Solo for Oboe or Violin-'The title only appears frivolous to those who have lived little. With the passage of time the seasons that pass the differences in quantity and quality of light of temperature and weather become of ever greater importance in the meaning of our individual existence. This transformation follows the path of our lives and often mimes in front of our very own eyes incredulous and wondrous events that we can only experience once in a lifetime: our birth our blossoming our aging and our death. Such a subject could well take up ten years of my life. This was the case. Nevertheless everything started very innocently with a proposition from my friend François Leleux to write him a double concerto that he could play with Natalia Gutman initially named ‘Musica Concertante’. It was with this second proposition from François for another double concerto this time with Lisa Batiashvili that the idea came to me for a cycle of four concertos with each time a different instrument from the string quartet to join the oboe. The automnal colours of the cello are a perfect match for the retrospective nature of the first completed concerto in the cycle. ‘concerto nostalgico l’automne’ whilst the love and the first child of the Leleux-Batiashvili couple could only bring Spring to mind hence the ‘Concerto amoroso le printemps’ was born. When Jean-Marc Bador asked me to be an associate of the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris for two years it was quite naturally that I thought of completing this cycle for François Leleux with winter ‘Concerto tenebroso’ created in January 2010 with Lise berthaud playing the viola. All that remained was for me to conclude with a work that reunited all four protagonsits. It was summer the ‘Concerto luminoso’ which took on this role’.

Orchestra Scores-Saint Francois D'Assise is an opera in 3 acts by Olivier Messiaen. This volume is part of the edition that includes the books with the full Orchestra scores as well as the explanations analysis and comments of each tableau. It is focused on the “Act 1 Tableau 2. Les laudes” which tells of the moment when Saint Francis his requests to God to meet a leper and to be able to love him. This tableau depicts Saint Francis and the “Mineurs Brothers” singing the morning service until the bells ring leaving Saint Francis alone to pray. It includes Saint Francis’ prayers some parts of Cantique descréatures on Brother Wind Sister Water Brother Fire and Mother Earth and the Sanctus. Based on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi this opera is set in Italy and is composed as per below: Act I: 1. La croix 2. Les laudes 3. Le baiser au lépreux Act II 4. L’ange voyageur 5. L’ange musicien 6. Le prêche aux oiseaux Act II 7. Les stigmates 8. La mort et la nouvelle vie This opera was first played at the Paris Opera in 1983. Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was a French organist and composer passionate about Ornithology and one of the most important composers of his century. Inspired by Japanese music he had a very special way of composing and his work can be identified by its complexity its diatonic aspect its harmony with limited transposition its colour and its additive rhythms. He composed many works related to ornithology and birdsong including the 'Bird Catalogue' in 7 volumes and the 'Treatise on Rhythm Colour and Ornithology' in 7 volumes.

Clara Wieck’s sincerest wish was that her future husband, Robert Schumann, turn his extraordinary genius toward the larger and more challenging task of composing orchestral music. Confiding in her diary in 1839, just one year before her marriage, she explained that “it would be best if he composed for Orchestra: his imagination cannot find sufficient scope in the Piano…” In the years that followed their marriage Robert Schumann continued to devote much of his attention to Piano music, but he also found the time to comply with his beloved Clara’s wish by creating a number of musical pieces composed specifically for Piano and Orchestra. Although Schumann’s genius is most in evidence in his masterful solo Piano compositions and superb lieder, his lively and provocative imagination manifests itself with equal aplomb in the works composed for Piano and Orchestra. The same compelling romantic and lyrical qualities that captivate lovers of Schumann’s Piano music are evident in these compositions. Three of his finest are presented here in full score, including the A Minor Piano Concerto, one of the most popular and frequently performed concertos ever written. All demonstrate his remarkably innovative approach to music, diverting substantially from the classic models of the day, and display his immense creativity as well as his warmth and sensitivity. Included in this collection of Schumann’s compositions for Piano and Orchestra are: Piano Concerto In A minor, Op. 54 (published 1846) Concertstück, Op.92 (Introduction and Allegro appassionato; published 1852) Introduction and Allegro, Op. 134 (published 1855) These three works by one of the greatest masters of romanticism will delight musicians, music lovers and students, as well as devotees of Schumann. Pianists will be especially pleased to have these appealing Schumann works in one convenient edition available at an affordable price.

The classic cinematic tale of King Kong has made its mark with another generation of movie lovers with this year's blockbuster film by Peter Jackson. James Newton Howard's musical backdrop is filled with powerful dramatic andbeautiful themes all included in this suite for the concert stage.

In Tchaikovsky's symphonic output his Symphony No. 4 was a pivotal work. It announced the composer as a major symphonist of his time overshadowing his previous less-than-distinguished efforts in this form and opened the way to his last major works: the haunting Fifth Symphony and the biographical Sixth the profound 'Pathétique.'Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony ? written in 1877 at the age of thirty-seven ? offers itself as an intensely personal statement. Dramatically shaped and brilliantly orchestrated it captures a theatrical quality and orchestral color that shaped the composer's symphonic fantasy Francesca da Rimini written just a year earlier. The Fourth opensunequivocally with the thrust of a brass fanfare ? the 'fate' motive that is to reappear in the last movement ? then flows with the effortless quality that characterizes Tchaikovsky's great generously melodious ballet scores. The second movement lingers over one of the composer's most poignant melodies and the third ? the Scherzo ? offers a delightful fantasy from this master orchestrator: the charming Pizzicato ostinato a unique moment in the entire orchestral literature.The symphony is reproduced here from the authoritative Breitkopf & Härtel edition with bar-numbered movements and ample margins at the bottom of each score page for notes and analysis. Ideal for study in the classroom at home or in the concert hall this affordable high quality conveniently sized volume will be the edition of choice for music students and music lovers alike.Reprint of the Breitkopf & Härtel edition.

Schumann’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A Minor Op. 54 is fine example of Romanticism and has a dynamic mood like much of his work. There is a sober atmosphere though dignified melody runs throughout but overall a unified and structured piece that broke away from the trend for virtuosic displays. Completed in 1845 when he appended two movements to the revised Fantasie; it is one of a handful of larger works by Schumann. The finished concerto premiered on New Year's Day of 1846 by the composer's wife and pianist Clara Wieck Schumann. Eulenberg's celebrated and highly authoritative miniature score is the definitive reference source for study performancepreparation or simply for those with a love of the great orchestral works.

Grieg composed this Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in 1868 for himself to play however Edmund Neupert played the first public performance in Copenhagen on April 3 1869. The music is rife with Scandinavian influences including traits of Schumann and Mendelssohn and Norwegian folk dance elements and rhythms. It is a dramatic and dynamic work that is never flat using constant development flourishes and crescendo from the first movement to the last. Eulenberg's celebrated and highly authoritative miniature score is the definitive reference source for study performance preparation or simply for those with a love of the great orchestral works.