SKU: PR.110406720

UPC: 680160001316.

I have always been fond of writing works for specific people or organizations. It has been my good fortune during most of my creative career to be asked to compose for many extraordinary performers. The Sonata for Harpsichord Solo is such a case in point: it was written in 1982 for Barbara Harbach, a superb performer, close friend, and collaborator on many musical projects. The Sonata was premiered on March 2, 1984, in a recital given by Dr. Harbach at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York. During my formative years as a composer, one seldom heard of the harpsichord as a modern instrument, though while I attended undergraduate school at Boston University, some of us banded together to construct a small harpsichord from one of the first do-it-yourself kits which began to appear in the late '40s. It was also during this time that I heard the Sonatina for Violin and Harpsichord by my teacher Walter Piston and consequently specified that the accompanying instrument for my second violin sonata could either be a piano or a harpsichord. It was not until recently, however, that my interest in the harpsichord as a solo instrument for new music was aroused. This was because of the emergence of so many young virtuosi, such as Barbara Harbach, who are interested in the performance of new music besides the great harpsichord music of the Classical, Baroque, and pre-Baroque eras. The keyboard music of Domenico Scarlatti has always intrigued and fascinated me. The brevity, excitement, and clarity of this sparkling music is charming as well as exhilarating. It is this type of Baroque sonata that inspired the conception and form of my harpsichord sonata. The entire work is loosely based on the musical translation of Barabara Harbach's name, especially the conflict of the B (B-flat) and H (B-natural in German notation). This secondo rub or dissonance especially pervades the first movement, which is in a modified sonata form, pitting jagged and tense melodic elements against most lyrical and smooth lines. This second movement is a song-like melody accompanied by rolled chords which may be played on the lute stop of the instrument if this sonata is performed on a two-manual harpsichord. The final movement is an ever-driving joyous toccata which brings the work to an exciting close with a coda made up of accelerating repeated chords. --Samuel Adler.

SKU: ST.H495

ISBN 9790220224942.

Set for the Trinity examinations, Grade 3, Skylark is an atmospheric musical impression for pedal or non-pedal harp of the view from the composer's home, overlooking the farmland and broad aerial vistas of Norfolk. Contrasting textures of open arpeggios and accompanied melody convey the various stages of the bird's flight, and its singing from on high, rising to the climax of its song on a musical 'thermal' of sustained, arpeggiated chords before a descent to rest in pastureland. Contemplative, even quietly ecstatic in mood, Skylark will prove an effective element in balanced programme-building, whether as required by the Trinity syllabus, or as engaging repertoire for young players.

SKU: PR.114417670

ISBN 9781491107973. UPC: 680160636228. 9x12 inches.

The inscription above Carter Pann's Emerald's on Artemis reads: A music box for Emerald Weber (born 18 June, 2010) on Morgan Black's harp Artemis. The title of this 2010 composition is a bit cryptic, but Artemis is the given name of harpist Morgan Black's instrument. The music is both out-and-out tender and exuberant, clearly celebrating the birth of Emerald, the first daughter of one of Pann's dear childhood friends. For advanced harpists._______________________________________Text on the scanned back cover:Composer/pianist Carter Pann (2016 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Music) has written for and worked with musicians around the world, garnering performances by ensembles such as the London Symphony and City of Birmingham Symphony, the Tchaikovsky Symphony in Moscow, many radio symphonies around Europe, the Seattle Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, the youth orchestras of New York and Chicago, and countless wind ensembles.He has written for Richard Stoltzman, the Antares Ensemble, the Capitol Saxophone Quartet, the West Coast Wind Quintet, the River Oaks Chamber Ensemble, and many concert pianists. His String Quartet No. 2 “Operas” was commissioned by the Takács Quartet. Pann has been awarded a Charles Ives Fellowship, a Masterprize seat in London, and many ASCAP awards over the years. His numerous CDs encompass solo, vocal, chamber, orchestral, and wind music, and have received two Grammy nominations. He currently teaches at the University of Colorado in Boulder.