The Kotuku Quintet returned to the stage this year with a programme that featured two little-known works for piano quintet from the Romantic era. Frank Bridge’s Quintet in D minor, and Enrique Granados’ Quintet in G minor.

The English composer Frank Bridge (1879-1941) was widely respected as a teacher, composer, violist and conductor. His Quintet has been described as ‘a high-point of post-romantic English music’. Today it is hardly known but this fresh, enjoyable, moving work is well deserving of greater popularity.

Spanish composer Enrique Granados (1867-1916), dubbed by some as the ‘Spanish Grieg’, wrote his Piano Quintet in G minor fairly early in his career and is one of only a handful of chamber works that he wrote. His distinctly Spanish style of classical music can be heard in the second movement, Allegretto, with the suggested strumming of a guitar, accompanying a melancholy song beautifully evocative of a lazy afternoon in the sun.

The Francis-Lee Duo presented a programme featuring the works of two powerful women composers from the 19th century who were dedicated to their craft and to overcoming the challenges they experienced as women in a male dominated industry.

After moving to Düsseldorf in early 1853, Clara produced several works, among them the Three Romances for violin and piano, Op. 22.for violin and piano. She dedicated this work to violinist Joseph Joachim, which was later performed for King George V of Hanover.

Perhaps the earliest and most prominent American woman composer, Amy Beach was a leading representative of the late 19th-century Romantic style and her works were characterized by technical mastery, spontaneity, and originality. The Francis-Lee Duo performed her richly lyrical and emotional Sonata for violin and piano, Op. 34 - one of her most important works.

Portamento started our Spring series of concerts with a delightful programme where the flame and exhilaration of romance meets the anguish of unrequited love as reflected in Schubert’s magnificent Fantasie in F minor D940. Being one of his most important piano works for 4 hands and dedicated to his student Karoline Esterhazy, it was written just a few months before he died.

This dramatic work is contrasted with Debussy’s evocative Petite Suite, then Rachmaninoff’s Valse from Moments Musicaux Op. 11, and concludes with Grieg’s bright and joyous lyric piece Wedding Day at Troldhaugen Op. 65 no. 6 – the ultimate culmination of courting and romance having been written as a memorial of the 25th wedding anniversary of Grieg and his wife Nina.

On 6 November 2019 Dr. Polly Sussex presented her research on the experiences of some early women settlers in Auckland, focusing on Sarah Mathew and her attempt to transpose her piano to the wild shores of the colonial city.

You can find Polly's talk on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSGWdSYYpH8

Here we present a question and answer session by piano restorer Paul Downie which followed the talk. Haramai tētahi ahua!

Image: 'The British flag first hoisted on the shore of the Waitemata, September 18th, 1840' - a watercolour painted after Dr John Johnson's original by Elizabeth Hocken.

Recorded live at the Auckland Central Library on 6 November 2019.

Today we present a talk by writer, director and actor Dr. Murrary Edmond based on material from his forthcoming book: Time to make a song and dance: cultural revolt in Auckland 1960-1970. The talk was hosted in conjunction with the Curtain Up! exhibition staged at Tamaki Pataka Korero and which explored the rise of professional drama in Auckland. You can find further material from the exhibition in our playlist on Auckland Libraries' podcast page.

Here Dr. Edmond concentrates on the rise and fall of the Community Arts Service or CAS Theatre. His research provides an interesting insight into attempts to diversify the dramatic offerings being staged in culturally conservative mid-twentieth century New Zealand. Haramai tētahi ahua! Enjoy the journey!

This talk was recorded live at the Auckland Central Library on 13 November 2019.

Additional audio: Weekly Review No. 435 (1950) National Film Unit, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Image: Auckland Libraries Heritage Ephemera collection: www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/pages/heritage-ephemera.aspx

Riddle me this...What do Jo March, Lisbeth Salander, Paikea and the Cat in the Hat have in common? And how does this tie in with our New Year’s Resolutions? Alison and Karen explain all...

This month the Real Gold case makes a connection with the current exhibition Fun and Games! at Tamaki Pataka Korero – the Central City Library.

American book artist Julie Chen is noted for her sophisticated and beautiful constructions, often based on the idea of a game.

To tell us more about the artist and her work is rare books specialist Georgia Prince in conversation with Sue Berman.

Reference: https://discover.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/iii/encore/record/C__Rb3316417

Julie Chen. Personal paradigms: a game of life. Berkeley: Flying Fish Press, 2003.

Ted Dickens worked for Farmers Trading Company for nearly 4 decades. He shares the highs and lows of his career with the New Zealand retailing icon including everything from a controversial winking Santa Clause to racing to replicate a famous royal wedding dress.

Sit back and enjoy a summer stroll down memory lane - Haramai tētahi ahua!

Recorded live at the Auckland Central Library on 8 May 2019.

Image credit: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 9-1

Explore your heritage collections for more content like this here: https://www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/Pages/heritage-collections.aspx

Music credit: Childhood by Frank Kölling

In this episode, our BFFs Alison and Karen talk about that great literary sub-genre, the BFB (Big Fat Book). Just perfect for holiday reading and guaranteed to keep you amused for weeks.

Welcome back to this Fun and Games series! In this track we hear a number of voices drawn from the Birkenhead City Council Oral History Project recorded in the early 1980s.

Margaret Armitage recalls the annual school picnic and games on the beach; Alice O'Callahan describes playing on the Maypole; and Lloyd Mumme talks of fishing in the local waterways and the fun of bird nesting.

Margaret Armitage NOH-AAA-0219

https://tinyurl.com/ts5lc5z

Alice O'Callahan NOH-AAA-0382

https://tinyurl.com/v3yu8jq

Lloyd Mumme - NOH-AAA-0227

https://tinyurl.com/ws3vbuf

Image: Perry family picnic, Te Henga, c1930s, photgrapher unkown, JTD-02K-05655-2, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection.

Music: Happy Whistling Ukulele by Rafael Krux, https://freepd.com/upbeat.ph