Chamber Music harp

SKU: PR.110406720

Composed by Samuel Adler. Classical. Softcover. With Standard notation. Duration 14 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #110-40672. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.110406720).

UPC: 680160001316.

I have always been fond of writing works for specific people or organizations. It has been my good fortune during most of my creative career to be asked to compose for many extraordinary performers. The Sonata for Harpsichord Solo is such a case in point: it was written in 1982 for Barbara Harbach, a superb performer, close friend, and collaborator on many musical projects. The Sonata was premiered on March 2, 1984, in a recital given by Dr. Harbach at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York. During my formative years as a composer, one seldom heard of the harpsichord as a modern instrument, though while I attended undergraduate school at Boston University, some of us banded together to construct a small harpsichord from one of the first do-it-yourself kits which began to appear in the late '40s. It was also during this time that I heard the Sonatina for Violin and Harpsichord by my teacher Walter Piston and consequently specified that the accompanying instrument for my second violin sonata could either be a piano or a harpsichord. It was not until recently, however, that my interest in the harpsichord as a solo instrument for new music was aroused. This was because of the emergence of so many young virtuosi, such as Barbara Harbach, who are interested in the performance of new music besides the great harpsichord music of the Classical, Baroque, and pre-Baroque eras. The keyboard music of Domenico Scarlatti has always intrigued and fascinated me. The brevity, excitement, and clarity of this sparkling music is charming as well as exhilarating. It is this type of Baroque sonata that inspired the conception and form of my harpsichord sonata. The entire work is loosely based on the musical translation of Barabara Harbach's name, especially the conflict of the B (B-flat) and H (B-natural in German notation). This secondo rub or dissonance especially pervades the first movement, which is in a modified sonata form, pitting jagged and tense melodic elements against most lyrical and smooth lines. This second movement is a song-like melody accompanied by rolled chords which may be played on the lute stop of the instrument if this sonata is performed on a two-manual harpsichord. The final movement is an ever-driving joyous toccata which brings the work to an exciting close with a coda made up of accelerating repeated chords. --Samuel Adler.

Harp

SKU: UT.MAG-274

Composed by Philipp-Joseph Hinner. Edited by Francesca La Carrubba Jessica Pettenà. Saddle stitching. Magadis. Classical. Score and Parts. Ut Orpheus #MAG 274. Published by Ut Orpheus (UT.MAG-274).

ISBN 9790215326859. 9 x 12 inches.

Rediscoveri ng, studying and analyzing the musical art of Philipp Joseph Hinner means enhancing a piece of the eighteenth-century harp music mosaic. Hinner's work intrigues for its extraordinary simplicity, for its regularity and harmony; the ordered balance of the parts, symmetry and sense of proportion are essential elements for the author, and give character and unity to his work. The harp repertoire has long been overshadowed by the keyboard one, which boasts extensive solo and chamber literature, and consolidated for over two centuries. The rediscovery of the history of our instrument, however, is still recent and the research work in the field of harp music is still long.
Hinner, with the apparent simplicity of his opus 10, can thus regain his role in the harp repertoire of the eighteenth century, as well as covering a considerable didactic value today. The part of the first harp undoubtedly presents characteristics of greater rhythmic and virtuosic complexity than that of the second, which consists of a continuous accompaniment interspersed with simple thematic imitated episodes. Furthermore in the composition are included arias such as O ma tendre Musette, a French popular melody of the 18th century (previously set to music by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny), and <>, taken from the opera-comique L'erreur d'un moment ou la Suite de Julie by Nicolas Dezede, as well as themes from Gluck's Iphigenie en Aulide, which had been all used also by Hinner's first harp master, Francesco Petrini (1744-1819).
Hinner's opus 10, originally written in separate parts for two harps, or harp and fortepiano, is presented here updated and completed with its score, for a thorough perception of the work.