Edited by Robin LangleyAmongst the most widely-disseminated and influential piano music of the early 19th century the sixteen Nocturnes of John Field are here published together for the first time in an edition that through careful consideration of publishers' plate numbers Russian first editions and the composer's habits of revision reveals the number and chronology of the little-known Nocturne No. 10 and its relation to the unnumbered 'Troubadour' Nocturne H.55.First published in 1997.

Symphony No. 9 in D minor Op. 125 Facsimile Score. With his ninth symphony, Beethoven ventured into new musical dimensions. In the final movement, soloists and choir join forces with the orchestra and Schiller?s ?Ode to Joy? becomes a global aspiration, a declaration: ?Alle Menschen werden Brüder ! / All mankind becomes brothers.? In his commentary the great Beethoven scholar Lewis Lockwood describes the plea which Beethoven wanted to deliver at that time with this work and how views of this have changed over the centuries. Jonathan Del Mar, a renowned editor of Beethoven?s works, comments on noteworthy passages in the autograph manuscript and allows the reader to share in the composer?s working process.,br>Already the large-format paper which Beethoven used for some passages makes the large forces clear. Cuts, sometimes reversed later, show how he wrestled with the final version of the musical text and refined it right down to the last detail. The history of the autograph manuscript reflects an episode in German history: after storage in various places because of the war, the major parts were returned to Berlin but were initially divided by the Berlin Wall and only reunited in 1990. Martina Rebmann who is the Director of the Music Department at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin traces this story. In 1972 the main theme of the last movement was chosen by the Council of Europe as the European anthem and in 1985 it was adopted by the European Community as its official anthem. In 2001 the manuscript was listed in UNESCO?s Memory of the World Register. For the first time the facsimile presents all the parts of the manuscript including pages preserved in Bonn and Paris as well as the trombone and contrabassoon parts. The first edition (2010) was awarded with the German Music Edition Prize ?Best Edition? 2011.

Par MAW NICHOLAS. The first performance of the opera Sophie's Choice was given at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 7 December 2002, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, directed by Trevor Nunn. The Concert Suite from Sophie's Choice was written for the Peabody Institute. The first performance was given by the Peabody Symphony Orchestra with mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Healy, conducted by Hajime Teri Murai, at the Peabody Institute, Baltimore on 24 April 2004. The suite is a direct transcription by the composer from the orchestral music of the opera. The mezzo-soprano aria may be omitted. / Répertoire / Orchestre

New Version 1994-Symphony No. 6 was created in the late 1960s and was first performed in Havana on 26. November 1969 by the Cuban National Orchestra under my direction. This symphony reflects not only the excited atmosphere of awakening during those years but also my efforts to include in the composition the large number of new human and artistic stimuli that I experienced at that time. So the banjo starts to play a Vietnamese song of freedom (Stars in the Night) later the first bars of Mikis Theodorakis hymn of freedom is heard.The second movement is based on the poem Fe de erratas (errata sheet) by Miguel Barnet. In the original version the three parts of the symphony merge withoutinterruption. In the revised version I separated them to make it easier for the audience to register the caesuras which are also internal caesuras as regards content. Apart from strengthening the string sound the most significant alternation in comparison to the first version is that I fully composed all of the aleatoric passages and pitches which originally were to be freely improvised as was the fashion at that time. Thus I wanted to free them the realm of chance and indeterminacy and to bring them back into my artistic control.- Hans Werner Henze

John Rockwell of The New York Times says 'Lush and pictorial it consisted of sharply defined sections that courted the charge of mere exoticism - evocations of Oriental musics and sounds full of throbbing strings rapidly reiterated percussion and all manner of aural colour presumably inspired by alien cultures. But Mr Sculthorpe is no simple-minded purloiner of sonic artifacts; his piece coheres into a statement by a distinctive composer with something interesting and evocative to say.'10 June 1984

Carl Maria von Weber's fame rests mainly on ?Der Freischütz'. The unprecedented success of this opera overshadowed all his other works and contributed to their increasing fall into oblivion. Certain works such as ?Preciosa', ?Oberon', and ?Euryanthe', the overtures, solo concertos and piano sonatas, the lieder and chamber works enjoyed great popularity and were widely known in Germany and abroad as late as the second half of the 19th century. However, any chance of a revival of Weber's influential and substantial oeuvre was wasted in the 1920s, when a complete edition - begun by Hans Joachim Moser and with potential contributors including Wilhelm Kempff, Hans Pfitzner, Max von Schillings, Fritz Stein and Richard Strauss - failed after the third volume.Ever since there have been numerous attempts to restart a complete edition of Weber's works, but as this kind of project would have required the co-operation of scholars from both sides of the inter-German border, the political situation after 1945 was not conducive to any such enterprise. Careful negotiations led to the first tangible steps in the 1980s. The intention, right from the beginning, was to place Weber's work in context, and not to separate his musical output from his influential work as a writer, critic and organiser in the musical field, but to publish his compositions together with his letters, diaries and other literary output as the best way to document the cross-fertilisation between his musical, literary and practical activities.Since the German re-unification both working-parties concerned - at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, and at the Musikwissenschaftliches Seminar, Detmold/Paderborn - have co-operated on the complete edition of the musical works (c. 45 volumes in 10 series: sacred music - cantatas, odes and other occasional works - stage works - lieder and vocal works - orchestral works - chamber music - music for piano - piano reductions - miscellanea, arrangements and orchestrations - works of doubtful attribution). The diaries (6-8 vols.) are edited in Berlin and the letters (8-10 vols.) and other writings (2 vols.) in Detmold. This complete edition aims to be a reliable basis of scholarly debate as well as for the authentic performance practice of Carl Maria von Weber's music. Conforming to the standards of recent historico-critical editions, the textual material will be based on all available authentic sources, accompanied by a detailed documentation of the genesis and a list of variants for each work. The musicological importance of the works will be evaluated by placing them in their historical context, the presentation of their genesis, history and Critical Commentaries. The letters, writings and diaries will be treated as inter-related and relevant to each other in the commentaries, therefore readers should benefit from a wealth of concise information and cross-references. / Score

Rich colourful and multi-layered Carl Vine’s Symphony No.7 (2008) is subtitled ‘scenes from daily life’. The first two ‘scenes’ mirror the same idea from opposite sides: the first allowing competing energies to collide into uniformity the second moving from unison to plurality. The third and fifth are slow meditations on loss and beauty separated by a contrasting scene of skittish energy. The 24-minute works ends with an unnerving danse macabre.

This is the last of nearly 100 operettas created by French composer Jacques Offenbach a native of Germany whose works were most prominent in the latter half of the nineteenth century. His three-act drama Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) which includes a prologue and epilogue recounts dramatic stories of passion murder and revenge. Left incomplete at the composer's death the operetta debuted in 1881 and remains popular to this day for its many memorable melodies.A masterpiece of French Romanticism Les Contes d'Hoffmann embodies Offenbach's wish to transcend the limitations of his popularoperettas and achieve success among the lofty heights of grand Opera. This imaginative score presents an artful blend of fantasy emotion and the supernatural as well as elements of satire and the grotesque. Hoffmann the narrator and protagonist relates three stories to his drinking companions. The tales concern Olympia who is revealed as a mechanical doll; Antonia a gifted vocalist in danger of singing herself to death; and Giulietta a Venetian courtesan who uses a magic mirror to purloin others' reflections. Reproduced from an authoritative score this edition offers musicians and music lovers a modestly priced edition of Offenbach's enduring work.

Praise and jubilation are the main ingredients in this sparkling anthem. Combining elements of classic hymnody and “Lift High the Cross of Christ” with a contemporary refrain this piece is perfect for services ofblended worship. Bold majestic accompaniment supports a memorable chorus-style melody that could easily be taught to the congregation. “Let Christ Be Lifted Up” is joyful and exciting and a must for continuing thefestive celebration of Easter.

Nico Muhly's It Remains To Be Seen was written in 2006 for for full Orchestra and has a duration of approximately 11 minutes. Composers Note: It Remains to be Seen was written for the Boston University Tanglewood Institute’s 40th Anniversary Gala in July 2006. The piece begins with a chord identical to the one at the end of Stravinsky’s Firebird suite and proceeds into a series of charged nocturnal episodes. I wanted to treat the feeling of having just heard music and being expected to make one’s own – referencing the experience of leaving a BSO concert at the shed walking back to BUTI on a curvy back road arguing about music in pairs and threes and at the sign of bright headlights from behind reorganizing in single file as a car filled with happy concert-goers speeds by. The piece is a nine-minute navigation of an excited occasionally illuminated dark road filled with arguing cars fragments of remembered music and a constant propulsive pulse. Nico Muhly

Beethoven’s sacred works include two settings of the Mass. The “Mass in C major”, completed and premiered in 1807, has been unjustly described as a preliminary step towards the great “Missa solemnis”. Yet it is a self-contained and, for its time, decidedly modern piece of church music. Drawing on the rich body of sources, Beethoven specialist Barry Cooper suggests practical solutions to the work’s musical and interpretative problems. His deep study of the sources convinced him to include a fully realized organ part in the score, just as Beethoven envisioned it for the first printed edition. As stated in the sources, the parts for the soloists and choir are notated on joint staves to demonstrate that the soloists are also to sing the choral passages. Rounding off this Urtext edition are a Foreword on the work’s genesis and a detailed Critical Commentary. • Score with realization of the organ part • Bilingual Foreword (Eng/Ger) and Critical Commentary (Eng) • Idiomatic piano reduction

Broadway's powerful new hit is filed with engaging music and an intriguing story line based on the infamous Wicked Witch Of The West.Veteran Broadway writer Stephen Schwartz's music has received critical acclaim and is skillfully adapted in this orchestra showcase by Ted Ricketts. Includes No One Mourns The Wicked The Wizard And I Dancing Through Life Popular and Defying Gravity.

Commissioned by the French Government and Musica Strasbourg.As the title suggests Trois rivières is divided into three separate sections. The first part introduces all the instrumental colours used in the piece. The rhythmicaspect is here nearly eliminated giving room for the timbral scales colours resonances attacks and textures to come to the fore. The instruments come from all members of the percussion family but unpitched instruments aregiven a primary role.The second part adds a rhythmic aspect to the nuances of colour and texture as an ostinato is developed in markedly varying directions.The last part is an epilogue recalling components of the twopreceding parts. Here earlier aspects of the material are reorganised and placed in different relationships to each other.The voices of the percussionists act together as an extension of the instruments being used to createeither rhythmically free textures or strictly notated rhythms. They are treated instrumentally combining to create rhythms and timbres. The poem 'La nuit de lune sur le fleuve' (Moonlit night on the river) by the Chinese poet LiPo (701-762) constitutes the material for the voices which are amplified and further enhanced throughout.

A Wedding Bouquet was the idea of Lord Berners who wanted Frederick Ashton to make a ballet pantomime out of one of Gertrude Stein's plays and who both wrote the music and designed the 'decor' and costumes. The name ofthe play was 'They must be Wedded to Their Wife' but this was thought too long for advertising and was changed to A Wedding Bouquet. Lord Berners went to visit Gertrude Stein in Bilignin and she liked the idea and he foundin her house a carpet which gave him the pattern for the backcloth for the ballet.The ballet was first spoken of as a choral ballet and the opera chorus did sing or chant the words at the early performances but it was entirelyunlike any other choral ballet before or since. The words explained the action introduced the characters made utterly irrelevant comments worked themselves into a frenzied rhythmical accompaniment or injected on occasional aptphrase that devastated dancers and audience alike. Not all of the words have ever been really intelligible but gradually the audience got to know certain phrases by heart and the ballet has a devoted public although inevitably ithas always been a rather special one and to this day there are people who detest the whole affair don't 'understand' it and think it an absurd waste of time and talent.

German composer and violinist Johann Pfeiffer (1697 - 1761) was born in Nuremberg and made a career as concertmaster in various orchestras throughout southern Germany. Much of his life was spent in Bayreuth working for the court of Wilhelmine of Prussia Margravine of Bayreuth teaching her composition and violin. During his lifetime he composed a variety of orchestra and chamber music including this Concerto in B-flat Major in three movements: Allegro ma non troppo Andante and Allegretto. In this edition Victor Van Puijenbroeck has created a piano reduction of the orchestral score and also has adapted the lute part to be played on guitar. Included are parts for both lute(the part has been adapted from lute tablature to modern notation) and guitar (capotasto). German composer and violinist Johann Pfeiffer (1697 - 1761) was born in Nuremberg and made a career as concertmaster in various orchestras throughout southern Germany. Much of his life was spent in Bayreuth working for the court of Wilhelmine of Prussia Margravine of Bayreuth teaching her composition and violin. During his lifetime he composed a variety of orchestra and chamber music including this Concerto in B-flat Major in three movements: Allegro ma non troppo Andante and Allegretto. In this edition Victor Van Puijenbroeck has created a piano reduction of the orchestral score and also has adapted the lute part to be played on guitar. Included are parts for both lute(the part has been adapted from lute tablature to modern notation) and guitar (capotasto).