Score-John Adams emerged in the last decades of the twentieth century as one of the most influential and widely performed American composers since Copland. 'The Chairman Dances' is a 'foxtrot for orchestra' that emerged as an offshootof the composer's 1986 political opera 'Nixon in China'. It has become one of the composer's most popular works. In this piece from the third act of the Opera protocol and ceremony are forgotten as the audience is ledinto the apparent privacy of the characters' bedrooms to hear their intimate discussions. Each sings of his or her current personal concerns while at some level the couples (Dick and Pat Chairman and Madam Mao) connect with eachother on the emotional plane of nostalgia. The Nixons reminisce about their early pre-public married lives. The Maos look back to their youthful idealism and budding romance and foxtrot together to the wistful tune that formsthe basis of this composition. The chugging and coloristic flashes that begin the work give way to the dance theme proper in the strings. The work 'runs out' instead of ending in imitation of the hand-wound gramophone which hadaccompanied the dancing of the Maos in earlier happier times.First performed in January 1986 by the Milwaukee Smphony Orchestra the piece was commissioned by the National Endowment For The Arts.

Score-Carlos Surinach's Sinfonia Chica for Orchestra. Full score.The title Sinfonia Chica is derived from the derogatory label 'genero chico' which was first given to Spanish folk musicby the Italian musicians and their Spanish adherents who dominated all art music in Spain during the first half of the 18th century.The work represents a fusion of the traditional rhythms and melodic patterns of the Spanishtonadillas (early zarzuelas) and the stylistic characteristics of 20th century harmony structure and instrumentation.Duration: 16 minutes

Concerto and ripieno part-Haydn's Symphony No.8 is the final piece in his triptych on the times of the day consisting of the symphonies Le Matin Le Midi and Le Soir (Hoboken I:6-8). The cycle originated in 1761 on a commission from Haydn's patron Prince Anton Esterházy. Whether the Prince was hoping for a counterpart to Vivaldi's famous concertos on the four seasons or pursued a different idea can no longer be determined. It was doubtless the purpose of these concertante symphonies to present to a select audience the Prince's chamber ensemble which had been assembled or expanded that spring as well as its new conductor. The pieces are laid out on a large scale full of pomp andsplendour and the scoring at times divided into thirteen separate parts offers virtually every player an opportunity to display his prowess as a soloist.At that time the Esterházy ensemble was made up of six or seven players of the violin or viola (the seventh was actually retained as a flautist) one player each of the violoncello and violone two oboists doubling on flute two horn players and a bassoonist. This listing includes Haydn himself who conducted the ensemble from the first violinist's desk. Contrary to a widely held belief there was no harpsichord. Indeed the only genres that employed a keyboard instrument at that time in the Viennese area were vocal - namely operas cantatas and church music.Urtext from Joseph Haydn WerkeFull score & parts (BA4673) available for sale

Haydn's Symphony No.8 is the final piece in his triptych on the times of the day consisting of the symphonies Le Matin Le Midi and Le Soir (Hoboken I:6-8). The cycle originated in 1761 on a commission from Haydn's patron Prince Anton Esterházy. Whether the Prince was hoping for a counterpart to Vivaldi's famous concertos on the four seasons or pursued a different idea can no longer be determined. It was doubtless the purpose of these concertante symphonies to present to a select audience the Prince's chamber ensemble which had been assembled or expanded that spring as well as its new conductor. The pieces are laid out on a large scale full of pomp andsplendour and the scoring at times divided into thirteen separate parts offers virtually every player an opportunity to display his prowess as a soloist.At that time the Esterházy ensemble was made up of six or seven players of the violin or viola (the seventh was actually retained as a flautist) one player each of the violoncello and violone two oboists doubling on flute two horn players and a bassoonist. This listing includes Haydn himself who conducted the ensemble from the first violinist's desk. Contrary to a widely held belief there was no harpsichord. Indeed the only genres that employed a keyboard instrument at that time in the Viennese area were vocal - namely operas cantatas and church music.Urtext from Joseph Haydn WerkeFull score & parts (BA4673) available for sale

Orchestral work commissioned by the BBC and premiered by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Andrew Davis The Barbican Hall November 1992.Quoting Lindberg: 'After having written a Piano Concerto in 1991preceded by three works for different orchestral effectives (Kinetics Marea and Joy) I felt that I had come to an end with a certain musical expression and also compositional technique. All these works were based upon anextended chaconne principle with chord chains cycling around undergoing constant transformation and being articulated in a very gestural way. The musical paradox and evidently also the challenge was the discrepancy between abrick-like method expressed in a world of gestures (with all difficulties involved in conceiving music out of phrases) aiming at a continuity in terms of progression and development.After the Piano Concerto in the autumn of1991 I strongly felt that I couldn't continue in that direction anymore. I started to work on a project called Corrente for 16 players as a study for the full orchestra version entitled Corrente II.In order to bring theharmonic and rhythmic world closer to each other I abandoned the chaconne principle and based the harmony on different scale aggregates. By combining these scales and by filtering or by enhancing them with additional pitchesbased on more acoustically oriented views of the scales by considering them as partials of virtual fundamentals I was able to work in a rich harmonic world without actually having to do harmonic transformations and progressions.The rhythmic material was based on pattern figures with a rather kaleidoscopic approach of repetition and variation.By combining these pattern figures and scales aggregates I wanted to give the musical expression a 'narrative'sense of streams and directions moving around in different orchestral constellations.Corrente II for symphony orchestra is based on the same material as the piece for chamber orchestra. As the timbral palette and the mass

This work was written with a mix between computer technology and the more traditional orchestra the piece was composed in such a way that it would support it's own acoustics. Lindberg worked with amplification of instruments and electronically transformed sounds thus producing greater possibilities to abandon acoustic limits. In order for the piece to be supported by it's own acoustics the piece had to be written in terms of foreground and background harmony every foreground chord would always have it's background a shadow existing without it's main chord.Another theme to the piece is that of textural motion as rapid gestures and motions are a big part ofthe composer's interest. Static repitions seemed to limit the piece however so they were compensated for on another level so with a repetitive rhythmic pattern the harmonic material changes rapidly or when a chain of chords is static the rhythmic and timbral qualities vary frequently. Work for Orchestra commissioned by the Finnish Broadcasting Company.

Octet in F major D 803-Franz Schubert's Octet In F major D 803 for Clarinet (B flat/C) Bassoon Horn (F/C) 2 Violins Viola Violoncello and Double Bass.This composition was modelled on Beethoven?s Septet op. 20 whose Divertimento character and six-part layout were adopted by Schubert although he merely expanded the instrumentation by adding a second Violin.In a letter he numbered his octet amongst the chamber music workswith which he desired to blaze a ?path to the great symphony?. It can no longer be ascertained whether the composition was commissioned by Count Ferdinand Troyer who had a musical salon in Vienna and played the Clarinet. We onlyknow that Schubert composed the work at the beginning of 1824 taking only a few weeks to do so and that it was performed at Troyer?s shortly afterwards. Today it is one of the most popular larger chamber music works.

Latin-Americana is a collection of 5 famous melodies and rhythms by various composers arranged for orchestra by Frank Naylor. Each work has been inspired by Latin America in some way with the classic tunes Jarabe Tapatio La Cucaracha La Paloma Clelito Lindo and Ay Ay Ay all included.Frank Naylor has become known for creating high-quality arrangements of classical music ideal for school and college level orchestras. This selection of exotic pieces is no exception - it is perfect for any young ensemble looking to expand their repertoire and impress their audiences.

Pastorale for Christmas-This stately pastoral work incorporates the chorus of O Come All Ye Faithful (or Adeste Fideles) into the writing. The original melody by Yon is rather remarkable in its elegant beauty and sounds timeless and enchantingly ancient though it was written rather recently in 1917. Pietro Yon was an organist who spent most of his career at the St. Patrick Cathedral in New York. Yon was well regarded in his lifetime by fellow musicians notably among his pupils was the celebrated American songwriter Cole Porter and upon his passing in 1943 Arturo Toscanini himself was among those who attended his large funeral. This arrangement begins solftly with a simple statement of the melodyin the trumpets. The theme expands as it is passed around the various instrumental choirs with increasing use of counterpoint. Culminating in a joyous exhaultation the music winds to a gentle and serene conclusion. The score is well-cued in key sections where the melody is prominent.

Par DUFOURT HUGUES. Il s'agit d'une oeuvre particulièrement représentative du genre de peinture qui a pris son essor pendant le Xe et XIe siècles sous le règne de la dynastie des Song du Nord (960-1127) et qui place la peinture chinoise sous le signe de l'unité retrouvée. Le style 'nordiste', inauguré par Ching Hao et Kuan T'ung se trouve porté à son point de tension extrême par Fan K'uan (fl. 990-1020) dont le Voyage par-delà les fleuves et les monts figure et résume la peinture des grands maîtres classiques de cette époque. L'art du trait calligraphique s'applique au traitement des parois et des surfaces, tout comme les rides en goutte d'eau servent à renforcer les effets de hauteur. Il existe, dans cette toile, une certaine contradiction entre l'éloignement des choses et le caractère abrupt d'un mur primordial qui s'impose avec une évidence absolue. On voit une imposante falaise rocheuse s'arracher d'un abîme et s'élancer jusqu'au ciel, comme un surgissement de l'inaccessible, surplombant un paysage escarpé que vient encore aiguiser le relief âpre et tourmenté de la végétation du premier plan. A la verticale, une broussaille de forêts lointaines semble agrippée aux sommets. Sur la droite, la chute vertigineuse d'une cascade tombant des hauteurs se déroule comme un ruban de soie. En avant-plan, un groupe de rochers laisse entr'apercevoir, plus bas, une caravane de mules dont le trait presqu'imperceptible laisse pressentir l'insignifiance de l'être humain face à l'immensité de la nature. On notera aussi le style sévère et dépouillé de ce paysage majestueux, son allure austère et solennelle qui souligne le caractère sacré des montagnes - la demeure des dieux - dans la peinture monumentale de paysage des Song du Nord. L'altitude est le véritable personnage de cette oeuvre célèbre, une peinture sur soie, d'encre et de couleurs légères, qui est conservée au Musée national du Palais de Taipei, à Taïwan. J'ai cherché à rendre ce sentiment plénier de la nature au grand orchestre, en sorte que l'articulation du souffle ne soit jamais interrompue par des notations accidentelles ou des velléités de développement. La pièce se déroule d'un seul tenant, comme une trame élémentaire, à l'image d'une continuité où toute interruption est arbitraire. Elle est parcourue d'un seul rythme enveloppant des tensions opposées - ascension et suspens, émergence et pesanteur. Une association instrumentale y domine, celle du pupitre des clarinettes allié à celui des trombones, avec des modes de jeu qui projettent les trombones dans l'extrême grave et diffractent le son de la clarinette en un tremblement de multiphoniques. Deux compositeurs, Ivàn Solano, clarinettiste, et Dominique Delahoche, tromboniste, ont bien voulu me guider dans cet inventaire des nouvelles ressources instrumentales. Il est difficile de parler de la forme de l'oeuvre, puisqu'il s'agit d'une transformation incessante, constitutive, à l'instar d'une forme-flux sans cesse renaissante et tendue vers un perpétuel effort d'intégration et de condensation. La forme n'est plus qu'une puissance obscure et négative qui se confond avec le rythme de la couleur ou de la masse. Une toile de fond 'd'harmonie-timbre', constamment dressée, suggère l'étendue et la profondeur, et figure, si l'on veut, une sorte de fond spatial qui serait l'espace même du paysage. Les seuls événements qui scandent le processus sont des 'coulées de forces' qui excèdent toute limite définie et suggèrent des régimes dynamiques variés. Ce Voyage par-delà les fleuves et les monts, d'après Fan K'uan, est l'objet d'une commande conjointe de l'Orchestre Philarmonique de Nice et du CIRM. Hugues Dufourt / contemporain / Répertoire / Orchestre