The University of Queensland’s
School of Civil Engineering
presents
“An Evening with Stephanie
and Richard Emberley”
Richard Emberley, trumpet
and
Stephanie A. Emberley, piano
Day of Week, Month Date, Year
time pm
??? Hall
There will be one 15-minute intermission.
Biographies
Dr. Stephanie A. Emberley, pianist, began
her classical piano training at the age of
three, giving her first solo recital at the age
of fifteen. She received her DMA degree in
piano performance, pedagogy and literature
from James Madison University and is on
the piano faculty at Gordon College. Her
performances have taken her throughout
the United States, Canada, and France.
Pianists with whom Ms. Emberley has
studied include Lori Piitz, Barbara Listersink, and Sara Whitehouse.
In both 2008 and 2009, Ms. Emberley won
the New Hampshire MTNA Young Artists’
competition and was selected as a finalist in
the Philharmonic Society of Arlington’s
Young Artists’ Concerto Competition. Ms.
Emberley has received awards for her
performances from organizations such as
the Anna Sosenko Trust Grant, the Waldo
and Alice Ayer Music Performance
scholarship, and the Eubie Blake
Performance scholarship. Hearing about
these performances, the Harvard Faculty
Club invited Stephanie to perform an allChopin recital as the highlight of their
Christmas Banquet. In addition to this, Ms.
Emberley particularly enjoys organizing
and performing concerts that involve
audience interaction and raising funds for
local charities, such as the Peterborough
Children in the Arts, Rivermeade, Willow
Rise, and the Easter Seals.
Some of Ms. Emberley’s interests include
skiing/snowboarding, running, yoga, and
piano technique. Ms. Emberley is in the
process of completing her Master
Instructor certification in the Lister-sink
Method of piano technique and injury
retraining. She blogs about her experiences
and practicing in order to provide her
students additional advice outside of their
lessons.
Richard L. Emberley, a first-year Civil
Engineering PhD student, is focusing his
research in the area of fire safety
engineering under the advising of Dr. José
Torero. In addition to his studies, Richard
is a member of The University of
Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Richard
was also a member of the Worcester
Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Orchestra,
Brass Ensemble, and Concert Band for six
years while pursuing his undergraduate and
graduate academics. While at WPI, Richard
was actively involved in both the
Symphonic and Music Associations and
held offices in both organizations. He
earned seats in the New England
Intercollegiate Band for five years. In 2008
Richard earned the Charles Schlueter
Foundation Trumpet Award. His sister,
Dr. Stephanie Emberley, has accompanied
for him during recitals and competitions
since he first started playing the trumpet
sixteen years ago.
Richard has won numerous awards for his
academics including awards from the
Society of Fire Protection Engineers, the
National Fire Protection Association, New
England Water Works Association,
American Society of Civil Engineers
(ASCE), Chi Epsilon (Civil Engineering
Honor Society), Tau Beta Pi (Engineering
Honor Society), Frank DeFalco Award,
Gilman International Scholar Award, CEO
New Hampshire Scholar, Rhode Island
Consulting Engineers and the
Massachusetts Society of Professional
Engineers. He was named by WPI as a
Charles O. Thompson Scholar for
Outstanding Freshman and was a WPI
Presidential Scholar Recipient. Richard was
the WPI ASCE president for three years
and named to both the Civil Engineering
and Humanities and Arts Student Advisory
Councils.
Richard, who grew up in New Hampshire
(USA), enjoys running, skiing, hiking,
cycling and other outdoor sports.
Program
Thema und Variationen............................................................Michael Gottlieb (1907-1978)
Theme and Variations 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12
Sonata in E-flat major, op. 31, no. 3...........................Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
I. Allegro
II. Allegretto vivace
III. Moderato e grazioso
IV. Presto con molto fuoco
Scherzo no. 3 in C-sharp minor, op. 39..................................Frédérick Chopin (1810-1849)
15-Minute Intermission
Trumpet Concerto............................................................................J. N. Hummel (1778-1837)
I. Allegro con spirito
English Suite no. 3 in G minor, BWV 808, I. Prelude.......................J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Variations, op. 41..............................................................................Nikolai Kapustin (b.1937)
Konzert-Etüde, op. 49.........................................................Alexander Goedicke (1877-1957)
Patrons are reminded to turn off all pagers, cell phones,
personal computers, and any other electronic devices.
The unauthorized videotaping or any other recording
of this production is strictly prohibited
in adherence with copyright laws.
Program Notes
Notes of Appreciation
We had an idea for a concert, but so much has to go on behind the scenes to turn an
idea into reality. A concert is a very large undertaking! This performance was made
possible through the help and support of many. While there is neither time nor
space to recognize everyone, we would like to express our deepest appreciation to
the following:
To the University of Queensland School of Civil Engineering. Thank you for
hosting this concert. It has been a wonderful collaboration, and one that we hope
can be developed further.
To Dr. José Torero. Thank you for helping organize the logistics of putting this
concert together. We could not have done this without you!
To Christine Russell, Cindy Van Der Gevel, Jeannette Watson, and Julie Hunter.
Thank you for working through organizing schedules, tickets, programs, food, and
so much more. You have gone above and beyond the call of duty.
To the University of Queensland School of Music and Grace Bible Church. Thank
you for the use of your pianos. That was invaluable.
Michael Gottlieb, Thema und Variationen
Not much is known about Soviet Russian composer Michael Gottlieb. His musical
roles for the government were those of pianist and composer. That is almost all that
can be found about him. Gottlieb’s Thema und Variationen utilizes a very national
“Russian” sound with rich chords and a beautifully soaring melodic line. Gottlieb
wrote the variations to highlight the artistry of trumpeter Timofei Dokshizer (19212005). Variations include fast ornamental notes, expressive melodic leaps, double and
triple tonguing, jazz idioms, and fugal elements. The “People’s Artist of Russia,”
Dokshizer was famous both for his wide range of repertoire and for more “humble”
performances as an orchestra member. He was cornet soloist in the Bolshoi Theatre
orchestra, performing for operas and ballets. His performances of the piece with the
USSR Ministry of Defense Wind Orchestra made it popular. Even today, the piece is
published as part of the Timofei Dokshizer collection.
Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 31, No. 3
For a sonata of Beethoven’s more intensely dramatic middle period, the almost
entirely joyous energy of the Sonata in E-flat major is unusual. This sonata is unique
in that it is also the only large-scale sonata to have three of its four movements in
sonata-allegro form. The third movement contrasts the other movements. The
Menuetto is in Minuet and Trio form with themes lyrically reminiscent of a lullaby.
Beethoven labels the finale Presto con molto fuoco, “very wild and fast.” This is more
extreme than his typical marking of Presto con brio. The perpetual motion triplets
and hunting call motif of this movement have given the entire sonata the nickname
La Chasse or “The Hunt.”
Frédérick Chopin, Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39
Chopin! From the time when I was nineteen years old I felt his greatness; and I
marvel at it still. He is today more modern than many moderns…he remains for me
one of the greatest of the giants.
– Sergei Rachmaninov
Before Chopin, the scherzo was typically found as the third movement of a multimovement work, such as a sonata or a symphony. Chopin allowed the scherzo to
stand as a piece by itself. The opening of Chopin’s Third Scherzo is unexpectedly
ambiguous and sets the character of the piece before the first section begins. The
first section is bold and dramatic with powerfully building octave sequences. The
trio section is hymn-like in its tranquility with cascading arpeggios. These two
sections alternate, and Chopin builds tension by changing keys near the end.
Chopin’s coda uses none of the scherzo’s previous themes. Instead Chopin’s new
material concludes the scherzo with stunningly virtuosic writing for a composer who
disdained the showmanship of Liszt.
Program Notes (cont’d)
Program Notes (cont’d)
Alexander Goedicke, Konzert-Etüde
J. N. Hummel, Trumpet Concerto
Alexander Goedicke (1877-1957) is an often overlooked Russian composer who
wrote during the era of Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and Prokofiev. Goedicke’s Concert
Etude is a short piece with considerable amounts of flare. Written in sonata form,
two themes recur throughout the work. The first is fast and rhythmic with large
recurring portions requiring the double-tonguing technique. The second is melodic
and flowing. Goedicke composed Concert Etude specifically for trumpet and piano
which is evidence through the dynamic interaction between both instruments.
Rhythmic sections are passed back and forth in the exposition section of the sonata
while the melody is combined in the trumpet and the right hand of the piano for the
second theme during the development. The development dramatically builds to a
climatic caesura holding the audience captive before the recapitulation accelerates to
the ending and concludes on the quietest notes of the piece.
As one of the war horses of the classical trumpet repertoire, Hummel’s Trumpet
Concerto in E Major, S.49 is a perennially played and easily recognized work.
However, this was not always the case. Hummel composed the concerto in
December of 1803 as one of the first pieces for keyed trumpet which had been
invented around 1770. Anton Weidinger, who is created with popularization of the
keyed trumpet, debuted the piece on New Year’s Day 1804 and was probably the
only trumpeter to have performed the piece for 150 years. In 1964, after the
rediscovery of the piece by Merrill Debsky in 1958, the piece was finally performed
again, this time by Armando Ghitalla. Since then, the Hummel Concerto has been
studied and performed by just about every person to play the trumpet.
(program notes by Richard and Stephanie A. Emberley)
The first movement, tonight performed independent of the rest of the concerto, is in
musical structure a sonata with two contrasted themes. The first theme, bright,
stately and commanding is followed by a playful, quieter theme highlighted by
dotted rhythms. The work explores the entire range of the keyed trumpet evidenced
by the use of every note in the chromatic scale.
J. S. Bach, English Suite No. 3 in G minor, BWV 808, I. Prelude
Sources:
New Grove Dictionary; Oxford Music Online; Kallberg, Jeffrey. “Hearing Poland: Chopin and
Nationalism.” Ed. R. Larry Todd. Nineteenth-century Piano Music. Schirmer Books: Toronto,
1990; Rosen, Charles. The Romantic Generation. Harvard University Press: New York, 1998;
Foglesong, Scott. February Program Notes: Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 1 and Hummel’s Concerto
for Keyed Trumpet. Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Feb. 2011. Web. May 2014.
<http://www.philharmonia.org>; Koehler, Elisa. “In Search of Hummel: Perspectives on the
Trumpet Concerto of 1803.” International Trumpet Guild Journal. January (2013): pp. 7-17; Tarr,
Edward and Anna Dokshizer. Internatioanl Trumpet Guild journal. June 2005.
http://www.trumpetguild.org/news/news05/327dokshizer.htm; http://www.dokshizer.com/;
Johnson, James. (2013). An Analytical Look at 20th Century Trumpet Music, Including Works by
Joseph Turrin, Vincent Persichetti, Alexander Goedicke, and Eric Ewazen. Unpublished MM thesis.
Kansas State University.
Bach wrote six sets of English Suites in approximately the year 1715. These are
distinguished from his French Suites and Partitas in that they all begin with a
Prelude. The Prelude of Bach’s English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808, opens
with an orchestral theme that alternates throughout the Prelude with a more
soloistic, expositional section. This alternation of an orchestral theme with a solo
theme is known as ritornello form.
Nikolai Kapustin, Variations, Op. 41
Nikolai Kapustin (1937-present) is a Ukrainian Russian jazz pianist and composer.
Kapustin says of himself, “I was never a jazz musician. I never tried to be a jazz
pianist, but I had to do it because of the composing…All my improvisation is
written [out], of course.” Due to his training in classical piano at the Moscow
Conservatory, his works are a natural hybrid of classical and jazz styles. The
Variations, Op. 41 open with a main theme that sounds similar to the opening solo
bassoon like of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Each subsequent variation uses jazz
styles: romantic, boogie-woogie, stride, etc. Kapustin’s writing is incredibly
virtuosic. The last four pages in particular demand intricately precise execution and
provide an exciting conclusion.