Virtuosi Tasmania Inc

Matthew Goddard and Tracey Patten our October Concert Percussionists.

TSO percussionists, husband and wife team, Matt Goddard and Tracy Patten presented an exciting concert of percussion music in their concerts for Virtuosi Tasmania in October.

Matt has been Principal Tympanist in the Tasmanian Symphony for a number of years and his wife, Tracy, who maintains a busy schedule performing and teaching, often comes in to play casually with the orchestra. Tracy recently acquired a new five octave marimba. This larger instrument has enabled the duo to expand its repertoire.

Anders Koppel: Toccata for Vibraphone and Marimba

Written in 1990 for the Safri Duo, Danish composer Anders Koppel's Toccata is a rhythmically driving rondo mixing many music styles from tango to waltz, some quiet reflection and climaxing with a fugue.

Astor Piazzolla: Histoire du Tango

Originally written for flute and guitar and rearranged for marimba and vibraphone by Mattra, Histoire du Tango is a four movement work tracing the evolution of tango music in Buenos Aires through the 20th century.

Paul Sarcich: Sierra-nade, Elegy for George and A Fifth of Scotch from Four Duets for One Marimba

Two light hearted pieces bookend the Elegy, which showcases the resonant and sonorous qualities of the marimba.

Chick Corea: Children's Songs

Written in 1984 for the piano, Corea has performed these pieces in a variety of musical settings, notably with jazz vibraphone player Gary Burton. Matt and Tracey will perform a selection that they have arranged for the vibraphone/marimba combination.

Steve Reich arr Mattra: Clapping Music

Reich composed this seminal work in 1972 and is an example of the "phasing music"for which he is well known. Both players clap identical rhythmic patterns, with one player moving out of synch with the other until eventually, all going well, it comes back together. Mattra' most requested piece!

The five octave marimba with Matthew Goddard and Tracey Patten having a quick practice before the concert at Home Hill Winery.

1. Anders Koppel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Koppel
2. Astor Piazzolla http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astor_Piazzolla
3. Paul Sarcich http://www.paulsarcich.com/
4. Chick Corea http://www.chickcorea.com/
5. Steve Reich http://www.stevereich.com/

Schubert's beautiful Arpeggione Sonata was the main work on the program of Virtuosi Tasmania's August series. In fact it was but one part of a whole concert featuring the viola.

Janet Rutherford, Principal Viola of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, was accompanied by Lynette Smith in a fascinating collection of music for viola and piano. As well as the very beautiful Appegione Sonata, Schumanns mysterious 'Märchenbilder' (Fairy Tales), Ástor Piazzolle's 'Le Grand Tango' and 'Waltz for Betz' by contemporary Canadian composer James Grant completed the program.

Janet Rutherford, viola and Lynette Smith, Piano. Photograph Courtesy The Mercury, Hobart

Franz Schubert: (1797-1828) Sonata in A minor for Arpeggione and Piano, D. 821
Written in Vienna in November 1824, the sonata is the only substantial composition for the arpeggione (which was essentially a bowed guitar) that remains extant. It belongs to the same period as the Death and the Maiden Quartet, when Schubert was suffering from the advanced stages of syphilis and lapsing into increasingly frequent episodes of depression. The piece was probably commissioned by Schubert's friend Vincenz Schuster, who was a virtuoso of the arpeggione, an instrument which had been invented only the previous year. By the time the sonata was published posthumously in 1871, the enthusiasm for the novelty of the arpeggione had long since vanished, together with the instrument itself.

I Allegro Moderato, II Adagio, III Allegretto

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Märchenbilder (Fairy Tales) Op 113
The music of Robert Schumann is sometimes like riding an emotional roller coaster, with its sudden juxtapositions of highs and lows, and Märchenbilder (Fairy Tales) is certainly no exception. Indeed, the markings of the individual movements would bear this out (Not fast - Lively - Quick - Slow, with melancholy expression). However, the qualities that make Schumann one of the truly great representatives of the Romantic spirit are very much in evidence too, especially his ability to evoke atmospheres and impressions which can transcend musical boundaries. The characteristic Schumannesque dotted rhythms of the third movement transport the listener to a magical, childlike realm, whilst the final movement vividly invokes the dreamlike world of the tortured artist, a disorientation that might very well be autobiographical, since the 'nervous disorder' which Schumann inherited from his father, and most likely schizophrenia or manic-depression, would lead, eventually, to madness and an early death.

I Nicht schnell, II Lebhaft III Rasch, IV Langsam, mit melancholischem Ausdruck

Ástor Piazzolla (1921-1992) 'Le Grand Tango'
An Argentine tango composer and bandonesn player Piazzolla's oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music. An excellent bandoneonist, he regularly performed his own compositions with different ensembles. 'Le Grand Tango' was written in 1982 for cello and piano and dedicated to Russian cellist, Mtislav Rostropovitch who premiered it in 1990 in New Orleans. One of his few chamber works and one of his few pieces of 'classical' music, it is driven by the varying moods and vitality of the tango. This is a big piece, and it has become a great favorite of cellists and violists. Le Grand Tango is episodic in structure: moments of lilting languor alternate with impassioned sequences full of energy, and finally this Tango rushes to its fiery close on a great upward glissando.

James Grant: Waltz for Betz
A waltz dedicated to someone named Betz. It is a gentle, passionate ballad, Satie by way of Mancini, originally composed for solo piano as a musical Valentine's Day card, then later arranged as a recital piece for viola and piano, and for viola and string orchestra. The music of composer James Grant is known by musicians and audiences for its colorful language, honed craft and immediacy. In recent years, Grant's music has been performed throughout the United States and in Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, England, Finland, Japan, Mexico and New Zealand by groups ranging from youth orchestras, to community choruses, to professional contemporary chamber ensembles, ballet companies and orchestras. In addition to receiving First Prize in the 1998 Louisville Orchestra competition for new orchestral music, Grant was one of five American composers to win the 2002 Aaron Copland Award

Viola and double bass featured in Virtuosi Tasmania's June concerts. Beethoven's marvellous String Trio Op 9 No 3 was the major work on the program, the original cello part being taken by the double bass in an intriguing and very successful arrangement of this classic piece.

Preceding the Beethoven were three fascinating works for viola and double bass featuring Baroque, Romantic and twentieth century works: Telemann's Canonic Sonata No 1, Glière's Suite for Viola and Double Bass and three movements from Dave Anderson's Seven Duets for Double Bass and Viola, written in 1996.

Georg Philipp Telemann (16811767) Canonic Sonata No1

L-R: Lucy Carrig-Jones, violin; Stuart Thompson, double bass; Jo St Leon, viola.

German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist, Telemann was self-taught in music, having studied law at the University of Leipzig. Often described as the most prolific composer in history, he was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi and a lifelong friend of George Frideric Handel. While in the present day Bach is generally thought of as the greater composer, Telemann was more widely renowned during his lifetime for his musical abilities..

Reinhold Moritzevich Glihre (1875-1956) Suite for Violin or Viola and Double Bass

Glière was a Ukrainian Soviet composer of German-Polish descent. His Suite for Violin or Viola and Double Bass is distilled from his Eight Pieces for Violin and Cello, Op. 39. The viola part is broadly similar to the original violin part, but the bass part has, by necessity, been significantly altered. Editor Frank Proto has selected five of the miniatures which, though not key-related, play satisfyingly well together. The first, Prelude, is a mysteriously sombre Andante with double-stops in both parts creating thick, dark textures. The second, a playful Gavotte contrasts beautifully with the lilting Cradle Song which follows. Inverted intervals and unsettling syncopations colour the fourth miniature, an Intermezzo, before the suite ends with a triumphant Scherzo.

David Anderson: Seven Double Bass Duets

To quote Dave Anderson: "Bass players are always searching for new material. As far as duets go, we have raided the Bach two -part inventions, Bartok violin duos, and many other sources from many musical periods. Modern composers have written some wonderful material, but the bassists solo and chamber repertoire is still very small compared to all other string instruments. My bass teacher and mentor, Frank Proto, has written some excellent bass duets as well as clever transcriptions of superb repertoire".

Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) String Trio Op 9 No 3

With the three trios Op 9 for string instruments, composed in 1798 (G major, D major and C minor), Beethoven goes through a preliminary stage in the approach to the string quartet. From this point the composers chamber music will illustrate two divergent fields: the string quartet on one hand and the music for piano and string instruments on the other hand.

Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791) Clarinet Quintet, K 581

April Concert players, Chris Walker, William Newbery, Ivan James, Chris Nicholas and Lucy Warren.

1. Allegro
2. Larghetto
3. Menuetto
4. Allehretto con variazioni

This great masterpiece was written in 1789 for the clarinettist Anton Stadler. Although originally written for basset clarinet, it is almost always played on a clarinet in A or B flat. It was Mozart's only clarinet quintet, and one of the earliest and best-known works written especially for the instrument. It remains exceptionally popular today due to its lyrical melodies, with the second movement the best known.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) String Quartet in G minor, Op 10

1. Animé et très décidé
2. Assez vif et bien rythmé
3. Andantino, doucement expressif
4. Trè modéré - En animant peu à peu - Très mouvementé et avec passion

The great impressionist composer Claude Debussy wrote his first string quartet in 1893 and planned a second as part of the series of six chamber works. By 1915 only half the proposed works had been completed. Depressed by the war and the fatal disease which brought about his death three years later, his creative spirit withered.

The existing string quartet, however, stands brilliantly at the threshold of his career and at the beginning of the new music that the 20th century was to bring.

Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) String Sonata No 3 in C Major

Cascades, a former convict outstation of Port Arthur, was established in 1841. It is now part of the property owned by the Clark family since 1915 situated on the shores of Norfolk Bay.

1. Allegro
2. Andante
3. Moderato

Rossini wrote the six string sonatas at the age of twelve in the space of three days in 1804 at the home of Agostino Triossi, the son of a wealthy family of grain merchants. They were first heard at one of the many musical soirées held during that summer when Rossini was staying there at Triossi's invitation.

Rossini must have possessed formidable talent and to have been able to produce music easily for he left his autographed manuscript at the property. Years later he confessed that he presumed that the compositions had been used as wrapping paper for salami! However, they were soon in circulation in various versions and have always proved popular.

If you wish to read the full Steve Arloff article visit http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/jan04/Rossini_92116.htm

Antonin Dvořák (1841-1904) String Quintet No. 2 in G Major Op 77

The drawing room of the beautiful historic Clarendon property at Evandale.

1. Allegro con fuoco
2. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
3. Poco andante
4. Finale. Allegro assai

Antonin Dvořák's delightful String Quintet was originally composed in early March, 1875 and first performed on March 18, 1876 in Prague at the concert of the Umêlecká beseda. It is scored for two violins, viola, cello, and double bass. First marked as Op. 18, it was later slightly revised in 1888 as opus 77. Dvorak entered the piece in a competition and was awarded 5 ducats for the composition. The work bears the competition's motto, "To my Nation", as its dedication.

Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Quintet_No._2_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k)

For more about the composers and our venues visit:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gioacchino_Rossini
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k
3. Cascades at Koonya
4.Clarendon at Evandale