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: BR.PB-16110

ISBN 9790004214374. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Johannes Brahms's only violin concerto, one of the most important violin concertos of the 19th century, is now a central repertoire piece. This fact is all the more notable, as, by his own account, Brahms understood all too little about the instrument. The concerto was composed at Worthersee during the summer of 1878 in collaboration with Joseph Joachim, a leading contemporary violinist. The solo part is extremely demanding, with really unusual difficulties. This circumstance did not go unnoticed by the critics of the first performance: Even to Joachim, the battled-seasoned wrestler, the technically difficult and tricky solo part was to be mastered only with obvious effort. Evidencing this close collaboration between composer and performer is not only the work's genesis and publication history, together with its dedication to Joachim, but also its solo cadenza. Based on the New Brahms Complete Edition, this Urtext edition includes both the printed version of Joachim's cadenza as well as its shorter version arranged in 1885 by the violinist Marie Soldat.

SKU: BR.PB-5354

Bach's manuscript leaves several questions unanswered.

ISBN 9790004211533. 9 x 12 inches.

When an editorial formula proves to be as compelling as in the case of the E-major Concerto BWV 1042, then its obvious that it is going to be applied again: this time to Klaus Hofmanns new Urtext edition of the A-minor Concerto. Bachs manuscript leaves several questions unanswered. The slurring, particularly in the solo part, is once again equivocal and inconsistent. Bach himself expected his performers to be creative, which is why the interpretative suggestions of Baroque expert Sigiswald Kuijken are particularly welcome. The edition for violin and keyboard instrument (with continuo ad lib.) once again contains three violin parts (the first unmarked, the second with markings and comments by Sigiswald Kuijken, the third as a facsimile). This provides well-grounded stimuli for ones own personal interpretation based on historically informed performance practice. The keyboard arrangement by Siegfried Petrenz is transparent and easy to play. A violoncello part has been added for chamber-music.

Bach's manuscript leaves several questions unanswered.