SKU: HL.14023658

ISBN 9780711943711. 9.0x12.0x0.238 inches.

And Do They Do was commissioned by Siobhan Davies and the London Contemporary Dance Theatre. It was composed during the summer of 1986 and first performed at Sadler's Wells Theatre on 25 November in that year. It consists of four linked 'songs' of which the third is based on Schumann's 'Nachtlied' Opus 96, No. 1.

SKU: PO.PEL23S

ISBN 9781877564468.

Lilburn's A Song of Islands (1946) is an essential work to study in the history of New Zealand orchestral music. This early work is a fine example of how Lilburn directly intended to capture the essence of New Zealand as a whole. Central to this work is a chorale-like theme that develops through an arch-like form. This critical edition is the first computer-engraved publication of the work, and is the third of four volumes published in celebration of the centenary of Lilburn's birth in 1915.Douglas Lilburn occupies a pre-eminent position in New Zealand music, with a legacy extending well beyond his compositional output. As a composer, teacher and mentor he presided in innumerable ways over the artistic growth of New Zealand from 1940 onwards. From the early works redolent of the influence of Sibelius and Vaughan Williams, to the electro-acoustic pieces of his later years, his works have been instrumental in establishing a genuine vernacular in New Zealand classical music.

SKU: PR.11641867S

UPC: 680160683208.

Contextures: Riots -Decade '60 was commissioned by Zubin Mehta and the Southern California Symphony Association after the successful premiere of the Concerto for Four Percussion Soloists and Orchestra. It was written during the spring and summer months of 1967. Riots stemming from resentment against the racial situation in the United States and the war in Vietnam were occurring throughout the country and inevitably invaded the composer's creative subconscious. Contextures, as the title implies, was intended to exploit various and varying textures. As the work progressed the correspondence between the fabric of music and the fabric of society became apparent and the allegory grew in significance. So I found myself translating social aspects into musical techniques. Social stratification became a polymetric situation where disparate groups function together. The conflict between the forces of expansion and the forces of containment is expressed through and opposition of tonal fluidity vs. rigidity. This is epitomized in the fourth movement, where the brass is divided into two groups - a muted group, encircled by the unmuted one, which does its utmost to keep the first group within a restricted pitch area. The playful jazzy bits (one between the first and second movements and one at the end of the piece) are simply saying that somehow in this age of turmoil and anxiety ways of having fun are found even though that fun may seem inappropriate. The piece is in five movements, with an interlude between the first and second movements. It is scored for a large orchestra, supplemented by six groups of percussion, including newly created roto-toms (small tunable drums) and some original devices, such as muted gongs and muted vibraphone. There is also an offstage jazz quartet: bass, drums, soprano saxophone and trumpet. The first movement begins with a solo by the first clarinetist which is interrupted by intermittent heckling from his colleagues leading to a configuration of large disparate elements. The interlude of solo violin and snare-drum follows without pause. The second movement, Prestissimo, is a display piece of virtuosity for the entire orchestra. The third movement marks a period of repose and reflection and calls for some expressive solos, particularly by the horn and alto saxophone. The fourth movement opens with a rather lengthy oboe solo, which is threatened by large blocks of sound from the orchestra, against an underlying current of agitated energy in the piano and percussion. This leads to a section in which large orchestral forces oppose one another, ultimately bringing the work to a climax, if not to a denouement. Various thematic elements are strewn all over the orchestra, resulting in the formation of a general haze of sound. A transition leads to the fifth movement without pause. The musical haze is pierced gently by the offstage jazz group as if they were attempting to ignore and even dispel the gloom, but a legato bell sound enters and hovers over both the jazz group and the orchestra, the latter making statements of disquieting finality. Two films were conceived to accompany portions of Contextures. The first done by Herbert Kosowar, was a chemography film (painting directly into the film using dyes and various implements) with fast clips of riot photographs. The second was a film collage made by photographically abstracting details from paintings of Reginald Pollack. The purpose was to invoke a non-specific response - as in music - but at the same time to define the subject matter of the piece. The films were constructed to correspond with certain developments in the piece and in no way affect the independence and musical flow of the piece, having been made after the piece was completed. Contextures: Riots - Decade '60 is dedicated to Mehta, the Southern California Symphony Association and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. The news of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King came the afternoon of the premiere, April 4, 1968. That evening's performances, and also the succeeding ones, were dedicated to him and a special dedication to Dr. King has been inserted into he score. All the music that follows the jazz group - beginning with the legato bell sound playing the first 2 notes to We shall overcome constitutes a new ending to commemorate Dr. King's death.

SKU: HL.50510026

ISBN 9790080400722. UPC: 073999679762. 5.5x8.0x0.326 inches. Gabor Darvas.

Inspired by his friend, the composer Balakirev Tchaikovsky decided in 1869 to write an overture to Shakespeare's drama Romeo and Juliet. The work was completed the same year and received its premiere soon thereafter, on March 4th, 1870 in Moscow under the direction of Nikolay Rubinstein. Following the performance the composer worked over the piece again at Balakirev's instigation: he wrote a new introduction and altered the return and the end, too. The new version was first performed under the baton of Napravnik in St Petersburg on February 5th, 1872. By that time it had become clear that the composition was closer to the genre of symphonic poem than to that of a theatrical preludewhich is also indicated by the subtitle: 'fantasy overture'. In the 1880s Tchaikovsky carried out further changes in the score and thus the third version of Romeo and Juliet emerged that was first performed by Ippolitov-Ivanov as conductor in Tbilisi on April 19th, 1886.

SKU: BR.PB-5654

ISBN 9790004215517. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Farewell Tod und Verklarung marks a turning point in Richard Strauss's corpus of tone poems: Even before the November 1889 premiere of his previous work Don Juan, Strauss had finished his third work in this genre. He leads the listener with great clarity through the dying hour of a person who had pursued the highest ideals. The present Urtext edition evaluates for the first time all the corrections that Strauss made in the galley proofs of the work's full score and parts, correlating these to the music text. The preface provides insight into the genesis and reception history, while the detailed Critical Report systematically documents all of the editorial decisions.

SKU: BT.YKM570369270

A Hymn to the Thames was commissioned by James Turnbull and the Music Director of the St Paul’s Sinfonia, Andrew Morley. It was begun in 2019 and completed early in 2020. There are four movements played without a break, which follow the Thames from its Cotswold source to the North Sea. As the first performance took place in St ALfege’s Church, Greenwich, this seemed appropriate. The solo oboe represents both a wanderer along the river path and the spirit of the river. The pitch centres of the movements spell out the musical letters of the river (tHAmES—B natural, A, E and E flat) so that the river’s name is projected across the whole work. In addition, the musical letters found in James Turnbull, Andrew Morley and my wife, Teresa Cahill ( who was born in Maidenhead and brought up by the river in Rotherhithe) are entwined in various guises. The first movement grows from the depths, the soloist entering with fanfare-like gestures, followed by lyrical music and breaks into a dance as the river gathers momentum. The third movement is slow and sustained and geographically the Thames flows through Oxford. The music is based on the well-known In Nomine ‘head motif’ from the Gloria tibi Trinitas Mass by the early Tudor composer, John Taverner, who was the first Director of Music at Christ Church, Oxford. The orchestra provides a screen or veil above which the solo oboe dreams and ruminates. This leads directly into the fourth and final movement which begins in the depths once more, interrupting the oboe’s held note from the end of the third movement. The waters’ increasing intensity and power are represented throughout by a moto perpetuo of quick, steady semiquavers. Near the close, the woodwind play O Nata Lux by Thomas Tallis, the great Tudor composer who, with his wife Joan, is buried in St Alfege’s. Beneath this, the lower strings continue the fast semiquaver movement of the river and, above, the violins are heard as a halo of harmonics. At the close, the oboe rises, opening out to the future, and celebrating its voyage, while the orchestra fades as the river meets the sea. A Hymn to the Thames lasts approximately 17 minutes.

SKU: HL.51489818

UPC: 840126932744. 6.75x9.5x0.25 inches.

Sandwiched between the popular Symphonies Nos. 7 and 9, the relatively short Eighth Symphony finds itself in a difficult position even now. Right after the premiere in February 1814, one critic opined that it had made “no splash.” At first glance it makes recourse to already outmoded forms and genres, even reviving a minuet for the third movement (in lieu of a slow movement) after an Allegretto scherzoso. But Beethoven engages intensively with music history, breaking apart traditional procedures and patterns and finding new, surprising solutions that make his Eighth a milestone in symphonic history. Based on the musical text of the Beethoven Complete Edition and furnished with a new preface, this recently prepared edition reflects the latest in Beethoven scholarship. Now,in this study edition, it is available to everyone at a reasonable price and in a handy format.

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• preface in 3 languages with information on the genesis and history of the work 
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SKU: SU.27020085

Jacob vs. Angel is a piece about crisis of conscience, ambiguity, and misinterpretation expressed through the depiction of a major battle, the goal of which is never made entirely clear. Based on the biblical story, the work is highly programmatic, with each of the six movements reflecting a corresponding stanza from the titular poem by Alice Weaver Flaherty. The piece was originally composed as a vehicle for virtuoso organist Heinrich Christensen, and later orchestrated. The first movement introduces the main musical material--a five note motive, the intervals of which are reorganized to create melodic and harmonic development throughout the piece. The second, third, and fourth movements depict the brutal fight between Jacob and the angel, and lead one to the next without pause. The fifth movement is about the post-battle scene, and the final movement is an epilogue, reframing the ideas from the previous movements. The music elucidates various actions from the Flaherty poem—sand skittering across the desert, aggressive acts of violence and sensuality between the protagonists, the beating of wings, feathers blowing in the wind, etc. But beyond the music's more literal elements, the work is designed to express an abstract state of mind, a sense of unease, and anticipation of what is yet to come. —Graham Gordon Ramsay2(2) 1,1 2 2; 2221; 7perc, hp, cel; stgs Duration: 24'Composed: 2023 Published by: Distributed Composer Jacob vs Angel was composed originally as a solo concert organ work in 2007; the orchestral version was completed in 2023. A live performance of the organ version can be seen at. Performance materials available on rental:.