Orchestra and Cobla

SKU: BO.B.3260

Composed by Josep Ma Ruera. Instrumental Sets. Duration 40:52. Published by Editorial de Musica Boileau (BO.B.3260).

ISBN 9788480207584.

English comments:
Empuries is the result of the interest Ruera showed throughout his life for the culture and music of ancient Greece. As he himself writes in the introduction to the composition: The motives behind this work were inspired by contemplating and analysing the melos of ancient Greece. The few melodies that have been discovered from those far-off times inspired the composer of Empuries to create this work, conceived with the Greek modal system in mind, and adapted to modern instruments and tastes. The tetrachord and pentachords of these forms are the very bases of this work. The descending drift of the cadence, the harmonic priority of the upper and lower notes of the tetrachords and the displacement of these chords to different acoustic levels, make it impossible to specify the classic concept of a set tonality which, within the improvised musical working of the piece, leads to a naturally intertonal or atonal piece of music. Empuries came to light in 1971, when it won group A of the Ciutat de Barcelona prize. But one must, in fact, go back to the 1930s to find its true origins. Ruera made his first foray into the theme of ancient Greece with the sardana, Empuries, la grega, with which he won first prize in the Jocs Florals in Girona, in 1931. Shortly afterwards, he wrote a piece of organ music entitled Bucolics, in the Greek modal style, which was destroyed during the Spanish civil war. Ruera continued to work on the theme and in 1936 he presented his work Tres moviments simfonics, for a big band, inspired by the ancient Greek modes, at the XIV International Festival of the ISCM held in Barcelona. The work was chosen to debut in the festival's opening concert on 19 April 1936 at Palacio de Bellas Artes in Barcelona. In 1959, Ruera won the Pau Casals Prize at the Jocs Florals de la Llengua Catalana, held at the Sorbonne in Paris, for his work, Empuries: poema per a cobla i orquestra, which would later become the fourth movement of Empuries. Nine years later, in 1968, Barcelona City Orchestra, conducted by Antoni Ros Marba, gave the first ever performance of the symphonic poem Pastoral, written to be the first movement of Empuries, in Granollers. The final step was when he finally completed the work, won the Ciutat de Barcelona prize, opened in Granollers on 2 May 1976 and recorded it for the Columbia de Barcelona label in 1977. Anna Maria Piera

Comentarios del Espanol:
La obra Empuries es fruto del interes que el maestro Ruera demostro a lo largo de su vida por la cultura y la musica de la antigua Grecia. Como el mismo escribe en la cabecera de la composicion: Los motivos generadores de esta obra estan inspirados en la contemplacion y en el analisis del melos de la antigua Grecia. Las pocas melodias que hasta el momento se han podido descubrir de aquellos tiempos remotos sugieren al autor de Empuries la realizacion de esta obra, concebida pensando en el sistema modal griego, adaptado a los instrumentos y gustos modernos. Los tetracordes y pentacordes de dichas modalidades son las celulas en las que se basa la obra. El sentido descendiente de la cadencia, la prioridad armonica de la notas extremas de los tetracordes y el desplazamiento de estos acordes a varias alturas acusticas, hacen que no sea posible precisar el clasico concepto de una tonalidad determinada y que lleven, dentro del funcionamiento contrapuntistico, a una musica naturalmente intertonal o atonal. Empuries vio la luz en el ano 1971, ganando el Premio Ciutat de Barcelona, grupo A, pero en realidad tenemos que retroceder hasta los anos 30 para encontrar sus verdaderos origenes. La primera incursion en el tema de la antigua Gracia la hizo con la sardana Empuries, la grega, con la que gano el primer premio en los Jocs Florals de Gerona del ano 1931. Poco despues escribio una pieza para organo titulada Bucolics, en el estilo modal griego, que fue destruida durante la Guerra Civil espanola. Ruera continuo trabajando en el tema y en el ano 1936 presento su obra Tres moviments simfonics, en version para gran banda, inspirada en las antiguas modalidades griegas, en el XIV Festival Internacional de la SIMC que se celebro en Barcelona. La obra fue escogida para ser estrenada en el concierto inaugural de dicho festival, el 19 de abril de 1936, en el Palacio de Bellas Artes de Barcelona. En el 1959, Ruera gano el Premio Pau Casals en los Jocs Florals de la Llengua Catalana celebrados en la Sorbona de Paris con la obra Empuries: poema per a cobla i orquestra, que sera con el paso del tiempo el cuarto movimiento de Empuries. Nueve anos mas tarde, en 1968, la Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona, bajo la direccion de Antoni Ros Marba, interpreto en Granollers la primera audicion del poema sinfonico Pastoral, pensado como primer movimiento de Empuries. El ultimo eslabon fue terminar definitivamente la obra, ganar el Premio Ciutat de Barcelona, estrenarla en Granollers el 2 de mayo de 1976 y grabarla para la casa discografica Columbia de Barcelona, en 1977.

Score and Parts Concert Band; Wind Orchestra (Score & Parts) - Grade 5

SKU: HL.4008644

Wind Orchestra, Grade 5, 12:45 Score and Parts. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. Arranged by Franco Cesarini. Editions Franco Cesarini. Classical, Fugue. Softcover. Duration 765 seconds. Hal Leonard #EFC004-CBHA. Published by Hal Leonard (HL.4008644).

ISBN 9798350115024. UPC: 196288189695.

The Passacaglia is a set of instrumental variations based on an ostinato bass. Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C-minor for organ represents the pinnacle of what had been achieved in this compositional form at that time. In Franco Cesarini’s arrangement for large wind orchestra, the particularly careful interpretation of the original piece enables him to exploit all the sound colors at his disposal, and in this sumptuous guise Bach's work also takes on a grandiose dimension, albeit tinged with late-Romanticism. The exposition of the beautiful theme begins in the bass part, immediately creating a solemn and serious atmosphere which is accentuated by the intensely pathetic character of the first variations. Up to the tenth variation it remains confined to the bass, but in subsequent ones it also passes to the soprano and alto register. The integrity of the theme is also embellished with elegant arpeggios, in whose lower and higher extensions the theme can be distinguished. Towards the end it returns to the bass in an impressive thickening of the polyphonic texture that swiftly re-establishes the key of C-minor. The “Thema fugatum” which follows immediately does not constitute a Fugue in its own right, rather it is nothing but the twenty-first and most extensive variation of the Passacaglia. This time Bach uses only the first half of the theme, superimposing a rhythmic countersubject that considerably enlivens the entire development of the composition. The polyphonic discourse becomes increasingly dense, until the building tension peaks in a powerful “Neapolitan sixth” chord, followed by a sudden pause. This culminating moment then leads to the coda and final cadence on a bright C-major chord.

Piano

SKU: BO.B.3305

Composed by De Larrocha Granados. Published by Editorial de Musica Boileau (BO.B.3305).

ISBN 9788480206792.

English comments:
Given that Granados' creative periods continually overlap, in order to organize the works of Granados' Juvenilia this edition has grouped the works according to their chronological-biographical order and/or to their style. The majority of the works in this section were composed between his student years in Paris (1887-1889) and the founding of the Academia Granados in 1901. Many of these works are quite similar to one another being sketches and brief compositions characterised by an unfocused formal structure, harmonic ambiguity and a tendency to place the final cadence on the dominant. The fact that many of these works were not highly developed would tend to suggest that they were never revised by the composer. Typical of a young composer focusing on his own personal inspirations, Granados concentrated on themes of nature, oriental motifs, exploration of emotions, frequently making use of the salonnier (salon) genre.

Comentarios del Espanol:
Para organizar la edicion de los apartados correspondientes a las obras juveniles de Granados se ha partido de los criterios cronologico - biograficos y de estilo dado que, aunque los periodos creativos del compositor se mezclan continuamente, la mayor parte de las obras de este apartado fueron escritas entre su etapa de estudiante en Paris y la fundacion de la Academia Granados en 1901 y, a pesar de presentar una gran heterogeneidad entre ellas, se trata de esbozos y breves composiciones caracterizadas por una estructura formal poco destacada, marcada por la ambiguedad armonica y por una tendencia a colocar la cadencia final en la dominante. La poca elaboracion de la mayor parte de estas obras delata que probablemente ni tan siquiera fueran revisadas posteriormente por el compositor. Todas ellas son propias de un compositor joven y responden a los temas propios del momento como son la naturaleza, los motivos orientales o la exaltacion de los sentimientos. El recurso al genero salonnier (obras de salon) y las dedicatorias a senoras y senoritas son tambien recursos propios de la epoca.

Choir Secular (SAB choir/3-Part choir Mixed)

SKU: AP.48811

Composed by Jay Althouse. Performance Music Ensemble; Single Titles. Alfred Choral Designs. Graduation; Secular. Choral Octavo. 8 pages. Alfred Music #00-48811. Published by Alfred Music (AP.48811).

UPC: 038081561356. English.

A solo voice opens this moving anthem of individuality that doubles as a celebration of music. When all the voices join, singers echo warm phrases from part to part and build to an important realization at the bridge: If we all sing together, our songs will become like a symphony. You'll feel a firm tug of the heartstrings as the fully harmonized final verse builds to an impressive cadence and a momentous fermata. An awesome opener or closer in any voicing, and one you won't soon forget.

About Alfred Choral Designs

The Alfred Choral Designs Series provides student and adult choirs with a variety of secular choral music that is useful, practical, educationally appropriate, and a pleasure to sing. To that end, the Choral Designs series features original works, folk song settings, spiritual arrangements, choral masterworks, and holiday selections suitable for use in concerts, festivals, and contests.

Choir Secular (SATB choir)

SKU: AP.48810

Composed by Jay Althouse. Performance Music Ensemble; Single Titles. Alfred Choral Designs. Graduation; Secular. Choral Octavo. 8 pages. Alfred Music #00-48810. Published by Alfred Music (AP.48810).

UPC: 038081561349. English.

A solo voice opens this moving anthem of individuality that doubles as a celebration of music. When all the voices join, singers echo warm phrases from part to part and build to an important realization at the bridge: If we all sing together, our songs will become like a symphony. You'll feel a firm tug of the heartstrings as the fully harmonized final verse builds to an impressive cadence and a momentous fermata. An awesome opener or closer in any voicing, and one you won't soon forget.

About Alfred Choral Designs

The Alfred Choral Designs Series provides student and adult choirs with a variety of secular choral music that is useful, practical, educationally appropriate, and a pleasure to sing. To that end, the Choral Designs series features original works, folk song settings, spiritual arrangements, choral masterworks, and holiday selections suitable for use in concerts, festivals, and contests.