AUGUST 2017
Wednesday 9 . . . 1.15pm
Midweek Lunchtime Recital
"The Rose, and other flowers in 19th and 20th century Romantic Song."
Yvonne D'Arcy (Soprano) & Christine Tilley (Piano)
All the songs are about flowers.
There are songs in English, French and German by composers such as Mendelssohn, Strauss, Faure, Chausson and Frank Bridge and includes piano solos by Lindley Evans and Frank Bridge.
Admission by donation
Sunday 20 . . . 2.30pm
Four Hands Piano Recital
Wendy Hiscocks & Roy Howat (Piano)
Wednesday 9 . . . 1.15pm
Midweek Lunchtime Recital
"The Rose, and other flowers in 19th and 20th century Romantic Song."
Yvonne D'Arcy (Soprano) & Christine Tilley (Piano)
All the songs are about flowers.
There are songs in English, French and German by composers such as Mendelssohn, Strauss, Faure, Chausson and Frank Bridge and includes piano solos by Lindley Evans and Frank Bridge.
Admission by donation
Sunday 20 . . . 2.30pm
Four Hands Piano Recital
Wendy Hiscocks & Roy Howat (Piano)
Saturday 26 . . . 7.30pm
BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON
Australian Chamber Choir
Directed by Douglas Lawrence
‘By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept...’
The text of Psalm 137 depicts the grief of the Israelites captured and driven into Babylonia following the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in about 600 BCE. It is a cry of despair mixed with rage. The despair is not just personal - these were court musicians and singers, respected and admired, mourning the
destruction not only of their homes, but the home of their God, Solomon’s Temple. This the psalmist promises never to forget, and never to forgive.
Many poets and composers have taken this moving text as the starting point for their contemporary expression of the experience of loss, dislocation, and grief. Others have explored the misery inherent in losing one’s own culture, religion or identity, and being expected to perform for one’s captors. The great American anti-slavery campaigner Frederick Douglass compared the lament of these exiled musicians to the plight of American slaves on the Fourth of July. He asked how slaves could celebrate Independence Day in a country that held them captive and denied them independence.
Douglas Lawrence has developed a program in which several works explore these themes, including two newly commissioned works. As the program shows, courage and hope are always part of the story too. The Israelites returned and rebuilt the Temple, and those who did not return discovered that they didn’t have to
- they had taken their culture with them. The strength and optimism seen in so many refugees and asylum seekers reminds us of this, as does JS Bach in the program’s closing motet.
http://www.auschoir.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/By-the-Waters-of-Babylon-Program-notes.pdf
BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON
Australian Chamber Choir
Directed by Douglas Lawrence
‘By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept...’
The text of Psalm 137 depicts the grief of the Israelites captured and driven into Babylonia following the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in about 600 BCE. It is a cry of despair mixed with rage. The despair is not just personal - these were court musicians and singers, respected and admired, mourning the
destruction not only of their homes, but the home of their God, Solomon’s Temple. This the psalmist promises never to forget, and never to forgive.
Many poets and composers have taken this moving text as the starting point for their contemporary expression of the experience of loss, dislocation, and grief. Others have explored the misery inherent in losing one’s own culture, religion or identity, and being expected to perform for one’s captors. The great American anti-slavery campaigner Frederick Douglass compared the lament of these exiled musicians to the plight of American slaves on the Fourth of July. He asked how slaves could celebrate Independence Day in a country that held them captive and denied them independence.
Douglas Lawrence has developed a program in which several works explore these themes, including two newly commissioned works. As the program shows, courage and hope are always part of the story too. The Israelites returned and rebuilt the Temple, and those who did not return discovered that they didn’t have to
- they had taken their culture with them. The strength and optimism seen in so many refugees and asylum seekers reminds us of this, as does JS Bach in the program’s closing motet.
http://www.auschoir.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/By-the-Waters-of-Babylon-Program-notes.pdf
Scots pianist Roy Howat leads an international life and is well known in Australia, where he is regularly heard in concert and on Classic FM. Besides his concert life, he has published two influential books, Debussy in proportion and The Art of French piano music, as well as acclaimed editions of music by Debussy, Fauré and Chabrier. His numerous CDs include one of Chabrier piano solos and duos with Wendy Hiscocks. He and Wendy have performed as a duo since the 1980s. In the UK Roy holds posts at the Royal Academy of Music and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Australian composer-pianist Wendy Hiscocks studied in Sydney with Peter Sculthorpe before moving to London. Her music has been performed by major international artists including Roy Howat whose interpretations of her music have been broadcast on ABC radio during the course of this year. Championing Australian music has been a lifelong interest; she is particularly interested in the music of Arthur Benjamin, and is Artistic Director of CAM (Celebrating Australian Music), a yearly celebration of Australian music in the heart of London launching in 2017. Some of the duet items in this recital programme are arrangements Wendy has written for performances with Roy and her solo piano music has been recently praised in International Piano as a ‘rare and wonderful phenomenon: memorable contemporary piano music that is original while maintaining a broad debt to traditional tonality...Hiscocks has something worth communicating’.
Program:
Joyeuse Marche (duet) . . . Emmanuel Chabrier
Four Rustic Dances (duet) . . . Wendy Hiscocks
East Ukranian Dance Tune; Kolo; Tarantella; Kruhové Tance
Lanterns on Lake Illawarra (solo by Wendy) . . . Wendy Hiscocks
Elegaic Mazurka (solo by Wendy) . . . Arthur Benjamin
Etude in E op. 10/3 (Roy solo) . . . Frederick Chopin
Waltz in A-flat op. 42 . . . Frederick Chopin
Danse Macabre (duet) . . . Camille Saint-Saëns arr. Hiscocks
***Interval***
Insect Oddities (duet) . . . Billy Mayerl arr. Hiscocks
Wedding of an Ant; Ladybird Lullaby; Praying Mantis: Beetle in the Bottle.
‘Clair de lune’ (Roy solo) . . . Claude Debussy
‘À la manière de Borodine’ (Roy solo). . . Maurice Ravel
À la manière de Chabrier’ (Roy solo) . . . Maurice Ravel
Petite Suite . . . Claude Debussy
En Bateau ; Cortège ; Menuet ; Ballet
Admission: $30/$25
Joyeuse Marche (duet) . . . Emmanuel Chabrier
Four Rustic Dances (duet) . . . Wendy Hiscocks
East Ukranian Dance Tune; Kolo; Tarantella; Kruhové Tance
Lanterns on Lake Illawarra (solo by Wendy) . . . Wendy Hiscocks
Elegaic Mazurka (solo by Wendy) . . . Arthur Benjamin
Etude in E op. 10/3 (Roy solo) . . . Frederick Chopin
Waltz in A-flat op. 42 . . . Frederick Chopin
Danse Macabre (duet) . . . Camille Saint-Saëns arr. Hiscocks
***Interval***
Insect Oddities (duet) . . . Billy Mayerl arr. Hiscocks
Wedding of an Ant; Ladybird Lullaby; Praying Mantis: Beetle in the Bottle.
‘Clair de lune’ (Roy solo) . . . Claude Debussy
‘À la manière de Borodine’ (Roy solo). . . Maurice Ravel
À la manière de Chabrier’ (Roy solo) . . . Maurice Ravel
Petite Suite . . . Claude Debussy
En Bateau ; Cortège ; Menuet ; Ballet
Admission: $30/$25
Wednesday 23 . . . 1.15pm
Midweek Lunchtime Recital
Allan Beavis (Organ)
Program
Prelude & Fugue in D major . . . J S Bach
Pastorale . . . Cesar Franck
Chorale No.3 . . . Cesar Franck
Midweek Lunchtime Recital
Allan Beavis (Organ)
Program
Prelude & Fugue in D major . . . J S Bach
Pastorale . . . Cesar Franck
Chorale No.3 . . . Cesar Franck