3rd EDITION 6-8 NOV 2026
FIN DE SIÈCLE
Europe at the turn of the 20th century
3rd EDITION 6-8 NOV 2026
FIN DE SIÈCLE
Europe at the turn of the 20th century
FRIDAY 6 NOV 2026
7PM Raffles Hotel-Le Royal
Grand Opening PIANO 4HANDS
SATURDAY 7 NOV 2026
7PM Raffles Hotel-Le Royal
Song Recital
SUNDAY 8 NOV 2026
7PM Raffles Hotel-Le Royal
Finale – A Piano Recital
FRIDAY 6 NOV 2026
RAFFLES HOTEL-LE ROYAL
6 PM PRE-CONCERT TALK – At the Concert Hall
Prof. Dr. Monika Hennemann
Musicologist, Cardiff University School of Music, Wales
Enrich your concert experience with insights
into the music, background information on the works,
and the lives of the composers.
……………………
7PM CONCERT – GRAND OPENING
RAFFLES HOTEL-LE ROYAL
Piano 4 Hands, Katy Lo Wing & Issei Sakano piano
PROGRAM
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
(1862-1918)
Petite Suite (1889)
En bateau
Cortège
Menuet
Ballet
Petite Suite by Claude Debussy is a light, elegant suite originally written for piano four-hands and later orchestrated. The piece reflects Debussy’s early style, before his fully developed Impressionist sound. It consists of four short movements—En bateau, Cortège, Menuet, and Ballet—each painting a delicate musical scene.
The music is graceful, playful, and colorful, inspired by French poetry and imagery. Gentle melodies, flowing rhythms, and clear textures create an atmosphere of dreamy charm and refined elegance, making it one of Debussy’s most approachable and lyrical works.
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GERMAINE TAILEFERRE
(1892-1983)
Image (1918)
Taileffere is a highly significant figure in early twentieth-century music as the only female member of the French group Les Six, a collective that sought to move away from the heavy Romantic and Impressionist traditions of the time. Her music is marked by clarity, elegance, and playful lyricism, blending neoclassical structure with subtle harmonic color. Works such as Image showcase her refined sense of form and delicate expressiveness, demonstrating that modern music could be both accessible and sophisticated. Tailleferre’s relevance extends beyond her compositions: she pioneered the role of women in composition, helped define the aesthetic ideals of Les Six through her focus on simplicity and charm, and influenced subsequent generations with her combination of impressionistic color and neoclassical balance, establishing a distinctively modern French musical voice.
Images emphasizing graceful melodies and subtle harmonic color. Rather than dramatic contrasts, the music focuses on refinement, clarity, and lightness, creating an intimate and poetic atmosphere. The piece shows Tailleferre’s preference for simplicity, balance, and expressive nuance, blending impressionistic color with a neoclassical sense of structure.
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ERIC SATIE
(1866-1925)
Trois Morceaux en Forme de Poire (1903)
Manière de commencement
Prolongation du même
(Morceau) I. Lentement
(Morceau) II. Enlevé
(Morceau) III. Brutal
En plus. Calme
Redite. Dans le lent
Eric Satie is notable for his innovative and unconventional approach to composition. His music is characterized by simplicity, clarity of texture, repetitive structures, and understated harmonic language, which contrasted with the expressive intensity of late Romantic music. Through his ironic titles and rejection of traditional formal expectations, Satie challenged established musical conventions. His aesthetic ideas significantly influenced early twentieth-century French composers, including Claude Debussy and members of Les Six, and contributed to the development of modernist and minimalist musical thought.
Trois Morceaux en Forme de Poire is a humorous piano duet with seven short sections, despite the title suggesting three. The piece features simple melodies, repetitive rhythms, and unexpected harmonies, reflecting Satie’s playful and ironic approach to traditional musical forms. It combines clarity, wit, and subtle parody, creating a light and unconventional character.
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CÉCILE CHAMINADE
(1857–1944))
From 6 Pièces romantiques, Op.55 (1890)
– Primavera
– La chaise à porteurs
– Sérénade d’automne
Cécile Chaminade was a French composer and pianist. She achieved wide popularity in her lifetime, writing piano pieces, songs, and chamber works
Chaminade’s piano works are known for their lyrical charm, refined elegance, and salon-style expressiveness. Her piano music often combines clear melodies with delicate virtuoso figuration and colorful harmonic touches, making it both accessible and artistically distinctive within the late Romantic French tradition.
6 Pièces romantiques, Op. 55 is a charming and atmospheric suite for piano four hands, composed around 1890. The six character pieces reflect the Romantic fascination with nature, dance, and exotic imagery, combining melodic elegance. Throughout the cycle, she balances graceful lyricism with vivid textures and subtle harmonic sophistication, creating music that is both intimate and highly expressive.
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GUSTAV MAHLER
(1860 -1911)
Adagietto (1902)
(4th movement Symphony No 5)
Arrangement by Otto Singer (1863–1931)
The Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler is one of his most celebrated pieces due to its profound emotional resonance and delicate orchestration. Written for strings and harp only, it stands apart from the rest of Symphony No. 5, creating an intimate and lyrical atmosphere.
Often interpreted as a musical love letter to his wife, Alma Mahler, the movement conveys tenderness, reflection, and deep affection through its long, flowing melodies and rich harmonies. Its enduring fame has been further enhanced by its use in popular culture, notably in the film Death in Venice, which introduced Mahler’s expressive lyricism to a wider audience. Today, the Adagietto is admired for its emotional intensity, elegance, and timeless beauty, making it one of the most poignant and recognizable works in the orchestral repertoire.
The piano four‑hands transcription of the Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler. It was made by Otto Singer and arranged for piano four hands (at one piano) as part of his full transcription of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. This version lets two pianists share the orchestral textures and closely follows the original orchestration in a keyboard medium.
Otto Singer (1833–1894) was a German musician, composer, and conductor known especially for his transcriptions and arrangements of orchestral works for piano, including four‑hand versions. He worked to make large-scale symphonic works more accessible to domestic and educational settings, allowing pianists to perform orchestral music at home or in small venues.
Singer’s transcription of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 for piano four hands is particularly notable because it captures the richness of Mahler’s orchestration while adapting it for two pianists, including the famous Adagietto movement. His work helped popularize Mahler’s symphonies in an era before widespread orchestral recordings.
Otto Singer is remembered as an important figure in 19th‑century music publishing and transcription, bridging orchestral masterpieces and pianists worldwide.
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MAURICE RAVEL
(1875-1937)
Ma mère l’Oye (1910)
Suite
Pavane de la belle au bois dormant.
Petit poucet
Laideronnette, impératrice des pagodes
Les entretiens de la belle et de la bête
Le jardin féerique
Ma mère l’Oye by Maurice Ravel is a delicate and imaginative suite originally written for piano four hands and later orchestrated by the composer. Inspired by fairy tales and children’s stories, the work—whose title means “Mother Goose”—paints vivid musical scenes with charm and subtlety. The suite includes five main pieces: Each piece showcases Ravel’s lyrical melodies, impressionistic harmonies, and delicate textures, creating a dreamlike and narrative quality. In the orchestral version, Ravel expands the color and richness while preserving the suite’s intimate and whimsical character. Ma mère l’Oye remains celebrated for its poetic storytelling, refined craftsmanship, and enchanting musical imagery, making it one of Ravel’s most beloved works.