Conservatorium of Music
Thursday Concert Class
Thursday Concert Class
| Piano Concerto C# minor FP 146 | Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963) |
| I Allegretto II Andante con moto III Rondeau a la Francaise | |
| Quilby Nelson, Piano | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| Francis Poulenc was born in France to a wealthy family. He was largely self taught, both composition and piano. This concerto was composed in 1949 as part of a commission for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This concerto consists of three movements; the first employs the use of romantic themes with the solo piano alternating between soloist and accompanist. The middle movement begins with a calm, tranquil theme which is then echoed by the piano with block chords in both hands. The final movement is marked 'presto giocoso' and conveys a humourous, joyful character. | |
| Chanson Triste | Henri Duparc (1848 - 1933) |
| Charlotte Goode, Voice | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| “Chanson Triste†meaning in English “sad song†has for its text a poem by Jean Lahor, a symbolist poet known for his natural pessimism. Despite its title, Duparc’s musical setting with Lahor’s text is oozing with hope and rich emotion. | |
| Nuit d’étoiles | Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918) |
| Charlotte Goode, Voice | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| Nuit d’étoiles (Starry Night) is written to the text of Theodore de Banville, and Debussy composed this when he was just 18 years old. It tells the story of lost love, and remembering. | |
| O Del Mio Amato Ben | Stefano Donaudy (1879 - 1925) |
| Transcribed by Music Notes | |
| Harry Amos, Voice | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| Stefano Donaudy was an Italian composer whose works were written in the late 19th/early 20th century. These works were particularly famous for their diatonic nature, as well as featuring harmonies that frequently imitated the melody sections. Through such considered writing, Donaudy's O Del Mio Amato ben is well suited for younger singers. In this piece, the singer is portrayed in deep despair due to the loss of their 'beloved', whose life is depicted as incomplete without him. | |
| Légende, Op.66 | Florent Schmitt (1870 - 1958) |
| Jenny Yang, Saxophone | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| Within the span of just ten minutes, Schmitt offers us a rhapsodic ballad in its breadth and depth of atmosphere, with a masterfully colourful orchestration coexisting with the solo saxophone. | |
| Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22 | Henryk Wieniawski (1835 - 1880) |
| II. Romance | |
| Sophia Hans, Violin | |
| Rhodri Clarke, piano | |
| The virtuoso's second violin concerto is highly idiomatic, a favourite of the romantic violin concertos. The second monement, "Romance", develops a flowing melody allowing for exploration of tone colour and passionate expressions. | |
| Etude Op. 42 No. 4 in F-sharp major | Alexander Scriabin (1872 - 1915) |
| Daniel Freidgeim, Piano | |
| Alexander Scriabin’s Op. 42 set is the second of his three sets of études, each marking a distinct period of his stylistic transition from conventional tonality towards atonality. This étude (No. 4) showcases the middle transition period, where Scriabin becomes more adventurous with his harmonic structure. Beneath an ever upwards-reaching melody, you will feel the effect of Scriabin’s harmonic ambiguities as the left-hand pivots between chordal outlines, often only revealing the true bass note of a chord at the last note of the measure. You will hear these ambiguities relax into a more stable F sharp major tonality in the concluding section. | |
| Violin Sonata in D Minor, Op. 27, No. 3, “Ballade†| Eugene Ysaye (1858 - 1931) |
| Jody Middleton , Violin | |
| Ysaÿe’s six sonatas for solo violin are masterpieces of the genre. Written in 1924, each sonata is dedicated to a contemporary violinist, including several of the composer’s own students. Each sonata reflects the performance style of its dedicatee. Today’s “Ballade†was written for Romanian violinist and composer George Enescu, who later taught Yehudi Menuhin. | |
| Sarabande, from Suite en La | J.P Rameau (1683 - ) |
| Gloria Yu, Piano | |
| this movement is the third from the Suite in A minor; it is a lyrical and evocative movement which features free arpeggiated ornamentation which gives it a more romantic sound that was ahead of its time. | |
| Ondine, Gaspard de la Nuit | M. Ravel (1875 - 1937) |
| Gloria Yu, Piano | |
| The first piece in Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit, Ondine is based on a poem depicting a water nymph who sings to an observer to lure him into the bottom of her lake, originally written by Aloysius Bertrand in 1842. | |
| Valse-Impromptu, S.213 | Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886) |
| Katniss Li, Piano | |
| It is a waltz composed for solo piano and is not considered as one of Liszt’s better-known works. | |
| Etude Op.15 No.8 | Sergei Bortkiewicz (1877 - 1952) |
| Katniss Li, Piano | |
| Bortkiewicz studied with two music teachers in Leipzig who were both Liszt’s pupils. His piano style is very much based on Liszt and Chopin, nurtured by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, early Scriabin and Wagner. | |
| Humeroke Op.20 | Schumann (1810 - 1856) |
| Selections | |
| Yuhao Yan, Piano | |
| Schumann wrote in a letter to his beloved Clara from Vienna in March 1839, "All week I've been sitting at the piano and composing and writing and laughing and crying, all at the same time. You will find this beautifully illustrated in my Opus 20, the great Humoreske." | |