SKU: HL.49045437

ISBN 9790001162715. UPC: 841886029088. 9.0x12.0x0.168 inches.

On the occasion of the quincentenary of Reformation Day in 2017, the composer Enjott Schneider thoroughly studied Martin Luther the individual and all his contradictions. The result is a brilliant, demanding organ symphony which is perfect for concerts on the subject of Reformation and Martin Luther.The composer describes the five movements of the symphony as follows:'1st movement:Wir glauben all an einen Gott with its quintuplet-like beginning is very Gregorian in style, outlining the range of Lutheran emotionalism between the Middle Ages and the modern era. The irrationality of faith ultimately has priority over any thought and evidence. At the beginning of the movement, sounds of knocking on wood remind of the nailing of the Ninety-Five Theses to the doors of churches in Wittenberg. The chorale melody sometimes hides with an almost rough medieval saltarello, referring to Luther's robustness and vitality with which he knew to carry away even common people.2nd movement:In 1530, the electoral prince of Saxony presented to Luther at Coburg Castle the golden signet ring with the Luther rose which became the symbol of his theology of grace. A white heart with black cross is fixed on a five-petalled rose. To him, white is the colour of angels and ghosts, black stands for the pain of crucification: The just shall live by faith, but by faith in the Crucified. But the fact that the rose and the heart are the dominating symbols shows how Catholic Marian piety remained an ingredient of Luther's spirituality throughout his life. In line with the dominant five-petal structure of the rose, this movement was composed, to a large extent, in accordance with the floating, lyrical rhythm in 5/8 time.3rd movement:The omnipresence of death and dying - from the plague and war to the never-ending dangers of daily life - was an essential part of the world view of that time. Fears ensued that might heighten into the grotesque, e.g. in the pictures of Hieronymus Bosch. The Danse macabre was a popular motif in those years. Luther's chorale Mitten wir im Leben sind / mit dem Tod umfangen from 1524 (Enchiridion from Erfurt) is based on the Gregorian chant Media vita in morte sumus created in France around 750 and, with its idea of transience, inspired a simplistic air.4th movement:The famous confession delivered at the Diet of Worms in 1521, I stand here and can say no more. God help me. Amen, are not Luther's words but the version later used as text for a pamphlet. However, it represents quite plainly the straightforwardness and inevitability of his mission. Musically, it was made into a perpetuum mobile, i.e. a dogged, ostinato and never-ending musical air.5th movement:The Mighty Fortress, on the other hand, is one of the great symbols of Martin Luther which, with its shining C major key, embodies the Protestant ideology and willful nature of the Reformation unlike any other song. Heinrich Heine called it the Marseille anthem of the Reformation, Friedrich Engels the Marseillaise of the Peasants' Wars. This disputability is not thought through to the end but rather interrupted: With a jubilant birdcall version of the melody, the finale shows a rather chamber-music-like side of the ideals of freedom of Christians.'.

SKU: BR.OB-32119-16

ISBN 9790004349472. 10 x 12.5 inches.

The cantata O heilige Zeit [O Holy Time] of the former St. Thomas cantor Johann Kuhnau is the ideal baroque festive music for small scorings. Even though this is the larger of two cantatas with this text underlay, it can be performed by four soloists (SATB), single or double strings, and continuo organ. The participation of a choir in non-soloistic passages is optional, for historically unproven. The cantata was composed in the years 1704/05 and can therefore be placed in Kuhnau's term as St. Thomas cantor in Leipzig. A contemporary text by Erdmann Neumeister is fitted with a modern musical garb here while keeping unconditional adherence to it. Using a structural artifice as simple as it is effective, he provides a ritornello-like musical equivalent to the repeatedly recurring line of text O heilige Zeit!. This edition continues the series of works by Kuhnau started in the Pfefferkorn Musikverlag. Another festive music by Kuhnau with larger scoring is found in the Magnificat in C major, deemed a direct predecessor of Bach's Magnificat.

SKU: HL.268917

George Nicholson was born in County Durham in 1949 and studied at the University of York with David Blake and Bernard Rands, receiving his doctorate in 1979. For ten years he pursued a freelance career in London before being appointed Lecturer in Music and Director of Composition at Keele University in 1988. In January 1996 he took up the post of Senior Lecturer in Composition at Sheffield University.

Priority Direct Import titles are specialty titles that are not generally offered for sale by US based retailers. These items must be obtained from our overseas suppliers. When you order a Priority Direct Import title, our overseas warehouse will ship it to you directly at the time of order, typically within one business day. However, the shipment time will be slower than items shipped from our US warehouse. It may take up to 2-3 weeks to get to you.

SKU: BR.OB-32119-20

ISBN 9790004349496. 10 x 12.5 inches.

The cantata O heilige Zeit [O Holy Time] of the former St. Thomas cantor Johann Kuhnau is the ideal baroque festive music for small scorings. Even though this is the larger of two cantatas with this text underlay, it can be performed by four soloists (SATB), single or double strings, and continuo organ. The participation of a choir in non-soloistic passages is optional, for historically unproven. The cantata was composed in the years 1704/05 and can therefore be placed in Kuhnau's term as St. Thomas cantor in Leipzig. A contemporary text by Erdmann Neumeister is fitted with a modern musical garb here while keeping unconditional adherence to it. Using a structural artifice as simple as it is effective, he provides a ritornello-like musical equivalent to the repeatedly recurring line of text O heilige Zeit!. This edition continues the series of works by Kuhnau started in the Pfefferkorn Musikverlag. Another festive music by Kuhnau with larger scoring is found in the Magnificat in C major, deemed a direct predecessor of Bach's Magnificat.

SKU: BR.PB-5581

ISBN 9790004213919. 10 x 12.5 inches.

A Programmatic Declaration of BeliefFelix Mendelssohn Bartholdy composed his Reformation Symphony for the celebrations marking the 300th anniversary of the Confessio Augustana, the Protestant declaration of faith. Owing to various and only partially explained reasons, there was no performance in 1830, the year in question; it was only two years later that the composer conducted the premiere of his work, now heavily revised, in Berlin. There was only one more performance in Mendelssohn's lifetime, this one conducted by Julius Rietz in Dusseldorf; the composer had since distanced himself from his opus.Conceived for the concert hall, the symphony formulates its theological references through the integration of various motives. This occurs in the finale, for example, in which Mendelssohn quotes the Luther chorale Ein feste Burg in the flute, from where it builds up to a triumphant principal theme. The strong extra-musical aspect must have been one of the reasons for the composer's later avoidance of this score, especially since Mendelssohn was becoming increasingly skeptical about explicitly programmatic music in the instrumental domain. Next to the Dusseldorf performance material of 1837, two scribal copies have been examined for the first time; they transmit the main stages of the version of 1830.

SKU: XC.HCB2306

This is a piece with a sense of urgency. Its constant pulse mimics that of a ticking clock, steadily inching its way towards an unknown conclusion. Christina Huss is fast becoming a go to composer for exciting new music for younger students. She knows what they can do from her many years of teaching at this level. You will not be disappointed with this one!

SKU: BR.PB-14615-01

ISBN 9790004214909. 10 x 12.5 inches.

The Famous One in the Leading EditionBeethoven spent a relatively long time on his 5th Symphony. Thus, first sketches can already be found from as early as 1804, four years before the work was premiered in Vienna in December 1808. Not only impressive is its striking opening theme, letting everyone know immediately that this is Beethoven being played, but also its nickname symphony of fate. Nothing in the sources prefigures the much-cited fate, musically knocking here at the door. The autograph of the score and the set of parts prepared from it, including Beethoven's revisions, serve as the main sources of this Urtext edition, together with the missing copy of the score, now extant only incomplete in photographs, and the original edition of the parts authorized by Beethoven. The new performance material is based on the recently published volume of the New Beethoven Complete Edition.

SKU: BR.OB-5581-23

ISBN 9790004343234. 10 x 12.5 inches.

A Programmatic Declaration of BeliefFelix Mendelssohn Bartholdy composed his Reformation Symphony for the celebrations marking the 300th anniversary of the Confessio Augustana, the Protestant declaration of faith. Owing to various and only partially explained reasons, there was no performance in 1830, the year in question; it was only two years later that the composer conducted the premiere of his work, now heavily revised, in Berlin. There was only one more performance in Mendelssohn's lifetime, this one conducted by Julius Rietz in Dusseldorf; the composer had since distanced himself from his opus.Conceived for the concert hall, the symphony formulates its theological references through the integration of various motives. This occurs in the finale, for example, in which Mendelssohn quotes the Luther chorale Ein feste Burg in the flute, from where it builds up to a triumphant principal theme. The strong extra-musical aspect must have been one of the reasons for the composer's later avoidance of this score, especially since Mendelssohn was becoming increasingly skeptical about explicitly programmatic music in the instrumental domain. Next to the Dusseldorf performance material of 1837, two scribal copies have been examined for the first time; they transmit the main stages of the version of 1830.