PolyU Orchestra • Music Connects

Music Connects is an online music programme of the PolyU Orchestra. Members of the Orchestra have continued to produce music despite the pandemic.

 
Under the guidance of Mr Leung Kin-fung, the Artistic Director and Conductor, the PolyU Orchestra is presenting to you a wide range of musical genres in this series of Music Connects.

An artist in the French Baroque style, Jean-Marie Leclair (1697-1764) was a man of many talents - a skilled lacemaker, a brilliant dancer, a composer, and a dazzling violinist who, before his murder in a Paris backstreet, had toured Europe to much acclaim. He wrote many pieces of music for the violin including, in 1730, Six Sonatas for Two Violins, the fifth of which is in three movements; the first finds the two violins fluttering around each other, the second is gentle and lyrical, while the third is a jet-propelled whirr of exciting virtuosity.

Violin Duet
J M Leclair ︳Sonata No 5 from Six Sonatas for Two Violins, Op 3

Performed by:
George Siu Chak-hang, Violin
Student, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences

Joey Mao Yiwei, Violin
Student, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology

The first half of the 19th century was a time of great political upheaval in Europe as smaller nations fought for independence from foreign rulers. Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) had first-hand experience.  Exiled from his native Poland following an abortive uprising against Russian rule, he composed piano music which, under the cover of rich romanticism, expressed his yearning for Polish national identity. Schumann described his music as “guns disguised as roses”.  His Ballade No 4 in F minor is a classic example.  It comprises three variations on the theme heard after a short bell-like introduction, each separated by increasingly long and complex interludes.

Piano Solo
Frédéric Chopin ︳Ballade No 4 in F minor, Op 52

Performed by:
Dr Virginia Li Meng, Piano
Staff, Confucius Institute of Hong Kong

In its long history, the violin has attracted some phenomenally gifted virtuoso players, many of whom are remembered today for the music they wrote primarily to display their own remarkable virtuosity. One such was the Frenchman Jacques-Féréol Mazas (1782-1849) who toured Europe extensively as a soloist before devoting himself to teaching the next generation of violinists.  His output of around 100 works includes numerous pieces for violin solo and duet, including a set of 12 three-movement duets published in 1833.  Today we hear the final movement from the fifth of those, in F major, which takes the form of a dancing Rondo Allegretto.

Violin Duet
Jacques-Féréol Mazas ︳12 Duets for Two Violins, Op 38, No 5 – III Rondo Allegretto

Performed by:
Howard Fong Ho-kee · First Violin
Staff, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences 

Benjamin Leung Kai-hong · Second Violin Alumnus, Department of Building Services Engineering

The origins of Fisherman's Song at Eventide go back to an ancient Zheng melody called Gui Qu Lai (Returning), which depicted sails shining in the sunset and fishing boats returning peacefully from a successful day’s fishing. This arrangement was made by Li Guo Quan (1914-1966) who for many years was assistant conductor of both the Hong Kong Chinese Symphony Orchestra and the Central Experimental Opera House Orchestra.

Violin Solo
Li Guo-quan ︳Fisherman's Song at Eventide

Performed by:
Li Yajie · Violin
Alumna, School of Nursing

Dr Virginia Li Meng · Piano
Staff, Confucius Institute of Hong Kong

Lei Zhen-bang (1916-1997) was born in Beijing, and in early childhood developed a love for Peking Opera and folk music. After studying music and composition in Japan, he returned to China in 1943, and was appointed a composer with the Changchun Film Studio in 1955. Among the many scores he wrote for films made by the Changchun Studio was that for a 1963 a spy movie, set during the Civil War, called “Visitors to the Icy Mountain”. Much of the music Lei wrote incorporated genuine folk tunes, including an old Tajik folk song (called “Gulbita”) which he transformed into a sorrowful and deeply expressive love song, which we hear today performed on the violin, called Why are the Flowers so Red?

Violin Solo
Lei Zhen-bang    ︳Why Are The Flowers So Red

Performed by:
Kelsey Liang Yuan · Violin
Alumna, Faculty of Humanities

Dr Virginia Li Meng · Piano
Staff, Confucius Institute of Hong Kong

One of the greatest of all violin virtuosi was Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908) who enjoyed a glittering career touring Europe, the Americas, central Asia and the Far East. He inspired some of the finest composers of the day to write for him but his own compositions, while primarily designed as encore pieces for his concerts, are distinguished by an unusually astute grasp of what sounds effective on the instrument irrespective of which violinist is playing them. He frequently celebrated his native Spain in his music, nowhere more so than in the four sets of Spanish Dances published between 1878 and 1882. From the second of these sets, we hear the Romanza Andaluza which, while is very much in an Andalusian style with the piano creating a guitar-like strumming accompaniment.

Violin Solo
Pablo de Sarasate   ︳Spanish Dances Op 22, No 1 – III Romanza Andaluza

Performed by:
Benjamin Leung Kai-hong · Violin
Alumnus, Department of Building Services Engineering

Dr Virginia Li Meng · Piano
Staff, Confucius Institute of Hong Kong

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) spent most of his life working in the court of a wealthy aristocratic family on the Austrian-Hungarian border.  However, he did make two extended visits to London, where he noted what a powerful effect the National Anthem had on people whenever it was played. As a birthday gift to Emperor Franz II, Haydn composed a melody in imitation of the English National Anthem and included it as the second movement of his String Quartet No 62, Op 76, No 3, which was first performed on the Emperor’s birthday, 12 February 1797. In this movement Haydn used the melody, which today we know as the German National Anthem, as the basis of a set of variations.

String Quartet
Joseph Haydn︳String Quartet No 62, Op 76, No 3 (Emperor)

Performed by:
Sandy Song Suet-ying · First Violin
Student, School of Nursing

Steve Wong Yu-ting · Second Violin
Alumnus, School of Hotel and Tourism Management

Carlos Lee Kin-wah · Viola
Alumnus, Department of Building and Real Estate

Anson Wong Chun-hin · Cello
Student, Department of Health Technology and Informatics

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was the son of a pioneering violin teacher who wrote the first ever tutor for the instrument.  Naturally, the young Wolfgang learnt the violin, but wrote very little solo music for it.  In the mid-1770s, however, he did write five concertos for it, and the Violin Concerto No 3 in G major, K 216 is dated 12 September 1775.  The deeply lyrical second movement (Adagio) was the first part of the Concerto to be performed, when it was played between the acts of a play staged in Salzburg during 1777.  The movement is built around the gorgeously lyrical, soaring melody given out by the violin at the very start.

Violin Solo
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart︳Violin Concerto No 3 in G major, K 216 — II Adagio

Performed by:
Benjamin Leung Kai-hong · Violin
Alumnus, Department of Building Services Engineering

Dr Virginia Li Meng · Piano
Staff, Confucius Institute of Hong Kong

The son of an unemployed blacksmith Jules Massenet (1842-1912) went on to become one of the most popular of all French opera composers.  His opera, Thaïs, which was premiered in 1894, tells the story of a monk who sets out to save the breathtakingly beautiful Thaïs from her life of debauchery.  The monk persuades Thaïs to give up her sinful old life and embrace one of religious devotion.  The Méditation marks the moment in the opera when Thaïs decides to do this.  As the solo violin melody soars, Thaïs welcomes the purity of her new life, while on the violin’s occasional forays into its lower reaches, she reminisces (not always without a certain warmth of feeling) on her previous life of sensual pleasure.

Violin Solo
Jules Massenet︳Méditation from Thaïs for Violin and Piano

Performed by:
Howard Fong Ho-kee · Violin
Staff & Alumnus, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences

Dr Virginia Li Meng · Piano
Staff, Confucius Institute of Hong Kong

A feature of music from what is loosely referred to as “the Baroque era” is the growing importance of the bass line and the emergence of stronger-toned bass instruments. These included the cello, for which Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) composed six solo suites. The Cello Suite No 1 in G major, BWV1007 opens with a Prelude. With its gracefully arching arpeggios in the first part and expanding and contracting melodic line in the second, this is one of the best-known movements in the Suites. The following movements are an Allemande, which is an easily flowing dance said to have originated in Germany around the middle of the 16th century, a Courante which is altogether more lively and was described in an early French treatise on dancing as having "jumping movements and a great variety of figures according to the dancer's ability and fancy", and a solemn Sarabande. The final movement is a Gigue.

Cello Solo
Johann Sebastian Bach ︳Cello Suite No 1 in G major, BWV1007

Performed by:
Benny Lam Yip-chun．Cello
Alumnus, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) was a prolific composer, with more than a thousand compositions to his name. His musical career can be divided into three periods according to his place of work: Weimar, Köthen and Leipzig. Three violin concertos by Bach have survived in their original form, with the D minor concerto for two violins being particularly popular. They were written when Bach served as Kapellmeister at the court of Köthen.

During this period, Bach’s music evolved from its earlier, purely sacred content to display more technique and artistry. The two solo violins constantly imitate and chase each other in the delicately stacked phrases, culminating in the most beautiful expression of the Baroque style.

Baroque Concerto series

Johann Sebastian Bach︳Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, DWV 1043 — | Vivace in D minor

Conductor:
Mr Leung Kin-fung
Artistic Director and Conductor of PolyU Orchestra Violin

Soloists:
George Siu Chak-hang · First Violin
Student, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences

Howard Fong Ho-kee · Second Violin
Staff & Alumnus, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences

Writing concertos for keyboard was not as popular among Baroque composers as for violin or wind instruments. Presumably the tone of the harpsichord, the main keyboard instrument of the time, was not easy to highlight in ensemble playing. However, Bach set a precedent for transcribing concertos that were originally written for various other instruments into keyboard concertos, implementing the art of orchestration and harmony to bring the harpsichord – usually an accompanying instrument providing figured bass – to the fore as a solo instrument, and laying the foundation for piano concertos in the future.

Bach wrote the Keyboard Concerto in A major while he was the director of the Leipzig student ensemble, the Collegium Musicum. A flowing melody flourishes in the first movement, the slow second movement is in dance form, and the whole piece concludes with the beauty and briskness of the third movement.

Baroque Concerto series
Johann Sebastian Bach︳Keyboard Concerto No 4 in A major, BWV 1055

I Allegro
II Larghetto
III Allegro ma non tanto

Piano Solo:
Shirley Lo Tsz-kei
Student, School of Nursing

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) composed a set of twelve violin concertos entitled L'estro armonico, “harmonic inspiration”. The tenth of these, for Four Violins in B minor, is renowned for its melodic grace and consonance. It is well loved and even regarded by its admirers as being equal to the famous Four Seasons.

L'estro armonico, written in 1711, was Vivaldi’s first concerto publication.  This B minor concerto has a three-movement, fast–slow–fast structure. The four solo violins take the lead successively to play the main melody.  The passages of clear sixteenth notes evoke the lively pastoral scenery, the slow movement expresses delicate emotions, and the music ends merrily at a brisk pace.

Baroque Concerto series
Antonio Vivaldi︳Concerto for Four Violins in B minor, RV 580

I Allegro
II Largo - Larghetto
III Allegro

Conductor:
Mr Leung Kin-fung
Artistic Director and Conductor of PolyU Orchestra

Violin Soloists:
Benjamin Leung Kai-hong
Alumnus, Department of Building Services Engineering

Leah Li Yajie
Alumna, School of Nursing

Kelsey Liang Yuan
Alumna, Faculty of Humanities

Joey Mao Yiwei
Student, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology

The piano’s popularity spread quickly, but it was not until the mid-1780s that it caught on in Vienna, and much of the credit for popularising it there is down to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) who had settled in the city in 1781 and showcased the instrument in a series of concertos and chamber works. One of those latter was the Piano Trio in B flat major, K 502, which dates from 1786. Unlike previous trios, in which the keyboard instrument had merely accompanied the violin and cello, this Trio treated the piano not only as an equal, but at times almost as the principal soloist; a kind of pared-down piano concerto.

Piano Trio
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Piano Trio in B flat major, K 502 - I Allegro

Performed by:
Benjamin Leung Kai-hong · Violin
Alumnus, Department of Building Services Engineering

Dr Virginia Li Meng · Piano
Staff, Confucius Institute of Hong Kong

Benny Lam Yip-chun · Cello
Alumnus, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences