Conservatorium of Music
Thursday Concert Class
Thursday Concert Class
| Die Lorelei | Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886) |
| Anna Gao, Piano | |
| This piece is a piano transcription of one of Liszt's own Lied, "Die Lorelei". The text is a poem by Heinrich Heine, which is based on a German Legend of a seductive mermaid who lures sailors to their deaths. | |
| Feux d\'Artifice | Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918) |
| Anna Gao, Piano | |
| Feux d'Artifice is a work from Debussy's 24 Preludes for solo piano. It depicts a spectacular fireworks display over Paris. The piece briefly quotes La Marseillaise. | |
| Des pas sur la neige | Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918) |
| Michelle Duong, Piano | |
| Des pas sur la neige is a musical composition by French composer Claude Debussy. It is the sixth piece in the composer\\\'s first book of Préludes, written between late 1909 and early 1910. The title is in French and translates to \\\"Footprints in the Snow\\\". | |
| Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 | Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943) |
| Michelle Duong, Piano | |
| Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42, is a set of variations for solo piano, written in 1931 by the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. \r\n\r\nThe theme is La Folia, which was not in fact composed by Arcangelo Corelli, but was used by him in 1700 as the basis for 23 variations in his Sonata for violin and continuo in D minor, Op. 5, No. 12. La Folia was popularly used as the basis for variations in Baroque music. Franz Liszt used the same theme in his Rhapsodie espagnole S. 254 (1863).\r\n\r\nRachmaninoff dedicated the work to his friend the violinist Fritz Kreisler. | |
| Organ Prelude & Fugue in A minor, BWV.543 | Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) |
| Arranged by Franz Liszt | |
| James He, Piano | |
| This prelude and fugue was originally written for the organ by Bach and was part of a set of 6 preludes and fugues written for organ. Liszt transcribed them all onto the pianoforte. The prelude is a constant chromatic descending semiquaver passage leading into a very long pedal tone with constant semiquaver runs over it. The overall prelude feels quite improvisatory with a very strong and intense character with short moments of ease as well. The fugue is a 4 voice fugue with a very long subject made up of mostly semiquavers. Because of this, the entire fugue has constant semiquavers and feels like a constant drive and force leading somewhere. | |
| Études-Tableaux, Op. 33 No. 3 in C minor | Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943) |
| Richard Liang, Piano | |
| Rachmaninoff was never specific about what inspired each of the "Picture Studies," and left the evocations to individual interpretation of the listener and performer. The C minor etude begins tragic and dramatic, yet gives way for hope and beauty like light at the end of the tunnel. | |
| Fantaisie in C minor, K. 475 | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) |
| Richard Liang, Piano | |
| Despite the multitude that is Mozart's compositional collection, only a handful of works were written in minor keys. The C minor Fantaisie was birthed at the peak of the Viennese composer's career; an ingenious work that represents Mozart's gifts as a composer filled with an array of dramatic episodes and variations. | |