SKU: PR.165001000
ISBN 9781491129241. UPC: 680160669776. 9 x 12 inches.
Commissioned for a consortium of high school and college bands in the north Dallas region, FOR THEMYSTIC HARMONY is a 10-minute inspirational work in homage to Norwood and Elizabeth Dixon,patrons of the Fort Worth Symphony and the Van Cliburn Competition. Welcher draws melodic flavorfrom five American hymns, spirituals, and folk tunes of the 19th century. The last of these sources toappear is the hymn tune For the Beauty of the Earth, whose third stanza is the quatrain: “For the joy of earand eye, For the heart and mind’s delight, For the mystic harmony, Linking sense to sound and sight,â€giving rise to the work’s title.This work, commissioned for a consortium of high school bands in the north Dallas area, is my fifteenth maturework for wind ensemble (not counting transcriptions). When I asked Todd Dixon, the band director whospearheaded this project, what kind of a work he most wanted, he first said “something that’s basically slow,†butwanted to leave the details to me. During a long subsequent conversation, he mentioned that his grandparents,Norwood and Elizabeth Dixon, were prime supporters of the Fort Worth Symphony, going so far as to purchase anumber of high quality instruments for that orchestra. This intrigued me, so I asked more about his grandparentsand was provided an 80-page biographical sketch. Reading that article, including a long section about theirdevotion to supporting a young man through the rigors of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition fora number of years, moved me very much. Norwood and Elizabeth Dixon weren’t just supporters of the arts; theywere passionate lovers of music and musicians. I determined to make this work a testament to that love, and tothe religious faith that sustained them both. The idea of using extant hymns was also suggested by Todd Dixon,and this 10-minute work is the result.I have employed existing melodies in several works, delving into certain kinds of religious music more than a fewtimes. In seeking new sounds, new ways of harmonizing old tunes, and the contrapuntal overlaying of one tunewith another, I was able to make works like ZION (using 19th-century Revivalist hymns) and LABORING SONGS(using Shaker melodies) reflect the spirit of the composers who created these melodies, without sounding likepastiches or medleys. I determined to do the same with this new work, with the added problem of employingmelodies that were more familiar. I chose five tunes from the 19th century: hymns, spirituals, and folk-tunes.Some of these are known by differing titles, but they all appear in hymnals of various Christian denominations(with various titles and texts). My idea was to employ the tunes without altering their notes, instead using aconstantly modulating sense of harmony — sometimes leading to polytonal harmonizations of what are normallysimple four-chord hymns.The work begins and ends with a repeated chime on the note C: a reminder of steeples, white clapboard churchesin the country, and small church organs. Beginning with a Mixolydian folk tune of Caribbean origin presentedtwice with layered entrances, the work starts with a feeling of mystery and gentle sorrow. It proceeds, after along transition, into a second hymn that is sometimes connected to the sea (hence the sensation of water andwaves throughout it). This tune, by John B. Dykes (1823-1876), is a bit more chromatic and “shifty†than mosthymn-tunes, so I chose to play with the constant sensation of modulation even more than the original does. Atthe climax, the familiar spiritual “Were you there?†takes over, with a double-time polytonal feeling propelling itforward at “Sometimes it causes me to tremble.â€Trumpets in counterpoint raise the temperature, and the tempo as well, leading the music into a third tune (ofunknown provenance, though it appears with different texts in various hymnals) that is presented in a sprightlymanner. Bassoons introduce the melody, but it is quickly taken up by other instruments over three “verses,â€constantly growing in orchestration and volume. A mysterious second tune, unrelated to this one, interrupts it inall three verses, sending the melody into unknown regions.The final melody is “For the Beauty of the Earth.†This tune by Conrad Kocher (1786-1872) is commonly sung atThanksgiving — the perfect choice to end this work celebrating two people known for their generosity.Keeping the sense of constant modulation that has been present throughout, I chose to present this hymn in threegrowing verses, but with a twist: every four bars, the “key†of the hymn seems to shift — until the “Lord of all, toThee we praise†melody bursts out in a surprising compound meter. This, as it turns out, was the “mystery tuneâ€heard earlier in the piece. After an Ivesian, almost polytonal climax, the Coda begins over a long B( pedal. At first,it seems to be a restatement of the first two phrases of “For the Beauty†with long spaces between them, but it soonchanges to a series of “Amen†cadences, widely separated by range and color. These, too, do not conform to anykey, but instead overlay each other in ways that are unpredictable but strangely comforting.The third verse of “For the Beauty of the Earth†contains this quatrain:“For the joy of ear and eye, –For the heart and mind’s delightFor the mystic harmonyLinking sense to sound and sightâ€and it was from this poetry that I drew the title for the present work. It is my hope that audiences and performerswill find within it a sense of grace: more than a little familiar, but also quite new and unexpected.
SKU: BT.DHP-1084620-010
9x12 inches. English-German-French-Dutch.
Deze optimistische song van Artie Kaplan, met een tekst van Norman Simon, verscheen in 1973 op het album Confessions of a Male Chauvinist Pig. In verschillende Europese landen was Harmony een grote hit. De ongepolijstestem van Kaplan geeft een bijzonder effect in combinatie met de aanstekelijke melodie en het innemende koortje in het refrein. Dit onderhoudende arrangement van Don Campbell doet het origineel beslist eer aan.Dieses optimistische Lied erschien 1973 auf einem Album von Artie Kaplan mit dem Titel Confessions of a Male Chauvinist (Bekenntnisse eines männlichen Chauvis). Harmony war ein unmittelbarer Erfolg, der bis heute nicht vergessen ist. Don Campbells Bearbeitung wird dem Original voll und ganz gerecht. Portée par le grain boisé de la voix de velours d’Artie Kaplan, la chanson Harmony (1973), connaît un vif succès dans de nombreux pays européens mais passe quasiment inaperçue aux États-Unis. Optimiste et plaisante, la mélodie traverse la texture ouatée des chœurs. L’arrangement de Don Campbell reste fidèle la version originale.
SKU: CA.3112309
ISBN 9790007207465. Language: German/English. Text: Fritsch, Ahasverus.
This six-movement cantata uses the hymn of the same name by Ahasverus Fritsch, first recorded in 1698 in the Darmstadter Liederbuch. This places it amongst those chorale cantatas which use a hymn from the repertoire associated with Pietism. As was customary, the hymn text is retained in the outer movements, whereas the text for the inner movements - two secco recitatives and a tenor and a bass aria - are concerned with the contrast between the hostile world and the certainty of Jesus; the links between the cantata text and the Feast of the Epiphany are correspondingly tenuous. In the first movement the soprano sings the hymn melody complete, accompanied by mainly homophonic vocal parts, whilst the instrumental writing is largely influenced by the melody of the first line of the hymn. Remarkable is the tenor aria, with its contrasting central section and its chromatic twists and turns, in which Bach once again proves himself to be a master of harmony. The demands on the chorus are fairly modest, whereas the instrumentalists are challenged in the first movement and in both the arias. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.3112300.
SKU: MB.20866M
ISBN 9780786694532. 8.75 x 11.75 inches.
This mandolin edition includes the same 16 tunes found in Kaufmans out-of-print Twin Pickin flatpicking guitar book, soon to be available as Blazing Solos for Flatpicking Guitar for One Player or More. The tunes in both editions are in the same keys so the books can serve as a foundation for fabulous twin-picking jam sessions in which either guitarists or mandolinists can take the lead and harmony parts. In addition to the tunes, Kaufman includes performance notes, guidelines for reading standard notation and tab plus his take on the harmonization process. A play-along audio with three tracks for each tune Lead, Harmony, and Lead and Harmony completes the package. Includes access to online audio.
SKU: BT.DHP-0940609-030
Harmony Festival is Jan de Haan’s expression of his great respect for the composer of composers, Johann Sebastian Bach. He has used the four note names which form the name of this composer as the basis of this piece. This four note motif provides us with the most beautiful and unexpected chord combinations creating a ‘festival of harmonies’! Met Harmony Festival betuigt Jan de Haan zijn respect voor de componist der componisten: Johann Sebastian Bach. Hij gebruikte de vier notennamen die samen de achternaam van deze componist vormen. (In Duitsland wordt de besaangeduid met de letter b, en de noot b met de letter h) Aan de hand hiervan creëerde de componist onverwachte akkoordverbindingen, waarmee een festival van harmonieën ontstond. In het eerste deel van het werk wordt het thema voorgesteldin verschillende variaties. Hierbij valt het gebruik van polymetriek op. Er volgt een overgang naar het tweede, langzame deel. Dit begint met een solo, die -net als de begeleiding- ge nspireerd is door het leidmotief Decompositie eindigt met een stralende finale.
SKU: BT.DHP-1002368-020
SKU: MB.30561
ISBN 9780786697816. 8.75 x 11.75 inches.
Fiddling Classics contains 14 arrangements of classic fiddle tunes from Texas, cowboy and Western Swing music traditions, written in an exciting twin/triple fiddle style. The series includes three books for different instrumentation. This book is: MB30562 Fiddling Classics for Solo and Ensemble: Cello/Bass(Includes cello/bass melody and harmony parts). The others are: MB30560 Fiddling Classics for Solo and Ensemble: Violins 1 and 2(Includes 2 violin parts). MB30561 Fiddling Classics for Solo and Ensemble: Viola, Violin 3 and Score(Includes parts for viola melody, harmony, third violin and a full score). Each book includes piano accompaniment with guitar chords. All three work together, providing readers with material for all possible combination of instruments; solo instrument with piano or guitar, duets, trios, string quartets and much more.
SKU: MB.30562
ISBN 9780786697823. 8.75 x 11.75 inches.
Fiddling Classics contains 14 arrangements of classic fiddle tunes from Texas, cowboy and Western Swing music traditions, written in an exciting twin/triple fiddle style. The series includes three books for different instrumentation:MB30560 Fiddling Classics for Solo and Ensemble: Violins 1 and 2 Includes 2 violin parts .MB30561 Fiddling Classics for Solo and Ensemble: Viola, Violin 3 and Score Includes parts for viola melody, harmony, third violin and a full score .MB30562 Fiddling Classics for Solo and Ensemble: Cello/Bass Includes cello/bass melody and harmony parts .Each book includes piano accompaniment with guitar chords. All three work together, providing readers with material for all possible combination of instruments; solo instrument with piano or guitar, duets, trios, string quartets and much more.
SKU: CA.5198009
ISBN 9790007254582. German/English. Text: van Swieten, Gottfried.
Score and parts available separately - see item CA.5198000.
SKU: XC.2101014
9 x 12 inches.
Brimming with pop energy, catchy hooks, and a modern, punchy backing track, this song will be a favorite for concert and show choirs. Built on the theme of developing much-needed harmony in our world and communities, the upbeat lyrics and carefully crafted harmonies combine to embrace this theme with directness and positive energy. Use the accompaniment MP3 to get the full impact of the song, and help your students learn their parts quickly with the part-dominant MP3 bundles that can be shared with your whole choir.
SKU: AP.49702
UPC: 038081567891. English.
This powerful choral anthem was written by Broadway songwriters Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty in honor of the 40th anniversary of The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, DC. Lynn's text uses harmony as a metaphor to represent acceptance, and Stephen's inspirational music is a canvas of hope and strength. Robust piano, bass, and drum parts provide a sturdy pop accompaniment for three full voicings designed to accommodate any four-part group.
About Alfred Pop Choral Series
The Alfred Pop Series features outstanding arrangements of songs from the popular music genre. These publications provide exciting, contemporary, and educationally-sound arrangements for singers of all ages, from elementary through high school, to college and adult choirs.
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