CONCERT C2 Saturday 8 September 9.

30 am

THE YOUNG VIRTUOSI

Imogen Scott-Parker piano 2012 Tyalgum Festival Prizewinner Outstanding Musician, Young Conservatorium Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University Bach Rachmaninov Bartok Prelude and Fugue in D minor from Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, BWV 875 Prelude in G major, Opus 32 No 5 Allegro Molto from Suite Opus14 (third movement)

Prelude and Fugue in D minor from Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, BWV 875 Johann Sebastian Bach (16851750) The first book of Bach's Das Wohltemperierte Klavier (The Well-Tempered Clavier) was complete by 1722 and was composed "for the use and practice of musical youth eager to learn and for the amusement of those already skilled in this study". Bach composed a paired Prelude and Fugue in each of the 24 keys to demonstrate the viability of the new "equal-temperament" system, which allows one to play in all keys without producing out-of-tune intervals. Twenty years later, Bach assembled another set of preludes and fugues, whose similarity to the "first" book of The Well-Tempered Clavier led editors to entitle it "Book II". Bach worked on the second book over a long period of time, even reworking pieces he had written for other purposes, as he had in the first book. The two-voice Prelude of the Prelude and Fugue No 6 in D has the flavour, though not the rhythmic and melodic freedom, of a toccata (a virtuoso piece of the Baroque which features fast-moving passages and fleet fingerwork). The ensuing Fugue its three voices entering in the order alto, soprano, bass is a short but rather daring chromatic study in contrasting rhythms, stopping just short of explicitly pitting twos against threes, which was generally not done during Bach's time. All Music Guide Prelude in G major, Opus 32 No 5 Sergey Vasilyevich Rachmaninov (18731943) Following Chopin, Rachmaninov completed a Prlude in each of the twenty-four major and minor keys. Including the ten Prludes, Opus 23, and the Prlude Opus 3 No 2, this set of thirteen completes the twentyfour. These pieces are representative of the more subtle and harmonically advanced style that Rachmaninov developed in his middle years. A gentle and lyrical Nocturne, the Prlude No 5 in G major sets a soaring melody above an arpeggiated accompaniment. There is a short cadenza before the dramatic change to the minor key just before the final statement of the main theme. This lovely Prelude sounds a bit slower than its Moderato marking might suggest. Heard against a wavy, rocking figure in the left hand, the main theme floats along in the upper register with a tranquil, childlike innocence, but then playfully tumbles downward. The middle section turns somewhat tense, briefly bordering on the melancholy. But the mood from the opening returns and the piece quietly and soothingly ends. All Music Guide Allegro Molto from Suite Opus14 (third movement) Bla Bartk (18811945) While Bartk had spent a number of years prior to 1916 collecting and compiling folk tunes from Eastern Europe, the Suite for piano solo does not directly reflect this, and is one of only a few works from this time not to use folk song-derived material. The Suite is one of Bartk's most significant and substantial works for piano, with the only other comparable work in his oeuvre being the Piano Sonata, composed in 1926. Though it appears that Bartk had intended for the Suite to have five movements, in the end he abandoned a short Andante and published the suite as a four-movement work. Today we are hearing the third movement, an Allegro molto that continues the trend of acceleration through the successive movements of the Suite. The Allegro was, as Bartk admitted, influenced by the music of Arabic North Africa, which accounts for the movement's vigorous ostinato figures and chromatic musical language. All Music Guide

Heidi Chan piano Chan Wollumbin Inspiration Heidi Chan (b. 1996) Wollumbin Inspiration was composed by Heidi Chan to commemorate the Tyalgum Festival Prize she was awarded in 2010. After a research trip to Mount Warning and its surrounding areas, gathering information and recording the sounds of nature, Wollumbin Inspiration was created. This piece includes four movements. The first movement opens with an interpretation of the turbulent eruptions of the Tweed Shield Volcano and the formation of Mount Warning (Wollumbin) 20 to 23 million years ago. In the second movement, the mountain motif, the rain ostinato and the voice of the awakened mountain spirit interweave into a beautiful soul song and bring out the transformed landscape of murmuring streams and glittering waterfalls after years of sombre silence. The third movement depicts the revival of energies. With the nurturing of water, the silent mountain has turned into lush rainforests full of life and vibrant colours. Finally, Heidi's consistent fondness for evoking visual scenes and imagery in sound: bubbling magma, flowing lava, murmuring streams, glittering waterfalls, furious storms and lively bird calls, leads the audience on a journey towards the rising sun emerging from the sparkling ocean. Wollumbin Inspiration

Heidi Chan piano Imogen Scott-Parker piano Debussy En Bateau from Petite Suite Claude Debussy (18621918) Debussys compositions achieved the transition from the late Romantic period to 20th century music, with his Petite Suite belonging clearly to the earlier period. The title means "in boat." It is easy to picture one or two people relaxing in a small boat on a sunny day. The repeated and echoed figures throughout the song assist in creating the image of waves on a relatively peaceful lake. The piece consists entirely of waves of motion there are sections full of long notes that progress into sections of quicker, more playful sections only to return to the slow, peaceful sections. The piece was composed between 1886 and 1889. En Bateau from Petite Suite

Sublime Strings Cello Ensemble Directed by Markus and Mei-Lee Stocker Isabella Ambrose, Megan Crook, Ingrid Gardiner, Yena Gook, Ruby Hunter, Hee Soo Kim, Rira Kong, Kelly Lee, Carla Mulligan, Julien Rosendahl, Min Jin Sung, Camilla Tafra cellos Piano accompanists: Lachlan Dorse, Sue Lee Bach Romberg Popper Martin Morricone Tchaikovsky Gardel Piazzolla Prelude from the First Suite for Cello Solo in G Major Allegro from the Concertino in E minor Requiem Opus 66 for three cellos and piano Variations on a Slovakian theme Love Song for cello ensemble Variations on a Rococo Theme Opus 33 Por una cabeza Libertango

Prelude from the First Suite for Cello Solo in G major Johann Sebastian Bach (16851750) Hee Soo Kim (11 years old) 2012 Tyalgum Festival Prizewinner, Murwillumbah Festival of Performing Arts

It is thought that Bach wrote his six suites for unaccompanied cello between 1717 and 1723, while he was in the employ of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cthen and had two superb solo cellists, Bernard Christian Linigke and Christian Ferdinand Abel, at his disposal. A Baroque suite is typically a collection of dance movements, usually in binary form with each half repeated. Bach took these typical dance forms and abstracted them to create the first, and arguably still the finest, solo works for a relatively new instrument. The First Suite in G major, gives the feel of innocent simplicity, and serves as a marvellous opening to these extraordinary works. The Prelude recalls the C Major Prelude which opens Book One of the Well-Tempered Clavier. All Music Guide Allegro from the Concertino in E minor Bernhard Romberg (17671841) Yena Gook cello (8 years old) Sue Lee piano Romberg is notable for several innovations in cello design and performance. He lengthened the cello's fingerboard and flattened the side under the C string, thus giving it more freedom to vibrate. He suggested that half size and three-quarter size cellos should be designed to make it easier for young children to play the instrument. The first movement of the Concertino is one of the first works for a young cellist to perform with orchestra. It is sometimes performed also as a sonata. Requiem Opus 66 for three cellos and piano David Popper (18431913) MinJin Sung, Rira Kong, Carla Mulligan cellos Lachlan Dorse piano An Austrian cellist/cello composer, David Popper wrote four concertos, many studies and smaller pieces which are still played today including the ever-popular cello solo piece Requiem for three cellos and piano, originally written for three cellos and orchestra in 1891. His shorter showpieces were written to highlight the unique sound and style native to the cello extending the instrument's range to heights. Popper is also famous for his High School of Cello Playing (Opus 73), a book of cello etudes that is used almost universally by advanced cello students. Variations on a Slovakian theme Bohuslav Martin (18901959) Kelly Lee cello Sue Lee piano Bohuslav Martin was a prolific Czech composer of modern classical music who wrote almost 400 pieces. The bulk of his writing from the 1930s into the 1950s was in a neo-classical vein, but with his last works he opened up his style to include more rhapsodic gestures and a more loose, spontaneous sense of form. This is easiest to hear by comparing his sixth symphony, titled Fantaisies symphoniques, with its five predecessors, all from the 1940s. Love Song for cello ensemble Ennio Morricone (b. 1928) Isabella Ambrose, Megan Crook, Ingrid Gardiner, Ruby Hunter, Rira Kong, Carla Mulligan, Julien Rosendahl, MinJin Sung, Camilla Tafra cellos Morricone is an Italian composer and conductor, who has written music for more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. The Love Song for cello ensemble is an adaptation of the main theme of the movie Cinema Paradiso (1988), Love theme. Variations on a Rococo Theme Opus 33 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (18401893) MinJin Sung cello Lachlan Morse piano Rococo Variations were composed in short score near the end of 1876 for Wilhelm Fitzhagen, who was principal cellist at the Moscow Conservatory, so that he could make the cello part idiomatic while Tchaikovsky was orchestrating the rest. Tchaikovsky's own version was finally published in 1956. The genius in the work

is the manner in which Tchaikovsky transforms the original theme into numerous and different personalities, each logical and effective. The rococo theme itself is a simple one and if it tips its hat to the 18th century and Tchaikovsky's musical idol, Mozart it is thoroughly Tchaikovskyian and utterly Romantic. Each of the seven variations is skillfully crafted and none sounds contrived or forced always a potential trap in this form. All Music Guide Por una cabeza Carlos Gardel (18901935) Isabella Ambrose, Megan Crook, Ingrid Gardiner, Ruby Hunter, Rira Kong, Carla Mulligan, Julien Rosendahl, MinJin Sung, Camilla Tafra cellos Por una cabeza, meaning "by a head (of a horse)" in Spanish, is one of the most famous and popular Argentine tangos with music by Carlos Gardel and lyrics by Alfredo Le Pera, written in 1935. The lyrics of the song talk about a compulsive horse-track gambler who compares his addiction for horses with his attraction to women. The tango has since been performed by numerous tango orchestras and is commonly featured in films and television. Possibly the most recognisable portion of the melody may be inspired by Mozart's Rondo for violin and orchestra in C major, K373. Libertango stor Piazzolla (19211992) Isabella Ambrose, Megan Crook, Ingrid Gardiner, Ruby Hunter, Rira Kong, Carla Mulligan, Julien Rosendahl, MinJin Sung, Camilla Tafra cellos Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandonen player. His oeuvre revolutionised the traditional tango into a new style termed Tango Nuevo, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music. The title Libertango is a portmanteau merging "libertad" (Spanish for "liberty") and "tango", symbolising Piazzolla's break from Classical Tango to Tango Nuevo. According to the performance database at All Music Guide, the composition has appeared on over 500 separate releases.