SKU: PR.114419940

ISBN 9781491133934. UPC: 680160683499. 9 x 12 inches.

Responding to demand from clarinetists, Schocker created this adaptation of his best-loved work, customizing it for the clarinet’s richness of contrasting registers. Composed as a recital piece for his own performances as a flutist, Gary Schocker’s Regrets and Resolutions has been a standard in that instrument’s repertoire for over 30 years. Inspired by an 80-year-old friend’s birthday, the composer has written: “I wrote the Regrets imagining what it might be like to look back over 80 years. ‘What if I’d made different choices?’ ‘What if ...?’ The Resolutions is a forward-thinking movement, very energetic and positive, except for a brief looking-back, questioning (the 1st movement is recapped and grows), after which the music plunges back into the rhythmic finale.”.

SKU: ST.C129

ISBN 9790570811298.

As I sit myself down to write this brief foreword, I ask myself can there be music more stirring than these old Cornish folk melodies? Though not Cornish myself (I confess to being born a little further up the road, in Bristol), I feel I have spent sufficient time in these 'ere parts to resonate with the sturdy brass band tradition that continues to permeate this incomparably beautiful, rugged county. One can almost detect a French 'accent' when listening to the piano music of Debussy, and likewise, speaking as a lapsed brass player, there is undoubtedly something of the Cornish twang about Trelawny when played on a cornet or euphonium. Then again, one gets a different, yet entirely convincing effect upon hearing these melodies rendered on woodwind instruments; hence, with a little gamesmanship on my part, I am pleased to see my collection of these fifteen delectable ditties come to fruition in the form of arrangements for treble clef brass instruments (in B flat and E flat), trombone and tuba (bass clef), horn in F, flute, clarinet and bassoon. While many will find themselves humming the likes of Going up Camborne Hill, Lamorna or The Helston Furry Dance even before they have turned to the first page - for these are indelibly intertwined with Cornish culture – I wonder if I might draw your attention to The Cornish Squire, The Pool of Pilate and Cold Blows the Wind Today Sweetheart, which are quite simply sublime melodies, perhaps needing that extra bit of help in bringing them to mind nowadays. In the best tradition of musical hand-me-downs, Cornish folk music works equally ideally sung and played, and only by doing so on a regular basis can such traditions hope to continue forward with vigour and authority. A legitimate way of achieving this is to revitalise the harmonic scheme of these ancient tunes and bring them up to date for a modern audience; after all, it was such an approach that fuelled the imagination of Benjamin Britten and Ralph Vaughan Williams in decades past, while skilfully paying homage to the underlying charm and, for want of a better word, simplicity, of the original music. But this is only a start – for without an energetic response from younger generations, Cornish folk music is destined to wither on the vine in much the same way as is happening with the Cornish dialect. So, put your instrument to your lips and proceed, not with caution, but with enthusiasm and a smile, for your great grandparents (and perhaps even their grandparents) would surely raise a glass if they could hear you doing your bit to ensure the survival of this splendid heritage.
Timeless Cornish melodies, cooked up for hungry clarinet players
Grades 1–4
Former Spartan Press Cat. No.: SP1218.

SKU: P2.30094

Mark My Words, originally for tuba (but just as fun to play on clarinet), was composed by James Grant in February of 2007 as a heartfelt gift to his great friend and staunch musical ally, tubist Mark Nelson, in celebration of their first collaboration fourteen years earlier (Three Furies for solo tuba). Grant writes, When I began composing Mark My Words, I told Mark to be prepared for something fun that sounded like Charlie Brown doing a funky bossa nova (think jazz pianist/composer Vince Guaraldi's Linus and Lucy). I did not tell him that the middle section of Mark My Words would make overt references to all of the principal shapes, motives and themes from the Three Furies - my way of thanking Mark Nelson, specifically, for opening wide the door of composing for tuba and euphonium those many years ago and for so enthusiastically escorting me over that threshold. I am but one of many grateful composers whom Mark has supported over the years by commissioning, then recording their music. Mark My Words is my humble attempts at giving back to this devoted educator, consummate musician, fervent promoter of new music for tuba, and - yes - kickass player..

SKU: M7.DOHR-88835

ISBN 9790202098356.

There comes a time in life when your parents have passed on. What we are left with is the memories of their love, guidance, support, and the happy times together. Last August when my mum sadly passed away, I wrote an Elegy as part of my grieving. However, as a family we had happy times together and it seemed only right to compose a work which would celebrate this. So, I added a first and last movement to create a short concertino. The movements are: Prelude: Peter John Connell: The Cheeky Chap Elegy: Mavis June Connell (Time To Remember) Rondo: Family Fun (Adrian Connell) Performance note A version with accompaniment of string orchestra and Harp is also available (E.D. 88833). This version for clarinet and piano is also the piano reduction of that version.

SKU: P2.30122

Composer Mike D'Ambrosio says, Super Groove was commissioned by oboist Celeste Johnson Frehner (Oklahoma State University) and was premiered in April 2012. After I sent Celeste an early draft of the piece (about half done at that time), her first response was This is super groovy! and thus the title was born. For my part, I was trying to bring together my worlds as composer and music theory professor by taking some of the fun theory topics I get to teach (sonata form, chromatic mediants, ostinato, polyrhythms, and set theory) and squeezing them into a driving, energetic, and highly rhythmic texture. The piece is extremely fun to play and has been very well received by audiences..