SKU: BR.EB-9413

ISBN 9790004188873. 9 x 12 inches.

For a long time after Romanticism had come to the fore, it was generally agreed that Brahms somehow did not get it: History and Progress - it was thought - were proceeding along one clear path and Brahms - who was composing sonatas and symphonies instead of nocturnes and symphonic poems - had taken the wrong way. Almost one century later, Schonberg wrote an essay, Brahms, der Fortschrittliche (Brahms, the progressive), in which he explained that it wasn't like that at all.Fully assuming the risk to appear somehow irreverent, I have to confess: Over the years, I came to the conclusion that the present - and the future - can be created only by loving the past. As Brahms had shown us, it is only by accepting the challenge of taking our heritage into our own hands, that we can create something new. We cannot avoid engaging with the past. Therefore, starting with my Sinfonia n. 1, I began to flirt with such a strong and effective musical structure like the sonata form. I re-read and freely transformed it, because it is a sturdy and resilient structure, but also a theatrical and colorful one. For me, it is a happy structure. And I think that today more than ever we need something like this: We need to find places - even imaginary ones - where we can give happiness a form of its own.Nicola Campogrande, December 2020

World premiere: Bologna/Italy, Streaming, April 11, 2021Commissioned by the Fondazione Musica Insieme.

SKU: HL.48186437

UPC: 888680948801. 9.0x12.25x0.06 inches.

Balafon, the first of Christian Lauba?s Neuf Etudes for Saxophone, is an ?African song? that uses the ancient technique of circular breathing. This soloist work - splendidly performed in the album ?Hard? by Richard Ducros, one of the greatest interpreters of Lauba?s works for saxophone ? was expanded and transformed, with the composer?s approval, by saxophonist Philippe Geiss into a piece for Saxophone (tenor or soprano) and electronics under the title Blue Balafon. The arrangement calls for ?free articulation in a ?jazz legato? spirit?, making the use of circular breathing optional in order to favour the piece?s incredible energy. The score comes with a CD that includes a complete version of the work performed on Saxophone by Philippe Geiss, as well as an electroacoustic accompaniment isolated for playback. This eclectic musical adventure proves itself both stimulating for the mind and invigorating for the senses..

SKU: FG.55011-456-2

ISBN 9790550114562.

Three Strides of Light is inspired by the light and its behaviour in different circumstances, appearances and surroundings. The work is in three movements, but they are played together attacca.

The first movement starts off with a headstrong theme on the left hand. This motif has persistent momentum, like a train, and one could think of it as the rays of a setting sun. The beams are straight and relentlessly penetrate our eyes. The seven-bar repetition on the left hand supports this mental image, until the repetition ends and a new thematically central motive starts to emerge, bringing new kind of texture for the last rays and dance of the setting sun. At the end, the light vanishes into the night.

Second movemement, slow rubato, depicts the first rays of the rising sun, they drop behind a morning cloud into the day, growing, developing and becoming yet faster. Eventually the day opens up in all of it sunny glory. The music leads us towards the third movement, in which one bathes in the rays of the sun. The repetative motive of the first movement returns, but by now it has been transformed into something else. A pensive quintuplet-passage emerges, paving ground for the final themes of the work. The ending of the work is thick in sound, depicting the relentless glare of the sun and the heat sun creates. Within the entire work, one can imagine to have gone through a whole 24-hour period on the sea, in which the three strides of light are apparent in different parts of the day.

SKU: BA.BA08772

ISBN 9790006502349. 30 x 23 cm inches. Language: German/English. Preface: Knecht, Edgar.

Edgar Knecht is a jazz pianist who has created his own unique style. His dbut CD, “Good Morning Lilofee” (with four-piece combo), conquered the clubs and earned him invitations to international festivals. His treatment of the original melodies is refreshingly different from standard jazz arrangements: It is characterized by a free perception of the tunes, varied rhythms as well as unconventional harmonies. The same recipe for success underlies his second CD, “Dance On Deep Waters”, with which the Edgar Knecht Quartet is again going on tour, with many gigs lined up for spring and summer.

All eight of the songs in our edition offer agreeable and stimulating literature outside the classical and jazz pigeonholes for pianists everywhere, whether or not they dig German folksongs. Familiar tunes such as “Es freit der wilde Wassermann” or “Die Gedanken sind frei” gain a wholly new quality and pizzazz in his arrangements. Though based on the original songs, the pieces go far beyond them in form, harmony and rhythm, thereby turning the originals into top-quality jazz ballads. All the pieces have suggestions for improvised passages, usually with chords and written-out ostinato bass lines.

All the pieces are recorded on the like-named CD with Edgar Knecht at the piano, accompanied by his trio of bass, drums and percussion.


The Author
Edgar Knecht lives in Kassel (Germany), where he heads a piano school and tours with his combo. Since the age of 14 he has held concerts with his own piano pieces and written many theatre, film and TV scores. With his Edgar Knecht Trio he transforms German folksongs into fascinating jazz ballads with which he fills his programmes and venues.

Playlist:
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh-AUh-Pv3D4lXqmq2cdu-ubVBDIfvxQJ

SKU: BT.AMP-247-120

9x12 inches. English-German-French-Dutch.

Designed to open a Christmas concert, A Christmas Herald starts with a fanfare that introduces a lyrical theme, which eventually turns out to be a descant to Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, which is subsequently introduced by trombones and euphoniums. The famous carol then gradually transforms back into the fanfare, which closes the work as it began.

A Christmas Herald, een openingswerk voor een kerstconcert, begint met een proclamerende fanfare. Deze fanfare introduceert een lyrisch thema, dat uiteindelijk uitmondt in een discant over Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,een melodie die achtereenvolgens wordt gepresenteerd door de trombones en euphoniums. De beroemde carol gaat vervolgens langzaam weer over in de fanfare, waarmee het werk eindigt zoals het begon.

A Christmas Herald beginnt mit einer Signalfanfare; diese stellt ein lyrisches Thema vor, das sich bald als Diskant zu Hark, the Herald Angels Sing herausstellt, welches anschließend von Posaunen und Euphonien präsentiert wird. Dann verwandelt sich das berühmte Weihnachtslied schrittweise zurück in die Fanfare, die das Werk so beendet, wie es begann. Eine wunderbare Eröffnung für ein Weihnachtskonzert!

Cette composition est idéale pour débuter ou clore un concert de Noël. A Christmas Herald (“Le Messager de Noël”) débute avec une fanfare majestueuse qui cède sa place l’exposition d’un thème lyrique qui forme un contrechant au noël Hark, the Herald Angels Sing (Écoutez le chant des Anges) introduit par les trombones et l’euphonium. La mélodie de ce célèbre chant de noël revient progressivement vers la fanfare initiale qui clôt l’œuvre sur un ton toujours aussi solennel.

SKU: BR.EB-8041

World premiere: Dusseldorf, May 20, 1978

ISBN 9790004174401. 9 x 12 inches.

During the intensive study of Johann Sebastian Bach's Musical Offering for the creation of a commissioned composition for wind trio, I had the idea of writing a larger organ work on the Royal Theme at the same time. This is how the Three Ricercare came into being. They are multi-part fantasies for organ, which - connected by the frequently transformed thematic material of the Musical Offering and the manifoldly reshaped B-A-C-H motif - alternate between free, rapsodic parts on the one hand and strictly structured parts on the other. For my 60th birthday, W. E. v. Lewinski wrote an appreciation under the title: Music in the span between constraint and freedom. This formulation aptly characterizes the new organ work. (Jurg Baur) CD: Martin Herchenroder CD Koch 3-1846-3 H1 Bibliography: Semrau , Arno: Polpyhone Orgelmusik von Johann Sebastian Bach bis Jurg Baur, Augsburg: Wissner 2001, darin besonders pp. 259-304 und 510-532. Richter , Reinhold: Zwischen Tradition und Avantgarde zwischen Zweifel und Hoffnung. Einige Notizen zur Chor- und Orgelmusik von Jurg Baur anlasslich des 85. Geburtstages im vergangenen November, in: Forum Kirchenmusik 54 (2003), Heft 6, pp. 23-31.

World premiere: Dusseldorf, May 20, 1978.