SKU: BA.BA06861
ISBN 9790260104211. 34.3 x 27 cm inches.
LeoÅ¡ Janácek’s symphonic fragment Dunaj (The Danube) dates from the period of the composition of “Katya Kabanovaâ€. The composer was not concerned with a musical-picturesque description of a river landscape, but with the mythical link between women’s destinies and water.“Pale green waves of the Danube! There are so many of you, and one followed by another. You remain interlocked in a continuous flow. You surprise yourselves where you ended up – on the Czech shores! Look back downstream and you will have an impression of what you have left behind in your haste. It pleases you here. Here I will rest with my symphony.†Thus LeoÅ¡ Janácek described the idea behind the composition project which occupied him in 1923/24. However, after further work, it remained incomplete in 1926. His “symphony†entitled Dunaj has survived as a continuously-notated, four-movement bundle of sketches in score form. It is one of the works which occupied him until his death. The scholarly reconstruction by the two Brno composers MiloÅ¡ Å tedron and LeoÅ¡ Faltus closely follows the original manuscript.A whole conglomeration of motifs stands behind the incomplete work. What at first seems like a counterpart to Smetana’s Vltava, in fact doesn’t turn out to be a musical depiction of the Danube. On the contrary, the fateful link between the destiny of women, water and death permeates the range of motifs found in the work. It seems to be no coincidence that Janácek, whilst working on the opera Katya Kabanova, in which the Volga, as the river bringing death plays an almost mythical role, planned a Danube symphony, and that its content was linked with the destiny of women: in the sketches, two poems were found which may have provided the stimulus for several movements of the symphony. He copied a poem by Pavla Kriciková into the second movement, in which a girl remarks that whilst bathing in a pond, she was observed by a man. Filled with shame, the young naked woman jumps into the water and drowns. The outer movements likewise draw on the poem “Lola†by the Czech writer Sonja Å pálová, published under the pseudonym Alexander Insarov. This is about a prostitute who asks for her heart’s desire: she is given a palace, but then goes on a long search for it and is finally no longer wanted by anyone. She suffers, feels cold and just wants a warm fire. Janácek adds his remark “she jumps into the Danube†to the inconclusive ending.To these tangible literary models is added Adolf Veselý’s verbal account which reports that the composer wanted to portray “in the Danube, the female sex with all its passions and driving forcesâ€. The third movement is said to characterise the city of Vienna in the form of a woman.It is evident that in his composition, Janácek was not striving for a simple, natural lyricism. The River Danube is masculine in the Slavic language – “ten Dunaj†– and assumes an almost mythical significance in the national character, indeed often also a role bringing death. The four movements are motivically conceived. Elements of sound painting, small wave-like figures in the first movement, motoric, driving movements in the third are obvious evocations of water. And the content and the literary level are easy to discover. The “tremolo of the four timpaniâ€, which was amongst Janácek’s first inspirations, appears in the second movement. It is not difficult to retrace in it the fate of the drowning bather. The oboe enters lamentoso towards the end of the movement over timpani playing tremolo, its descending figure is taken over by the flute, then upper strings and intensified considerably. The motif of drowning – Lola’s despair – returns again in the fourth movement in the clarinet, before the work ends abruptly and dramatically.One special effect is the use of a soprano voice in the motor-driven third movement. The singer vocalises mainly in parallel with the solo oboe, but also in dialogue with other parts such as the viola d’amore, which Janácek used in several late works as a sort of “voice of loveâ€.
About Barenreiter Urtext
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MUSICOLOGICALLY SOUND - A reliable musical text based on all available sources - A description of the sources - Information on the genesis and history of the work - Valuable notes on performance practice - Includes an introduction with critical commentary explaining source discrepancies and editorial decisions ... AND PRACTICAL - Page-turns, fold-out pages, and cues where you need them - A well-presented layout and a user-friendly format - Excellent print quality - Superior paper and binding
SKU: BR.PB-5719
ISBN 9790004216569. 0 x 0 inches.
Strauss had originally intended that Don Quixotealways be performed, if possible, together with Heldenleben, since Don Q. in particular is only fully comprehensible alongside Heldenleben. To date, Strauss's wish is rarely respected. The Don Quixote Urtext edition now being published by Breitkopf & Hartel can assist here. Once again, the new edition is based on Strauss's own engraver's model, helping to clarify numerous misunderstandings, and facilitating the correction of dozens of traditional errors. Furthermore, the woodwind parts, previously available only in manuscript form, are now appearing completely engraved for the first time.This new edition is also being augmented by a piano reduction of the most important orchestral passages for facilitating the study of the solo cello and viola parts; these two solo parts are also separately included with the purchase of the piano reduction.First Urtext edition since the original edition; Evaluation of all available manuscript and printed sources; Detailed preface giving the genesis and reception history; Detailed critical report; Facsimile pages.
SKU: AP.44827S
UPC: 038081518176. English. James Weldon Johnson.
The poem and original hymn-like music of Lift Every Voice and Sing, by James and J. Rosamond Johnson, reverberate through the decades of the civil rights movement. Originally performed for Booker T. Washington in 1900, it is sometimes called the African-American National Anthem. This setting, by Bob Phillips, teaches 6/8 and uses chromatic alterations in first position. A vocal lead sheet is included in the reproducible educational packets. The cross-curricular programming possibilities are vast. (2:40).
SKU: HL.49045561
ISBN 9783901974045.
Strauss's first tone poem distinguishes itself from all other subsequent orchestral compositions in its existence in three different versions. Even among the operas and other compositions in his hand there is no other work with a comparable history of origin and publication. What is more, the final version of Macbeth is the only valid form of the work and the only variant with further sources (cf. Critical Report) in addition to the autograph score. In contrast, the second version has only been preserved in an autograph score and autograph piano reduction (the orchestral parts which must have existed have obviously not survived). This was never printed and was replaced by the published third version. The two surviving versions should therefore not be considered to be of equal status. Unlike the case of Ariadne auf Naxos in which the earlier version was for a time the sole valid alternative and was yet never completely displaced by the soon dominating later version of the opera, only the final third version of Macbeth is considered as valid. Right from the outset, it was a matter of course for the editors of the present volume to include the second version as a first publication (in addition to the above-mentioned surviving pages of the first version), albeit in different forms. The surviving pages of the first version are reproduced in facsimile and the second version, as a subordinate form of the work, appears alongside Strauss's piano reduction in a modified source edition, i.e. without intervention on the part of the editors. The ultimate third version is published as a full edition (please refer to the Critical Report for further details). In order to facilitate a comparative study of the second and third versions, the relevant page numbers of the score are placed opposite one another (the autograph piano reduction of the second version is included at the end of the music section of the volume). The editors hope that this synoptic representation will prompt interest in further studies on Strauss's art of orchestration: a field of research which has still remained insufficiently examined. A study of Macbeth namely illuminates as clearly as could be wished how much significance Strauss allotted to sound alongside form. The subjects were not merely intended to generate an individual figure, but also specific tonal colours, and the instrumentation was simultaneously designed to provide an optimal communication of thematic-motivic texture to the audience. The 'new path' threw up consequences which caused Strauss a considerable amount of difficulty. He was however a fast learner and had already swum free with Don Juan and all the more with Tod und Verklarung.
SKU: HL.49045924
ISBN 9783795711764. UPC: 888680949426. 8.0x10.5x1.8 inches. German. Korngold - Librettist: Paul Schott; Author of Original Text: Georges Rodenbach.
This masterpiece, composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold when he was only 23, was one of the great stage successes of the 1920s and 30s before being removed from theatre schedules by the National Socialists. Rediscovered in the 1970s, it has enjoyed continuing popularity ever since. The libretto was compiled by the composer's father, the music critic Julius Korngold, writing under the pseudonym 'Paul Schott', a combination of the name of the protagonist and the publishing house. A vivacious theatre group comes to liven up the gloomy city of Bruges (here, a symbol of death) and the widower Paul is forced to decide between the past and the present. Korngold was fascinated by this symbolic plot and created an iridescent orchestral score washed in vivid colours. A variety of operatic devices are intermingled as if viewed through a kaleidoscope: opulent melodic arias, advanced harmonies, psychoanalytic profundity and cinematic transitions oscillating between reality and dream worlds guarantee the continuing modernity of this work up to the present day.
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