SKU: HL.14008406
ISBN 9780711948716.
A work for solo violin and orchestra, commissioned by Donald McDonald for the 21st birthday of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the 60th birthday of the composer. It was first performed in November 1993 in Glasgow, by James Clark and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Maxwell Davies. The spell is one quoted by George Mackay Brown in his book An Orkney Tapestry: 'Let not plough be put to acre except a fiddle cross first the furrow.' Davies's dancing concerto imagines the fiddler following a route from field to field, from dance to dance, accompanied by a bunch of companions in the form of an orchestra. As the music goes on, so it gets brighter and livelier, moving from the dark colouring of clarinets, bassoons and strings to full ensemble with prominent brass and (solo) tuned percussion, as if the dancers as much as the fields were beginning to glow with new life. Score (miniature). Duration c. 20mins.
SKU: HL.14008396
ISBN 9780711921337. 8.5x12.0x0.533 inches.
This work was commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to celebrate its 40th birthday. The first performance took place in June 1986 at St. Magnus' Cathedral, Kirkwall, as part of the tenth St. Magnus Festival. Written for and first performed by Isaac Stern, Davies's Violin Concerto brings together two streams in his music: symphonism and folk-fiddling. In its strongly developed substance, it asks to be measured in the company of Beethoven, Brahms and Sibelius, while there is also, particularly in the middle movement, a strong element of the Scots lament. The orchestra is generally muted in colour, though there is a dramatic role for the timpanist. There are three movements, played without a break - this is only one of many connections with the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. Duration c. 30mins.
SKU: HL.14020990
ISBN 9780711923904. 5.5x7.5x0.283 inches.
If Davies's Cello Concerto has already evoked comparisons with Elgar's, that is perhaps an indication not only of its wealth of solo melody (there is hardly a page where the cello is not singing, or if not that, then dancing), and of its predominantly slow tempos, but also of its musical stature. This second Strathclyde concerto is a virtuoso piece for the entire ensemble, which is used almost throughout as a clutch of soloists rather than as a tutti block. The general tone is one of passionate but interior dialogue, especially in the opening Moderato and the slow movement; and though the finale is more extrovert, the work ends back in quietness and rumination.
SKU: BR.PB-15155
In Cooperation with G. Henle Verlag
ISBN 9790004215609. 10 x 12.5 inches.
Many well-known violinists such as the dedicatee Pablo de Sarasate, together later with Eugene Ysaye and Jacques Thibaud, included in their repertoires Camille Saint-Saens' concert piece composed in 1863. Even today, concert life is hard to imagine without the Introduction et Rondo capriccioso. The highly virtuosic work already inspired critics and audiences during the composer's lifetime; reported about the premiere in 1867 was: The Introduction and the Rondo capriccioso for the same instrument are both original and charming, and Maestro Sarasate, who was in his element here, admirably made the most of it. And a few years later, a music critic described the work as a kind of fantasy waltz in the Spanish style and with a most bewitching effect. After the first performances in 1867, despite success, the work's score and orchestral parts had little chance of publication due to concert companies' reluctance. In 1869 the Paris publishing house G. Hartmann merely published an arrangement for violin and piano produced by the composer's friend Georges Bizet. The orchestral score and parts were first published after the Paris publishing house Durand had acquired publication rights in 1875. The present edition published in collaboration with the G. Henle Verlag is the first critical edition of the work.
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