Isles of Scilly U3A Music Appreciation Group

Another ‘Desert Island Discs’

Thursday 27 September 2018, April Cottage, 10 am

Janet 1. Edward Elgar Serenade in E minor, 2nd mvt.

Notes: Edward Elgar was born in Lower Broadheath near Worcester, 1857; died 1934. His father was a piano tuner and ran a music shop and gave Edward music lessons. At age 10 he was already composing music for a children’s play. Although regarded widely as ‘a typically English composer’, in fact he was, unlike Vaughan-Williams, influenced mainly by music in continental Europe, especially Germany. He always felt himself an ‘outsider’ both musically and, as a Roman Catholic with a strong faith, socially. His output was large and wide-ranging: 3 symphonies, several oratorios, much sacred choral music (hugely influenced by his strong Roman Catholic faith), many marches and ceremonial music and a variety of miniatures, often depicting childhood. He is particularly admired for the ‘Enigma Variations’ well illustrating his skills in orchestration. He was the first composer to record his music.

2. Wolfgang Mozart Clarinet Concerto, 2nd mvt.

Notes: Born Salzburg, Austria, 1756; died 1791, Vienna. Wolfgang showed prodigious ability from early childhood. At age 5 he was already competent at the keyboard and violin and was composing. At age 17, being dismissed as musician at the Salzburg court, he moved to Vienna, where he remained. In his 35 years he composed over 600 works – symphonies, chamber music of all types, concertos, choral pieces and operas.

3. Liebestraum No.3

Notes: Born 1811 in Raiding in the Hungarian part of the Austo- Hungarian Empire. His father was in the service of a Hapsburg prince and was proficient as a pianist, violinist, cellist and on the guitar; so Franz grew up in a very musical environment. He first reached fame as a virtuoso pianist. As a composer, he was forward looking and anticipated many 20th century trends and ideas. He invented the ‘symphonic poem’ and, as well as his own numerous orchestral and piano pieces, was a prolific transcriber of other composers’ music for the piano. Towards the end of his life he became very ill and retired to a monastery, where he died in a very Spartan apartment.

Di 1. Antonio Vivaldi The Four Seasons, Winter.

Notes: Born 1678, Venice; died 1741. Antonio’s father, a professional violinist, taught him violin and the two toured Venice, playing as they went. He then received lessons in composition. Religious studies at age 15 led eventually to his ordination at age 25, when he was nicknamed ‘the red priest’ from his red hair colour. This did not prevent him from becoming a prolific composer, developing a style that was to have great influence on baroque music throughout Europe. His output was vast, including more than 500 concertos, of which the violin concerto known as ‘the four Seasons’ is he most famous. There were also many operas and a large body of sacred choral music.

2. Guiseppe Verdi ‘Nabucco’ - Chorus of Hebrew Slaves

Notes: Born 1813 near Busseto in Northern Italy; died 1901. Guiseppe learned to play the organ at an early age, becoming the official paid organist at his local church aged 8. From age 13, he started composing a wide variety of music. After a period teaching singing and piano, he moved to Milan, where he became so immersed in the performances at La Scala opera house that he started writing operas himself, on which his main fame rests. He was also much involved in Italian unification politics. His many operas are among the most generally staged of any composer around the world.

3. Enya ‘Watermark’

Notes: Eithne Ni Bhraonain, born 1961, County Donegal, Eire. She is known professionally simply by her anglicized name ‘Enya’. She began her musical career in her family’s Celtic band on keyboards and backing vocals. Enya moved on in 1982 to pursue a solo career as a singer-songwriter. She is known for her privacy and does not undertake concert tours but has made many recordings and contributed to sound- tracks for documentaries and films.

Susie 1. Johann S Bach Goldberg Variations – Aria

Notes: Born 1865 in Eisenach, Germany; died 1750. was born into a large family of musicians and his own sons carried on the family tradition. Widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, much of his music was for the Lutheran Church – settings of the mass, passions, oratorios, cantatas and motets. He also wrote secular music, much of it for the organ and in his time he was renowned for his skill as an organist. He was also intensely interested in the theory of music and the technicalities of instrumental playing, which resulted in such academic works as ‘The Well-tempered Klavier’.

2. Ralph Vaughan-Williams Dives & Lazarus

Notes: Born Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, 1872; died 1958. His father was a vicar from a family of mixed English and Welsh descent. Ralph was related to the Wedgwood and Darwin families through his mother. He displayed musical talent early and was taught by his aunt Sophy Wedgwood. At age 8 he took and passed a correspondence course in music. At the , he was taught by Hubert Parry. He was also educated at Cambridge University. A private income meant that he did not need to hold major salaried posts. He started collecting folk songs and this influenced much of his output. His wide range of compositions includes symphonies, operas, religious music (although an agnostic), ballet music, chamber works, many songs and much-loved pieces such as ‘the lark ascending’.

3. Aaron Copland Fanfare for the Common Man

Notes: Born 1900, Brooklyn, New York City of Lithuanian-Jewish origins. In the family, only his mother was musical and taught Aaron and his siblings. Their earliest exposure to music was at Jewish weddings, ceremonials and family musical gatherings. From age 13, Aaron began piano lessons with professionals, followed by formal teaching in harmony, theory and composition; first in America, then in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. Back in the USA he was coached by Serge Koussevitsky, director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, who encouraged him to develop an experimental style. Some of his most accessible and best-loved music is for the ballet – such as ‘Rodeo’ and ‘Appalachian Spring’. He wrote several symphonies and concertos and much jazz-influenced music. Some of his music is ceremonial – this ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’ being an example.

Maureen S 1. Gerald Finzi Eclogue for Piano and Orchestra Peter Katin, piano; New Philharmonia Orchestra Conductor Vernon Handley

Notes: Born 1901, ; died 1956. Gerald was born into a well-off family of Jewish descent. From age 14 he began to study music with Ernest Farrar. Farrar’s death in World War I, as well as the deaths of all three of his brothers, left Finzi with a bleak outlook on life. Gerald began to set to music poems by Traherne, Hardy and Wordsworth. He became friendly with Bliss, Holst and Vaughan-Williams, the latter obtaining for him a teaching post at the . As well as his many lovely songs, he composed clarinet and cello concertos and the charming ‘Eclogue for Piano and Orchestra’, published and first performed after his death in January 1957 by Kathleen Long at a memorial concert. Arguably, his supreme masterpiece, that certainly made his reputation, was the cantata ‘Dies Natalis’. He died of Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1956, having never been in good health.

2. Henry Purcell Sound the Trumpet Alison Balson, Trumpet; Iestyn Davies, counter- tenor; English Consort, Trevor Pinnock conductor

Notes: Born 1659, Westminster, London; died 1695. Henry was born into a very musical family. His legacy, from a tragically short life, was a uniquely English form of the ‘baroque’ style of music and he deserves to be regarded as one of the greatest of English composers. It was not until the 20th century that English-born composers approached his fame. His first identified composition is an ode for the King’s birthday in 1670. He later succeeded Dr John Blow as organist at Westminster Abbey. He wrote music for many plays and the ‘chamber opera’ Dido and Aeneas as well as a host of sacred choral and ceremonial works. The cause of his death at the early age of 36 is unknown but some think might have been tuberculosis.

3. Peter Maxwell Davies Farewell to Stromness Composer/pianist Peter Maxwell Davies

Notes: Born Salford, 1934; died 2016 in Orkney. At the age of four, having been taken to see The Gondoliers, he is reputed to have told his parents that he was going to be a composer. Aged fourteen he submitted a composition called ‘Blue Ice’ to the radio programme ‘Children’s Hour’, which effectively started his career. He studied at Manchester University and the Royal Northern College of Music. In 1959 he became Director of Music at Cirencester Grammar School. This was followed by periods in the USA and Australia. In 1966 he moved to Orkney and later founded the St Magnus Festival of Arts in 1977. He held conductorships of many international orchestras and received many honours, culminating in a knighthood in 1987. His output was wide, both in numbers of compositions and styles – symphonies, concertos, string quartets, operas as well as lighter orchestral works. Orkney had a great influence as demonstrated by the haunting ‘Farewell to Stromness’, which was composed as a protest against a uranium mine development in Orkney, for which planning permission was subsequently refused.

Mike: 1. Thomas Tallis Suscipe Quaeso The Sixteen, Harry Christophers, director

Notes: Little is known of his childhood; his first known appointment was in 1532 as organist at Dover Priory. Various appointments as organist and composer followed at religious establishments including Canterbury Cathedral. He lived through the reigns of 4 monarchs, whose changing religious affinities caused him to watch his step! He has a primary place in English choral music and is regarded as one of England’s greatest composers.

2. Alexander Borodin String quartet in D major, mvt 3. The Borodin String Quartet

Notes: Borodin was born in 1833 in St Petersburg, Russia and died in 1887. He was well educated and studied science and medicine in St Petersburg, later becoming professor of chemistry there. Better known today as one of Russia’s most tuneful composers, music was essentially only a hobby. He became friendly with a group of Russian composers, including Rimsky Korsakov, who were developing with a distinctly Russian style. He is perhaps best known for his opera ‘Prince Igor’ and the dance music associated with it but also wrote 3 symphonies, many orchestral pieces and chamber music. The theme of this third movement, which also featured in The Palovtsian Dances, was later used in the song ‘Stranger in Paradise’ in the American musical ‘Kismet’ (1953).

3. Giochino Rossini Petite Messe Solonelle: Cum Sanctu Spiritu Chorus and Academy of St Martin’s-in-The Fields, Neville Marriner, conductor.

Notes: Born into a musical family in 1792 in Pesaro, Italy; died in 1868. A precocious composer of 39 operas, his first was ‘La Cambiale di Matrimonio’ at the age of 18. He is perhaps best known for ‘The Barber of Seville’, ‘An Italian Girl in Algiers’ and ‘The thieving Magpie’. His fame as an opera composer tends to outweigh his other compositions that include several sacred pieces, chamber and piano music. The ‘Petite Messe Solonelle’ is neither ‘petite’ nor ‘solonelle’ and the composer’s operatic background is much evident in this setting of the mass.