Conservatorium of Music
Thursday Concert Class
Thursday Concert Class
| Rondo Op. 16 | Frederic Chopin (1810 - 1849) |
| Timothy Kan, Piano | |
| A rondo with a very lively and playful main theme preceded by a more somber introduction. Throughout the piece, the piece cycles through the different themes and episodes with the main rondo theme as the structural core. | |
| Prelude Op.45 | Frederic Chopin (1810 - 1849) |
| Timothy Kan, Piano | |
| A slow lyrical piece filled with beautiful suspensions and resolutions in the main theme. As the piece progresses, one can observe Chopin's more advanced uses of harmony in his compositional style. | |
| Scherzo no.3 in C-sharp minor, op.39 | Frederic Chopin (1810 - 1849) |
| James He, piano | |
| A slightly ominous introduction erupts into the first theme with its relentless 8ves. The piece is contrasted with the beautiful chorale-like subject with delicate falling arpeggios. This chorale happens 3 times in Db major before coming back to the first theme where it then modulates into E major for the chorale. There is another modulation to E minor which creates this sorrow atmosphere before slowly leading into the fiery coda. | |
| Ballade no.4 in F minor, op.52 | Frederic Chopin (1810 - 1849) |
| James He, piano | |
| The last ballade of Chopin is considered one of his greatest and most technically and musically challenging works in piano repertoire. A subtle introduction leads into its first theme where throughout the piece, the first theme comes back many times but with variations. Theme two is a subdued chordal passage before coming back again later with a left-hand semiquaver accompaniment. The piece erupts into its climax and after a series of ff chords, and concludes with the infamous devillish coda. | |
| Die schöne Müllerin Op. 25 | Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828) |
| II. Wohin? III. Halt! | |
| Alexander Owens, Voice | |
| Elyane Laussade, piano | |
| Franz Schubert is acknowledged as the king of art song, having written over 600 across his lifetime, and epitomising the song cycle with “die schöne Müllerin†and “Winterreiseâ€. This cycle follows a young man as he travels away from home to work at a mill, escaping his home life, falling in love with the miller’s daughter, consulting a brook for advice, and drowning himself in said brook when the miller’s daughter spurns his unrequited love. This couplet of songs comes at the start of the cycle, when the young man is still full of hope in his journey. | |
| Further Romantic Selections | Multiple (1854 - 1892) |
| Hector Berlioz: Herod’s Aria (O Misere de Rois) from l’Enfance du Christ (1854, Op. 25); Modest Mussorgsky: Trepak from Songs and Dances of Death (1875); Jean Sibelius: Till Frigga (1892, Op. 13 No. 6) | |
| Alexander Owens, Voice | |
| Elyane Laussade, piano | |
| Berlioz is one of the more enigmatic early Romantic composers, with most of his works spurning the idea of absolute music for narrative-driven works. L’enfance du Christ tells the Christmas story through Herod in the first act, then Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds. Mussorgsky had a pained existence, dying from alcohol poisoning in an uncaring Russia — but the raw power of his music shines through and continues to be loved today. Trepak tells of an alcoholic being wooed into the night by Death. Sibelius bridges late-Romance and 20th Century nationalism, with Op.13 an early offering of folk-inspired Finnish art song. | |
| Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49 | Frederic Chopin (1810 - 1849) |
| Anastasia Tionadewi, Piano | |
| Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49, is a single-movement work for the piano, composed in 1841, when he was 31 years old. This Fantaisie is one of Chopin's longest and greatest works. | |
| Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58 | Fryderyk Chopin (1810 - 1849) |
| I. Allegro maestoso. II. Scherzo: Molto vivace. III. Largo. IV. Finale: Presto non tanto. | |
| Hannah Shin, Piano | |
| Chopin's third sonata shows the essence of Romantic music. The opening movement begins with an exceptionally strong and resolute theme. The lyrical counter-theme is a manifestation of beauty, expressed with simplicity, but also with poetical elation. The development adopts the tone and character of a ballade. The second movement brings a breath from another world, with a trio section like a nostalgic echo from a world that has passed. The third movement has the shape and character of a nocturne, an aria of the night. The frenzied, electrifying finale has the tone and spirit of a ballade. | |