NZFC Gala Concert

Aurora Centre

7^th July 2002  8.00pm

Raukatauri by Gillian Whitehead was written to feature Richard Nunns at the gala opening concert of the National Flute Association’s 1999 convention in Atlana, attended by about 3000 flautists. This piece is about Hine Raukatauri, the Maori Goddess of Flute music. In this composition the voices of her children intertwine with western flutes. The text to finish the piece is taken from Hirini Melbourne’s Taku Putorino:

Whakarongo ki ngâ uni o Hine Raukatauri

Te Puhi o te tangi

Hatohato makemake

O ngâ moteatea

Piccolo, flute and alto flute – Alexa Still; Traditional Maori instruments – Richard Nunns

Allegro Moderato

Scherzo allegro vivace

Andante espressivo-Schafers Klarger

Finale-Allegro

Weber’s Trio in G minor for piano, flute and cello, Op. 63, was completed in 1819. All three instruments have an equal share in the construction of the first movement, Allegro moderato, evoking a strong romantic idiom through long, melodic lines. The Andante espressivo is the central movement of the work and its programmatic title, Schäfers Klage, is taken from a Goethe poem of the same name. The mood of this movement is one of sorrow and melancholy while the theme suggests elements of the folksongs In einem kuhlen Grunde and Dort droben auf jenem Berge. The concluding Allegro finale contrasts to this with it’s playful style, yet written in an expressive idiom.

Flute – Uwe Grodd; Cello – Edith Salzmann; Piano – Iola Shelley

Allegro vivace

Divertissement

Finale

This sextet was composed between 1932 and 1939, and in Poulenc's words it is 'a homage to the wind instruments which I have loved from the moment I began composing.' The piece embodies elements of entertainment intertwined with melodies of human sentiment and pathos, as do all of his individual wind sonatas.

Diedre relates the story of the Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet in rehearsal with Poulenc himself. Eagerly awaiting the revelations about the score promised by his bulging briefcase, they were surprised and disappointed when the great man opened said case and withdrew a large pair of bedroom slippers. In answer to their enthusiastic questions about interpretation, he said, “Do whatever you like!” This advice is being followed meticulously in tonight’s performance. 

Flute – Anthony Ferner; Oboe – Ken Hutchings; Clarinet – Gretchen Dunsmore; Bassoon – Selena Orwin; Horn – David Cox; Piano – Diedre Irons

Oliver Knussen is one of Britain’s foremost composers and is currently Music Director of the London Sinfonietta. Dithryramb is from Three Encores for a Flautist and was written in 1970. There are two options for its performance, firstly as a solo for piccolo, and secondly as a game for two or more flautists. The rules of the game are as follows:

As soon as all the players are on stage they start, without consultation over tempo. If any player gets either

a)      lost as to the others’ positions

b)     out of sync

c)      ignores a dynamic

d)     plays a wrong note

he/she must stop for 1 second and go back to the beginning. If a player gets more than two full sections behind another player he/she must run around the other players three times, as fast as possible, then leave the stage. The player to end first is the winner.

Piccolo/Flute – Nancy Luther-Jara; Flutes – Meg Sterling, Bridget Douglas, Kirsten Eade

The Watertable was written for Bridget Douglas and was commissioned by the Christchurch Branch of the New Zealand Flute Society for the premiere performance at the NZFS 6^th New Zealand Flute Convention in July 2002.  The work was written with the assistance of Creative New Zealand. 

Alto and Bass Flute – Bridget Douglas

 Interval 

Allegro

Adagio

Rondeau

This glorious chamber work was written on Christmas Day, 1777 and was composed reluctantly as part of a commission for a Dutchman named De Jean. The flute establishes itself throughout the robust Allegro as being the dominant instrument within the quartet, but during the Adagio, all the instruments combine to create a breathtaking sense of melancholy in B minor. The quartet is concluded with a charming rondo movement.

Flute – Paul Edmund-Davies; Violin- Iryna Ionenko; Viola – Rachel Thompson; Violincello – Edith Salzmann

Written for a concert in the foyer of the Auckland Museum, Little Fantasy is very reliant on resonant acoustics. It has been designed so that the Marimba player is the only one in view to the audience, while the flute and horn players are in completely separate parts of the venue, unable to see one another. This piece is simply a chance to enjoy the beautiful sounds that these instruments make in such a vibrant setting.

Flute – Margo Askin; Horn – David Cox; Marimba – Roanna Cooper

Pastorale - Lento, dolce rubato

Interlude – Tempo di minuetto

Finale – Allegro moderato ma risoluto

This work was written in 1916 and is one of three completed sonatas of a planned six sonata set. Originally scored for flute, oboe and harp, Debussy eventually decided on the viola as a more successful intermediary between the harp and flute. It is one of the great twentieth century chamber music pieces in the flute repetoire.

Flute – Anthony Ferner; Viola – Anatoli Zelinsky; Harp – Helen Webby

This cabaret song, entitled Nightwanderer, was composed by Schoenberg in 1901 while he was musical director of the Uberbrettl  theatre in Berlin. The text is by Gustav Falke, a poet from Hamburg.

The music is humorous, and exploits unusual harmonic progressions and contrapuntal exchanges between the instruments of a typical cabaret ensemble, which parodies the pseudo-miltary nature of the poem.

Drummer let your snare drum rumble,

Jolly trumpeter blast it out,

So they leap out of their beds, Oh,

Crying: Murder, Michel, help!

Toot and troom, toot and troom,

Nightcaps flying all around.

So I wander through the brightest,

Moonlight brightest alleys, ho,

Gay between two pretty damsels,

Washer woman and ironing girl:

Left, Luischen, right Marie,

And ahead the music men.

Are we near this certain house, that

I have pointed out to you,

If you please, oh, take a break now,

And be silent as the grave!

Sh! and Hm!, Sh! and Hm!

Carefully around this house.

My fierce, heavy Henrietta

Lives here in this little house,

If we trumpet her from bed now,

Surely she'll scratch out our eyes.

Sh! and Hm!, Sh! and Hm!

Carefully around this house.

Merry again, oh good musicians!

Danger threatens now no more;

Drum out all the aged aunties

To their windows once again.

Toot and troom, toot and troom,

Nightcaps flying all around

Yes, I wander through the brightest,

Moonlight brightest alleys, ho,

Gay between two pretty damsels,

Washer woman and ironing girl:

Left Luischen, right Marie,

And ahead the music men.

Soprano – Helen Charlton; Piccolo – Nancy Luther-Jara; Trumpet – Carl Sakofsky; Side drum – Roanna Cooper; Piano- Iola Shelley

First performed in 1906, Ravel's Introduction and Allegro has been a favourite in the chamber music repetoire ever since. The seven instruments blend seamlessly as the harp doubles as both a melodic instrument and and it is used as a vehicle to lighten the overall texture, creating a magical, impressionistic effect.

Flute – James Kortum; Clarinet – Gretchen Dunsmore; Harp – Helen Webby; Violins – Oleg Kotrovich, Iryna Ionenko; Viola – Rachel Thompson; Violoncello – Galina Zelinskaya