SKU: PR.110418140

ISBN 9781491129432. UPC: 680160640379.

Matheson’s five-movement work is a setting of stained glass windows created by Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse for a rustic country church adjoining the Rockefeller estate near Sleepy Hollow on the Hudson River. Matheson’s suite draws from four Chagall windows: 1. Jeremiah, 2. Isaiah, 3. Crucifixion, 4. The Good Samaritan, and culminates with Matisse’s 5. The Rose.
In 1954, the Rockefeller family asked Henri Matisse to create a stained glass Rose Window for the Union Church of Pocantico Hills, New York as a memorial to Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, the great art patroness and a founder of the Museum of Modern Art. It was to be the artist’s last work. A few years later, Mrs. Rockefeller’s youngest son, David, acting on behalf of the family, commissioned Marc Chagall to create an entire series of stained glass windows to fill the rest of the small church resulting in the large, majestic “Good Samaritan” window and eight sublime smaller windows, each depicting a biblical figure or scene. In 2015, Premiere Commission commissioned James Matheson to compose WINDOWS to celebrate the centennial of the Union Church of Pocantico Hills and the 100th birthday of David Rockefeller. This deeply touching, epic cycle distills into music the intimate, often heart-rending, visions of Chagall as well as the powerful simplicity of Matisse’s modern design which utilizes the striking collage forms he employed in his final years. Matheson’s work also reflects the influence of Olivier Messiaen’s own theologically-inspired music. Like the French master, Matheson utilizes large-scale blocks of harmonies with organ-like sonorities to support and shift the music’s kaleidoscopic planes of color and set into relief the work’s piercing motifs and intricate patterns. The universal themes of love and sacrifice (“Jeremiah” and “Isaiah”), loss and altruism (“Crucifixion” and “The Good Samaritan”) and the jubilant celebration of life and nature (“The Rose”) are memorably portrayed in this poignant tribute to the human spirit.—Bruce Levingston.

SKU: MB.30964

ISBN 9781513469775. 8.75x11.75 inches.

This collection of 41 timeless melodies is tastefully arranged for soprano and tenor recorders with suggested breath marks and accompaniment chords. Selections include a variety of influences which provide a historical and aesthetic view of the American musical landscape. The works of both well-known, classically trained composers and unknown folk artists are featured in standard notation arrangements suitable for performance by intermediate players. The one thing these tunes have in common is their striking melodies, which in many cases have endured throughout the ages.

SKU: HL.14043780

ISBN 9781847727923. English.

All the songs from the album, arranged for Guitar tab, complete with full lyrics.

This book is specially bound to help the pages lie flat while you are playing.

SKU: CF.YPS227F

ISBN 9781491155202. UPC: 680160913749. 9 x 12 inches.

Sandhills Saga was commissioned by the Aberdeen Middle School Band of North Carolina led by Neil P. McCrimmon. The composition opens slowly and quietly with a principal theme presented by the flutes and oboe. The theme is repeated by the alto saxophones and trumpet in canon with the flutes, oboe and clarinets. The head motive of the theme is repeated and imitated, sometimes in inversion, as the A-section comes to a quiet close. The auxiliary percussion instruments play an integral role in creating the delicate colors of the A-section. The trumpets introduce the contrasting Alla marcia section and then are joined by the alto saxophones for a presentation of a syncopated, martial version of the principal theme. The low brass take the lead, in canon with the upper woodwinds, for a repetition of this theme. A quieter (but still syncopated) section provides contrast and leads to the return of the march theme. The low brass lead once again as the upper woodwinds provide an arching countermelody. A brief coda brings the work to a lively close.