SKU: BA.BA11394

ISBN 9790006568567. 30 x 21.5 cm inches. Text Language: English. Text: Al Fakir, Salem / Maggio, Veronica / Pontare, Vincent / Bergling, Tim / Pournouri, Ash.

“Hey brother! There's an endless road to rediscover
Hey sister! Know the water's sweet but blood is thicker …”

“If the sky comes falling down, for you / There’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do”. The subject of this energetic, life-affirming hit is being there for one another. Whether sung by female or mixed choirs, the fanfare-like theme is equally powerful and will keep the audience tapping their feet.


The editor:

Hans Vainikainen (b. 1976) hails from a new generation of conductors in the Swedish choral tradition. His conducting repertoire covers a wide range of genres and eras, from Mahler’s Eighth Symphony to the Swedish DJ Avicii. In 2005 he won the Swedish Conductors’ Prize, and two years later he was appointed artistic director of the Katarina kyrka, the home of Katarinakörerna, one of Sweden’s largest choral societies.

Hans Vainikainen heads Stockholm’s Katarinakörerna with more than 500 singers in various combinations. Their programmes cover both sacred and secular music. In his search for suitable arrangements, his eye fell on one the world’s best-known pop artists, Tim Bergling, known professionally as Avicii. He then arranged three of Avicii’s best songs for classical choirs, intending them to be encore pieces.

“Hey Brother”, “Levels” and “Without you” are now available for six-part mixed or female choir. The arrangements offer a wide variety of vocal and choral possibilities and attention has been paid that all parts are of the same musical standard. Whether homophonic or unisono, they artfully intertwine from one passage to the next. However, for all their sophistication the arrangements remain manageable and easy to learn, displaying the typical groove of each Avicii song within a multi-layered texture.

SKU: BT.GOB-000854-120

The tradition of the Christmas tree in Western Europe dates back to a time long before any Christianization had taken place. During the severely cold winter nights, so it was believed, evil spirits tried to ‘kill’ nature. Needle-leaved trees were the only ones which kept their green colour throughout the year, and therefore became symbols of immortality. These ‘living’ trees, said to be the work of benign spirits, were brought into people’s houses to ward off evil, life-threatening powers. In the 14th century people first started to decorate Christmas trees. It was a pagan custom, originated by the inhabitants of Alsace. This custom was taken over by the Church in thecourse of the 15th and 16th century. At first the decoration consisted mainly of edibles, such as apples and wafers, but later small presents were added. Legend has it that the reformer Martin Luther was the first person to decorate a Christmas tree with candles. The flickering candle flames were meant to create the image of a starry sky in which Christ’s apparition could be recognized. The German organ-player Ernst Anschütz from Leipzig was the first person to notate the song ‘O Tannenbaum’, the melody being a well-known folk song. Next to ‘Stille Nacht’ ‘O Tannenbaum’ is the most famous German Christmas song, now known throughout the world. In the United States of America the melody of ‘O Tannenbaum’ has even been used in four States (among which the State of Maryland) for their State song. In David Well’s arrangement the song is first heard as many of us know it. After this introduction, however, it is transformed into a solid rock version, and the beat has been changed. In the second part the familiar three-four time is back, but here the rhythm is different from the original. After the richly ornamented rock beat the basic theme can be heard once again and the composition is concluded in a festive manner.

De traditie van de ‘Kerstboom’ gaat in West-Europa terug tot ver voordat er van enige kerstening sprake was. Gedurende de koude strenge winters dacht men dat kwade geesten de natuur ‘vermoordde’. Naaldbomen behielden als enige hungroene kleur en werden daardoor symbolen van onsterflijkheid. Deze ‘levende’ bomen, het werk van goede machten, werden in huis gehaald om kwade geesten en levensbedreigende krachten buitenshuis te houden. Van ‘versierde’ kerstbomenwas het eerst sprake in de 14e eeuw. Het was een heidens gebruik, dat in deze periode in de Elzas voorkwam. Tijdens de 15e en 16e eeuw werd het versieren van de kerstboom door de kerk overgenomen. De versiering bestond in eersteinstantie vooral uit etenswaar, als appels en koekjes. Later ging men ook kleine cadeautjes als versiering gebruiken. Er wordt beweerd dat Martin Luther, de hervormer, als eerste kaarsen in een kerstboom deed. De fonkelendevlammetjes creëerden een sterrenhemel waarin men Christus’ verschijning leek te herkennen. De Duitse organist Ernst Anschütz uit Leipzig, was de eerste die het lied ‘O Tannenbaum’ op schrift stelde. De melodie was een bekend volkswijsje.Naast ‘Stille Nacht’ is ‘O Tannenbaum’ het meest bekende kerstlied dat vanuit Duitsland de hele wereld veroverde. De melodie van ‘O Tannenbaum’ wordt zelfs in de Verenigde Staten van Amerika in vier verschillende staten(o.a. Maryland) als volkslied gebruikt. In het arrangement van David Well hoort u het lied eerst op de manier zoals velen het kennen. Na deze inleiding klinkt een stevige rock-versie en is de maatsoort niet meer de gebruikelijke.Het tussendeel is weer in de vertrouwde driekwarts-maatsoort. Hier is echter de ritmiek in een ander jasje gestoken. Na de rijkelijk met slingers versierde rock-beat klinkt nog één keer het oorspronkelijke thema om daarna feestelijk.

Very little is known about the two sonatas which appear here in their original keys. They were placed in the library of the Music School in Oxford at the end of the seventeenth century in a form convenient for playing (i.e.unbound). The library was catalogued by Hake between 1850 and 1855 and the sonatas were eventually bound in 1855 with other instrumental and vocal manuscripts of the same period, some of which are dated 1698.

Thesonatas are both inscribed on the title page Sonata à Violone Solo. Col Basso per l'Organo, o Cembalo. A third sonata bears the words Sonata à Violino e Violoncino … di Giovannino del Violone.Giovannino(=Little, or Young John) must have been a performer, and although the third sonata has been copied by a different hand, it is conceivable that Giovannino is a connecting link between the three. He cannot, however, beassumed to be their author.

The Violone was a six-stringed instrument with frets, and there is evidence to suggest that the Contrabasso of the same period was similar but probably a little larger; the Violoncino(=Little Violone, or Violoncello) must have been smaller. The word 'Violone' was also used as a collective term embracing all members of the Viol family, which means that the sonatas might well have been written for a tenor or abass Viol, and not necessarily a Violone as such. Indeed, when they are played on a Violone, or Double Bass the continuo bass line must be played at a lower pitch than the solo instrument, to prevent inversion of the intendedharmony. (The use of a Violone/Double Bass continuo or 16' organ tone would overcome this problem.)

The editor has added no ornaments or embellishments to the solo part as it appears in the original manuscript. It isopen to debate whether a Violone player, owing to the very nature of his instrument, would have used any but the simplest melodic decorations. Nevertheless, the performer should acquaint himself thoroughly with those seventeenthcentury traditions that

SKU: BR.EB-8939

ISBN 9790004186084.

With his first String Quartet in D minor, op. 77, composed in 1855, the native Swiss composer Joachim Raff bid a brilliant farewell to Weimar. He had been there as Franz Liszt's assistant since 1850 and had made a name for himself in the city's art scene - now he embarked on new paths. He composed his second Quartet in A major, op. 90, already in 1857 in Wiesbaden, the spa town that was to become his home for 21 years. The two quartets are unequivocal works: orchestrally-conceived, full of energetic vigor, and at times uncompromisingly modern. They confidently continue the Beethoven tradition and attest at the same time to Raff's intensive confrontation with Richard Wagner's music during the Weimar years. In his chamber music, the composer wanted to achieve progress in an inherently historical way and to ground the individual substance in existing forms, as he told the Viennese violinist Josef Hellmesberger, who launched opus 77. The quartets, first published in 1860/62, found illustrious interpreters, among them, the Muller brothers' renowned ensemble, to which opus 90 was also dedicated, and Joseph Joachim.In collaboration with the Joachim-Raff-Archiv Lachen (CH)

Some eighteen years elapsed between Raff's first counted String Quartet op. 77 and his Quartets Nos. 6-8 op. 192, combined as one work. As such, Raff parted with the weighty single opus in quartet composition - without, however, sacrificing musical quality.

SKU: BR.PB-5622-07

With his first String Quartet in D minor, op. 77, composed in 1855, the native Swiss composer Joachim Raff (1822-1882) bid a brilliant farewell to Weimar.

ISBN 9790004215197. 6.5 x 9 inches.

With his first String Quartet in D minor, op. 77, composed in 1855, the native Swiss composer Joachim Raff bid a brilliant farewell to Weimar. He had been there as Franz Liszt's assistant since 1850 and had made a name for himself in the city's art scene - now he embarked on new paths. He composed his second Quartet in A major, op. 90, already in 1857 in Wiesbaden, the spa town that was to become his home for 21 years. The two quartets are unequivocal works: orchestrally-conceived, full of energetic vigor, and at times uncompromisingly modern. They confidently continue the Beethoven tradition and attest at the same time to Raff's intensive confrontation with Richard Wagner's music during the Weimar years. In his chamber music, the composer wanted to achieve progress in an inherently historical way and to ground the individual substance in existing forms, as he told the Viennese violinist Josef Hellmesberger, who launched opus 77. The quartets, first published in 1860/62, found illustrious interpreters, among them, the Muller brothers' renowned ensemble, to which opus 90 was also dedicated, and Joseph Joachim.In collaboration with the Joachim-Raff-Archiv Lachen (CH)

Some eighteen years elapsed between Raff's first counted String Quartet op. 77 and his Quartets Nos. 6-8 op. 192, combined as one work. As such, Raff parted with the weighty single opus in quartet composition - without, however, sacrificing musical quality.

SKU: BR.EB-9240

ISBN 9790004185407. 9 x 12 inches.

Belcanto is a term for the Italian art of singing which took its development from the richly ornamented solo vocalism of the early 17th century (nobile maniera di cantare) and dominated European operatic singing until the first half of the 19th century. Complete control over the voice meant not only legato and messa di voce, but also appoggiatura and portamento, as well as virtuoso ornamentation by means of coloratura (canto fiorito). This development towards utmost virtuosity, emulating instrumental playing techniques, led to a mannered, artificial style on the one hand, but on the other also emphasized the physical aspects of interpretation (castrati were considered the ideal belcanto singers). And today? In his essay The Grain of the Voice, Roland Barthes writes: The grain is the body in the voice as it sings, the hand as it writes and the limb as it performs. Initially, he refers to the friction between language and voice in singing, but then transfers his thoughts to the physicality of instrumental music. In this spirit, I went in search of beautiful singing, a beauty which perhaps results in the very place where the grain, the roughness, meaning also physical resistance, are not smoothed over. The oboe seemed very suitable to me for singing with such a physical expressivity, as a very unruly instrument! The backbone of my piece is one single, quasi endless melodic line, consisting of intervals that are constantly pulled apart and contracted again (breathing). Many different actions attach themselves to these notes: coloratura, trills, chords (multiphonics), double flageolets. However, there are not only sound types, but also impulses, repetitions, rhythmic figures and other elements: composed elements of belcanto. In the opera tradition described above, these were improvised ornaments or additions; here they become composed figures which originate with the notes of the melody, but also pull on them, bend them, and charge them with physicality. (Jorg Birkenkotter).

SKU: HL.295123

UPC: 888680945596. 6.75x10.5x0.036 inches.

It's a tradition to bring audience members up on the stage to dance for the final, jovial medley in the 1967 musical Hair. Roger Emerson's arrangement of the songs made famous by The 5th Dimension will have your audiences practically sprinting to the stage to join in the celebration!

SKU: HL.295121

UPC: 888680945572. 6.75x10.5x0.036 inches.

It's a tradition to bring audience members up on the stage to dance for the final, jovial medley in the 1967 musical Hair. Roger Emerson's arrangement of the songs made famous by The 5th Dimension will have your audiences practically sprinting to the stage to join in the celebration!