Music on Thursdays
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Thursday
27th July 2023
12.30 lunchtime
Gwyn Owen
trumpet, flugelhorn
Bernard Robertson
piano
Programme
Joseph Jean-Baptiste Laurent Arban (1825-1889)
Fantasie Brilliante (1861)
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Trumpet Concerto in Eb major / Concerto per il Clarino, Hob VIIe/1
i Allegro (sonata)
ii Andante
III Allegro (rondo)
Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Escualo Shark
Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre (1901–1999)
1st Marquess of the Gardens of Aranjuez
Piano solo, from Cuatro Piezas (1936-1938)
1 Calaseras
Concierto de Aranjuez (1939)
Piano solo
Pastoral (1926)
*Nathan Hudson (b1992)
Still Life (flugelhorn & piano, written for Lucas Balslov, 2015)
Alexander Fyodorovich Goedicke (1877-1957)
Concert Étude in G minor for trumpet & piano, Op 49 (1948)
Concert duration approx: 55 minutes
Please donate to help fund these concerts at: cafdonate.cafonline.org/14455
*Composer's note from Nathan Hudson:
Hey Gwyn, Thank you for sharing my music and having an interest in learning some more about it. Still Life is one of those pieces that meant more to me than I realized at the time. When I wrote Still Life I was in the first year of my graduate studies and being musically pulled in so many directions while being surrounded by a more diverse and varied palette of music than I had ever experienced before.
I had recently finished my first piece since moving to New York, and while the feedback I was receiving was all positive, the music somehow felt disingenuous. Still Life was my response... I took a single idea (first heard in the piano), and decided to focus on this gesture, move it downward throughout the work, and let the flugelhorn come naturally from the resonance, using pitches and passages that just feel *good* on the flugelhorn (I'm a trumpet player myself), thinking about shape, almost like brush strokes coming from a painter.
I mentioned that this music meant more to me than I realized, and that is because since this work, my music has been *broadly* characterized by a few tenets: Non-syncopated melodic writing, influence from hymnody and a focus on the minutiae of gestures and motives, and allowing the details to dictate things like form, flow and structure.
Hey Gwyn, Thank you for sharing my music and having an interest in learning some more about it. Still Life is one of those pieces that meant more to me than I realized at the time. When I wrote Still Life I was in the first year of my graduate studies and being musically pulled in so many directions while being surrounded by a more diverse and varied palette of music than I had ever experienced before.
I had recently finished my first piece since moving to New York, and while the feedback I was receiving was all positive, the music somehow felt disingenuous. Still Life was my response... I took a single idea (first heard in the piano), and decided to focus on this gesture, move it downward throughout the work, and let the flugelhorn come naturally from the resonance, using pitches and passages that just feel *good* on the flugelhorn (I'm a trumpet player myself), thinking about shape, almost like brush strokes coming from a painter.
I mentioned that this music meant more to me than I realized, and that is because since this work, my music has been *broadly* characterized by a few tenets: Non-syncopated melodic writing, influence from hymnody and a focus on the minutiae of gestures and motives, and allowing the details to dictate things like form, flow and structure.
Gwyn Owen
Originally from Bangor, North Wales, Gwyn Owen started playing the cornet at the age of eight. He grew up playing in the local brass band tradition with the Menai Bridge and Beaumaris Bands, the Gwynedd & Môn County Youth Ensembles, and the North Wales Youth Orchestra, later joining and becoming principal of both the National Youth Brass Band of Wales and National Youth Orchestra of Wales.
Following five years of study at the Royal Academy of Music in London, he then joined the Southbank Sinfonia for its 2017 orchestra academy course, and since then has embarked on a varied freelance career. He has played with many of the UK’s leading orchestras including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Opera, Ulster Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Gwyn has recently finished a run of opera for the past two months at Garsington Opera with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
He is currently trialling for positions with the Aurora Orchestra (who will perform a memorised Rite of Spring at the Proms on Saturday 2nd September this year!) and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Aside from orchestral playing, Gwyn is often in demand as a soloist and won Brass Solo competitions on several occasions at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, culminating in 2016 when he was awarded the Eisteddfod’s Blue Riband Instrumental Scholarship Prize for the best instrumentalist in all competitions.
Gwyn is also a member of Band Pres Llareggub, a hip-hop inspired brass group who have enjoyed national Welsh media coverage, an unforgettable televised trip to New Orleans in 2019, and featured (for about 30 seconds!) in the 2020 film Dream Horse.
Following five years of study at the Royal Academy of Music in London, he then joined the Southbank Sinfonia for its 2017 orchestra academy course, and since then has embarked on a varied freelance career. He has played with many of the UK’s leading orchestras including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Opera, Ulster Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Gwyn has recently finished a run of opera for the past two months at Garsington Opera with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
He is currently trialling for positions with the Aurora Orchestra (who will perform a memorised Rite of Spring at the Proms on Saturday 2nd September this year!) and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Aside from orchestral playing, Gwyn is often in demand as a soloist and won Brass Solo competitions on several occasions at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, culminating in 2016 when he was awarded the Eisteddfod’s Blue Riband Instrumental Scholarship Prize for the best instrumentalist in all competitions.
Gwyn is also a member of Band Pres Llareggub, a hip-hop inspired brass group who have enjoyed national Welsh media coverage, an unforgettable televised trip to New Orleans in 2019, and featured (for about 30 seconds!) in the 2020 film Dream Horse.
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Bernard Robertson
Bernard Robertson enjoys an exceptionally varied career at the highest musical levels.
In the world of opera, he’s been assistant conductor/coach/continuo player (sometimes all three!) for productions at Glyndebourne, Covent Garden, the Bolshoi, Bavarian State Opera, and numerous other major European houses. In particular, he enjoys a long-standing connection with Madrid’s Teatro Real, Spain’s national opera.
He’s played principal keyboard (piano, celesta, organ….) and continuo with all
the London orchestras & virtually every British orchestra, with broadcasts, CDs, and concerts throughout the UK (including numerous appearances at the Proms), Europe and the USA. He’s also been continuo player on harpsichord and organ with many major period-instrument ensembles: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music, Les Talens Lyriques, Seville Baroque Orchestra….
He’s played keyboards in West End musicals and on tour, and at Sadler’s Wells for several of Matthew Bourne’s dance productions, notably Edward Scissorhands and The Red Shoes, as well as for productions featuring Carlos Acosta, the Pet Shop Boys, and major visiting dance companies.
His film credits include The Duchess and Sweeney Todd.
In the world of opera, he’s been assistant conductor/coach/continuo player (sometimes all three!) for productions at Glyndebourne, Covent Garden, the Bolshoi, Bavarian State Opera, and numerous other major European houses. In particular, he enjoys a long-standing connection with Madrid’s Teatro Real, Spain’s national opera.
He’s played principal keyboard (piano, celesta, organ….) and continuo with all
the London orchestras & virtually every British orchestra, with broadcasts, CDs, and concerts throughout the UK (including numerous appearances at the Proms), Europe and the USA. He’s also been continuo player on harpsichord and organ with many major period-instrument ensembles: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music, Les Talens Lyriques, Seville Baroque Orchestra….
He’s played keyboards in West End musicals and on tour, and at Sadler’s Wells for several of Matthew Bourne’s dance productions, notably Edward Scissorhands and The Red Shoes, as well as for productions featuring Carlos Acosta, the Pet Shop Boys, and major visiting dance companies.
His film credits include The Duchess and Sweeney Todd.
Recordings of the works in today's concert
Joseph Jean-Baptiste Laurent Arban (1825-1889)
Fantasie Brilliante (1861) [7:25]
We open gently with this Fantasy by a French composers well-known as a pioneer of valve trumpet technique. If you are wondering whether the piece is challenging for the player, perhaps the fact is the audition piece to enter the Korea National University of Arts gives a hint! We hear Swiss cornet player and tutor Immanuel Richter, accompanied by Patricia Ulrich:
Fantasie Brilliante (1861) [7:25]
We open gently with this Fantasy by a French composers well-known as a pioneer of valve trumpet technique. If you are wondering whether the piece is challenging for the player, perhaps the fact is the audition piece to enter the Korea National University of Arts gives a hint! We hear Swiss cornet player and tutor Immanuel Richter, accompanied by Patricia Ulrich:
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Trumpet Concerto in Eb major / Concerto per il Clarino, Hob VIIe/1
i Allegro (sonata) • ii Andante • iii Allegro (rondo) [14:45]
You may be surprised to learn that our choice for the Haydn concerto is Wynton Marsalis, with the Boston Pops Orchestra, conducted by John Williams. This is how he won Grammys for both Jazz and Classical performance:
Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Escualo Shark [3:45]
There is certainly a sense of jeopardy in this short piece. We shall hear the violin and accordion of Duo Karolina Mikołajczyk & Iwo Jedynecki:
Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre (1901–1999)
1st Marquess of the Gardens of Aranjuez
Piano solo
from Cuatro Piezas (1936-1938) [3:35]
1 Caleseras - Homenaje a Chueca (Spanish author, Federico Chueca)
Artur Pizarro performs all four of the piezas here. Maybe the score will help you decide when to move on, or perhaps you will choose to listen to the complete performance:
Joaquín Rodrigo
Concierto de Aranjuez (1939) [4:50]
No excuses needed here as the excellent acting of Pete Postlethwaite is matched by superb playing from the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, with flugelhorn solo by Paul Hughes. Let us enjoy this deservedly celebrated scene from the 1996 British film Brassed Off:
Joaquín Rodrigo
Piano solo
Pastoral (1926) [2:05]
It feels like a real honour to listen to the composer playing his own piece. Yes this is Rodrigo himself:
Nathan Hudson (b1992)
Still Life (flugelhorn & piano, written for Lucas Balslov, 2015) [4:40]
Another work that begins quite gently, Nathan Hudson's Still Life is performed here by John-Thomas Burson, flugelhorn, with Irene Kim, piano:
Alexander Fyodorovich Goedicke (1977-1957)
Concert Étude in G minor for trumpet & piano, Op 49 (1948) [3:20]
We have heard from UniBrass before. It is the brass band congress and competition for British University bands. In this recording we hear the University of Nottingham Brass Band in 2015. The UoN Brass Band is part of the completely non-auditioned Blowsoc of the university, which has sections for all types of wind instruments. The flugel soloist is Claire Taylor:
Previous concert
20 July 2023 - Lucent Quartet (RAM, 2 Haydn string quartets) - click here
Next concert
3 August 2023 - XinRu Chen, piano - click here
