SKU: HL.14028929
Written for Moray Welsh whilst still an undergraduate at York University. This piece was completed in mid-September. Inspired by Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf. A solo 'cello seemed an appropriate medium for music which might explore the character of Harry Haller, with his desire for bourgeois comfort and his strong misanthropic and suicidal tendencies. The opening theme attempts to express this - melancholy, nostalgic, a bit Biedermeyer (cf. Brahms Intermezzi). The basic theme of the book, at its simplest, is that every human personality consists of hundred of different personalities - within every man there lurks a wolf. Accordingly the tendency of my piece is for all its musical material to become distorted, either by thematic transformation or by changes of timbre. There are three movements played without a break. The first is a character portrait of the Steppenwolf. The second is concerned in the most general sort of way with the dance elements in the novel - Harry's being taught to dance and appreciate low 'popular' music - a tango is recapitulated in a waltz and 'Yearning', a popular song of the time (1927) is hinted at. The third movement concerns the Masked Ball and the Magic Theatre. Mozart is one of Hesse's great loves and he is repeatedly mentioned in the book. Inevitably some Mozart quotes have been worked in, the most significant being a reference to The Magic Flute 'fire and water' flute theme in the middle of the second movement. Long before I finished the piece, I was disenchanted with the work of Hesse. Much of Steppenwolf I now find rather embarrassing and the claims currently made for Hesse's greatness seem to me exaggerated. Since my piece is in no important sense programmatically specific, this change of heart doesn't really matter. ~ David Blake.
SKU: HL.49046642
UPC: 842819113621. 9.0x12.0x0.143 inches.
Dotzauer etudes have been part of the standard repertoire in cello lessons for generations. Johann Friedrich Dotzauer (1783-1860) was among the major cellists and cello pedagogues of the 19th century and knew what makes a good etude: it should deal specifically with a certain technical problem and at the same time not be monotonous, but musically appealing. The cellist of the Leipzig Gewandhaus and the Dresden Hofkapelle managed to do that in an exemplary manner. This new edition of the 18 progressive etudes Op. 120 follows the original sources and contains the original text. While the Dotzauer etudes are usually only available in selected editions today, opus 120 is edited here in its entirety, as conceived by the composer himself. Notes on studying and on the performance practice (dynamics, vibrato, change of position, ornamentation, bowings) make the new edition an ideal reference edition for music lessons.
SKU: HL.49018922
ISBN 9790001174527. UPC: 841886015913. 9.25x12.0x0.163 inches.
When writing his Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33, Camille Saint-Saens created a 'classic' of violoncello literature. But the French musician even wrote other solo works for this instrument: a second concerto, two sonatas, the 'Swan' from 'The Carnival of the Animals' as well as a 'Suite with Piano Accompaniment' Op. 16. Premiered on 27 April 1866 and probably written shortly before, the work is based on the composer's study of tradition, especially of the form of the Baroque suite, integrated in a Romantic tonal language. Many years later (1919) the composer also presented a version with orchestral instead of piano accompaniment, and for this version he replaced movements 3 and 5 and changed the ending of the fourth movement. The present edition contains the text of the orchestral version: The five-movement suite begins with a prelude reminiscent of Bach which is followed by a pleasant serenade, a stylized gavotte and a sentimental romance before a passionate tarantella puts a virtuoso end to the piece. The enthusiastic, melodic 'Suite' is a valuable addition to the cello repertoire, suitable for both tuition and concert purposes.
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