MIDDLE SCHOOL SUMMER CONCERT

Friday 22nd June, 2018

7.00pm

Auditorium, Anniversary Halls

String Orchestra Director: Silja Loya

Il re pastore – Overture Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the classical era. Born in Salzburg, Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. At seventeen, Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, but grew restless and travelled in search of a better position. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his early death at the age of 35. The circumstances of his early death have been much mythologised. Mozart composed more than 600 works, and he is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, and his influence is profound on subsequent Western art music. Written specially for the Archduke's visit to Salzburg in 1775 by a nineteen year old Mozart, Il re pastore (The Shepherd King) is one of the composer's lesser known works. Despite his youth, Mozart produced a highly accomplished opera, which includes hints of the themes which were to be developed in his later, more celebrated operas.

Fourth Form Choir Director: Elizabeth Bathurst

Double trouble Williams arr. Chinn Composed for the soundtrack of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, John Williams took words from the famous scene in Shakespeare’s Macbeth in which the witches gather around their cauldron. Although set in D minor, Williams immediately skews the sense of a consonance with augmented fourths and added

chromaticism in the accompaniment. The vocal refrain initially achieves an archaic effect with modal flattened sevenths that matches the castle setting of Hogwarts and the ‘medieval in spirit’ marking Williams gives at the start of the piece. Williams’ contemporary voice is not long suppressed and the choir splits into sinewy chromatic lines that call and respond to each other for the verses that describe the horrific ingredients the witches throw into their cauldron!

Annie Horan ‘Cello

Cello Sonata in A minor: first and second movements Vivaldi Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher, and cleric. Born in Venice, he is recognised as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe. He composed many instrumental concertos for the violin and a variety of other instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more than forty operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as the Four Seasons. Many of his compositions were written for the all-female music ensemble of the home for abandoned children where Vivaldi, who had been ordained as a Catholic priest, was employed from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with expensive stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna, hoping for preferment. However, the Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival, and Vivaldi himself died, in poverty, less than a year later. As with a Bach Suite, learning a Vivaldi sonata is a rite of passage for every cellist. While not often played in public recitals, Vivaldi sonatas have been recorded by recent generations of period players.

Wind Sextet

Contredanse from Divertimento No 8 Mozart arr. Voxman Music for wind bands or groups (known in German as Harmoniemusik) played an important role in the Austria of Mozart’s day. Highly suitable for outdoor performance and less expensive than employing a full orchestra, many noble houses employed their own Harmoniemusik and a large repertory was built up. Mozart’s contribution is significant and includes the Divertimento K213 which was written in Salzburg between July 1775 and January 1777. The standard scoring for chamber Harmoniemusik was pairs of oboes, bassoons and horns but tonight’s version has been expertly arranged to include flute and clarinets.

Cello Ensemble Director: Miguel Calvo

In the Hall of the Mountain King (I Dovregubbens hall) Grieg arr. Calvo Edvard Grieg, following the influence of Rikard Noordrak, used a lot of Norwegian folk music in his compositions, which helped to develop a national identity as Sibelius did in Finland. Henrik Ibsen asked him to compose music for his play Peer Gynt. Grieg told his friend Frants Beyer: “With Peer Gynt it goes very slowly… it is a frightfully intractable subject, with the exception of one or two parts… I have done something for the hall of the troll-king in Dovre which literally I can’t bear to hear, it reeks so of cow-turds, ultra Norwegianism, and to-thyself-be-enough-ness!”. Shaw, in his review of the 1889 London performance, called it “a riotous piece of weird fun,” while complaining that it is made up of but a single phrase, repeated over and over. Like Ravel’s Bolero, this short piece is an extremely well-executed exercise of orchestration (for cello octet in tonight’s performance). Listen out for the repeating phrase: it is the sound of angry trolls making fun of Peer. Each time it is played it gets louder and faster until the music ends, representing Peer’s escape from the mountain.

Lucy Nott Oboe

Sonata for oboe and piano: first movement Poulenc During the last years of his life, Poulenc (1899-1963) worked on a series of sonatas, one for each wind instrument. He lived to complete only three – for oboe, flute and clarinet. All are dedicated to the memory of friends or fellow musicians and the Sonata for oboe and piano is dedicated to Sergei Prokofiev. This sonata is undoubtedly Poulenc's most direct tribute to the Russian master. The opening movement, played this evening, is in a simple three-part form and is entitled Élégie. It combines melancholy and lyricism in the proportions that mark Poulenc's best music.

Intermediate Jazz Band Director: Elizabeth Hayley

Paper moon Arlen arr. Hayley This catchy jazz standard was written in around 1933 by Harold Arlen (who also wrote Somewhere over the rainbow) and quickly gained popularity during World War Two when it was recorded many times by jazz musicians such as Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman and Nat King Cole. It has been a platform for many jazz improvisations, and the solos you will hear tonight are completely improvised by the girls, using only a suggested group of notes which follow the harmonic structure throughout the solo sequence.

Woodwind and Brass Orchestra Director: Denise Burt

John Williams Trilogy arr. Moss One of the most popular and successful American orchestral composers of the

modern age, John Williams (born 1932) is the winner of five Academy Awards, 24 Grammys, four Golden Globes and seven British Academy film Awards. With a career spanning over six decades, he has composed some of the most popular, recognisable, and critically acclaimed film scores in cinematic history, including those of the Star Wars series, Jaws, Superman, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and the first three Harry Potter films. Williams has been associated with director Steven Spielberg since 1974, composing music for all but three of his feature films. This Trilogy for concert band is a medley of three of his well-known compositions. The music from Jurassic Park is followed by the gentle, moving theme from Schindler’s List which skillfully transitions into the finale, the rousing Raiders March from the Indiana Jones series.

INTERVAL (15 minutes)

Intermediate Orchestra Director: Barry Sutton

I just called to say I love you Wonder arr. Whitney I just called to say I love you is taken from Stevie Wonder’s 1984 soundtrack album The Woman in Red for the film of the same name. Released on the Motown label, and also featuring Dionne Warwick, the album reached number two in the UK albums chart. However, the single I just called to say I love you was a massive hit in the UK, reaching number one and becoming the second-best single of 1984 –only behind Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? – and the third most successful single of the entire 1980s.

Flute Choir Director: Denise Burt

Middle Chamber Choir Director: Elizabeth Bathurst

Where is love? Bart arr. Orriss Oliver! Choral Medley Bart arr. Turner Based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, Oliver! is an English musical with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. It successfully premiered in the West End in 1960 and continued to have long runs on Broadway after being brought to the US in 1963. Lionel Bart also received the Tony Award for Best Original Score. Its 1968 film adaptation, directed by Carol Reed, was highly successful, winning six Academy Awards including Best Picture. This evening, Flute Choir will perform Where Is Love? which is first sung by the young Oliver Twist as he languishes in the basement of Sowerberry’s the undertakers. Starting simply, this sentimental arrangement makes the most of the close four part harmonies. This is followed by Middle Chamber Choir’s performance of a crowd-pleasing medley which consists of some of the most popular songs from the musical, including Consider yourself, As long as he needs me, I’ll do anything and Food, glorious food.

Wind Quartet

Comic Relief from Silver Screen Wind Quartets Norton Christopher Norton is a British pianist, composer and arranger best known for his very popular Microjazz series. This composition of Silver Screen Wind Quartets is a set of character pieces loosely influenced by film-music styles of the 1940s. Comic Relief the last one of the set, is an easy going, rather jaunty twenties-style dance, written in swing style.

Middle Cantores Director: Elizabeth Hayley

You raise me up Graham & Lovland arr. Emerson Originally written by an Irish/Norwegian duo, and performed at the Norwegian composer’s mother’s funeral, the song has strong folk influences. It is possible to glimpse strains of tunes such as Londonderry Air in the hauntingly beautiful melody line. Built over a simple chord structure, the melody relies on strength from dotted rhythms as well as large rising and falling intervals. There is a combination of unison and harmony in this arrangement, and the choir really enjoys singing this piece with its dramatic contrasts between gentle expression and forceful projection.

Wind Band Director: Denise Burt

Anything goes Porter arr. Wagner Anything goes is a song taken from the 1934 musical of the same name. The musical is based on a book by Guy Bolton and P.G Wodehouse describing the madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound for London from New York. Many of the lyrics feature humorous references to various figures of scandal and gossip in the high society of the time. This carefully arranged, toe-tapping melody, with its syncopated rhythms, has been a firm favourite with Wind Band.

Junior Camerata Director: Silja Loya

Danse Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah Saint-Saëns Danse Bacchanale is from the opera Samson and Delilah by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921). He composed such famous works as Carnival of the Animals, Danse Macabre, and the Organ Symphony. He was a child prodigy who became France’s most renowned composer. Samson and Delilah was premiered in Weimar in 1877, having previously been rejected in Paris for its portrayal of biblical subject matter. When it was due to transfer to London’s Covent Garden, the Lord Chamberlain slapped a ban on the whole opera, stopping all but concert performances until 1909, some thirty years after its original Weimar run. English audiences were deprived of seeing, in its fully staged glory, some of the most beautiful moments in French opera and, indeed, Saint-Saëns’ only regularly performed stage work. The final act features the Bacchanale, a showpiece in which Delilah leads a wild and provocative dance to taunt Samson. The piece opens with a sensuous solo before a steady pulse develops in the orchestra itself. Dramatizing the life of Samson, the legendary strongman, and Delilah, the woman who seduced and betrayed him, the opera builds to a violent conclusion, in that Samson is crushed along with his foes when he pulls down a temple around them. Saint-Saëns loved exotic sounds, so he used an exceptionally exotic sounding scale throughout much of the piece: it contains two one-and-a-half step gaps (from the second to third steps and the sixth to seventh steps). While this heightens the exoticness of the piece, it is not authentic to any world musical tradition.

Accompanists: Miss Elizabeth Hayley, Miss Emily Nott, Mr Matthew Greenfield

St Catherine’s School, Bramley

Guildford, Surrey GU5 0DF 01483 899647

music@stcatherines.info

www.stcatherines.info