Southeast recital series begins Sept. 2

The Southeast Missouri State University Department of Music Faculty Recital Series will open its season Sept. 2 with a recital featuring cellist Sara Edgerton and pianists Matt Yount and Paul Thompson at the River Campus.

The program will include music from the Baroque period to today, with include music by Italian, Hungarian, Czech and British composers. The 7:30 p.m. recital will be in the Shuck Music Recital Hall and is open to the public.

The concert will open with Antonio Vivaldi's Sonata No. 4 for Cello and Piano. Vivaldi is considered one of the greatest Baroque composers and violinists. Vivaldi wrote in a virtuosic manner for stringed instruments. The sonata includes lyrical slow movements, contrasted with lively, dancelike movements.

Next on the program will be Concertpiece for Cello and Piano by Hungarian composer Ernst Dohnanyi. Dohnanyi's music shows the influence of Liszt and Brahms. He began composing in the late 19th century and throughout the first half of the 20th century. Concertpiece for Cello and Piano, Op. 12, was a relatively early work and is written in the style of the late Romantics. For the first half of the program, Edgerton will be joined by Yount on piano.

The second half of the program will feature short works for cello and piano by two instrumentalists of the 19th century. Edgerton and Thompson will open the second half with two works by cellist David Popper. Popper was born in Prague, Czech Republic, and gained acclaim for his cello playing. He held important positions in Vienna and Budapest and toured all over Europe. The two pieces by Popper will be "Hungarian Rhapsody," No. 68, and the popular "Tarantella," Op. 33.

Also in the second half of the concert will be a work by the violinist Niccolo Paganini. Edgerton and Thompson will perform Paganini's "Variations on One String on a Theme by Rossini" in an arrangement for cello and piano. The recital will conclude with an adaptation of The Beatles' "Yesterday," arranged for cello and piano.

More information and tickets are available by calling the River Campus box office at 651-2265 or visiting rivercampusevents.com.