Jena's recorded live concert performances & compositions

HELLO, COME AND LISTEN!

This page contains downloads of some of my live recordings of me performing in concerts, so please forgive the wobbly intonation of the earliest recordings. They are mostly recorded when I was 8-17 years old. I also have some compositions and orchestrations that I have done on this page. Unfortunately, these recordings were done on Cassette and the sound quality is not wonderful. Just click on the link and the music should play in your computer's media player

PIANO PERFORMANCES

This is one of my all time favourite nocturnes by Chopin, and one of my favourite pieces of all time; I like to try new pianos with it. This recordings was made a few years ago. There are a few slips hear and there and a little bit of rushing due to nerves and worrying about memory - I hadn't performed since studying law and becoming a lawyer, and I had a long break from playing! My thoughts about this pieces have changed now. I think the accompaniment in the last section can be lighter. At the time when I recorded at the concert, I was just consummed and carried away with the passion of it - its like a Chopin ballade. The slips and nerves are an example of what can happen in a live concert environment, where all eyes and ears are focused at and on you. I play it much better now that I am back to regular playing! :-)

I think I was 13 when I recorded this. All I could think of was a passionate drive forward which consummed me in this study. I did much work on the op 740 and op 299 Czerny studies at the time. I remember this study fondly as I remember preparing it and playing it in one of my lessons with Chris Elton at the time and playing it at competition.

I learnt this concerto with Lora Dimitrova when I was 13 when I first started lessons with her and this recording was made at that time with her playing the orchestral accompaniment on a second piano. It was such an exciting time for me then, and Lora was and still is a really inspiring musician and teacher. I used to travel the Guildhall School of Music, where she was teaching at the time, for my lessons with Lora after school every Tuesday. Time management and organisation were essential and I used to do my homework on the train! My favourite movements of the the concerto are the first and second.

This recording was made at a competition I took part in when I was in my early teens.The combination of the size of the room, location of the microphone and the damper pedal not working well affect the recording. Funny thing, I slipped in the same places on the descending arpeggio twice in the B section. Nerves! I studied this piece with both Lora Dimitrova and Chris Elton.

This recording was made at a competition I took part in when I was a teenager. I studied this piece with both Lora Dimitrova and Chris Elton.

A rarely played work by Mendelssohn, also published as 'Confidence'. I find the melody so tender, and the some of the chordal writing, especially the lefthand 'hunt/ horn call motif' (consecutive intervals of six/ octave - fifth - third) reminds me very much of Robert Schumann's music.

The Shepherd's song from the First Year of Pilgrimage. This was one of my first pieces of Liszt that Lora Dimitrova chose for me to learn as gentle introduction to his music. I feel it a little hurried when listening to it now - the keeness of youth?

This was one of my favourite fantasies by Mozart, I preferred it to the unfinished D minor, and other other shorter Fantasie in C minor. I should have coupled it with the sonata in C minor like Mozart did for publication of the two works! I also prefer to finish the D minor fantasy in a similar manner to this C minor fantastie, i.e. almost in cyclic form repeating the opening arpeggios / introduction. I first recorded this piece at a concert in my mid-teens. I studied this piece with Lora Dimitrova and Chris Elton

This is one of my first recorded performances on the piano. It is a shame that I didn't record the Trio and repeat the Minuet again. Editions of this work vary, especially the ornamentation.

This is another of my first recorded performances when I was young, this allegro from the Sonata in A major is such a bright cheery piece. It is a shame that not more of Thomas Arne's sonatas are played.

VIOLIN PERFORMANCES

D major is such a bright happy key. This movement is my favourite from the D major sonata

This is one of my favourite pieces by Paganini, so sweet and lyrical and not too many fireworks!

I used to love opening a recital programme with this piece, the opening G minor chords are scrummy, and I like the different types of bowing and string crossing contained in the piece. I would like to play more pieces by Moffat.

This was one of my favourite concert pieces when I was 13!

I simply adore this work. First recorded when I was 13. I also included it in many recital programmes including my recital at the Jaqueline du Pre Building in Oxford in 1997.

This was always a favourite piece to play. It is full of energy, although I think I went a little too fast on this recording - it's more presto that allegro! I first heard it played on a record of Yehudi Menuhin when he was a boy prodigy.

This is a very melancholic melodie indeed, but very enjoyable to play.

This was one of my favourite encore pieces, it is rarely played. The opening theme reminds me very much of Brahms' Hungarian Dance no 5. In this recording audience thought the piece had ended and started clapping before I carried on! Silly audience :-)

Again another favourite, I think I was 13 at the time

Another favourite. I first heard this piece recorded by Ruggiero Ricci on his 'Glory of Cremona' recording and fell in love with it then. I knew that I had to learn it.

The first dance of the set was recorded, unfortunately, the tape ran out and the others were not recorded :-(

When this was recorded I used a romantic edition (Peters), and now comparing the whole sonata with an urtext edition, makes you realise how important a good authorative text is. The realisation of the continuo part by Hans Sitt is laughable, he uses Alberti bass in the faster movements, nevertheless, i do like this version. The original version has many differences in the melodic line and they are very interesting to compare in the same concert

This is a very popular concerto when learning. Very lyrical and dramatic. It was the first concerto I learnt and performed

I really like this arrangement and it is very simple to play.

This is one of my very first recorded performances on the violin when I was 12 when I first started learning. I really enjoyed the energy that Baroque music has of which the bow is the expontent.

CHAMBERMUSIC PERFORMANCES

Played at a concert in aid of the church building fund. Unfortunately the microphone was placed infront of the cellist, so in this recording the cello gets all the jam!!!

A recording of my cello pal Cora Adcock and I.

This recording is of chambermusic making at home!

Another recording of my cello friend Cora Adcock and I

This recording is of chambermsic making at home! More to come later

JENA'S COMPOSITIONS

I am no composer and composition is not my thing; it does not come to me naturally. I prefer to play in order to express myself. I suppose the only time i have composed or improvised was when I was when I was studying composition and techniques. The other times have been when I have improvised or composed my own cadenzas to concertos I was playing.

Keyboard concerto'Computerelli' (3rd movement)

I wrote this orignally as a just piece of Baroque music for harpsichord and orchestra when I was 13. I later used it as the third movement of 'Computerelli' keyboard concerto. I completed the other two movements of the concerto when I was 15. At the time I was mad about Baroque music, so Vivaldi and Bach are the main influences. My composition tutor suggested that I call the piece 'Computerelli' since I used the computer and a music sequencer to record it. I later re-wrote and re-scored it on Sibelius. At the time of composition I really enjoyed listening to the circle of fifths. However, I did try to compose it as a ritornello form within a ternary structure, but tonally, did not modulate to other keys. Its almost a like canon form with variations. COPYRIGHT 2007. JENA PANG. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

I suppose this could be played by flute or violin, but i chose flute for the recording, as the timbre could beheard against the other strings in this sequenced/ computer sound. This would have been composed in my early teens.

More compositions to be uploaded later

JENA'S ORCHESTRATIONS

I orchestrated this as part of my degree at Oxford University. You can learn so much from comparing the piano music to a composer's orchstral version of the same work. My orchestration tutor at Oxford was Dr Jonathan Williams; tutes with him were really fun, as we would compare the orchestration techniques of Brahms, Schumann, Ravel etc. I always used the Sibelius music programme to orchestrate, as I could playback the results in the tute on my laptop.

More to come later

Contact me to chat about these recordings

Last updated: 2 April 2007

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