SKU: BT.PMC3297
In addition to his vast output of German poetry, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) composed nearly 400 poems in French. His poems on roses struck me as especially charming, filled with gorgeous lyricism, deftly crafted and elegant in their imagery. These exquisite poems are primarily light, joyous and playful, and the musical settings are designed to enhance these characteristics and capture the delicate beauty and sensuousness of the poetry. Distinct melodic and harmonic materials recur throughout the cycle, especially between Rilke''s poignant 'Contre qui, rose' (set as a wistful nocturne) and his moving 'La rose complète.' The final piece, 'Dirait-on,' is composed as a tuneful chanson populaire, or folksong, that weaves together two melodic ideas first heard in fragmentary form in preceding movements. 'Les Chansons des Roses' was premiered and recorded in 1993 by Portland, Oregon ''s celebrated chamber choir, Choral Cross-Ties, conducted by Bruce Browne. The complete cycle has been widely performed since then and also recorded by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Chamber Singers, Nordic Chamber Choir and tonight's performers, the Donald Brinegar Singers. (Morten Lauridsen).
SKU: PR.144405150
UPC: 680160667857. 9 x 12 inches. Robert Martin.
In 1979, Martin produced a set of three quintets, in consideration of Gorky's piece Nighttime Enigma Nostalgia. Each is scored for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. One role of music is to evoke. Therefore, Nighttime is a nocturne, a night piece suggestive of flickering shadows, perhaps created by firelight. It is a recurrent setting in human existence. The music opens with the scene of twilight calm, gently disturbed with the slight uncertainty about what is around us, what we cannot see. Later, the clarinet takes on a solo role, and the notes bleed like careless paint into the other instruments that quietly sustain them. Next, the flute takes over the role of solo. The piece ends with a repeated cadence of morning light. (From the performance notes.).
SKU: BT.PMC3603
Four poems sharing a common motif of 'Night' provide the texts for my choral cycle Nocturnes, the American Choral Directors Association's commissioned work for its 2005 national convention. For Rilke's atmospheric Sa nuit d'ete,several melodic themes are supported by dense, colorful harmonies in both the choral and piano parts, leading to a climactic section where all are combined and stated simultaneously. Neruda's Soneto de la Noche, from his CienSonetos de Amor, speaks of an eternal love that transcends death while reaffirming life. My a cappella setting of this gorgeous poem is predominantly quiet, serene and folk-like, utilizing direct harmonies accompanying long,lyrical vocal lines. Agee's wondrous Sure on this Shining Night is set much like a song from the American musical theater, a genre for which I have held a life-long esteem. Rilke's poignant Voici le soir recalls the opening bellsounds and jazz-tinged chords of the first movement and serves as an epilogue, quietly concluding this cycle of night songs as darkness descends. --Morten Lauridsen.
SKU: PR.140401210
ISBN 9781491114438. UPC: 680160642106. 9 x 12 inches.
Written in honor of the Béla Bartók centennial, MUSIQUE NOCTURNES is inspired by one of his most characteristic and original works, the fourth piece (by the same title), from the suite Out of Doors. Both pieces feature overlapping “night musics†– atmospheric cluster figures, sharply contrasting motifs suggesting nocturnal bird, frog, or insect sounds, and an element of human, folksong-like melody as Levinson alludes to the authentic Hungarian folksong, “Tiszán innen, Dunán túl.â€.This simple piece was written in 2015 as a birthday present for the composer’s wife, poet and fellow bird lover Nanine Valen, and is a distant sequel to Canons and Chorale, which he wrote for her in 1969. The ornithological character is an affectionate tribute as well to his teacher Olivier Messiaen. The titular birds are a highly stylized chickadee and two song sparrows.First public performance: Swarthmore College, November 13, 2016, by Marcantonio Barone, whose editorial assistance in the preparation of this edition is gratefully acknowledged. Recorded by Marcantonio Barone on Innova 948.
SKU: BT.PMC3865
The Two Songs on American Poems were composed in late May and early June of 2011 by candlelight at my rustic waterfront cabin on a remote island off the northwest coast of Washington State. It was in this locale that I havecompleted a number of works over the years, including the Lux Aeterna, O Magnum Mysterium, Nocturnes, Canticle/O Vos Omnes and others. Prayer was written in memory of Michael Jasper Gioia, Dana and Mary Gioia's infant son, whosebrief life was tragically ended by SIDS.Mr. Gioia served as Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts from 2003-2010 and has authored several books of poems, numerous anthologies, articles, essays and two opera libretti. Amonghis many awards are the American Book Award and Presidential Citizens Medal. He currently holds the Judge Widney Chair of Poetry and Public Policy at the University of Southern California. Sure on this Shining Night was originallycomposed as a choral piece, the third movement of my Nocturnes on poems by Rilke, Neruda and Agee. Rod Gilfry, an international star of opera, recital and musical theater, premiered the mixed duet version with his daughter, Carin,in 2009. He is Professor of Vocal Studies at the USC Thornton School of Music. Both he and Mr. Gioia are national treasures. The Two Songs are designed as a pair but may be sung independently - when paired, Sure On This ShiningNight should begin immediatelyfollowing the final, sustained chord of Prayer with no break in between the songs. Both of these songs, premiered by Mr. Gilfry accompanied by the composer at a USC Visions & Voices tribute to DanaGioia on September 27, 2011, have their roots in the American musical theater and should be sung as such.
SKU: HL.4008056
ISBN 9781705184523. UPC: 196288115953.
Fascinated by the beauty of Chicago, Franco Cesarini has translated his emotions into music: this is how Symphony No. 3 “Urban Landscapes†Op. 55, was born, a musical portrait of this metropolis overlooking Lake Michigan. The composition is divided into three movements: The Wrigley Building from Dawn to Noon, Blue Silhouette and Cloud Gates, which by sharing the same thematic material arranged in cyclical form, strengthen the overall cohesion of the piece. The first movement, preceded by a short slow introduction in which the main theme is presented in an almost dreamlike form, metaphorically represents the city at dawn. The sudden change of time symbolizes the start of activities with all its noises and sounds: you can hear the bell that announces the closing of the subway doors, the sound of cars speeding by, the siren of a patrol car. If the first movement represents the day, the second introduces a nocturnal environment: a melancholic melody played by the English horn anticipates a more animated tempo depicting melodies coming from jazz clubs. Powerful fanfares that take up the second theme of the first movement introduce the third movement. In this finale, the role of the two themes is reversed compared to the first movement and one takes the place of the other in a kind of games of mirrors. Symphony No. 3 “Urban Landscapes” Op. 55: a sumptuous musical portrait of the “Windy City”.
SKU: BR.PB-15154-07
ISBN 9790004215593. 6.5 x 9 inches.
Composed by Manuel de Falla during his lengthy residence in Paris, these three symphonic impressions for piano and orchestra are an expressive work bringing the southern Spanish gardens, which are laid out in the European and Arabic-Moorish tradition, to life. The influence of contemporary French music is noticeable in this composition. Despite many modifications, involving among other things, the scoring, number of movements, as well as layout and content, the basic idea of a nocturnal impression is retained from the outset. The work was finished - and likewise the orchestral material - only shortly before its premiere on 9 April 1916, which was a great success. World War I prevented its publication, though further performances followed, played then from manuscript material. The Urtext edition presented by Ullrich Scheideler takes as the main source the first edition of the score. The Critical Report gives detailed information about the source situation.
SKU: HL.48186452
UPC: 888680828363. 9.0x12.0x0.192 inches.
Widely acclaimed by music lovers for over a century, Selected Songs of Gabriel Faure (1845-1924) are here collected into an anthology, complete with an audio version in the form of a download card. Excerpted from the 1st collection published in 1879, Au bord de l?eau and Ici bas bestow an aura of internal reverie on Sully Prudhomme?s simple poems, made palpable by the harmonic refinement and vocal fluidity that constitutes the very essence of Faurean charm. Several vocal pages selected in the 2nd volume (1897) continue to be favourites: Les Roses d?Ispahan restored to their dreamy stillness, Les Berceaux whose oscillation evokes the swaying of boats, and the very nostalgic Clair de lune in which Verlaine?s words, set to music for the first time, inspired Faure to write what would become one of his masterpieces: La Bonne Chanson. From this cycle, drunk on lovelorn lyricism, the collection retains Puisque l?aube grandit, an exalted melody if there ever was one, and La lune blanche luit dans les bois, a nocturnal landscape in F sharp major ? two pearls that distil the same mystery of solace..
SKU: HL.14043771
ISBN 9788759836910. 12.0x16.75x0.44 inches. English.
Three Nocturnal Movements - For Violin Solo, Violoncello Solo And Orchestra by Per Norgard (2015). Based on Remembering Child for Viola and Orchestra(1986). Premiered by Peter Herresthal (violin) and Jakob Kullberg (cello) with Bergen Philharmonic June 6th 2015 in Bergen, Norway. The original version was premiered by Pinchas Zukerman and the St. Paul' s Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Arturo di Mecke, on September 12th 1986. Programme Note: The news of the tragic death of Samantha Smith reached me in the early stages of preparation for the commissioned work for viola and chamber orchestra. Already an admirerer of this childworker for peace and nuclear disarmament, I completed mywork strongly inspired by this unique and uniquely symbolic fate of our time. Music from humble sources - including my composition Beach Poppy , a choral work from 1960 - are woven into the texture of the composition. I was guided by the original meaning of the word remembering (making whole, healing) in opposition to dismembering (tearing apart): The healing power of the child. (Per Norgard).
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