SKU: HL.50601002

11.75x8.25x0.33 inches.

“I admire in Frank Cox a musician who has three gifts at a high, virtuoso level all at the same time. Firstly, he is composer, secondly, he plays the cello, specialising in extremely complicated works and finally, he is a brilliant thinker and author. Thus my 'Hommage à Frank Cox' is written as a trio. The vibraphone functions like a typewriter being typed on, the piano represents the place where the composer looks for his sounds and the electric guitar represents the 'performance' of a soloist. Throughout large sections, the three musicians play independently of each other although temporally coordinated. The work is therefore not written in score form. Each player plays a part in the given tempi independently of the other two players. The piano, which plays all the time, gives the vibraphone and guitar their entrances. The course of events is interrupted by three cadenzas, and a finale concludes the work. The players play together here in score form. Morphologically speaking, my point of departure was the (very simple) sinus wave whose mathematical function I continually enriched through additives, so that the formal sections of all three instruments can be shaped like a large network of variations. They play the same music, even when striving for stubborn independence.” (Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf).

SKU: HL.234541

9.25x12.0x0.571 inches. English.

'Four Thousand Holes is my own effort to re-appropriate and reclaim for myself something of my own musical past. For the first time since my days as a rocker, I've chosen to restrict myself to major and minor triads - those most basic elements of Western music (both pop and classical). But I've tried to assimilate them fully into my own musical world. Approaching these simple chords as found objects, I've superimposed them in multiple streams of tempo, to create darker harmonies and lush fields of sound. In recent years, I've been fortunate enough to form a close musical partnership with Stephen Drury. Steve's extraordinary gifts inspired me to explore expansive forms and textures (similar to those of my orchestral music) with only one or two performers, In essence, Four Thousand Holes is a concerto. To begin I composed the score for the electronic tracks. Steve recorded all of the individual chords that occur in the score. I took these recordings, time-stretched them, reversed their envelopes, and knit the reversed sounds together with their original decays. The resulting waves of sound I layered into ten independent tracks to create the virtual 'orchestra'. Next I composed the Piano part, articulating the peaks of all the electronic tracks simultaneously - a feat of coordination that demands considerable virtuosity from the pianist. Finally I composed another multi-layered part for metallic percussion sounds that I think of as sparks emanating from the piano. In Four Thousand Holes, strong musical currents fall and rise, again and again, as points and lines are juxtaposed with heavy, hammered chords. The mix of 'live' and electronic sounds blurs the distinction between musical figure and ground. As in much of my recent music, I conceive of the entire piece as a single complex sonority that evolves slowly. As we settle into the sound, we begin to hear longer lines, counterpoint, and maybe even the occasional trace of a tune.' - John Luther Adams.

SKU: LO.30-2820L

UPC: 000308131475.

The journey from Advent to Christmas is filled with vivid images of beloved traditions: the lighting of candles and Christmas trees as the light of Christ glows with increasing intensity; decorations of evergreens, symbols of the promise of rebirth; the emergence of stars atop the trees to guide the pilgrim journey; the presentation of gifts in celebration of God's great gift to us all. Throughout the centuries, believers have sung carols that celebrate these traditions, and A Garland of Carols combines these elements. It includes five suites, one for each Sunday in Advent and a fifth for Christmas Eve. Each includes an opening carol for choir and a closing medley for choir and optional congregation, as well as narratives for candle-lighting and inspired stories and scriptures for that suite's theme. The flexible choral texture makes it ideal as a one-rehearsal program for larger choirs or as an easily rehearsed program for smaller ensembles.