Music at Lunchtime
Wednesday 17 April 2024, 1.30pm
All Saints’ Church
Emma Chotrani ‘cello
Jason He alto saxophone
Anne Bolt piano
Prelude (Suite in G major, BWV 1007) J S Bach (1685-1750)
Allegretto quasi Menuetto Johannes Brahms (Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, op. 38) (1833-1897)
Sarabande et Allegro Gabriel Grovlez (1879-1944)
Allegro vivace (Sonata for alto saxophone) Lawson Lunde (1935-2019)
There will be a retiring collection in aid of Church funds. Please take your programme with you at the end of the recital.
Forthcoming Music at Lunchtime recitals
Wednesday 24 April, 1.30pm
Pianists & Lily Reynolds mezzo-soprano
Highlights from the Piano Duet Festival, and musical theatre songs from Fame & Les Misérables
Forthcoming Oakham Music concerts
Tickets from wegottickets.com or 01572 758820
Sunday 21 April, 6.00pm
Big Band Out and About St. Andrew’s Church, Owston
The Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major by Johann Sebastian Bach is a famous Baroque piece composed around 1720. I started learning this piece when I was only 8 years old. I feel peaceful and calm when I play this piece and I imagine that I am in a mystical forest with birds chirping, trees rustling, and flowers dancing in the wind.
The second movement of the Cello Sonata in E Minor, was composed by Johannes Brahms in 1862 during the early Romantic Era in music. While playing the first section of the Brahms I feel joyful and mysterious at the same time, sometimes I feel like a detective trying to find clues while playing. The piano accompaniment starts to play, then the cello comes in softly playing staccato notes. The second section of this movement in this piece (Trio) makes me feel a bit gloomy as there are slow and slurred notes. I can imagine that I am in a gloomy city with no sun but rain because of the long and slow phrases.
Emma ChotraniSarabande et Allegro by Gabriel Grovlez was originally for oboe and piano, as a present for his friend Louis Bleuzet, a professor at the Conservatoire National de Musique de Paris. The version I am playing, for saxophone, is for me an elevation to the original work. The smooth and powerful sound of the saxophone is perfectly suited for the piece, and it allows the saxophone to display its diversity. It begins in a slow tempo, and combined with the minor tone it expresses a lyrical emotion, but just as we have immersed ourselves into the soothing tone, the pianist suddenly accelerates; following the re-entrance of the saxophone, the piece brings a lively melody, which completely refreshes the mood of the piece whilst maintaining the balance.
The third movement of Lawson Lunde’s Sonata is a fast-paced movement that contains both the high and low range, as well as loud and quiet notes on the saxophone; certainly testing the ability of the performer to control the sound. Although difficult, it brings plenty of joy in the process of practising. The main theme often returns and always starts in a quiet dynamic, but as it progresses towards the end, the notes become higher and louder, and the tone changes to major, as if it’s telling me that victory is near.
Emma is in Lower 1 and studies ‘cello with Toby White. Jason is in Form 4 and studies the saxophone with David Rix.
Jason He