Join us for an afternoon of beautiful woodwind chamber music. Mozart and Beethoven's sublime quintets for piano and winds with afternoon tea served in the interval. The perfect way to unwind.
Tickets $35 Concession $30 Students $15
Afternoon tea included.
REPERTOIRE
Quintet for Piano and Winds Eb Maj K.452 Mozart (1756-1791)
Largo-Allegro Moderato
Larghetto
Rondo: Allegretto
Mozart wrote to his father after the premiere of this work in 1784 to inform him that his quintet had “received the most remarkable applause. I myself consider it to be the best work I have ever composed. How I wish you could have heard it!” Despite this it remains his only work for this combination.
It is essentially a piano concerto without a string section which is no surprise as he wrote four piano concertos and this quintet within a three month period. The piece opens with a slow introduction initially presented by the piano and later with the wind instruments skilfully interwoven. The piano takes the lead into the Allegro and is answered by the winds. In the second movement, which is reminiscent of the cantabile melodic style of Mozart’s Italian operas, it is the piano who joins the winds in answering the first thematic material and its role is almost completely secondary. The solo piano returns at the start of the Rondo where it presents a dance like theme.
This piece, although obviously experimental is pivotal in a number of ways. It set Mozart on a path of piano based chamber composition, he completed two piano quartets and six piano trios within a few years of the quintet. Conversely, it brings to an end his writing for wind ensembles which had included numerous Divertimenti and Serenades. But more importantly it was the piece that redefined the role of wind instruments within Mozart’s subsequent symphonies, operas and concertos.
Quintet for Piano and Winds Eb Maj op.16 Beethoven (1770-1827)
Grave- Allegro ma non troppo
Andante Cantabile
Rondo Allegro ma non troppo
Beethoven modelled his quintet for piano and winds almost entirely on Mozart’s which he is said to have admired greatly. Written in 1786 and dedicated to Prince Joseph von Schwarzenberg there is an amusing account of a performance which included Beethoven himself and the Manheim oboist Fredrich Ramm where to the annoyance of all the wind players Beethoven chose to improvise extensively during the last movement!
Once again this quintet is a piano concerto. The first movement opens with a slow introduction with the piano leading into the Allegro where the initial theme is imitated on the clarinet. The slow movement lets each of the wind instruments shine before the piano launches into the last movement and a very Mozartian hunting theme. This Rondo consists of two contrasting sections and room for the piano improvisation that proved so annoying to Fredrich Ramm and his colleagues!
PERFORMERS
Liam Viney- Piano. Liam is active as a solo pianist, collaborative pianist, pedagogue and academic. He has collaborated with International and Australian Symphony Orchestras in concertos ranging from Mozart and Beethoven to Prokofiev and Ligeti. He is a member of two ensembles in residence at the University of Queensland – White Halo Ensemble (a piano quartet), and the Viney-Grinberg Piano Duo. Each group explores existing bodies of literature while also commissioning numerous new works. Through his piano duo with Anna Grinberg, he has commissioned and premiered dozens of new works for piano, two pianos, and chamber ensembles from composers in
Australia and the United States with funding from sources such as the Australia Council for the Arts, and the Fromm Foundation, Harvard. After completing his Doctorate at Yale University, studying with Boris Berman, Liam joined the keyboard faculty of California Institute of the Arts, and spent a further five years building a teaching and performing career in the United States. He has won major piano awards and competitions in both Australia and the United States, including First Prize in the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition and First Prize in the Yamaha Australian Piano Competition, the prize for which was a grand piano. In recent years his work has been nominated for Australian Music Centre/APRA Awards for Excellence. Liam features on six commercial CDs on labels such as ABC Classics, Tall Poppies, and Innova (USA). A further two CDs are due to be released in 2019. Liam is currently Head of School at the School of Music, the University of Queensland.
Eve Newsome- Oboe. Eve Newsome is an experienced performer having held oboe and cor anglais positions with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria and performed internationally with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. She is a passionate chamber musician, soloist and concert organiser and as a pedagogue specialises in oboe, chamber music and optimal experience for musicians. Eve is Senior Lecturer at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, where she has been teaching since 2009. In 2010, she created the Flow Music Method for musicians and music teachers which she teaches nationally and internationally at conferences and music institutions. Eve is active in the broader Australian musical community having filled the roles of Oboe Representative with the Queensland Double Reed Society since 2010 and Co-Artistic Director of the Tyalgum Music Festival from 2015-2018.
Brian Catchlove- Clarinet. Brian studied at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, the Queensland Conservatorium of Music as well as a year of intensive study in Holland. Since 1993 he has been a clarinettist with the QSO and currently is Acting Associate Principal Clarinet. In 1997 he performed at the Australasian Clarinet Conference held in Brisbane and performed as soloist with the QSO in 1998 and 2000 and The Queensland Orchestra in 2005 and 2009. Brian has performed with ASO, MSO, QPO, Queensland Pops Orchestras and the Southern Cross Soloists. He has also performed and recorded with Elision Ensemble, the Queensland Wind Soloists and Topology and performed at the Townsville Chamber Music Festival. His performances have been broadcast nationally on ABC classic FM and locally on 4MBS. Brian taught at the QCMGU 1993 – 2017 and regularly works as a tutor with the QYO and the Queensland Education Dept.
Katharine Willison- Bassoon. Katharine studied at the young QCM before moving to the Royal College of Music. She won a scholarship to Guildhall School of Music and then spent a year studying in Paris. As a member of the Linos Quintet she won the Royal Overseas League Ensemble Prize and a Hattori Scholarship before being invited to compete in the ARD Munich competition. The Linos Quintet frequently toured the UK and even undertook an Australian tour in 2003. As a busy freelance musician in London Katharine played with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, The Philharmonia, Northern Sinfonia, ENO, Sinfonia of London and at the Alderburgh, Edinburgh and Rye Festivals. Since returning to Brisbane she has worked with Camerata, QSO, Queensland Festival Philharmonic, Queensland Pops Orchestra, tutored for the AYO and is involved with the Queensland Double Reed Society and Tyalgum Festival.
Peter Luff- Horn Peter studied at the Elder Conservatorium of Music before taking up the position of Associate Principal Horn with the QSO. He was a founding member of the Southern Cross Soloists and has played with the MSO, SSO, ACO, ASO, WASO, QPO, Australian World Orchestra, Ensemble Q, Queensland Pops Orchestra, Queensland Festival Orchestra, Hong Kong Phil and Queensland Wind Soloists. Peter has a Masters in Conducting from the QCMGU and has directed QSO, QYO, AYO and TSO among others. He is in demand as a teacher and has tutored for the AYO, QYO, ANAM, University of Arkansas, Korean National University and Shandong University. Peter has served as Vice President of the International Horn Society and was awarded the prestigious “Punto Award” as recognition for his contribution to the art of horn playing. Peter Associate Professor of Horn and Brass studies and is currently the Deputy Director of the QCMGU.