SKU: PR.16400272S

UPC: 680160588442. 8.5 x 11 inches.

My third quartet is laid out in a three-movement structure, with each movement based on an early, middle, and late work of the great American impressionist painter Mary Cassatt. Although the movements are separate, with full-stop endings, the music is connected by a common scale-form, derived from the name MARY CASSATT, and by a recurring theme that introduces all three movements. I see this theme as Mary's Theme, a personality that stays intact while undergoing gradual change.   I The Bacchante (1876) [Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]   The painting shows a young girl of Italian or Spanish origin, playing a small pair of cymbals. Since Cassatt was trying very hard to fit in at the French Academy at the time, she painted a lot of these subjects, which were considered typical and universal. The style of the painting doesn't yet show Cassatt's originality, except perhaps for certain details in the face. Accordingly the music for this movement is Spanish/Italian, in a similar period-style but using the musical signature described above. The music begins with Mary's Theme, ruminative and slow, then abruptly changes to an alla Spagnola-type fast 3/4 - 6/8 meter. It evokes the Spanish-influenced music of Ravel and Falla.   Midway through, there's an accompanied recitative for the viola, which figures large in this particular movement, then back to a truncated recapitulation of the fast music. The overall feeling is of a well-made, rather conventional movement in a contemporary Spanish/Italian style. Cassatt's painting, too, is rather conventional.   II At the Opera (1880) [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts]   This painting is one of Cassatt's most well known works, and it hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The painting shows a woman alone in a box at the opera house, completely dressed (including gloves) and looking through opera glasses at someone or something that is NOT on the stage. Across the auditorium from her, but exactly at eye level, is a gentleman with opera glasses intently watching her - though it is not him that she's looking at. It's an intriguing picture.   This movement is far less conventional than the first movement, as the painting is far less conventional. The music begins with a rapid, Shostakovich-type mini-overture lasting less than a minute, based on Mary's Theme. My conjecture is that the woman in the painting has arrived late to the opera, busily stumbling into her box. What happens next is a kind of collage, a kind of surrealistic overlaying of two different elements: the foreground music, at first is a direct quotation of Soldier's Chorus from Gounod's FAUST (an opera Cassatt would certainly have heard in the brand-new Paris Opera House at that time), played by Violin II, Viola, and Cello. This music is played sul ponticello in the melody and col legno in the marching accompaniment. On top of this, the first violin hovers at first on a high harmonic, then descends into a slow melody, completely separate from the Gounod. It's as if the woman in the painting is hearing the opera onstage but is not really interested in it. Then the cello joins the first violin in a kind of love-duet (just the two of them, at first). This music isn't at all Gounod-derived; it's entirely from the same scale patterns as the first movement and derives from Mary's Theme and its scale. The music stays in a kind of dichotomy feeling, usually three-against-one, until the end of the movement, when another Gounod melody, Valentin's aria Avant de quitter ce lieux reappears in a kind of coda for all four players. It ends atmospherically and emotionally disconnected, however. The overall feeling is a kind of schizophrenic, opera-inspired dream.   III Young Woman in Green, Outdoors in the Sun (1909) [Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts]   The painting, one of Cassatt's last, is very simple: just a figure, looking sideways out of the picture. The colors are pastel and yet bold - and the woman is likewise very self-assured and not in the least demure. It is eight minutes long, and is all about melody - three melodies, to be exact (Young Woman, Green, and Sunlight). No angst, no choppy rhythms, just ever-unfolding melody and lush harmonies. I quote one other French composer here, too: Debussy's song Green, from Ariettes Oubliees. 1909 would have been Debussy's heyday in Paris, and it makes perfect sense musically as well as visually to do this.   Mary Cassatt lived her last several years in near-total blindness, and as she lost visual acuity, her work became less sharply defined - something akin to late water lilies of Monet, who suffered similar vision loss. My idea of making this movement entirely melodic was compounded by having each of the three melodies appear twice, once in a pure form, and the second time in a more diffuse setting. This makes an interesting two ways form: A-B-C-A1-B1-C1.   String Quartet No.3 (Cassatt) is dedicated, with great affection and respect, to the Cassatt String Quartet, whose members have dedicated themselves in large measure to the furthering of the contemporary repertoire for quartet.

SKU: AP.36-M388991

ISBN 9798892704182. UPC: 659359984921. English.

An immensely powerful piece for solo cello and piano, Brahms' SONATA NO. 2, OP. 99 is one of the most impressive cello repertoire selections. Composed of four movements, the first Allegro vivace contains the grandiose main theme. The hauntingly beautiful second movement is Adagio affetuoso. The fiery and furious third movement is Allegro passionato. The fourth Allegro molto movement ends the piece with exhilaration and an optimistic feeling.

These products are currently being prepared by a new publisher. While many items are ready and will ship on time, some others may see delays of several months.

SKU: HL.14030036

ISBN 9788759850800. 8.25x11.75x0.057 inches.

The Piano music of Jean Sibelius ranks among the greatest of Finnish music, and his 1924 set Five Charactereistic mpressions demonstrates his importance. The second piece in this set, The Fiddler has a dance-like theme, and is an impressionist piece that captures the imagery of reality with tonality and colour.

SKU: YM.GTW01097944

ISBN 9784636979442.

Flute scores for famous songs from J-Pop to classical music. This selection is perfect for concert programs, recitals, encores, and more. The impressive and beautiful sound of these arrangements will captivate the audience.

SKU: FG.55011-501-9

ISBN 9790550115019.

Even though I was and remain a proponent of absolute music, the things that we see and experience inevitably colour and energise our thought processes. The grand old man of Finnish Modernism Paavo Heininen (b. 1938) turned his impressions of Boston into violin sonatas op. 134 (2016). All the three sonatas - Boston Sonata, Boston Variations and Boston Ballade - were premiered in one concert in Helsinki celebrating the composer's 80th birthday in May 2018 by Kaija Saarikettu (violin) and Juhani Lagerspetz (piano).

SKU: YM.GTW01101670

ISBN 9784636113440. 12 x 9 inches.

Debussy and Ravel are the most famous impressionist composers. This book contains a selection of pieces from their piano compositions, arranged for alto saxophone and piano ensemble. We hope that this new arrangement will enable a wider audience to enjoy the exquisite melodies of these songs! *Both the video of the model performance and the video of the performance commentary can be viewed at the URL given in this book. Performers in the video: Alto Saxophone - Kohei Ueno / Piano - Takuya Uchikado.

SKU: FG.55011-893-5

ISBN 9790550118935.

Lauri Kilpiö's (b. 1974) Six Winter Scenes for two pianos (2022) was commissioned by Joensuu Conservatory. The nostalgic memories and different impressions of winter take the technical abilities of the performers into consideration. The short, hazy movement I Blue Dusk Descends brings the winter. The other move-ments include the bright movement II Echoes in a Snowy Forest, the toccata-style movement III Ride through a Blizzard, the glitteringly impressionistic movement IV Ice Skating on the River, the enigmatic movement V Birds on the Snowdrift, and the energetic movement VI Woken Bear Rock, which brings the spring.

The suite can be performed in its entirety at a time, or it is also possible to perform only individual movements of it. The same piano duo may perform the whole work, or the performers may also change between the movements.

Duration: 14'

Osat / Movements
I Sininen hämärä laskeutuu | Blue Dusk Descends
II Kaiut lumisessa metsässä |Echoes in a Snowy Forest
III Ratsastus läpi pyryn | Ride through a Blizzard
IV Luistelu joella | Ice Skating on the River
V Linnut hangella | Birds on the Snowdrift
VI Heränneen karhun rock | Woken Bear Rock

This product includes one performance score (both piano parts in the same score).