CHRISTMAS

CONCERT

2017

Wesley Methodist Church 3:45pm, December 17th

Allexamresultsfromlastterm-Congratulationstoall!

Grade-ResultZachYarrow 8-passwithDistinctionEmmaStallard 7-passwithMerit ThomasHilditch 6-passwithDistinctionLucyHowitt 6-passwithMeritSophiaMartin 5-passwithMeritCharlotteSwinhoe-Standen5–passwithMerit

Iwillcreatevideorecordingsofindividualperformancesuponrequest.Pleaseletmeknowifyou’dlikeone.

CheshamFestival:February3rdWycombeOrpheusFestival:March3rd/10thNextstudentconcert:July–datetba

Reminder:NolessonsfromDecember24thtoJanuary4th

MarlowFestivalWilliamRose,MatthewJoslin,MeganCave,Mary-AnneGrego,JamesCozens(forbestpianoensemble)WilliamRose(formostoutstandingsoloistoutsiderecitalclasses)

Streabbog:PleasantMorning ArthurDuckworthGillock:NewOrleansNightfall AnoushkaBerenzweigLinn:MoonshadowsontheMountainCharlotteSwinhoe-

StandenGlière:PreludeinD-flat BenJonesChopin:WaltzinBminor HarryLudlamVandall:FanfareCelebration Sophia&AlexiaMartin

THECHRISTMASQUIZ

Hamelinarr.Cozens:CircusGalop Quintessence(WilliamRose,Megan

Cave,MatthewJoslin, Mary-AnneGrego,

JamesCozens)

Chopin:NocturneinFminor BeckyHowitt

Gershwin:TheManILove WilliamRose&IGotRhythm

ChristmasImprovisation JamesCozens

Bach:PreludeinDminor TheoBerenzweig

Zimmer/Radnich:PiratesoftheCarribean JamesRoy

ImprovisationàlaZach ZachYarrow

Beethoven:Sonata,Op.13–2ndmov.MatthewJoslin

Haydn:3rdmov.fromSonataNo.46 MeganCaveATCL

THECHRISTMASQUIZRESULTS

Gershwin:RhapsodyinBlue AnnieParkerATCL

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Mary-AnneGregodip.ABRSM

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Streabbog:APleasantMorningIthinkthispieceisanicesongtowakeyouupinthemorning.Ialsolikethefactthatthecomposerofthissongspelthisnamebackwardswhenpublishingpieces-hewroteover1200pieces!ArthurDuckworthWilliamGillock:NewOrleansNightfallGillock (1917-93) was a noted American music educator and pianocomposer.Hewascalled‘theSchubertofChildren’scomposers’duetohis melodic gift. He believed that every student’s musical educationshould include experiences in a variety of popular stylings, includingjazz,asa recurringpartof theirstudy.Gillock lived inNewOrleans forthe firstpartofhiscareer,wherehe rana large teachingstudio for20years. AnoushkaBerenzweigJenniferLinn:LesOmbresdeLunesurlaMontagneMoonshadowsontheMountainisfromacollectionofpiecescalled‘LesPetites Impressions’writtenby theAmerican composer, Jennifer Linn.Thepieceismarkedespressifettendre,andfeaturesasoftmelodyintherighthandandaflowingaccompanimentinthelefthand.Myfavouritepart is in the middle, where the right hand plays a twinkling melodywhichremindsmeofstars. CharlotteSwinhoe-StandenReinholdGlière:PreludeinD-flatmajorThis is apiecewithmany flowingbrokenchords.Themelody is in therighthandapartfromthemiddlesection,wherethelefthandholdsthemelody.GlièrewasaSovietcomposerwhowasbornin1875anddiedin1956.Hewasinfluencedby19th-centuryRussianromantictraditionsandwroteanumberoflarge-scaleworks. BenJonesFrédéricChopin:WaltzinBminor,Op.69No.2ThisisthesecondoftwowaltzesthatChopinwrotein1829attheageof19.Thepiece’sfeelthroughoutislargelymelancholic.Itisdividedinto3differentsections; the first twosectionsare inBminorbut in thethirdsection it goes into B major before repeating the first section again.Chopinhopedthispiecewouldbeburntwhenhedied!HarryLudlam

GeorgeGershwin:RhapsodyinBlueInearly1924,anadvertisement foraconcert featuringa jazzconcertobyGeorgeGershwinappeared intheNewYorkTribune.Gershwinwasunderstandably shocked to hear the news since he hadn't composedsuchapiece,buthewaspersuadedtoimmediatelysetaboutwritingit,and he completed the two-piano score in a month. It was on a trainjourney to Bostonwhere the ideas of Rhapsody in Blue were born: “Ifrequentlyhearmusicintheveryheartofthenoise...Ihearditasasortof musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of ourunduplicatednationalpep,ofourmetropolitanmadness.Bythetime IreachedBostonIhadadefiniteplotofthepiece,asdistinguishedfromits actual substance.” Gershwin’s original title for the work wasAmericanRhapsody,buthechangedthetitletoRhapsodyinBlueatthesuggestionofhisbrother,Ira.Bytheendof1927,PaulWhitmanandhisbandPalaisRoyalOrchestra,whocommissionedthework,hadplayedtheRhapsody84times,anditsrecording sold a million copies. However, despite this, the piecereceived mixed responses from mainstream critics, described asformless, inexpressiveandseemedasthoughGershwinhadonlygluedhis melodic segments together into one piece, creating “emptypassage-workandmeaninglessrepetition.”However, Ibelievethatthestringing together of Gershwin’s sparkling melodic and harmonicdevices iswhatmakes theRhapsodysuchauniquework. Itprovidesajazzy joy-ride for pianists and evokes the optimism and energy of theroaringtwenties.InthewordsofLeonardBernstein,whocomposedthemusic for West Side Story, “The themes are terrific, inspired, God-given.”Gershwingavethefirstperformanceofthisworkwithanorchestra,butthis afternoon’s performance reflects Gershwin’s original two-pianoversion.

AnnieParker

PROGRAMMENOTES–1sthalf

JohannSebastianBach:PreludefromPreludeandFugueinDmThis is a two-part prelude that uses a contrapuntal technique whichGermancomposerscalled‘Handstück’.Itisagreatpiecetoplaybecauseithastherhythmicandmelodicformofatoccata,anditisthoughtthatitwascomposedin1742,neartheendofBach’slife.

TheoBerenzweigHansZimmer/JarrodRadnich:PiratesoftheCaribbeanThisarrangementof thevariousthemesfromPiratesof theCaribbeanhasbeenviewedonlinenearly25milliontimesandgarneredpraisefromHans Zimmer - the themes original composer - himself. A classicallytrained musician, Jarrod Radnich has made a name for himself bybringinghisvirtuosicskill tomanypopularpiecesofmusic,resulting insome very exciting arrangements. I’ve had a lot of fun learning it, buthaven’tbeenabletopracticetheending,asyou’llsee… JamesRoyLudwigvanBeethoven:2ndmovementfromSonatainCminor,op.13The second movement of the ‘Pathetique’ Sonata is slow, with anoverarching melody which is explored in different episodes andvariations. Themain,major, theme is repeated three timeswith eachrepetition slightly different to the previous one; the third iterationfollowsonfromatripletepisodeandcontinuesthismotioninboththeleft and right hand accompaniment. It ends with a sweet set of slowquaverstoroundoffthepiece. MatthewJoslinFranzJosephHaydn:FinalefromSonatainA-flatmajor,Hob.XVI:46Haydn’s Piano Sonata in A-flat major was written in 1767-8. It is thethirty-first of his sixty-two keyboard sonatas, and bears the alternatetitle of ‘Divertimento’ due to its light nature throughout its threemovements. The Finale includes a typically scalic and ornamentalmelody over an upbeat bass line in the left hand. Haydn left theperformerwithnodynamicindicationsinthispiece–thiscouldperhapsbetomakethesonatasuitableforallkeyboardinstruments. MeganCave

RobertVandall:FanfareCelebrationThispieceiswritteninCmajorwithametreof4/4.Theopeningfanfareleads to a celebration ofmusic, as the primo and secondoparts tradethemelodybackandforth.Thevibrantrhythmandlivelytempocreateanupbeatpiecewithanupliftingfeel. Sophia&AlexiaMartinMarc-AndreHamelin:CircusGaloparr.for10handsbyJamesCozensCircus Galop is a piece written by a Canadian pianist, Marc-AndreHamelin, for self-playing pianos. It was composed between 1991 and1994, and is dedicated to Beatrix and Jurgen Hocker, piano rollmanufacturers.

FrédéricChopin:NocturneinFminor,Op.55No.1This is the15thofChopin's21nocturneswhichhecomposedbetween1842-1844alongsidethenocturneinEbmajor.Theopeningtheme,withitsmelancholic feeling,is repeated several times throughout thepieceinaprecisestructurewhichHerbertWeinstockdescribesas'amarvelofaperfectminiature'.Thereisthenasharpcontrasttothissombermoodinthestorm-likemiddlesectionwhichischaracterisedbyviolenttripletpassagesthatareplayedinoctaves.Afterreturningtothemaintheme,thepiececoncludeswithanascendingfigureinFmajorwhichcreatesadream-likequalitytotheendingofthisbeautifulpiece.BeckyHowittGershwin:TheManILove,andIGotRhythm‘TheManILove’firstappearedinthemusical‘Lady,BeGood’,underthename ‘TheWomanILove’.Itwaslaterusedin‘StrikeUpTheBand’,thistime under it’s revised name. ‘I Got Rhythm’ comes from themusical‘Girl Crazy’, and was, as with the vast majority of Gershwin’s songs,lyricized by his brother, Ira. The song is built around a 34-bar AABAstructure, with an inter-linking chromatic section separating eachchorus. WilliamRose

PROGRAMMENOTES–2ndhalf