SKU: BR.EB-9441
ISBN 9790004189184. 9 x 12 inches.
The two sonatas of Johannes Brahms's op. 120 are widely hailed as crowning points of the repertoire for clarinet and piano. Moreover, in the version for viola and piano arranged by Brahms himself, they rank among the most frequently played viola works of the 19th century. They far surpass in compositional substance the relatively few original sonatas written for these instrumentations during the same period.Of the two fellow works, the Sonata No. 2 in E flat major is the more accessible. Diverging from the classical-romantic tradition, Brahms used the key of E flat major here not to express the heroic or monumental, but to obtain lyrical, chiefly restrained characterizations. The serenade-like beauty of the principal theme, which opens the sonata, has always been particularly admired. In his review of the world premiere, the renowned Viennese music critic Eduard Hanslick, a friend of Brahms's, raves with the words it was as if it had fallen from the Heavens. The closing set of variations also follows with gentle gracefulness this lyrical character. However, the middle movement, with its tempestuous outer sections in E flat minor and the hymnic trio in B major provides a passionate and serious contrast, which allows the flanking idyll to unfold its beauties all the more insistently.
SKU: HL.49018776
ISBN 9790001174107. 9.0x12.0x0.135 inches.
The one-movement, yet multiple time structured, sonata uses a gently modern tonal language and has been influenced by the French tradition. Emile Naoumoff likes to give his movements unusual headings that perfectly describe the character of the respective section. The piece for the combination of viola and piano, which is quite rare in concert life, is a valuable and fascinating addition to the repertoire in which both instruments conduct a dialogue on an equal basis.Naoumoff was born in Sofia in 1962. At the age of 8, he began his career as a pianist and composer; for ten years, he was a pupil of Nadia Boulanger until her death. At the age of 10, Naoumoff composed and performed his own piano concerto under the direction of Yehudi Menuhin. Many prizes, awards and appearances as a celebrated pianist followed. Today Naoumoff lives and works as an associate professor at the School of Music of the Indiana University in Bloomington. He holds master classes in the USA, Europe and Japan and is director of a music academy.
SKU: BT.EMBZ627
Gyula Dávid (1913-1977) was one of the most important members of the generation of Hungarian composers who followed Bartók and Kodály. His ?uvre includes stage, orchestral, oratorial, chamber, and solo instrumental works. Although he rarely quoted folk material directly in his music, folksong, popular music and the spirit of the Hungarian musical tradition permeates his works. In the last two decades of his life he wrote atonal and twelve-tone compositions. With his Wind Quintet (composed 1949) he created a genre which plays an important role in the new Hungarian music. Gyula Dávid studied composition with Albert Siklós and Zoltán Kodály at the Academy of Music in Budapest,graduating in 1938. Between 1938 and 1945 he worked in several orchestras as viola player. From 1945 to 1949 he was conductor at Hungarian National Theatre, than he became leader of the Ensemble of the Hungarian Army. From 1961 to his retirement he was professor at the Teacher Training Faculty of the Academy of Music in Budapest. Between 1951 and 1960 he taught wind chamber music, music theory and wind orchestration at the Academy of Music. He was one of the founders of the Hungarian Artists' Union. He was awarded the Erkel Prize (1952, 1955) and the Kossuth Prize (1957).
SKU: BT.YE0009
Very little is known about the two sonatas which appear here in their original keys. They were placed in the library of the Music School in Oxford at the end of the seventeenth century in a form convenient for playing (i.e.unbound). The library was catalogued by Hake between 1850 and 1855 and the sonatas were eventually bound in 1855 with other instrumental and vocal manuscripts of the same period, some of which are dated 1698.The sonatasare both inscribed on the title page Sonata Violone Solo. Col Basso per l'Organo, o Cembalo. A third sonata bears the words Sonata Violino e Violoncino â?¦ di Giovannino del Violone. Giovannino (=Little, or Young John)musthave been a performer, and although the third sonata has been copied by a different hand, it is conceivable that Giovannino is a connecting link between the three. He cannot, however, be assumed to be theirauthor.The Violone was a six-stringed instrument with frets, and there is evidence to suggest that the Contrabasso of the same period was similar but probably a little larger; the Violoncino (=Little Violone, orVioloncello) must have been smaller. The word 'Violone' was also used as a collective term embracing all members of the Viol family, which means that the sonatas might well have been written for a tenor or a bass Viol, and notnecessarily a Violone as such. Indeed, when they are played on a Violone, or Double Bass the continuo bass line must be played at a lower pitch than the solo instrument, to prevent inversion of the intended harmony. (The use ofa Violone/Double Bass continuo or 16' organ tone would overcome this problem.)The editor has added no ornaments or embellishments to the solo part as it appears in the original manuscript. It is open to debate whether aViolone player, owing to the very nature of his instrument, would have used any but the simplest melodic decorations. Nevertheless, the performer should acquaint himself thoroughly with those seventeenth century traditions thatare known today (see Dart.
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