SKU: BR.EB-32083

With supplementary violoncello part marked by Maria Kliegel

ISBN 9790004186299. 9 x 12 inches.

There are many composers about whom it is believed, today, that they composed conservatively, or against the taste of their time. The question is also raised, today, which extract of this large amount of effective and high-quality music, unknown for the most part, should receive our attention; which of it is worth rediscovering or re-editing. Camillo Schumann is one of the most important representatives of these composers, but his works are still largely unknown today. He was born on 10 March 1872 in Konigstein, Saxony. His musical language combines the sound world of Brahms with the grand, late-romantic Liszt School. He wrote piano parts of incredible power and virtuosity, approaching the sounds of Rachmaninoff. His wonderfully individual melodic language makes these works a valuable testimony to a composer who never had his due recognition. The cello sonatas Opp. 59 (EB 32082) and 99 (EB 32083) are the first of three works for this combination. Op. 59 was composed around 1905/06, Op. 99 followed in 1932. Nothing is known so far of the circumstances of the composition of this work, including for whom it was composed. However, it is quite evident that Schumann wrote it, like most of his works, primarily for his own concerts and befriended musicians. The extensive entries in the piano part bear witness to a considerably practical approach. Crossed-out bars, notes added or crossed out in chords as well as a number of revisions of other kinds are more the rule than the exception. The composer's own fingerings written in the piano part also underline this assumption. The present edition contains two solo-parts each. One clean Urtext-part free of any additions from the editor and a second one with bowing marks and fingerings by Maria Kliegel who recorded both sonatas for the first time with the label Naxos. Both sonatas show evident resemblance to the works of this combination by Johannes Brahms and are therefore a must have for ambitious cellists.

With supplementary violoncello part marked by Maria Kliegel.

SKU: BR.EB-9243

ISBN 9790004185438. 9 x 12 inches.

It was the practice of Khoomii (throat singing) - following several workshops with Michael Ormiston - that first attracted me to Tuvan music. Composing this Songbook, the first in a series commissioned by the Ligeti Quartet, I took the chance to reflect on compositional questions around transcription and arrangement of existing music, and frequently found myself asking: where is the boundary between the source material and the new substance? Of course the relationship varies from piece to piece, and moment to moment: sometimes we seem to glimpse the pure source, but most of the time there are differing degrees of distance, working towards or away from it. This new version for string orchestra corresponds closely to the original quartet version, with an additional part for double basses.The traditional Tuvan songs that I have transcribed and recomposed are all known to me from the Ay Kherel CD The Music of Tuva: Throat Singing and Instruments from Central Asia (2004, Arc Music). According to the notes from that CD, this is what the songs are about:1. Dyngylday: If you have come on a horse in blue, it doesn't mean that you are the best. My heart tells me something else: my sweetheart doesn't have such a beautiful horse, but he is my darling.An alternative interpretation from Alash Ensemble (alashensemble.com): The word dyngylday is a nonsense term with no translation. The song makes good-humored fun of somebody for being a good-for-nothing.2. Eki Attar (The Best Steeds): The horse is the basis of our life. It is a magic creature. Even its step is full of music and rhythm. You may not be a horse rider, but when you hear this song you will always remember horses.3. Kuda Yry: This wedding song glorifies the strength of the groom and the beauty of his Horse.4. Ezir-Kara ('Black Eagle'): This was the name of a horse, who became a legend through his remarkable strength and speed.It is not just overtones that abound here: there are galloping rhythms aplenty, and though I am no horse rider I tried to keep the horses galloping in my imagination while composing these pieces.Christian Mason (with quotes from Ay Kherel and Alash Ensemble)

World premiere of the original version: London/UK, May 10, 2016, World premiere of the string orchestra version: Clermont-Ferrand/France, October 8, 2020.