SKU: FG.55011-609-2

ISBN 9790550116092.

Aulis Sallinen (b. 1935) is one of the most famous Finnish contemporary composers. In his early instrumental works, Sallinen was still seeking to establish a style of his own. He had studied at the Sibelius Academy in the late 1950s, first with Aarre Merikanto - a composer representing a national brand of Neoclassicism - and then with Joonas Kokkonen, at that time just transitioning from Neoclassicism to dodecaphony. Twelve-tone music had won fairly widespread acceptance in contemporary Finn-ish music, and Sallinen was influenced, too. The Variations are Sallinen's first real work for the cello - an instrument that would later be one of his favourites, its warm, deep voice corres-ponding to his music's often dark undercurrent.

The Variations for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 5 were composed in 1961-1962 and premiered in October 1962. The basic motif consists of a set of three descending intervals stated by the cello at the beginning: D-D flat-F, C-B-G and B flat-A-F sharp. Their use as basic material is a ref-lection of the composer's dodecaphony-oriented period, and variation of this material provides the framework for the piece.

Variations for Cello and Orchestra are now published for the first time. Available are a reduction for cello and piano, study score and complete performance material with orchestra.

SKU: BR.CB-215

ISBN 9790001157223. 9 x 12 inches.

The triumphal concert hall success of Tchaikovsky's most popular and musically most valuable concert pieces for solo instrument and orchestra was preceded by severe teething troubles. His Piano Concerto No. 1 Op. 23 of 1874/75 was slated by Tchaikovsky's mentor and potential performer at the premiere, the pianist, conductor and director of the Moscow Conservatory, Nikolai Rubinstein. So Hans von Bulow premiered it gratefully and enthusiastically (in Boston, USA, on 25 October 1875). Leopold Auer, violin virtuoso and professor at the Petersburg Conservatory, to whom Tchaikovsky wanted to dedicate his Violin Concerto Op. 35 of 1878, refused to premiere it - he regarded the solo part as unrewarding and unplayable. On 4 December 1881, Adolf Brodsky premiered the Violin Concerto in Vienna, with Hans Richter conducting, but Eduard Hanslick wrote a crushing and unpleasant review. The Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra Op. 33 were finally published by their dedicatee, the German cellist and professor at the Moscow Conservatory, Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, after he had almost completely rewritten and then premiered it on 18 December 1877 in Moscow, while Tchaikovsky, who had asked him to publish the work, was abroad. The original version, which can be found in this edition, was not published until the 1950s.