SKU: CZ.9798870828015

The Christmas Duet Fun Book Series is the ultimate holiday music resource for young music students who want to enjoy the magic of Christmas through the joy of playing music! In this series, we've compiled a collection of duet books for flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, french horn, trombone, violin, viola, and cello that are perfect for beginners and intermediate players. The music is easy to play, yet still engaging and fun, making it the perfect tool for music educators looking to introduce their students to the world of duet playing. The duet books can be mixed and matched, allowing for heterogeneous groupings of instruments, and the songs included in the series cover both traditional hymns and popular secular music. With a variety of classic and contemporary holiday tunes, players can have fun while developing their technique, intonation, and rhythm. The series is designed to inspire and motivate young musicians during the holiday season, as they work together to create beautiful music and memories that will last a lifetime. With the Christmas Duet Fun Books, young musicians can experience the joy of playing music with others and the magic of the holiday season. Whether it's for a school performance, family gathering, or just for fun, this series is the perfect choice for anyone who wants to celebrate the holiday season with music. Easy to play Christmas and Hanukkah duets for a festive holiday season include O' Come Little Children, Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella, Jolly Old St. Nick, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Ding Dong Merrily on High, Silent Night, Jingle Bells, O Come All Ye Faithful, Angels We Have Heard on High, We Three Kings, Joy to the World, Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, Up On the Housetop, Toyland, O Holy Night, Away in a Manger, Go Tell It on the Mountain, The First Noel, I Have a Little Dreidel, Dreidel Turn, and The Hanukkah Song.

SKU: PR.312419280

ISBN 9781491137925. UPC: 680160692613.

Terra Nostra focuses on the relationship between our planet and mankind, how this relationship has shifted over time, and how we can re-establish a harmonious balance. The oratorio is divided into three parts:Part I: Creation of the World celebrates the birth and beauty of our planet. The oratorio begins with creation myths from India, North America, and Egypt that are integrated into the opening lines of Genesis from the Old Testament. The music surges forth from these creation stories into “God’s World” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, which describes the world in exuberant and vivid detail. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “On thine own child” praises Mother Earth for her role bringing forth all life, while Walt Whitman sings a love song to the planet in “Smile O voluptuous cool-breathed earth!” Part I ends with “A Blade of Grass” in which Whitman muses how our planet has been spinning in the heavens for a very long time.Part II: The Rise of Humanity examines the achievements of mankind, particularly since the dawn of the Industrial Age. Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Locksley Hall” sets an auspicious tone that mankind is on the verge of great discoveries. This is followed in short order by Charles Mackay’s “Railways 1846,” William Ernest Henley’s “A Song of Speed,” and John Gillespie Magee, Jr.’s “High Flight,” each of which celebrates a new milestone in technological achievement. In “Binsey Poplars,” Gerard Manley Hopkins takes note of the effect that these advances are having on the planet, with trees being brought down and landscapes forever changed. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “A Dirge” concludes Part II with a warning that the planet is beginning to sound a grave alarm.Part III: Searching for Balance questions how we can create more awareness for our planet’s plight, re-establish a deeper connection to it, and find a balance for living within our planet’s resources. Three texts continue the earth’s plea that ended the previous section: Lord Byron’s “Darkness” speaks of a natural disaster (a volcano) that has blotted out the sun from humanity and the panic that ensues; contemporary poet Esther Iverem’s “Earth Screaming” gives voice to the modern issues of our changing climate; and William Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much With Us” warns us that we are almost out of time to change our course. Contemporary/agrarian poet Wendell Berry’s “The Want of Peace” speaks to us at the climax of the oratorio, reminding us that we can find harmony with the planet if we choose to live more simply, and to recall that we ourselves came from the earth. Two Walt Whitman texts (“A Child said, What is the grass?” and “There was a child went forth every day”) echo Berry’s thoughts, reminding us that we are of the earth, as is everything that we see on our planet. The oratorio concludes with a reprise of Whitman’s “A Blade of Grass” from Part I, this time interspersed with an additional Whitman text that sublimely states, “I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love…”My hope in writing this oratorio is to invite audience members to consider how we interact with our planet, and what we can each personally do to keep the planet going for future generations. We are the only stewards Earth has; what can we each do to leave her in better shape than we found her?