# Concerts in University Arts Festival: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 14, Test 3, Listening Part 4

Source: Recording, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 14, Test 3, Listening Part 4. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Used for educational practice. Explanations and evidence notes are written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 31 | violin | and also the violin. |
| 32 | energy | Liza Lim's compositions are vibrant and full of energy |
| 33 | complex | So although it is complex |
| 34 | opera | This is an opera in seven parts |
| 35 | disturbing | The sounds she creates are also disturbing |
| 36 | clarinet | The Tower of Remoteness is scored for piano and clarinet. |
| 37 | diversity | and it can be regarded as a Celebration of the diversity of cultures that Australia can be proud of. |
| 38 | physics | he went to university to study physics before changing to composition. |
| 39 | dance | he had become prominent in Australia as a composer for dance |
| 40 | Olympics | Vine will be represented by his music for the flag handover ceremony of the Olympics held in 1996. |

## Why these answers are right

**31. violin.** The notes ask which instrument Liza Lim studied besides piano before composing. The lecturer says that as a child she learned the piano, like many children, and also the violin, until her teachers encouraged her to compose at 11. The answer is violin.

**32. energy.** The gap needs a noun after a great deal of, describing Lim's compositions. The lecturer calls them vibrant and full of energy, and says they draw on Asian and Aboriginal sources. Full of matches a great deal of, so the noun is energy.

**33. complex.** This line says Lim's music is very expressive and also something else. The lecturer says her music is very expressive, so although it is complex, it still connects with audiences and performers. The adjective that completes the note is complex.

The why and the trap for questions 34 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/listening/concerts-in-university-arts-festival/answers).

## Transcript

**Announcer:** Section 4.

**Announcer:** You will hear a British university lecturer in music talking about concerts in an arts festival.

**Announcer:** First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.

**Announcer:** Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.

**Speaker:** As you all know, the university is planning an arts festival for later this year, and here in the music department, we've planned three concerts.

**Speaker:** These will be public performances, and the program has just been finalized.

**Speaker:** The theme of the festival is links between the UK and Australia.

**Speaker:** And this is reflected in the music.

**Speaker:** Each concert will feature both British and Australian composers.

**Speaker:** I'll tell you briefly about the Australian music.

**Speaker:** As you probably won't be familiar with that.

**Speaker:** The first concert will include music by Liza Lim, who was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1966.

**Speaker:** As a child Lim originally learned to play the piano like so many children, and also the violin.

**Speaker:** But when she was 11, her teachers encouraged her to start composing.

**Speaker:** She found this was her real strength, and she studied and later taught composition, both in Australia and in other countries.

**Speaker:** As a composer, she has received commissions from numerous orchestras, other performers, and festivals in several countries.

**Speaker:** Liza Lim's compositions are vibrant and full of energy, and she often explores Asian and Australian Aboriginal cultural sources.

**Speaker:** Including the native instrument the didgeridoo.

**Speaker:** This is featured in a work called The Compass.

**Speaker:** Her music is very expressive.

**Speaker:** So although it is complex, it has the power of connecting with audiences and performers alike.

**Speaker:** In the festival, we're going to give a semi-staged performance of The Oresteia.

**Speaker:** This is an opera in seven parts, based on the trilogy of ancient Greek tragedies.

**Speaker:** By Aeschylus.

**Speaker:** Lim composed this when she was in her mid twenties, and she also wrote the text along with Barrie Kosky.

**Speaker:** It's performed by six singers, a dancer, and an orchestra that, as well as standard orchestral instruments, includes electric guitar.

**Speaker:** And a traditional Turkish stringed instrument.

**Speaker:** Lim wrote that, because the stories in the tragedies are not easy to tell.

**Speaker:** The sounds she creates are also disturbing, and they include breathing, sobbing, laughing, and whistling.

**Speaker:** The work lasts around 75 minutes, and the rest of the concert will consist of orchestral works by the British composers Ralph Vaughan Williams.

**Speaker:** And Frederick Delius.

**Speaker:** Moving on now to our second concert, this will begin with instrumental music by British composers, Benjamin Britten and Judith Weir.

**Speaker:** After the interval, we'll go to Australia for a piece by Ross Edwards, The Tower of Remoteness, according to Edwards.

**Speaker:** The inspiration for this piece came from nature, when he was sitting alone in the dry bed of a creek, overshadowed by the leaves of palm trees.

**Speaker:** Listening to the birds and insects.

**Speaker:** The Tower of Remoteness is scored for piano and clarinet.

**Speaker:** Edwards says he realized years after writing the piece.

**Speaker:** That he had subconsciously modeled its opening phrase on a bird call.

**Speaker:** Ross Edwards was born in 1943 in Sydney, Australia, and studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and the universities of Adelaide and Sydney.

**Speaker:** He's well known in Australia, and in fact, he's one of the country's most performed composers.

**Speaker:** He's written a wide range of music, from symphonies and concertos to some composed specifically for children.

**Speaker:** Edward's music has been described as being 'deeply connected to Australia', and it can be regarded as a Celebration of the diversity of cultures that Australia can be proud of.

**Speaker:** The last of the three Australian composers to be represented in our festival is Carl Vine.

**Speaker:** Born in 1954 Vine, like Liza Lim, comes from Perth, Western Australia.

**Speaker:** He took up the cornet at the age of five, switching to the piano five years later.

**Speaker:** However, he went to university to study physics before changing to composition.

**Speaker:** After graduating, he moved to Sydney.

**Speaker:** And worked as a freelance pianist and composer.

**Speaker:** Before long, he had become prominent in Australia as a composer for dance, and in fact has written 25 scores of that type.

**Speaker:** In our third concert, Vine will be represented by his music for the flag handover ceremony of the Olympics held in 1996. This seven-minute orchestral piece was of course heard by millions of people worldwide.

**Speaker:** And we'll hear it alongside works written by British composers, Edward Elgar, and more recently, Thomas Adès.

**Announcer:** That is the end of Section 4.

**Announcer:** You now have half a minute to check your answers.

[Practice Concerts in University Arts Festival](https://testmigo.com/ielts/listening/concerts-in-university-arts-festival)