Thitipol PiseskulMaster final exam of :

9th June 2021 , 16h00

at Bernard Hait inkzaal

Tobias Borsboom, Piano

Works by:Debussy, Mantovani, Berio, Lago, Lauba and Albright

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Thitipol Piseskul

Was born in 1997, Bangkok, Thailand. Hispassion of music started at Music Campus forGeneral Public, College of Music, Mahidol University,under the coaching of Promwut Sudtakoo. At the ageof 14, he got admitted in Pre-College program atCollege of Music, Mahidol University where hestudied Classical Saxophone with Prof.Shyen Lee andWisuwat Pruksavanich.

He had several masterclasses with Jean-Marie Londeix, Dr.Scott Turpen,Dr.Chiu Huan Wu, Masato Kumoi, Kenneth Tse, Kyle Horch, Hans de Jong, ClaudeDelangle, Jean-Denis Michat, Timothy Mcallister, Lars Mlekusch and NobuyaSugawa. As an aspiring young saxophonist, in 2014, his quartet “Fire-Yen SaxophoneQuartet” was awarded the top prize (2nd prize) and Takatsuki Mayer Award inthe Grand Final by 15th Osaka International Music Competition in Section II,Ensemble Category. In 2016, after he moved to the Netherlands, his other quartet “LagomSaxophone Quartet” was awarded 1st prize by WMC Kerkrade music competitionand a year later, was awarded 1st prize by Princess Christina competition (Local). He graduated with a Bachelor of Music (Classical Saxophone Performance)from Conservatorium van Amsterdam in 2019 under the coaching of Prof.ArnoBornkamp and continued his Master’s in “Classical Saxophone Performance” and“Karnatic rhythm in Western music” at Conservatorium van Amsterdam, underthe coaching of Prof.Arno Bornkamp and Prof.Rafael Reina Camara.

Biography

Tobias Borsboom is one of the best-known young Dutch pianists, performingextensively both as a soloist and in othercapacities. In 2015 he made his debut inall the major concert halls of theNetherlands as a soloist in "Gershwin'sPiano Concerto in F" with the DutchStudent Orchestra conducted by QuentinClare. With violinist Piotr Jasiurkowski

he played the Masters on Tour series of The International Holland MusicSessions (2013-2014), and in 2015, after being nominated twice, he won theprestigious Dutch Classical Talent Award for his solo performance as wellas the audience award with his duo partner Piotr Jasiurkowski. Withpianoduo partner Yukiko Hasegawa he recently got chosen as one of theShizuoka Masters “Shizuoka no meishutachi” in Japan. In recent years, Tobias Borsboom has been successful at several othercompetitions. With Piotr Jasiurkowski he won the audience award and theWho's Next Award at the Almere Chamber Music Competition (NL, 2015)and he was awarded first prize at the Grand Dominique (NL, 2012).Additionally, he was a prize winner at the Young Pianist Foundation PianoCompetition (3rd prize and prize for best interpretation of a Dutch work,NL, 2010), the Concertgebouw Entree Kamermuziek Concours (NL, 2006)and the Prinses Christina Concours (NL, 2005). In 2013, Tobias Borsboom completed his Master's degree at theConservatoire of Amsterdam, where he studied with Jan Wijn. He hastaken lessons with such renowned pianists as Paolo Giacometti, Maria JoãoPires, Klaus Hellwig, Jan Boguslaw Strobel, Georg Friedrich Schenck andGeoffrey Douglas Madge.

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Biography

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Programme

Prelude a l'Apres midi d'un faune..................................Claude Debussy(Arranger : Gustave Samazeuilh, Transcriber: Arno Bornkamp and Ivo Janssen)

L'incandescence de la Bruine.......................................Bruno Mantovani

Sequenza VIIb............................................................................Luciano Berio (Arranger: Claude Delangle)

—- intermission —-

Consecuencias.........................................................................Guillermo Lago

i. de la ignorancia

ii. del amor

iii. de la violencia

Worksong................................................................................Christian Lauba

Sonata.....................................................................................William Albright

i. Two-Part Invention

ii. La follia nuova: a lament for George Cacioppo

iii. Scherzo "Will o' the wisp"

iv. Recitative and Dance

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Prelude a l'Apres midi d'un faune, Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

L'incandescence de la Bruine - Bruno Mantovani (1974-present)

L’Incandescence de la Bruine was composed by Bruno Mantovani in 1997for French saxophonist Vincent David and his pianist, Dorothée Bocquet. Thetitle translates roughly to “The Glow of the Drizzle.” As you listen, considerhow the sound of the music reflects a vision of the world through the rain.The first note is a concert F, and this note is repeated throughout the piece inboth the saxophone and piano parts. Sometimes the note is repeatedincessantly, like the pounding of the rain. Other times it is obscured by aquarter-tone, much like the rain can blur the vision of the outside world. Throughout the piece, the musical lines of the piano and saxophoneweave in and out of each other, often interacting conversationally. Thesaxophone frequently imitates sounds that are electronic in nature andfeatures many extended techniques for the instrument such as slap tongue,flutter tongue, and growling.

‘Prelude a l'Apres midi d'un faune’ is a symphonic poem for orchestra whichwas composed by Claude Debussy in 1894. The composition was inspired bythe poem L'après-midi d'un faune by Stéphane Mallarmé. It is one of Debussy'smost famous works and is considered a turning point in the history of Westernart music.  Pierre Boulez  considered the score to be the beginning of  modernmusic, observing that "the flute of the faun brought new breath to the art ofmusic.” The music of this prelude is a very free illustration of Mallarmé's beautifulpoem. By no means does it claim to be a synthesis of it. Rather there is asuccession of scenes through which pass the desires and dreams of the faun inthe heat of the afternoon. Then, tired of pursuing the timorous flightof nymphs and naiads, he succumbs to intoxicating sleep, in which he can finallyrealize his dreams of possession in universal Nature. This arrangement was firstmade for flute and piano by Gustave Samazeuilh and was transcribed forsoprano saxophone and piano by the collaboration of Arno Bornkamp and IvoJanssen.

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Sequenza VII was written in 1969 for an oboist, Heinz Holliger. At thattime, Berio tended to reject traditional musical notation and like his othersequenzas, Berio meant for Sequenza VII to be played by a virtuoso who wasnot only proficient technically but who had a "virtuosity of the intellect" aswell. He claimed this intellectual virtuosity by notating measures in secondsinstead of bars although there are some sections of the work that usetraditional rhythmic notation. Importantly, the piece is built around a drone played on a B natural,which typically comes from an offstage source. In his instructions on thescore, Berio writes:

“a B natural must sound throughout the piece. The sound-source shouldpreferably not be visible. This can be an oscillator, a clarinet, a pre-taped oboe,or something else. The intensity should be kept to a minimum with quite smallvariations. The B natural should give the impression of lending a slightresonance to the oboe”

While the drone is sounding, the solo will be the one who narrates thespectral soundscape of this concert pitch by using various forms of advancedand extended technique, including using five alternate fingerings for onenote in a single measure, multiphonics, double tonguing, trills on multiplenotes at a time, overblowing, flutter-tonguing, traditional harmonics, andmicrotonal trills. In 1993, this piece was arranged for solo sopranosaxophone which Berio gave its name 'Sequenza VIIb' by Claude Delangle.

Sequenza VIIb - Luciano Berio (1925-2003)

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Consecuencias - Guillermo Lago (1960-present)

Worksong - Christian Lauba (1952-present)

In 2014 Lago was approached by the young Lithuanian saxophonist RusneMikiskaite after a concert with the Netherlands Wind Ensemble in theAmsterdam Muziekgebouw aan het IJ where he had been performing hisarrangement of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet with his colleagues. She hadreceived an invitation by a Festival in Lithuania for concerts with a string quartetand asked Lago if he had suggestions. He decided on the spot to write a piece forher and promised her so. 'Consecuencias' (consequences) is the result of thatpromise which he completed in 2015. A three-movement piece; the first movement portraying consequences ofignorance, the second consequences of love which dedicated to his wife, SaskiaTörnqvist and the third consequences of violence. The version for alto saxophoneand strings is dedicated to both Rusne and Lago's long-time friend ArnoBornkamp which later, he also published the piece with piano reduction.

“Worksong”(2008), an etude no.15 from Lauba’s big collection for themastery of side keys and register breaks in which the listener can experience theclever unfolding of an originally simple minor third motive which quoting ‘Worksong’. Work song is a piece of music closely connected to a form of work, eithersung while conducting a task (usually to coordinate timing). Although that thereis not much information about this piece but I strongly believe that it is deeplyconnected to songs that were developed in the era of slavery, an African-American work song. A common feature of African American songs was the call-and-responseformat, where a leader would sing a verse or verses and the others would respondwith a chorus. This came from African traditions of agricultural work song andfound its way into the spirituals that developed once Africans in bondage beganto convert to Christianity and to both gospel music and the blues afterward. Thisformat of ‘question and answer’ is repeated through the whole piece combingwith the development of the quoted minor third motive.

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William Hugh Albright was an American composer, organist, andpianist. He received degrees from both the Eastman School of Music andUniversity of Michigan where his principal studies were with composer,Ross Lee Finney. A recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Pariswith Oliver Messiaen, Albright was appointed to the faculty of theUniversity of Michigan in 1970. His compositions often combine complexrhythmic and non-tonal techniques with elements of American popularmusic. Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano (1984) begins with a "two-partinvention" relying on the rapid exchange and weaving of material betweensaxophone and piano. Concerning the second movement, Albright writes:

"The piece is dedicated to the memory of the composer George Cacioppo, whodied unexpectedly on April B, 1984. Cofounder of the ONCE Group and mentorto three generations of composers, Cacioppo and his music and personalityrest at the foundation of my thinking. He would very much appreciate the useof the traditional title La Follia (the madness) in my reincarnation as La follianuova. Like its Baroque antecedents, the piece is in a chaconne-variationform, though sometimes the sections are curiously jumbled together, orintersect. The fact that the key is F sharp minor may be important, or may notbe."

The codetta serves as a private, intimate tribute to Cacioppo. The thirdmovement is a whimsical, yet wild scherzo, which only momentarily risesabove the piano dynamic. A lengthy saxophone recitative gives way to thefinal "Mad Dance", which includes references to many popular Americanstyles and highlights the pure bombastic genius of William Albright.

Sonata - William Albright (1944-1998)

Special Thanks

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Thanks to Tobias for sharing the stage with me, it is my pleasureto perform all these wonderful pieces with you. You are not onlymy accompanist but also my great teacher.Thanks to Jen Hong and Nami-san for being my companion inBerio. (This is supposed to be a secret until I finished playingBerio so please skip reading this if it is not played yet xD)Thanks to Arno and Willem who have been teaching me for sixyears. We have shared a lot of memory together and I just don’tknow how to express my feeling in words. The space on this paperis just too less and even more piles of it would not be enough towrite down how grateful I am having you as my teacher. If I couldturn back time, I would love to redo all of this moment again.Forever your student, Thitipol PiseskulThanks to Pierre, Harmen and Ties for being my committeestoday.Thanks to all friends and colleagues in CvA, especially my belovedCvA-Sax class. You are just like my home to me. Whenever I feellost, I have you as my spiritual anchor. You are my greatinspiration, my friends and also my beloved saxophone family : )Thanks to Ij saxophone quartet, it was really fun playing with youall in this study year. You remind me of how enjoyable I could beplaying with three great musicians and friends.Thanks to Lagom saxophone quartet, it has been long since I lastplayed with you but I cannot deny that you are an important partof my journey.Thanks to all my friends all around this world. Even in this crazypandemic, all messages from you have refreshed me from alltiredness and depression miraculously. My regards to you all.

Thanks to Jeen, my Madam. I know that you are very patient withme in this study year dealing with my research-fever, recital-fever, life-fever, etc. You are always there. You understand, encourage and inspire me to be a better version of myself. Alsothat I have a beautiful format of this program note, it’s all thanksto you. Thanks to my beloved family in Thailand. I know that I am such aselfish son, choosing this path and left our home to fulfill my owndream in Amsterdam and although I am this bad, you all are stillsupporting me. Every time I heard your voice on phone, it alwaysreminds me how great my family is and makes me want to begood enough for you. Today I have accomplished a part of mydream and there is nothing I desire than to cherish this specialmoment with you all. Unfortunately, you cannot be here todaybut that’s fine. I’m going back to our home soon to show howdeveloped and matured I am now as a son of our family. Thanks to this country, the Netherlands. I have learnt to live mylife independently within such a healthy environment. Cyclingwith all angry bikers, working in Thai restaurant as a part timejob, meeting varied people from many countries. All theexperiences I have gained here, it makes feel that I am ready toface any obstacles in my life. I will never forget all of thiswonderful moment by engraving it on both my heart and my soul.

I will miss you all until we meet again : )

นาย ฐติิพล พเิศษกลุ

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