SKU: PR.411411640
ISBN 9781491137642. UPC: 680160691098. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis novel by Giorgio Bassani.
Based on Bassani’s 1962 novel, THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS dramatizes the true story of a prosperous Jewish family’s disruptions and consequences from state-mandated antisemitism in Italy during World War II. Gordon describes the opera as “romantic, sun-drenched, and cataclysmic, all at the same time.” This dramatically topical and personal grand opera premiered at New York City Opera and National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene to rave reviews in 2022. Chris Ruel wrote in OperaWire, “I have chosen Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael Korie’s THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS as my favorite opera of 2022.”.At one point, in 2008, I was walking down 72nd Street, and I passed the video store, (this is when there were video stores) and I thought to myself, I wonder if Kevin (my partner) has ever seen The Garden of the Finzi-Continis? which was always one of my favorite movies. My reaction when we watched it that night was unlike any other time I had seen it. I was wrenched, sobbing, inconsolable. My heart felt like the autumn leaves we see blowing through the garden at the end of the movie. It seemed immediately that this had to be my next opera. I called Michael Korie, and we both bought the Bassani novel and read it. We settled on it. It felt clear that we both had a collective story to tell through it.Because this opera is so close to both of our hearts, it is dedicated to our fathers.It is not only that The Garden of the Finzi-Continis is a Holocaust story that makes it so resonant for me, though obviously this is no small matter, but the tragedy of people trying to live their lives, or actually living them, their petty disappointments, their heartbreaks, against the backdrop of total catastrophe… that makes it so moving. They cannot possibly imagine what will befall them, but we know… and this makes their every move fascinating and devastating… like watching moths under a glass. It is romantic, sun-drenched and cataclysmic, all at the same time.This is why I had to write it.
SKU: PR.342402020
ISBN 9781598064995. UPC: 680160616084. 8.5 x 11 inches. English. Text: William Shakespeare; Aurelius Prudentius Clemens; Aeschylus. Aurelius Clemens, William Shakespeare, Aeschylus. Texts from Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, Aeschylus, and William Shakespeare.
When Tim Sharp, Executive Director of the ACDA, offered Stucky the Brock Memorial Commission, it was decided that the text would commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, since the annual convention would take place in Dallas of that year. To that end, Stucky chose four different but pertinent texts to honor the occasion, although never referencing JFK by name. Take Him, Earth was premiered at the ACDA convention in March, 2013. Originally scored for chorus and chamber ensemble of nine instruments (available on a rental basis), Take Him, Earth is presented here in piano reduction. For advanced choirs. Duration: 13'.When Tim Sharp, Executive Director of the American Choral Directors Association, very kindlyoffered me the Raymond W. Brock Memorial Commission for 2013, he suggested that because thepremiere would take place at the national conference in Dallas in the 50th year since the assassinationof John F. Kennedy in that city, the text might refer in some way to that grim anniversary. Hesuggested, too, that I consider using a chamber ensemble or chamber orchestra to accompany thechorus.I took these suggestions to heart, but at the same time I wanted to write something universal enoughto be appropriate on other occasions, in other settings. Thus the score is dedicated to PresidentKennedy’s memory, but otherwise he is never referred to by name. Instead, I assembled a group oftexts that are associated with him in some way, but that also stand alone as a more general eulogy.As a refrain, there are a few lines from the early Christian burial hymn that begins “Take him,Earth, for cherishing†— lines that were earlier set to music by Herbert Howells in his classic motetcommissioned for Kennedy’s memorial service in 1963. The lines of Aeschylus “Drop, drop — inour sleep, upon the heart sorrow falls†from Agamemnon were quoted by Robert F. Kennedy uponthe death of Martin Luther King in April 1968. The celebrated “When he shall die, cut him out inlittle stars†from Act III of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was cited by RFK a few months after hisbrother’s murder.
SKU: HL.35030447
UPC: 888680069896. 6.75x10.5 inches.
A regal hymn of the faith is adorned with an auspicious treatment featuring festive brass and solid traditional choral textures. The divine characteristics of the eternal God are exalted in this classic hymn, and the scope of the arrangement reflects the lofty ideals of the poetry. The rich alleluias are great moments, and the piano, brass and percussion are a brilliant support system, undergirding the theatre of this noble anthem. Score and Parts (hn, tpt 1-3, tbn 1-2, bells/chm, perc, timp) available as a digital download.
SKU: PR.312419280
ISBN 9781491137925. UPC: 680160692613.
Terra Nostra focuses on the relationship between our planet and mankind, how this relationship has shifted over time, and how we can re-establish a harmonious balance. The oratorio is divided into three parts:Part I: Creation of the World celebrates the birth and beauty of our planet. The oratorio begins with creation myths from India, North America, and Egypt that are integrated into the opening lines of Genesis from the Old Testament. The music surges forth from these creation stories into “God’s World” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, which describes the world in exuberant and vivid detail. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “On thine own child” praises Mother Earth for her role bringing forth all life, while Walt Whitman sings a love song to the planet in “Smile O voluptuous cool-breathed earth!” Part I ends with “A Blade of Grass” in which Whitman muses how our planet has been spinning in the heavens for a very long time.Part II: The Rise of Humanity examines the achievements of mankind, particularly since the dawn of the Industrial Age. Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Locksley Hall” sets an auspicious tone that mankind is on the verge of great discoveries. This is followed in short order by Charles Mackay’s “Railways 1846,” William Ernest Henley’s “A Song of Speed,” and John Gillespie Magee, Jr.’s “High Flight,” each of which celebrates a new milestone in technological achievement. In “Binsey Poplars,” Gerard Manley Hopkins takes note of the effect that these advances are having on the planet, with trees being brought down and landscapes forever changed. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “A Dirge” concludes Part II with a warning that the planet is beginning to sound a grave alarm.Part III: Searching for Balance questions how we can create more awareness for our planet’s plight, re-establish a deeper connection to it, and find a balance for living within our planet’s resources. Three texts continue the earth’s plea that ended the previous section: Lord Byron’s “Darkness” speaks of a natural disaster (a volcano) that has blotted out the sun from humanity and the panic that ensues; contemporary poet Esther Iverem’s “Earth Screaming” gives voice to the modern issues of our changing climate; and William Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much With Us” warns us that we are almost out of time to change our course. Contemporary/agrarian poet Wendell Berry’s “The Want of Peace” speaks to us at the climax of the oratorio, reminding us that we can find harmony with the planet if we choose to live more simply, and to recall that we ourselves came from the earth. Two Walt Whitman texts (“A Child said, What is the grass?” and “There was a child went forth every day”) echo Berry’s thoughts, reminding us that we are of the earth, as is everything that we see on our planet. The oratorio concludes with a reprise of Whitman’s “A Blade of Grass” from Part I, this time interspersed with an additional Whitman text that sublimely states, “I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love…”My hope in writing this oratorio is to invite audience members to consider how we interact with our planet, and what we can each personally do to keep the planet going for future generations. We are the only stewards Earth has; what can we each do to leave her in better shape than we found her?
SKU: GI.G-10314
ISBN 7851471031413. English, Latin. Text Source: Antiphons tr. Charles Thatcher, verses, The Grail, 1963.
Entrance Antiphons for the Church Year contains thirty antiphon texts from the Graduale Simplex, translated from Latin and set to newly composed music. The psalm verses appointed for these antiphons are taken from the Grail translation (1963). As with the Responsorial Psalm of the Mass, the assembly sings the antiphon after its intonation by the cantor/choir, repeating it after each verse of the psalm. The number of psalm verses which are sung may vary according to need. The singing of the doxology, Glory to the Father, while recommended, is optional. In several cases (e.g., Christmas and Easter), the assembly sings a refrain—a simple acclamation in Latin—and the actual antiphon text is sung by the cantor/choir. The antiphon functions as a first and final verse. It is thought that liturgical singing in the early Church consisted in part of such short acclamatory phrases. Many of the antiphons in this collection are proper to a specific Sunday, solemnity, or feast. The rest are seasonal in nature and, like the common Responsorial Psalms of the Lectionary, may be chosen according to what seems best for the occasion. The antiphons of Christmas Day and Easter Sunday could be used at daily Masses during their octaves. Notations in the scores of some antiphons suggest alternate occasions when they are appropriate. Regarding performance, these compositions were conceived with flexibility in mind. Assembly participation and instrumental accompaniment are assumed. SATB choral singing is effective, but not necessary. Discrete use of descants where provided can lend an air of festivity. Psalm verses might be sung by an entire choir, by a small group or cantor, or a combination of both.
SKU: PR.312418710
ISBN 9781598066265. UPC: 680160618743. Octavo inches. The Devil's Verse.
To celebrate 25 years of excellence and promotion of new concert works, the New York Virtuoso Singers commissioned 25 contemporary composers for 25 new choral works, all of which now appear on their recording, 25 X 25: Twenty-Five Premieres for Twenty-Five Years. Among the 25 is Richard Wernick's The Devil's Game. Here, Wernick uses The Devil's Verse, a Latin palindrome that still puzzles us today as to its meaning, and appropriately embraces repetitive use of the verse in a musical palindrome of his own.The text is a palindrome (in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni), a rather mysterious one called The Devil’s Verse. Its origin is vague (probably Roman, but possibly Medieval) and it does not surrender its meaning easily; many scholars have fussed over it. It is a riddle as well as a palindrome, in other words a puzzle within a puzzle. My preferred translation, without going into the niceties of Latin grammar, is “We enter the circle at night and are consumed by fire.â€This music is also a palindrome, the outer parts of which are homophonic, while the turning around point in the center (where the basses enter for the first time) is a brief double canon.
SKU: PR.312418800
ISBN 9781491138151. UPC: 680160640225. Second April, by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Second April for S.A.T.B. Chorus and Piano is a four-movement set, based on the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Ewazen has long been enamored with her poetry's wonderfully vivid and descriptive imagery of nature and emotions, and its powerful and profound meaning. The final movement, INTO THE GOLDEN VESSEL OF GREAT SONG is an appassionato call to overcome! The poem exhorts us to “sing out” with hope, determination, and strength. The music contrasts turmoil and times of strife with a return to championing the idea of simply overcoming, going forward with hope and determination, with the closing music in major, resonant and strong. .SECOND APRIL for S.A.T.B. Chorus and Piano is a four-movement set, based on the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay. I have long been enamored with the poetry of Millay for its wonderfully vivid and descriptive imagery, and its often powerful and profound meaning. Millay’s descriptions of nature, and of feelings and emotions, have always spoken to me. SECOND APRIL consists of four of her poems, each with a distinctive mood, message, and emotional feel. They are vivid, powerful, and beautiful, inspiring me to capture these descriptions of the various scenes she portrays. Song of a Second April uses music to underlie strong feelings, passions, and the tragedies of life. The poem itself is dramatic, detailing a time of personal strife and tragedy, perhaps the end of a relationship or even the end of a life. The music is intense, fast, in a minor key, and with rapid, spinning notes creating a feeling of powerful, relentless emotions. Melodies, motives, and gestures are tossed between the voices, increasing the feelings of intensity and even desperation. Little by little, the music almost dies away, getting quieter and quieter, creating a feeling of resignation, but with a Picardy Third in the final chord – maybe a bit of hope! Mariposa is a celebration of nature, wandering through a field with white and blue butterflies appearing almost wondrously. But there’s also a profound feeling of poignancy, noting that as one relishes such a beautiful, magical sight, they should embrace the experience – the fleeting, transient nature of such a perfect vision and of life itself. The music portrays the flying of the butterflies: gentle, beautiful, with rich chords and arpeggios, but stepping back, as the fleeting nature of life is the reality, with gentle, but sombre chords interspersed with the magical flight of the Mariposa.Alms is a fast rondo, intense, bold, and always dance-like. It is about both tragedy and resilience. This music is also in minor, yet with moments of playfulness, as a recollection of happy times or moments takes over. This seesaw between emotions is heard throughout the movement, as the music continues to “dance.” And with Millay’s summing up of “reality being what it is,” the piece ends with strength, boldness, and finality. Into the Golden Vessel of Great Song is an appassionato call to overcome! The poem exhorts us to “sing out” with hope, determination, and strength. The music is full of bright and lilting energy; but as the turmoil and times of strife people can sometimes feel or experience, the music becomes intense, dramatic, in a minor key, and with changing rhythms. BUT, there is a return to championing the idea of simply overcoming, going forward with hope and determination, and the music is in major, resonant and strong. .
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