FOLK SONGS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Piano Solos - Stephen Jones

Percy Grainger (1882-1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music. He arranged both the pieces which Stephen Jones will perform this evening.

The Merry King (collected from Alfred Hunt of Kirdford, West Sussex, in Wimbledon August 1905 and edited as piano solo 1936-1939). The piece shines with its simple 16-measure melody. As it progresses, the melody undergoes the usual Grainger transformation through each successive verse, and the work incorporates a dream-like sequence that advances and recedes in the texture.

“Spoon River”, an American folk dance as heard at a dance at Bradford, Illinois in 1857. Based on an early American fiddle tune, Grainger created a setting that ‘aims at preserving a pioneer blend of lonesome wistfulness and sturdy persistence’.

 The Sprig of Thyme

John Rutter was born in London in 1945. A composer, conductor and arranger (mainly of choral music) he is best known for composing many Christmas carols and co-editing with Sir David Willcocks the Carols for Choirs volumes. Rutter founded The Cambridge Singers with whom he recorded The Sprig of Thyme, a charming cycle of English, Scottish and Irish folk-songs arranged for choir.

Five Hebrew Love Songs

Eric Whitacre, born in 1970, is an international symphonic and choral composer and conductor. Five Hebrew Love Songs were first performed in Speyer, Germany - the poems of his girlfriend Hila Plitmann (now wife) who was born and raised in Jerusalem, were set to music. Each of the songs captures a moment they shared together. “The bells at the beginning of ‘Eyze Shelleg’ are the exact pitches that awakened us each morning in Germany as they rang from a nearby cathedral.”

Three Mexican Folk Songs

David Conte, born in 1955, has composed over 150 works (six operas, a musical, film scores). These 3 songs are traditional Mexican words and melodies arranged by Conte, commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony for the Dia de los Muertos concert in 2013.

Hear My Prayer

Moses Hogan, 1957 - 2003, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1957, he was one of America’s most celebrated pianists, conductors and arrangers of spirituals. He formed several choirs and performed for national audiences on television and radio.

Sure on this shining night

Samuel Barber 1910 - 1981 was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone and music educator. Born in West Chester, Pennsylvania his gift for luxurious melodies and poignant harmonies won him two Pulitzer Prizes for Music. He wrote operas, ballet scores as well as many piano sonatas and concertos. Sure on this shining night with words by James Agee was dedicated to his beloved sister, Sara.