classic & romantic programme oct 2014

ClassiC

Sarah Bisley | Conductor

Philip Smith

| OrganistElena Abramova | Concertmaster

5pm Sunday 5 October 2014St Matthew-in-the-Citycnr Hobson and Wellesley Sts,Auckland

Ensemble Polymnia presents

Romanticand ClassiC


Philip Smith




Romanticand

ClassiC


Philip Smith




Romanticand

ClassiC


Philip Smith




Romanticand

ClassiC


Philip Smith




Romanticand

BACH, J.S. Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major for strings and continuo, BWV 1048

Allegro moderato - Adagio - Allegro

The Brandenburg concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 1046–1051, original title: Six Concerts à plusieurs instruments) are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721. They are widely regarded as some of the best

orchestral compositions of the Baroque era. Most likely, Bach composed the concertos over several years while Kapellmeister at Köthen and possibly extending back to his employment at Weimar (1708–17).

POULENC, Francis Concerto for Organ, strings and timpani in G minor (1934-8)

I. Andante II. Allegro giocoso III. Subito andante moderato IV. Tempo allegro - Molto agitato V. Très calme – Lent

VI.Tempo de l'Allegro initial VII. Tempo introduction – Largo

In 1938 Poulenc wrote that "This is not the happy-go-lucky Poulenc who wrote the Concerto for two pianos, but a Poulenc en route to the cloister - a fifteenth century Poulenc, if you like." The concerto follows a new development in the composer's style that led to the composition of numerous sacred works and several secular works distinct in their sense of gravity and deliberation. The concerto is structured as a single continuous movement with the character of a fantasia, divided

into seven distinct sections. It was commissioned by and dedicated to Princess Edmond de Polignac.

Interval (10 minutes)

BRAHMS, Johannes Symphony No.4 in E minor Op.98 (1884-5) I. Allegro non troppo II. Andante moderato III. Allegro giocoso IV. Allegro energico e passionato

Brahms, a Classic & Romantic composer

Johannes Brahms (1833 –1897) was born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, but spent much of his professional life in Vienna. In his lifetime, the composer’s popularity and influence were considerable. Brahms composed for piano, chamber ensembles, symphony orchestra, and for voice and chorus. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works. Brahms is often considered both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Baroque and Classical masters.

He was a master of counterpoint, the complex and highly disciplined art for which Johann Sebastian Bach is famous, and of development, a compositional ethos pioneered by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and other composers. Brahms aimed to honour the "purity" of these venerable "German" structures and advance them into a Romantic idiom, in the process creating bold new approaches to harmony and melody. His contribution and craftsmanship have been admired by figures as diverse as Arnold Schoenberg and Edward Elgar. The diligent, highly constructed nature of Brahms's works was a starting point and an inspiration for a generation of composers.

Organ Soloist

Philip Smith was born in Stoke-on-Trent in the English midlands where he was a chorister in the choir of Stoke Minster studying the organ with Michael Rhodes. Following a period of study with Roger Fisher at Chester Cathedral, he became a student at The Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and later at Huddersfield University.

In 1990 he was appointed Assistant Organist of St Asaph Cathedral in North Wales where as such he played for the enthronement of the 10th Archbishop of Wales. In November 1994, Philip moved to be Organist & Director of Music at The Collegiate Church of Saint Peter in Ruthin, North Wales.

In 2002 he was awarded the Archbishop of Wales Award for Church Music from Dr Rowan Williams, at that time Archbishop of Wales, for services to church music in the Principality of Wales.

Philip moved to Auckland at the end of January 2008 to become organist of Holy Trinity Cathedral. He is organist and organ tutor at Diocesan School for Girls and Baradene College. In addition he is undertaking research at the University of Waikato.

Conductor Sarah Bisley A graduate in English literature and Music from the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, Sarah Bisley was a pupil of László Mezõ at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest from 1982-85. Conducting began in the Australian outback in the early 80s; her first major appearance as a conductor was with Mozart’s “Requiem” in Vienna, 1987. Sarah has given ‘cello-piano recitals Europe-

wide and in New Zealand. She was the solo ‘cellist and Assistant Conductor for Mariahilfer Oper in Vienna, for which she received special critical mention. This performance of Britten’s “Noye’s Fludde” in 1995 sparked a wave of revival of Britten’s operas in Vienna, which has continued to this day.

Her main teachers of conducting have been Alexander Polianichko (Mariinsky Theatre), Dominique Rouits (Ecole Normale de Paris), Otto Werner Mueller of the Curtis Institute and Ernst Smole (Kurs “Furtwaengler”). At the Opéra de Massy, France she had many rehearsals and “spot” appearances; in the Hermitage Theatre of St. Petersburg, July 2002, she was selected to conduct works by Debussy and Tchaikovsky in concert with the State Hermitage Orchestra. Among many orchestral and choral concerts in the Paris and Versailles region from the year 2000, the highlight of her activity was a “Concert Exceptionnel” in 2004 with Ensemble Polymnia in the church of St.Julien-le-Pauvre, Paris. Notable features of this concert were the exciting modern-day première of CPE Bach’s Flute concerto in D major Wq 13, and the world première of “Serenade for Strings” by New Zealand composer Nigel Keay.

ENSEMBLE POLYMNIA

VIOLIN I

Elena Abramova (Concertmaster) Angela Kong Helen Crook Rosana Fea Kirsten McCrae Frankie Lin Ashley Ayton Gillian Baynes Charles Ferrall

VIOLIN II

Lyndsay McDonald (Leader) Shauno Isomura Christine Chong Heidi Bowmast Matthew Farrant Russell Finnemore Don Dilantha

VIOLA

Emma Fetherston (Leader) Charlotte Fetherston Emily Allen Judith Gust Neil Shepherd Iona McDonald Sharyn Palmer

‘Cello

Sarah Spence (Leader) Liselle Hutchinson Vicki Earl Hee Yung Kim Maria Renhart Margaret McLean Timothy Carpenter

CONTRABASS

Eric Scholes (Leader) Ted Malan Andrew Kincaid Elizabeth Lau

ORGAN CONTINUO (Bach)

Timothy Carpenter

FLUTE

Adrianna Lis (Leader) Mary-Kate Thomson

OBOE

Nicola Popplewell (Leader) Matthew O’Ryan

CLARINET

Alexander Eichelbaum (Leader) Hannah Boocock

BASSOON

Adrian Tusha (Leader) David Nation

CONTRABASSOON

Ruth Brinkmann

FRENCH HORN

John Ure (Leader) Jill Ferrabee Mia Camilleri Da-Hae Kim

TRUMPET

Neil Cording (Leader) Michael Plunkett

TROMBONE

Hamish Jellyman Andrew Leech Ivan Yuan

TIMPANI

Vadim Simongauz

TRIANGLE

Sam Girling

PRODUCTION TEAM

Charles Ferrall, Stage Manager - Anthony Blaschke, Assistant Warren Cook, Holly Woulfe, Peter Gillett, Stage crew Family de Bièvre & Anthony Blaschke, Front of house

Sarah Harris, Publicity design

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Our grateful thanks are due to Dimitry Rusakov, Ursula Bisley, Mariana Nordmark and the St. Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra.

Ensemble Polymnia is an Incorporated Charitable Trust. If you would like to make a donation or offer any other form of assistance, please

contact us on (09) 521 0087 or visit our website: www.ensemblepolymnia.com.

All donations are tax deductible.

COMING UP on Saturday 29th November 2014, at 7.30 p.m.

St. Mary’s-in-Holy Trinity, Parnell

Johann Sebastian Bach

MASS IN B MINOR to commemorate 1914

Aorangi Singers and Ensemble Polymnia Emma Roxburgh Sarah Harris

John Murray Benson Wilson Raymond Hawthorne

classic & romantic programme oct 2014

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