February 1st 2019
Unperturbed by the snowy weather, this concert saw almost every year of the School represented. David Chen (Exh. Mus) opened the concert with a fluid performance of Debussy’s ‘Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum’, written to open his Children’s Corner suite of piano miniatures. A gentle parody of the academic texts of musical study, David’s performance contained no such fustiness, deftly contrasting the bubbling arpeggiaic accompaniment with the flowing legato melodies above. A similarly lithe performance was given by Hector Fiennes, of a setting by Poulenc of a surrealist poem simply entitled ‘C.’. Poulenc’s densely colourful harmony was complemented by Hector’s light and delicate tone across what for many singers would be a challenging vocal range. In thorough contrast, Ranco Liu (Sch. Mus ATCL) showcased a thoroughly energetic piece of contemporary marimba repertoire by Keiko Abe utilising a complex technique requiring the manipulation of four mallets at once.
The final two piece pieces, while from thoroughly incongruous styles, both gave an opportunity for the performers to show off their rhythmic playing. George Jefferson’s (Sch. Mus) presentation of the final rondo movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 9 brought out the dance-like features of the undulating triplet-figure accompaniment, and Jamie Rawlings’ brought his skills as a jazz pianist to the fore with in Kallmeyer’s ‘Six-Eight-Prelude’, in which the groups are alternately used to evoke a jazzy triplet swing or a lilting piano waltz.
