Baroque to Modern WTC 1: Prelude No. 24 in B minor, BWV 869, arranged for string quartet (2006) with the first six bars augmented with a viola part by Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), now completed by Louis Andriessen (1939-2021) What better way to start this slightly strange concert than with this strange piece made even stranger by our arrangement of it? Stravinsky on his deathbed began composing a fourth voice for Bach’s sombre and heartfelt prelude. One hopes this task was not on his bucket list as he only managed to complete six bars before he was taken from this world. Louis Andriessen took up where Stravinsky left off. Sadly, Louis also left us in 2021. RIP to one of the most unique composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. In our version, the cello takes the more recently composed part which leaves the original 3 voices to be executed on the marimba. Something which, judging by Nozomi’s continuing protestations, is no mean feat. Please appreciate her suffering for your entertainment. (Dan Curro)
Les barricades mysterieuses (1717) by François Couperin (1668-1733) The title translates from the French as “the mysterious barricades”. The piece comes from the Sixieme Order of François Couperin’s Pieces Pour Clavecin, published in 1716-1717, a suite for harpsichord.
Dichterliebe (1840) by Robert Schumann “A Poet’s Love” is the best-known song cycle by Robert Schumann. The texts for the 16 songs come from the Lyrisches intermezzo by Heinrich Heine, written in 1822-23 and published as part of Heine’s Das Buch der Lieder. We are going to perform selected 4 movements today. 1. Im wunderschonen Monat Mai (“In beautiful May, when the buds sprang, love sprang up in my heart: in beautiful May, wen the birds all sang, I told you my desire and longing.”) – 3. Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne (“I used to love the rose, lily, dove and sun, joyfully: now I love only the little, the fine, the pure, the One: you yourself are the source of them all.”) 10. Hor ich das Liedchen klingen (“When I hear that song which my love once sang, my breast bursts with wild affliction. Dark longing drives me to the forest hills, where my too-great woe pours out in tears.”) 12. Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen (“On a sunny summer morning I went out into the garden: the flowers were talking and whispering, but I was silent. They looked at me with pity, and said, ‘Don’t be cruel to our sister, you sad, death-pale man.”)
Cello Suite No.4 Allemande (1717-1723) by J.S Bach (1685-1750) Playing solo Bach is intimidating but it can be avoided! With Robert Schumann’s additional piano accompaniment for the solo cello suites, you’ll never have to play solo again! The Bach you need but wrapped in a protective coating of piano harmonisation. Unfortunately, three years after Robert’s death when Clara Schumann sent the manuscript copy of the arrangements to friend and violin titan of the 19th century, Joseph Joachim, this is what he wrote to her: “I must truly seriously warn you not to have these published. Every day I
look up to his (Schumann’s) music with ever greater admiration and thankfulness for such magnificence. But precisely because the laurels on the wreath of his immortality with which posterity has crowned him are still so fresh and dense, we should be cautious not to be so forbearing as to add a withering leaf to it, but rather conceal it from the gaze of the musical world as an act of solicitous love.” And so the arrangements remain mostly unpublished and really difficult to get a copy of. So no marimba accompaniment this evening, sadly. An allemande is a 17th and 18th century French court dance derived from a German folk dance. There will be no demonstration of this in this evening’s performance. (Dan Curro)
Mariel (1999/2008) by Osvaldo Golijov (1960-) This piece was written for and premiered by Maya Beiderbecke and Steve Schick with memory of Golijov’s friend Mariel Stubrin. Composer notes “I wrote the original version of this piece in memory of my friend Mariel Stubrin. I attempted to capture that short instant before grief, in echo one learns of the sudden death of a friend who was full of life: a single moment frozen forever in one’s memory and which reverberates through the piece, among the waves and echoes of the Brazilian music that Mariel loved. Seven years later I orchestrated the piece and let the melodies and harmonies lead the music to a wider range of emotion: the journey is now different. “
Shugorei (2022 world premier) for cello and marimba by Thomas Green (1976-) Formed in 2019, Shugorei (meaning Guardian Spirit) is a profoundly adventurous expedition through the realms of live percussion and electronics, performed by Nozomi Omote and Thomas Green. The sonic collision of diverse influences, broadly IDM and classical music, results in unique and distinctly vivacious experience. Shugorei’s first album was released in 2021, and included the song called Shugorei, featuring Chihiro Kasagi. Thomas Green agreed to arrange Shugorei for cello and marimba for this concert. He subtitled it “you owe me sardines” (Thomas Green often accepts commission payments in the form of tinned sardines and/or scotch whiskey, which, strictly speaking, is all he requires for basic survival). Shugorei lyrics (by Thomas Green, with quotes from The Tyger by William Blake) What could it be that I can see in the twilight I’m here alone, it’s only me and I didn’t believe in ghosts What could it be, it’s burning bright in the forests of the night I’m here alone, I had to come, though I didn’t believe in you, or me, or anyone Until I stood in this place, where the trees spoke my name, and a face, it’s fearful symmetry, emerged in the haze Could it be I can see my spirit animal Could it be we’ll be ok in the end when the old world’s over
Romanian Folk Dances (1915) by Bela Bartok (1881-1945) Bartok composed his Romanian Folk Dances in 1915 for solo piano, and reworked it for orchestra two years later. It is a set of six pieces based on folk tunes that would have originally been played on fiddle or fife (a fife is a small, high-pitched, transverse aerophone of Portuguese origin, that is similar to the piccolo.) 1. Bot tanc (Stick Dance) - inspired by a melody Bartok heard played by two gypsy violinists in a Transylvanian village 2. Braul (Sash Dance) - a traditional Romanian dance which uses a sash around the dancers’ waists 3. Topogo (In One Spot) - slow and haunting, it evokes a middle eastern flute over an open 5th drone 4. Bucsumi tanc (Dance from Bucsum) - a slow Romanian folk dance 5. Roman polka (Romanian Polka) - a quick dance
6. Aprozo (Fast Dance) - two distinct melodies played as one movement
Dan Curro studied the cello first with Helen Holt and later with Matthew Farrell, Roseanne Hunt and Howard Penny. Dan's musical interests are eclectic and his activities diverse. At the Queensland Conservatorium he studied contemporary improvisation under John Rogers and Ken Edie. He has recorded two albums with his contemporary vocal group, Plub and reviewers described him as a "star performer" for a concert he gave with avante-garde/ electronic musician Oxford Parker, in which he improvised on 6-string fretless bass guitar and completed Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System, projected onto a screen for the audience in approximately six minutes. He has also played baroque cello in many groups including the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and the Badinerie Players. In 2009, Dan performed in the Australian premiere of Louis Andriessen’s string quartet “Facing Death” at the Australian National Academy of Music. Since that time Dan has performed in many and varied musical configurations and situations, in an abundance of musical styles including baroque/classical, latin, jazz, hip hop, contemporary and what has become his main passion, the historically informed performance of 19th century western art music. Lately, Dan has been doing quite a bit of playing with Black Square Quartet, performing a lot of new music, written by local composers such as Thomas Green and Richard Grantham. Those guys are great, check them out. Also, check out Black Square Quartet on Youtube. Like, comment, subscribe and see you all in the next video. Peace.
Nozomi Omote Japanese born percussionist Nozomi Omote is a classically trained performer who plays various styles of music. She is also an active educator and composer. She has worked with professional orchestras and chamber groups such as the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, QLD Pops Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, Clocked Out, Speak Percussion, Southern Cross Soloists and Ensemble Trivium. Shugorei is her current passionate project; a duo, also featuring composer and electronic performer, Thomas Green. Shugorei creates a vast range of genres and sounds with acoustic percussion and electronics. https://shugorei.net She has performed at focus days for the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Texas as a member of percussion group Early Warning System in 2015. She has actively attended several percussion research symposiums including the Roots and Rhizomes at UCSD in 2007, the Australian Percussion Gathering in 2010 and 2016, and Transplanted Roots in 2017. Nozomi decided to move to Australia to seek further musical study after encountering her mentor Thomas O’Kelly in Japan. She currently holds a Master of Music Studies from Griffith University Queensland Conservatorium and a Bachelor of Education from Kanazawa University in Japan. She received the Hokuriku young performer prize and the Ishikawa prefecture new artist scholarship in 2004, and the Griffith Award for Academic Excellence in 2005. She has been under the tutelage of Prof. Vanessa Tomlinson and Thomas O’Kelly. She also has been mentored by Evelyn Glennie, Robert van Sice, Bogdan Bacanu, Fritz Hauzer, David Hewitt, David Jones and Mutsuko Taneya. Nozomi has taught at several institutions including the Percussion Department at the Queensland Conservatorium, Queensland College of Music, Just Percussion and Queensland Youth Orchestra. She has given masterclasses and workshops at primary and high schools around Brisbane, Melbourne University and University of QLD.