Concerts
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Friday 3 November
Raffles Hotel - Le Royal
7pm Concert FESTIVE OPENING
Works by Mozart & Beethoven

Saturday 4 November
Raffles Hotel - Le Royal
7pm Concert SOIRÉE
French Masters
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Saturday 4 November
Raffles Hotel - Le Royal
7pm Concert SOIRÉE
French Master

SOIRÉE
UN PARCOURS MUSICAL

Wind&Strings
Pongpat Pongpradit/guitar
Anton Iselhardt/flute

Remarks

‘Un Parcours Musical’ is a panorama of 100 years of French music development through the 20th century, characterized by diverse and distinctive styles. The program leads from works of the celebrated French composers Ravel and Debussy with their masterpieces of impressionism, to further musical developments such as modernism, neo-classicism and contemporary music.


Jaques Ibert (1890-1962)

Histories (excerpts)

La meneuse de tortures d’or (the leader of the golden turtles)
Le petit âne blanc (the small white donkey)
La cage de cristal (the crystal cage)

 

Jacques Ibert studied at the Paris Conservatoire before embarking upon a successful composing career. Histoires increased his popularity when it was published in the mid-1920s and Marcel Moyse (1889-1984), a prominent French flautist, arranged the compilation for Flute and Piano in 1933 to great acclaim.

Histoires for Flute and Piano is made up of six movements: 1) The Leader of the Gold Turtles, 2) The Little White Donkey, 3) In the Sad House, 4) The Crystal Cage, 5) The Market of Fresh Water, and 6) The Procession of Balkis. Containing a variety of musical aspects and techniques, Moyse's arrangement for Flute and Piano of Ibert's Histoires is an exciting addition to the intermediate level flautist's repertoire.



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Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Vocalise-étude en forme de Habanera /1907

The success of Emmanuel Chabrier’s piece ‘España’ (1883) established a trend for music by French composers in Spanish style. In 1907 Maurice Ravel composed his opera ‘L’Heure espagnole’, and at the same time created his vocalise-étude,‘Pièce en forme de habañera’.



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Albert Roussel (1869-193)

Krishna / 1924
(transcription by Pongpat Ponpradit)

“Krishna” is the third movement of ‘Joueurs de flûte, Op. 27’, a set of four pieces for flute and piano by the French composer Albert Roussel. The composer uses a typical North Indian music scale 'Raga Shri' from the region, that he visited in 1909.



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Laurent Boutros 1964*

Amasia / 2000

While still young, Laurent Boutros was attracted to music from oral traditions, and became interested in following music back to its origins. In this search, Boutros counts Armenian and Caucasian traditional music among his passionate interests. As a guitarist, he enjoys playing with the Iranian percussionist Bijane Chemirani and the Indian musician Ikram Khan.



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Jean Françaix (1912-1997)

Sonata / 1984

Allegro moderato
Larghetto
Tempo di minuetto
Saltarella

Jean Françaix was a French neoclassical composer. He wrote over 200 pieces in a broad variety of styles. His ‘Sonata for Flute and Piano’ is one of his last works. This virtuosic and highly demanding composition is a must for all lovers of his sophisticated style.



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Manuel De Falla (1876-1946)

Homenaje, pour le tombeau de Debussy / 1920
Guitar solo

Manuel de Falla is one of the most notable Spanish composers of his generation. He moved to Paris in 1907, where he remained for seven years. There he met a number of composers who had an influence on his style, including Ravel and Debussy as well as Igor Stravinsky. ‘Homenaje, pour le tombeau de Claude Debussy’ stands among the guitar masterpieces of the twentieth century. It is Falla’s only work for guitar.



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Claude Debussy(1862-1918)

Le petite berger/ 1906
(transcription by Pongpat Ponpradit)

Debussy composed Children's Corner between 1906 and 1908. He dedicated the suite to his daughter, Claude-Emma (known as "Chou-Chou")

Le petite berger ("The Little Shepherd") No 5 from the suite, depicts a shepherd with his flute. There are three solos and three commentaries following them. The first solo has a breath mark at the end. This piece has different modes in it and uses dissonances, which resolve into tonality.



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Roland Dyens

Fucco (Libra Sonatine) / 1986
(guitar solo )

Roland Dyens was born in Tunisia and lived most of his life in Paris. As a performer, Dyens was known for improvisation. Widely played is the more extended ‘Libra Sonatine’ written in three movements: "India", "Largo" and finally "Fuoco” in which the unrestrained rhythms depict a veritable incarnation of his return to life after a serious illness.



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Eugène Bozza (1905-1991)

Trois pièces / 1977

Capriccioso fantastic
Calme
Allegro vivo

Eugène Bozza remains one of the most prolific French composers for wind instruments, despite being a violinist himself. Bozza's ‘3 pieces for flute and guitar’, influenced by the Spanish trend in France in his days, is a virtuosic work, displaying advanced features including complex rhythms, chromatics, a wide range and unique articulations.