jacob (1895 - 1984) |
| I. Moderato con moto II. Allegretto | |
| Jirene Beh, Flute | |
| Leigh Harrold, piano | |
| This pretty and sparkling concerto takes full advantage of the flute's pastorale quality in moods ranging from gently musing to lithe and acrobatic.The first movement is constructed primarily on the opening theme, given by flute where there is a light dancing quality to much of the music, and some reminiscence of the "British pastoralist" school of composers. The first movement goes immediately into the second movement and the themes almost seem like an expanded but gentler version of the first movement. | |
| Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 94a | Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953) |
| 4- Allegro con brio - Poco meno mosso - Tempo I - Poco meno mosso - Allegro con brio | |
| Willard Zhong, Violin | |
| Leigh Harrold, piano | |
| This movement is a cocktail of emotions and contrasts: The beginning is almost carnivalesque with its tumbling rhythms and snappy articulations, before violin semiquavers and surging piano rhythms pave the way for a heroic statement. Doubt and gravity follow in the form of billowing quavers before the musical statement from before is repeated with more conviction. Then in the middle section a mysterious and searching atmosphere is created by the piano, joined by a tenuous yet breathtaking melody in the violin. The heroism, doubt and wit from before return darker, before everything finally clashes to an uncomfortable end | |
| Fantasy in C major, Op. 17 | Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856) |
| Durchaus fantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen; Im Legenden-Ton – Mäßig. Durchaus energisch – Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten. | |
| Hannah Shin, Piano | |
| This work is inspired by Schumann's longing for his lover, Clara Wieck. Dedicated to Franz Liszt, it was composed to be offered to the public with the aim of raising funds for a Beethoven monument. The ending of the passionate first movement quotes from Beethoven, a secret love message for Clara: "Take, then, these songs, beloved, which I have sung for you." The second movement is a patriotically stirring march, in which a pervasive dotted rhythm maintains the martial drum beat through virtually the entire movement. The third movement is a poetic reverie, with its luminously rolling harmonies and fragments of dreaming melodies. | |