SKU: MH.1-59913-070-X

ISBN 9781599130705.

Program Notes: Stylistically diverse -- tranquil, spirited pastoral, sensitive, energetic -- exhibiting a remarkable palette, the five movements of SINFONIA IX form a unique symphonic statement. Movement I, Prelude, is about contrasts: A lazy, smooth, motive in brasses alternates with, and then joins, an active and detached motive in woodwinds. The spirited Movement II, Morley's Ghost, is an intricate canonic collage and homage to that venerable theoretician & composer, Thomas Morley. By contrast, movement III, Dialog, speaks in a relaxed, lyrical, and pastoral language as it develops its gently rising and falling motives. Movement IV, Waltz, innocently celebrates the joys of childhood with a lilting melody and rondo form. For the rousing Finale, Movement V begins with a martial call of repeated-notes, heralding a headstrong journey of power and excitement. Like a number of the composer's other works, SINFONIA IX is based on earlier material: A brass sextet, written in 1966 when the composer was nineteen years old, forms the raw material for the first, third and fifth movements, while a later work, Martin's Waltz (a children's piece for flutes and clarinets composed in 1975) is the basis of the fourth movement. The second movement, however, is a fanciful contrapuntal commentary on Thomas Morley's 16th-century canzonet, Fire and Lightning. SINFONIA IX is dedicated to John Raforth, a distinguished band director and music educator at West High School in Madison, Wisconsin. The work was commissioned by his friends and former students, and was completed in 1977. Its first publication some twenty years later is a result of the increasing attention paid by university band directors to the earlier Sinfonias, particularly Sinfonia III (Hymns and Dances); Sinfonia V (Sinfonia Sacra et Profana); and now, Sinfonia IX. Whereas the first two works are wind ensemble compositions that have been championed equally by the concert band, Sinfonia IX is the composer's first college-level Sinfonia written especially for concert band. Ensemble instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 8 Flute 1-2, 2 Oboe, 1 Eb Clarinet, 4 Bb Clarinet 1, 4 Bb Clarinet 2, 4 Bb Clarinet 3, 3 Bb Bass Clarinet, 2 Bassoon, 4 Eb Alto Saxophone, 2 Bb Tenor Saxophone, 1 Eb Baritone Saxophone, 3 Bb Trumpet 1, 3 Bb Trumpet 2, 3 Bb Trumpet 3, 2 F Horn 1-2, 2 F Horn 3-4, 3 Trombone 1, 3 Trombone 2, 3 Baritone B.C., 2 Baritone T.C., 4 Tuba, 3 String Bass, 2 Timpani, 5 Percussion.

SKU: MH.1-59913-054-8

ISBN 9781599130545.

Royal Coronation Dances is the first sequel to the Fanfare Ode & Festival, both being settings of dance music originally arranged by Gervaise in the mid 16th-century (the next sequel is The Renaissance Fair, which uses music of Susato and Praetorius). Fanfare Ode & Festival has been performed by many tens of thousands of students, both in high school and junior high school. I have heard that some of them are amazed that the music they are playing was first played and danced to over 400 years ago. Some students tend to think that music started with Handel and his Messiah to be followed by Beethoven and his Fifth Symphony, with naught in between or before of consequence. Although Royal Coronation Dances is derived from the same source as Fanfare Ode & Festival, they are treated in different ways. I envisioned this new suite programmatically -- hence the descriptive movement titles, which I imagined to be various dances actually used at some long-ago coronation. The first movement depicts the guests, both noble and common, flanked by flag and banner bearers, arriving at the palace to view the majestic event. They are festive, their flags swirling the air, their cloaks brightly colored. In the second movement, the queen in stately measure moves to take her place on the throne as leader and protector of the realm. In the third movement, the jesters of the court entertain the guests with wild games of sport. Musically, there are interesting sonorities to recreate. Very special attention should be given to the tambourine/tenor drum part in the first movement. Their lively rhythms give the movement its power. Therefore they should be played as distinctly and brilliantly as possible. The xylophone and glockenspiel add clarity, but must not be allowed to dominate. Observe especially the differing dynamics; the intent is to allow much buzzing bass to penetrate. The small drum (starting at meas. 29) should be played expressively, with attention to the notated articulations, with the brass light and detached, especially in a lively auditorium. It is of some further interest that the first dance is extremely modal. The original is clearly in G mixolydian mode (scale: G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G). However, other editors might put in F-sharps in many places (changing the piece almost to G major), in the belief that such ficta would have been automatically put in by the 16th-century performers as they played. I doubt it. I have not only eschewed these within the work, but even at the cadences. So this arrangement is most distinctly modal (listen to the F-naturals in meas. 22 and 23, for instance), with all the part-writing as Gervaise wrote it. In the second movement, be careful that things do not become too glued together. In the 16th century this music might have been played by a consort of recorders, instruments very light of touch and sensitive to articulation. Concert band can easily sound heavy, and although this movement has been scored for tutti band, it must not sound it. It is essential, therefore, that you hear all the instruments, with none predominating. Only when each timbre can be heard separately and simultaneously will the best blend occur, and consequently the greatest transparency. So aim for a transparent, spacious tutti sound in this movement. Especially have the flutes, who do this so well, articulate rather sharply, so as to produce a chiffing sound, and do not allow the quarter-notes to become too tied together in the entire band. The entrance of the drums (first tenor, then bass) are events and as such should be audible. Incidentally, this movement begins in F Major and ends in D Minor: They really didn't care so much about those things then. The third movement (one friend has remarked that it is the most Margolisian of the bunch, but actually I am just getting subtler, I hope) again relies upon the percussion (and the scoring) to make its points. Xylophone in this movement is meant to be distinctly audible. Therefore, be especially sure that the xylophone player is secure in the part, and also that the tambourine and toms sound good. This movement must fly or it will sink, so rev up the band and conduct it in 1 for this mixolydian jesting. I suppose the wildly unrelated keys (clarinets and then brass at the end) would be a good 16th-century joke, but to us, our put-up-the-chorus-a-half-step ears readily accept such shenanigans. Ensemble instrumentation: 1 Full Score, 1 Piccolo, 4 Flute 1, 4 Flute 2 & 3, 2 Oboe 1 & 2, 2 Bassoon 1 & 2, 1 Eb Clarinet, 4 Bb Clarinet 1, 4 Bb Clarinet 2, 4 Bb Clarinet 3, 2 Eb Alto Clarinet, 1 Eb Contra Alto Clarinet, 3 Bb Bass & Bb Contrabass Clarinet, 2 Eb Alto Saxophone 1, 2 Eb Alto Saxophone 2, 2 Bb Tenor Saxophone, 2 Eb Baritone Saxophone, 3 Bb Trumpet 1, 3 Bb Trumpet 2, 3 Bb Trumpet 3, 4 Horn in F 1 & 2, 2 Trombone 1, 4 Trombone 2 & 3, 3 Euphonium (B.C.), 2 Euphonium (T.C.), 4 Tuba, 1 String Bass, 1 Timpani (optional), 2 Xylophone & Glockenspiel, 5 Percussion.

SKU: FL.FX071878

Instruments: Piccolo (1 part) Flutes 1&2 (4 parts) Oboe (2 parts) Bassoon (2 parts) Eb Clarinet (1 part) Bb Clarinet 1 (3 parts) Bb Clarinet 2&3 (4 parts) Bass Clarinet (1 part) Alto Saxophones 1&2 (2 parts) Tenor Saxophones 1&2 (2 parts) Baritone Saxophone (1 part) Bb Trumpet 1 (1 part) Bb Trumpets 2&3 (2 parts) F Horns 1&2&3&4 (4 parts) Trombones 1&2 (2 parts) Bass Trombone (1 part) C Euphonium B.C. 1&2 (2 parts) Bb Contrabass (1 part) Timpani (1 part) Cymbals and Triangle (1 part) Glockenspiel and Marimba(1 part) Tubular Bells (1 part) Drums (1 part) Bass Drum (1 part)
Additional Parts: Eb Horns 1&2&3&4& (2 parts) Bb Baritone / Euphonium T.C. 1&2 (1 part) C Baritone / Euphonium T.C. 1&2 (1 part) Bb Euphonium T.C. 1&2 (1 part) C Tuba (1 part) Bb Tuba (1 part); Difficuly Level: Grade 4.

SKU: PR.16500092L

UPC: 680160039531. 11 x 17 inches.

Zion is the third and final installment of a series of works for Wind Ensemble inspired by national parks in the western United States, collectively called Three Places in the West. As in the other two works (The Yellowstone Fires and Arches), it is my intention to convey more an impression of the feelings I've had in Zion National Park in Utah than an attempt at pictorial description. Zion is a place with unrivalled natural grandeur, being a sort of huge box canyon in which the traveler is constantly overwhelmed by towering rock walls on every side of him -- but it is also a place with a human history, having been inhabited by several tribes of native Americans before the arrival of the Mormon settlers in the mid-19th century. By the time the Mormons reached Utah, they had been driven all the way from New York State through Ohio and, with tragic losses, through Missouri. They saw Utah in general as a place nobody wanted, but they were nonetheless determined to keep it to themselves. Although Zion Canyon was never a Mormon Stronghold, the people who reached it and claimed it (and gave it its present name) had been through extreme trials. It is the religious fervor of these persecuted people that I was able to draw upon in creating Zion as a piece of music. There are two quoted hymns in the work: Zion's Walls (which Aaron Copland adapted to his own purposes in both is Old American Songs and the opera The Tender Land) and Zion's Security, which I found in the same volume in which Copland found Zion's Walls -- that inexhaustible storehouse of 19th-century hymnody called The Sacred Harp. My work opens with a three-verse setting of Zion's Security, a stern tune in F-sharp minor which is full of resolve. (The words of this hymn are resolute and strong, rallying the faithful to be firm, and describing the city of our God they hope to establish). This melody alternates with a fanfare tune, whose origins will be revealed in later music, until the second half of the piece begins: a driving rhythmic ostinato based on a 3/4-4/4 alternating meter scheme. This pauses at its height to restate Zion's Security one more time, in a rather obscure setting surrounded by freely shifting patterns in the flutes, clarinets, and percussion -- until the sun warms the ground sufficiently for the second hymn to appear. Zion's Walls is set in 7/8, unlike Copland's 9/8-6/8 meters (the original is quite strange, and doesn't really fit any constant meter), and is introduced by a warm horn solo. The two hymns vie for attention from here to the end of the piece, with the glowingly optimistic Zion's Walls finally achieving prominence. The work ends with a sense of triumph and unbreakable spirit. Zion was commissioned in 1994 by the wind ensembles of the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Oklahoma. It is dedicated to the memory of Aaron Copland.

SKU: HL.49015665

ISBN 9790001139786. UPC: 884088156251. 9.0x12.0x0.296 inches.

Best playability and musical spirit - this is what characterizes the music of Bertold Hummel who died in 2002, and why his music must be part of the repertoire of any amateur and semi-professional orchestra. The Oregon Symphony occupies a special position in his oeuvre: it was written by Hummel for the typically American symphonic wind bands, requiring almost 100 musicians, including 15 clarinets in three groups of five alone, as well as four piccolos and six flutes, bass clarinet, bassoons, saxophones, trumpets, horns, tubas and the typically American sousaphone, and five percussionists. The work consists of four movements; in the rousing finale, Hummel mixes jazz motifs with popular themes and even weaves the anthem of the State of Oregon in the final music. For getting better acquainted with this music, the first movement is also separately available ('Symphonische Ouverture', SHS 1001).

Picc. * 2 * 2 * Klar. in Es * 3 * Bassklar. in B * 2 Altsax. in Es * Tenorsax. in B * Baritonsax. in Es * 2 - 4 * 3 (Korn.) * 3 * Tenorhr. in B (Bar.) * 2 - P. S. (Trgl. * 4 hg. Beck. * Beckenp. * Tamt. * Gong * Glock. ad lib. * Bngs. * Schellentr. * kl. Tr. * gr. Tr. * Holzbl. * Tempelbl. * Ratsche * Xyl. * Vibr) (5 Spieler) - Kb.

SKU: MH.1-59913-066-1

ISBN 9781599130668.

The discovery of the yellow metal at Sutter's Mill in California's Sacramento Valley in 1849 was only the beginning of subsequent gold-rushes to occur in the state. Gold-Rush Rag was written to commemorate all of the California gold rushes from past to present -- not only for the precious metal, but for all the opportunities that California has offered. This work is dedicated to the Sacramento Valley Symphonic Band, conducted by Dr. Lester E. Lehr. Ensemble instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 6 Flutes, 2 Oboe 1-2, 2 Bassoon 1-2, 1 Eb Clarinet, 4 Bb Clarinet 1, 4 Bb Clarinet 2, 4 Bb Clarinet 3, 1 Eb Alto Clarinet, 3 Bb Bass Clarinet, 4 Eb Alto Saxophone 1-2, 1 Bb Tenor Saxophone, 1 Eb Baritone Saxophone, 3 Bb Cornet 1, 3 Bb Cornet 2, 3 Bb Cornet 3, 2 Horn in F 1-2, 2 Horn in F 3-4, 2 Trombone 1, 2 Trombone 2, 2 Trombone 3, 3 Euphonium BC, 2 Euphonium TC, 5 Tuba, 1 Bells, 2 Triangle/Tambourine, 3 Snare Drum/Bass Drum/Crash Cymbals.

SKU: SU.45001151

2 flutes, piccolo, oboe, 3 Bb clarinets, bass clarinet (low C), 4 saxophones (2 alto, tenor, baritone), 3 trumpets, 4 horns, 3 trombones, baritone, Tuba, timpani, 4 percussion Duration: 3' Full Score: available for sale (#45001150) Composed: 1999 Published by: Dead Elf Music.

SKU: KJ.JB94F

UPC: 084027043462.

A Song of Hope is a brief musical expression of sorrow for young musicians to perform in memory of the students at Sandy Hook Elementary School and all victims of senseless violence. Bells and chimes punctuate the plaintive opening statement of the clarinets. Frequent meter changes of 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 are used as are frequent changes of key (Eb, F, C, Bb). Jack Stamp deftly arranges the modulations so that unfamiliar tonalities are easily handled by young ensembles. A Song of Hope is playable with a limited woodwind section of just 2 Flutes, 2 Clarinets, and Alto Saxophone.

SKU: CF.PPS56

ISBN 9781491159590. UPC: 680160918188.

Space Station One is a work for young bands which evokes the vastness of space and the courage of the men and women who venture there. The work is also designed to provide reinforcement for young brass players, building their embouchures with repeated use of Bb to F and D to G concert, for clarinets to apply the correct rolling between the fingerings for E and A and for flutes to move carefully between D and G.