SKU: IS.CM6086EM

ISBN 9790365060863.

Charles Camilleri (1931 - 2009) was a Maltese composer. As a teenager, he composed a number of works based on folk music and legends of his native Malta. He moved from his early influences by Maltese folk music to a musical form in which nothing is fixed and his compositions evolve from themselves with a sense of fluency and inevitability. He composed over 100 works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, voice and solo instruments. Camilleri's work has been performed throughout the world and his research of folk music and improvisation, the influences of the sounds of Africa and Asia, together with the academic study of European music, helped him create a universal style. Camilleri is recognized in Malta as one of the major composers of his generation. He died on 3 January 2009 at the age of 77. His funeral took place two days later at Naxxar, his long-time town of residence. Flags across Malta were flown at half-mast in tribute to him. The 4 Greek Songs were composed during the late fifties. The first and third movements capture the loose vocal style of the cantilena which is characteristic for the mediterranean region. The second and fourth movements are based on original dances which are typical for the modal nature of Greek music.

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: FG.55011-598-9

ISBN 9790550115989.

The volume G of the popular Colourstrings violin tutors by Géza Szilvay studies every position of the violin in a separate volume: G1 the second position, G2 the third position, G3 the fourth position, G4 the fifth position and the last one, G5, the high positions (sixth and seventh). These books form an all-embracing, rich collection of shifting exercises, position playing studies, excerpts from the literature, chamber music (mainly duos), and performing pieces, piano accompaniment offered as a separate publication (Books G1, G2 & G2 supplement 9790550116467; Books G3 & G4 9790550116931 and Book G5 9790550116948).

The extensive Book G5 - Sixth and Seventh Position (9790550116948) follows the key principles of Colourstrings methodology - the use of natural harmonics and constant developing of inner hearing for instance - but it can be fully utilized also without any previous use or knowledge about the Colourstrings method. The innovative and unique visual presentation of the “house of the positions and preparatory exercises for the challenging passages help the young and older students to fully understand, why and where the different positions are needed. The performance pieces with piano accompaniment in the Book G5 (alphabetical order):
Bériot, Charles de: Air varié
Bohm, Carl: Introduction and Polonaise
Brahms, Johannes: Hungarian Dance No. 5
Dancla, Charles: Second Solo
Drdla, Frantisek: Souvenir
Glazunov, Alexander: Spanish Serenade
Kodály, Zoltán: Kallo Double Dances I-III
Kuula, Toivo: Chanson sans paroles
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: Minuet
Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista: Siciliana
Pugnani-Kreisler: Tempo di Minuetto
Rachmaninov, Sergei: Vocalise
Sibelius, Jean: Romance
Sonninen, Ahti: Karelian Dance
Wieniawski, Henryk: Mazurka
Žilinskis, Arvīds Mazurka

Duos for two violins in the Book G5:
B. Campagnoli: Duo (Andantino)
F. J . Mazas: Duos in six positions (Moderato)

Excerpts from the violin literature: Prokofieff - Bartók - Tartini - Rachmaninoff - Bériot - Pugnani - Rode - Weiner - Schubert - Dancla - Rieding

More about the Colourstrings method: https://www.fennicagehrman.fi/sheet-music/colourstrings/.