Saint Francis of Assisi is an opera in 3 acts by Olivier Messiaen. This first volume is focused on the Act 1 – 1. La croix 2. Les laudes 3. Le baiser au lépreux. It depicts the moments when Saint Francis explains what is the 'Perfect Joy' according to the love of the Christ his request to God to meet a leper and to be able to love him and finally his meeting with a leper assisted by an Angel. The leper is cured from this meeting. Based on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi this opera is set in Italy and is composed as per below: Act I: 1. La croix 2. Les laudes 3.Le baiser au lépreux Act II 4. L’ange voyageur 5. L’ange musicien 6. Le prêche aux oiseaux Act II 7. Les stigmates 8. La mort et la nouvelle vie This opera was played at the Paris Opera in 1983. Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was a French organist and composer passionate about Ornithology and one of the most important composers of his century. Inspired by Japanese music he had a very special way of composing and his work can be identified by its complexity its diatonic aspect its harmony with limited transposition its colour and its additive rhythms. He composed many works related to ornithology and birdsong including the 'Bird Catalogue' in 7 volumes and the 'Treatise on rhythm colour and ornithology' in 7 volumes.

BWV 10-Now My Soul Exalts The Lord BWV 10: Cantata for the Feast of Visitation B. V. M.With his cantata Meine Seel Erhebt Den Herren which Bach composed for the Visitation of Mary (2 July) he created a Magnificat setting of a different kind: The German text source is a combination of biblical text and a free interpretation the basis being the Marian hymn of praise from the Gospel according to Luke. The 9th psalm tone acts as the chorale melody and becomes a recurring musical theme.With a small scoring of one trumpet (which if need be can be omitted) two oboes strings and basso continuo along with four soloists and choir Bach succeeds in writing a festive music of 20-25 minutes.This performing edition is based on the Urtext of the New Bach Edition.

BWV 10-Now My Soul Exalts The Lord BWV 10: Cantata for the Feast of Visitation B. V. M.With his cantata Meine Seel Erhebt Den Herren which Bach composed for the Visitation of Mary (2 July) he created a Magnificat setting of a different kind: The German text source is a combination of biblical text and a free interpretation the basis being the Marian hymn of praise from the Gospel according to Luke. The 9th psalm tone acts as the chorale melody and becomes a recurring musical theme.With a small scoring of one trumpet (which if need be can be omitted) two oboes strings and basso continuo along with four soloists and choir Bach succeeds in writing a festive music of 20-25 minutes.This performing edition is based on the Urtext of the New Bach Edition.

Oratorio in three parts-In quite characteristic fashion for the times Handel’s opera “Alessandro” looks at various episodes in the life and rule of Alexander the Great (356 323 BC). This legendary warrior and military commander conquered large parts of the world before meeting an untimely end at the age of 32. A central conflict in Handel’s opera is Alessandro being in love with two women Lisaura and Rossane who compete for his favour. In addition his claim to be of divine parentage is underlined occasioning him to demand the subservience of his followers which meets with vigorous disapproval.Handel composed “Alessandro” for the Royal Academyof Music to a libretto by Paolo Antonio Rolli in the 1725/26 season. The work was premiered at the King’s Theatre in London on 5 May 1726. “Alessandro” was the first of five operas for the Royal Academy operas which saw Handel compose for three of the most famous singers of his time: Francesco Bernardi (called Senesino) Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni.Ortensio Mauro’s libretto “La superbia d’Alessandro ” which was performed for the first time in Hanover in 1690 in a musical setting by Agostino Steffani and staged again in the city the following year under the title “Il zelo di Leonato” but with numerous alterations served as the source text for Handel’s “Alessandro”. One of the main aspects Rolli had to consider when preparing the libretto for the London performances was to keep the roles of the famous singers of the Royal Academy well balanced yet at the same time to engineer a musical contest between the prima donnas Cuzzoni and Bordoni (Lisaura and Rossane) as well. From a business point of view it made good sense for such rivalry would surely increase public interest in the opera.It is no longer possible to ascertain which changes Handel made during the following performance series of the 1727/28 season. For the performance series of 1732/33 Handel made substantial revisions to the opera: six numbers were deleted in their entirety the finale in part as well and the recitatives were made much shorter with the parts of Cleone and Leonato omitted

Oratorio in three acts-Saul was given its first performance under Handel’s direction at the Haymarket Theatre London on 16 January 1739. The original libretto (dated 1738) refers to the work as “an Oratorio or Sacred Drama”. This libretto was written by Charles Jennens (1700–1770) a wealthy amateur writer from Gopsall Leicestershire. A letter of 28 July 1735 from Handel to Jennens suggests that a complete raft of the text already existed at that time. Saul occupies an extraordinarily important position in the English oratorio tradition that Handel brought to perfection standing alongside Israel in Egypt at the end of the first creative period of such works.- Urtext of the Halle Handel Edition - Full score (BA4020) & vocal score (BA402090) available for sale - Performance material (BA402072) available for hire

Saint Francois D'Assise is an opera in 3 acts by Olivier Messiaen. This volume is focused on the Act II – 6. Le Prêche Aux Oiseaux which depicts a moment when he preached to the birds in Assisi. Saint Francis gives the birds his benediction to which they answer by a Concerto. Based on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi this opera is set in Italy and is composed as per below: Act I: 1. La croix 2. Les laudes 3. Le baiser au lépreux Act II 4. L’ange voyageur 5. L’ange musicien 6. Le prêche aux oiseaux Act II 7. Les stigmates 8. La mort et la nouvelle vie This opera was played at the Paris Opera in 1983. Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was a French organist and composer passionate about Ornithology and one of the most important composers of his century. Inspired by Japanese music he had a very special way of composing and his work can be identified by its complexity its diatonic aspect its harmony with limited transposition its colour and its additive rhythms. He composed many works related to ornithology and birdsong including the 'Bird Catalogue' in 7 volumes and the 'Treatise on Rhythm Colour and Ornithology' in 7 volumes.

Opera in three acts. Par STRAWINSKY IGOR. New edition of Stravinsky?s largest work, his only full-length work for the theatre, and his first major work in English. It also represents the culmination of his neoclassical years, after which he started to rethink his musical language. Inspired by an exhibition in Chicago in 1947 of a series of Hogarth prints, the depiction of the ironic progress of the spendthrift heir of a miser from wealth via debt to madness and death is, in essence, retained in the opera. Auden and Kallman's 'fable' wittily grafts onto Hogarth?s quest narrative aspects of, among other sources, Classical pastoral, the Faust legend, fairy tale, circus, the Bible and opera in many different manifestations. This is brilliantly matched by Stravinsky?s music, which takes as its source the whole of operatic history from Monteverdi to Verdi via Rossini and Donizetti and large doses of Mozart, yet it is neither parody nor pastiche. The Rake?s Progress can be appreciated on many levels, which might explain why it is still one of only a handful of 20th-century operas never to have been out of the repertoire. / Date parution : 2023-10-31/ Répertoire / Solistes, Choeur et Orchestre

How practical! Mozart's 'Requiem' is now appearing in this handy soft-cover and affordable full score to complement the substantial linen-bound complete edition volume.The tried and tested musical text of the 'Requiem' remains the same whilst the Foreword has been revised and supplemented by an English translation.- The tried-and-tested content of the complete edition volume now in a soft-cover score- Foreword in German and now also in English

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy completed his first oratorio St. Paul Op.36 in 1836 at the age of twenty-seven. The first version which was premiered on 22 May 1836 was then extensively revised by the composer. This second version which at the same time served as the basis for the published version was premiered as early as October that year in Birmingham. The acclaim with which the oratorio was received was exceptional. Within eighteen months of completing the score Mendelssohn was able to list fifty performances of the work. Robert Schumann praised the work effusively and even Richard Wagner who later denigrated Mendelssohn was full of admiration. Today St. Paul belongs to the core repertoire of sacred choral music.This Urtext edition of the oratorio edited by the internationally-recognised Mendelssohn scholar Michael Cooper is based on all critical sources. As well as the principal version of the work the score also includes for the first time numbers which were composed for the first version and subsequently removed. This gives not only an insight into the history of the composition of the work but also with the complete performing material into the performance of the original version.The full score and vocal score (BA9071-90) include the German and English texts of the oratorio.The vocal score is by Mendelssohn.Urtext edition representing the latest musicological researchIncludes all numbers from the original version for the first timeVocal texts in German and EnglishStraightforward Piano reduction

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy completed his first oratorio St. Paul Op.36 in 1836 at the age of twenty-seven. The first version which was premiered on 22 May 1836 was then extensively revised by the composer. This second version which at the same time served as the basis for the published version was premiered as early as October that year in Birmingham. The acclaim with which the oratorio was received was exceptional. Within eighteen months of completing the score Mendelssohn was able to list fifty performances of the work. Robert Schumann praised the work effusively and even Richard Wagner who later denigrated Mendelssohn was full of admiration. Today St. Paul belongs to the core repertoire of sacred choral music.This Urtext edition of the oratorio edited by the internationally-recognised Mendelssohn scholar Michael Cooper is based on all critical sources. As well as the principal version of the work the score also includes for the first time numbers which were composed for the first version and subsequently removed. This gives not only an insight into the history of the composition of the work but also with the complete performing material into the performance of the original version.The full score and vocal score (BA9071-90) include the German and English texts of the oratorio.The vocal score is by Mendelssohn.Urtext edition representing the latest musicological researchIncludes all numbers from the original version for the first timeVocal texts in German and EnglishStraightforward Piano reduction