Download Scholars` Concert

Scholars’ Concert
8pm Tuesday 6th October 2015
Recital Room
Welcome
Having been at Bloxham only a matter of weeks, the standard of playing amongst the
students is one of the first things to have impressed. The dedication to and passion
for music on show tonight shows how powerful music can be in enriching a persons
life. The Scholars tonight are testament to the joy it can bring to others too.
Thank you in advance for your all support, I look forward to seeing you at the many
other events throughout the year.
Yours sincerely
Music at Bloxham School
Alex Redpath Director of Music
Sebastian Thomson Head of Academic Music
Jon Seagroatt Head of Music Technology
Music School Secretary Renata Looke
Strings Chris Windass, Miranda Ricardo
Brass Steve Bell, Bob Pritchard
Woodwind Sally Adams, Jonathan Howse, Alun Darbyshire, Celia Bolton-King, Susie Perkins
Percussion Cliff Pick
Singing Michael Hickman, Polly Jeffries
Piano Michael Hickman, Susie Perkins, Matt Platt
Guitar Matt Bosworth, Mickey Woodcock
Programme
Emma Davies & Venetia Moir
Recorders
Trio Sonata in F major
Telemann
Eloisa Whybrow
Flute
Sun Streams
Ian Clarke
Kate Price
Voice
Blow, Blow thou Winters Wind
Madeline Dring
Talia Coleman
Cello
La Cinquantaine G
Marie
Georgie Pratten
Voice
Vaga Luna
Bellini
Venetia Moir
Recorder
Variations on ‘Non Piu Mesta’
Chopin
Amelia Field
Cello
Shepherds Hey!
Percy Grainger
Octavia Lewis
Voice
Ah Belinda
Purcell
Max Durham
Piano
Original Rags
Scott Joplin
Eleanor Moir
Cello
Ave Maria
Schumann
Annabel Gulliver
Voice
I Could Have Danced All Night
Loewe and Lerner
Programme notes
Trio Sonata in F major
Telemann
George Philip Telemann was a German Baroque composer and a man of many musical
talents. For example he was self-taught in all his music and he became a composer
against his family’s approval, they wanted him to study law instead and become a lawyer.
He was born on the 14th March 1681 and died on the 25th June 1767. He also became musical director of Hamburg’s five main churches.
Emma Davies & Venetia Moir 3rd Form
Sun Streams
Ian Clarke
th
Ian Clarke is a British flautist who was born on the 4 February 1964. He learnt music
from an early age, first learning the flute when he was 10. Since 2000 he has been a
professor of flute at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Some of his most
well-known works are ‘Hypnosis’ and ‘The Great Train Race’.
The piece ‘Sun streams’ was written in 1986 and I chose it because I like the
contemporary feel and also the dynamics add to the atmosphere.
Eloise Whybrow U6
Blow Blow thou Winters Wind
Madeline Dring
Madeline Dring (1923-1977) was a composer and actress. Whilst studying at the Royal
College of Music she was taught composition by Vaughan Williams and Herbert Howells.
Her compositions have a very jazzy and rhythmical style. Dring wrote “Blow Blow thou
winter wind” in 1945, and is one in a set of 7 songs set to words by Shakespeare. I have
chosen to sing this as I like the changing attitudes in the piece from the cold beginning to
the “let it go” change of the chorus, with a new found energy.
Kate Price U6
‘La Cinquantaine’
Gabriel Marie
Gabriel Marie was a French Composer who wrote in the Romantic Period. He was born in
Paris on 8 January 1852. His works include La Cinquantaine (which was written in
1887) for cello and piano. He also composed many dance pieces, and wrote other pieces
for saxophone, cello and piano.
I really enjoy his music because it has the potential to sing out; the music he wrote is
perfect for a combination of instruments and I hope more people discover who this
wonderful composer is.
Talia Coleman 3rd Form
Vaga Luna
Bellini
Vaga Luna is an Italian piece by Bellini, published in 1838. It was composed in the bel canto
style, it is a frequent recital piece, and has often been recorded. Bellini was an Italian opera
composer who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the
Swan of Catania. Vaga Luna – Beautiful moon, is about a man who is longing to spend his
life with the one woman he desires.
Georgie Pratten U6
Variations on ‘Non Piu Mesta’
Chopin
This piece was written in 1824, originally for the flute in E major. It has been changed to F
major for the recorder. The version I will be playing is arranged by Piers Adams.
The aria "Non più mesta" is from the opera ‘La Cenerentola’ (Cinderella) by Gioachino
Rossini. It is sung when Cinderella says farewell to the old days of housekeeping and sadness.
The variations are attributed to Chopin but this is uncertain because it is so different to any
other works of his. If Chopin did write this, he would have been only fourteen years old!
Venetia Moir 3rd Form
Ah Belinda
Purcell
Ah Belinda is an aria from Dido and Aeneas, a short opera written by baroque composer
Henry Purcell. Dido and Aeneas tells the story of the Dido, Queen of Carthage and Aeneas,
a prince of Troy. The two meet and fall in love, however their happiness is to be short lived.
The Sorceress and her witches plot Dido's downfall and conjure up a storm while Dido and
Aeneas are out hunting. During the storm, one of the witches speaks to Aeneas, impersonating Mercury, to tell him he must set off for Troy immediately. Not wanting to offend the
gods, Aeneas sets sail, breaking Dido's heart so she kills herself.
This aria is taken from the first act, where Dido is 'pressed with torment' over her feelings
for Aeneas. I have previously played the part of the sorceress but have chosen to sing one
of Dido's arias today because of it's haunting and beautiful melody.
Octavia Lewis U6
Original Rags
Scott Joplin
Viewed as the "King of Ragtime," Scott Joplin was the foremost composer of the genre in
the early 20th century, known for works like "The Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer."
Born in the late 1860s, Scott Joplin took up the piano as a child and eventually became a
travelling musician as a teen. He immersed himself in the emerging musical form known as
ragtime and became the genre’s foremost composer with tunes like "The Entertainer,"
"Solace" and "The Maple Leaf Rag," which is the biggest-selling ragtime song in history.
I will be performing "Original Rags" which is an early ragtime medley for piano. It was the
first of Scott Joplin's rags to appear in print, in early 1899,
preceding his "Maple Leaf Rag" by half a year.
What I particularly like about the piece is the opportunity in the second half to perform a
solo, using a variety of scales as the bass part changes continuously. The return to the
‘head’ also leaves room for further improvisation to fill the gaps in the melody.
Max Durham U6
Ave Maria
Schumann
The piece I will be playing is Ave Maria composed by Franz Schubert. Franz Schubert (17971829) wrote the music for "Ave Maria" in 1825 as a setting for the poem ‘The lady of the
lake’ by Scottish author Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). Schubert's "Ave Maria" is one of the
most popular songs in the world, although often sung to words different from those of
Scott’s poem, or performed in instrumental versions with no words at all.
The song cycle proved to be one of Schubert's most financially successful works, the
Austrian composer being paid by his publisher 20 pounds sterling, a sizable sum for a
musical work in the 1820s. Though not written for liturgical services, the music proved to
be inspirational to listeners, particularly Roman Catholics, and a Latin text was substituted
to make it suitable for use in church. It is today most widely known in its Latin "Ave Maria"
form.
I will be playing the piece because I love the legato melody lines that are so graceful (use of
lots of vibrato helps portray this). I also think the sound of the cello really compliments the
smooth nature of the piece. I like the rises and falls in the melody line, and how each
phrase flows seamlessly in to the next phrase.
Eleanor Moir U6
“I could have danced all night” – My Fair Lady
Loewe and Learner
This song was written by Frederick Loewe, an Austrian-American composer, who
collaborated with lyricist Alan Jay Learner on musicals, their two most famous ones being
“My Fair Lady” and “Camelot”. He was born in Berlin, and attended a Prussian cadet school
from age 5 – age 13. He taught himself piano by ear and started composing at age 7.
“I Could have danced all Night” was written for the play “My Fair Lady” in 1956.
I chose this song because I love the upbeat and excitable character it has to it. It is sung by
a girl (Eliza Doolittle), who has come in from a night out and cannot stop singing about her
encounter with a young man.
Annabel Gulliver U6
Musical dates for your diary
24th November
8pm
Michaelmas Concert—Great Hall
Featuring the first performance by the newly formed Wind Orchestra and other
remarkable musicianship at Bloxham.
1st December
7.15pm
Icarus Trust Concert – St John’s Hyde Park
The Bloxham Chapel Choir join forces with a professional choir for an impressive evening
of song.
4th December
6.30pm
Exham House Concert—Great Hall
Celebrate the talent within Exham House and find out what they have been up to in music
this term.
5th December
11.30am
Performance at St Mary’s Bloxham
Supporting the local Christmas Tree Festival, musicians from Bloxham perform Christmas
favourites.
8th December
7.15pm
Carol Service—Chapel
The perfect end to a very busy term!