SKU: AP.49119

UPC: 038081563497. English.

This version of Where Stand the Dauntless by Vince Gassi is part of our Alfred FLEX offerings and is designed with maximum flexibility for use by any mix of instruments---wind, strings, and percussion, including like- or mixed-ensembles with as few as 5 players. The suggested instrumentation and a customizable Teacher Map will help you plan out how to best assign parts to suit your ensemble's needs. It also comes with supplemental parts for maximum flexibility. With the purchase of this piece, permission is granted to photocopy the parts as needed for your ensemble. A percussion accompaniment track is also available as a free download. String parts have been carefully edited with extra fingerings and appropriate bowings to support students in mixed ensembles playing in less familiar keys.

A fanfare, a lyrical theme, and driving energy embody the spirit of the dauntless---the brave and amazing young musicians of Dolphin Senior Public School in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Where Stand the Dauntless by Vince Gassi is an exciting work---and a perfect concert opener and contest piece. (2:35)

Percussion Accompaniment Track Downloads:
with click
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This title is available in MakeMusic Cloud.

SKU: CF.PO192F

ISBN 9781491157374. UPC: 680160915934.

Program note: Christmas Fugue, like the charming English folk tune on which it is based, is full of the spirit and fun that is Christmas. After a slow shimmering introduction which imparts an impression of Christmas morning, the fugue subject is abruptly introduced. The fugue subject: We Wish You a Merry Christmas. The work develops through a series of playful musical episodes which afford satisfying opportunities for the various sections of the orchestra. The fugue culminates in a combination of motifs which find the brass heralding the unmistakable arrival of Christmas. The Composer: Dr. Robert Bennett Brown has devoted much of his professional teaching career to musical compositions and arrangements for young orchestral enthusiasts. Christmas Fugue, like other of Dr. Drown's published works, was written in and for the actual teaching situation. At the present time, Robert Bennett Brown is District Supervisor of Music for the Levittown, N.Y. Public Schools. Previously, for some nineteen years, he taught in Bronxville, N.Y. where, as Chairman of Music, he brought about an extremely high level of school orchestral achievement. he was educated at New York University and Teachers College, Columbia University. He has served as a field supervisor of student teaching for New York University and as a general music consultant. For the past two years he has been a member of the New York State Music Regents Committee. To the Conductor: You will find this work to be the conductor's dream. Parts are easy but impressive sounding. The total effect will give your orchestra that typical classical sound so satisfying to performer and listener alike. Full or exact instrumentation is not a must; cross-cues will carry critical areas where a specified instrument may be lacking. Piano, tuba, and saxophone parts are written to accommodate those players where they exist. These parts are not essential to the instrumentation. Though Christmas Fugue is well suited to the interests of high school orchestra pursuits, its grade of difficulty is easily handled by any junior high school group of average ability.  .
Program note:Christmas Fugue, like the charming English folk tune on which it is based, is full of the spirit and fun that is Christmas. After a slow shimmering introduction which imparts an impression of Christmas morning, the fugue subject is abruptly introduced. The fugue subject: We Wish You a Merry Christmas. The work develops through a series of playful musical episodes which afford satisfying opportunities for the various sections of the orchestra. The fugue culminates in a combination of motifs which find the brass heralding the unmistakable arrival of Christmas.The Composer:Dr. Robert Bennett Brown has devoted much of his professional teaching career to musical compositions and arrangements for young orchestral enthusiasts. Christmas Fugue, like other of Dr. Drown's published works, was written in and for the actual teaching situation.At the present time, Robert Bennett Brown is District Supervisor of Music for the Levittown, N.Y. Public Schools. Previously, for some nineteen years, he taught in Bronxville, N.Y. where, as Chairman of Music, he brought about an extremely high level of school orchestral achievement. he was educated at New York University and Teachers College, Columbia University. He has served as a field supervisor of student teaching for New York University and as a general music consultant. For the past two years he has been a member of the New York State Music Regents Committee.To the Conductor:You will find this work to be the conductor's dream. Parts are easy but impressive sounding. The total effect will give your orchestra that typical classical sound so satisfying to performer and listener alike. Full or exact instrumentation is not a must; cross-cues will carry critical areas where a specified instrument may be lacking. Piano, tuba, and saxophone parts are written to accommodate those players where they exist. These parts are not essential to the instrumentation. Though Christmas Fugue is well suited to the interests of high school orchestra pursuits, its grade of difficulty is easily handled by any junior high school group of average ability. .

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.14003801

ISBN 9788759882498. Danish.

'Beggars' Palace' is the name of a fictive railway station, a metaphor that can evoke many associations, for example as a place from which one journeys on, where one is forced to stay for a short or long period, or a place where one simply gets stuck and must watch others journey on. The fictive station has something worn-out and shabby about it, but the worn and shabby can have its own poetry and beauty. At the end the music stands still for a minute or two, while a voice talks about Beggars' Palace. 'Beggars' Palace' was composed in January 2000 for the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra. Anders Nordentoft.

SKU: BR.EOS-20472-00

Today, it is hard to believe that Bedrich Smetana kept receiving rejections when he tried to get his enormously popular Moldau printed.

ISBN 9790004780008. 10 x 12.5 inches.

What is also amazing is that the first text-critical edition prepared by the Czech Smetana expert Milan Pospisil in 1999, which had entailed an exhaustive evaluation of the sources and been given a full text-critical editorial treatment as a Eulenburg study score, had no resonance of any kind among performers since no performance material had been published. After 15 years, Pospisils edition is finally being completed in a manner suitable for practice: with a conducting score and orchestral parts which will ensure that all future performances are based on a musical text that is as reliable as can be.

The work depicts the course of the river Vltava, beginning with its first two sources, the cold and warm Vltava, and the confluence of the two streams that join to form a single river; then the course of the Vltava through forests and meadows, and through open countryside where a peasant wedding is being celebrated; water-sprites dance by the light of the moon; on the nearby cliffs castles, mansions and ruins rise proudly into the air; the Vltava eddies in the St John's Rapids, then flows in a broad stream as it continues its course towards Prague, where the Vysehrad appears, before the river finally disappears into the distance as it flows majestically into the Elbe.

Vltava (The Moldau), Smetana's best-known and most frequently performed orchestral work, was written between 19 November and 8 December 1874, at a time when Smetana was already completely deaf. The world premiere took place in Prague on 4 April 1875, but the score was not published until 1880.

SKU: HL.14032192

ISBN 9788759858394. 12.0x16.5x0.78 inches. International (more than one language).

Symphony No. 6 for orchestra, 1997-99. Preface / Program Note:... with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day(New Testament, 2 Peter 3:8)My SYMPHONY NO. 6 was commissioned by the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Gteborg Symphony Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, to be premiered at the millenium 2000.The subtitle AT THE END OF THE DAY can be understood literally or it can mean when all is added up. However, in my opinion, nothing ever quite adds up, there is always something missing, any ending will be provisional ...This symphony appears to end only a few minutes into the first movement, the first passage, as the music fades away to almost-silence, after a start of flying colours. But then there is still something, a small motive (first heard in the initial sound-waves) which reappears, hesitant, but persistent, and this embryo is what leads on the musical progression. An agitated section of many instrumental voices comes next, until all the voices become obsessed with the same phrase, a see-saw motive based on thirds. This section evolves into almost martial ferocity, when broken off by a tutti descent into an extreme bass-world (a bass-world which actually permeates the whole symphony, emplyoing instruments that I have never used before: double-bass tuba, double-bass trombone, double-bass clarinet, and bass flute).The second movement, the second passage, apparently takes off where the first passage ended, but now the events are more ambiguous, and the same music may be perceived as fast-moving one moment and slow-moving the next. This section is a kind of passacaglia, the characteristic baroque bass-variation.Without a break follows the third and last passage, in a contrasting high register. The music is rhythmically knotty as well as freely flowing. As in the beginning of the symphony, a never-ending descent or fall breaks off the events, and at the very end a delta of new beginnings, of other worlds, is revealed ....The symphony is dedicated to Helle, my wife. - Per Norgard.

SKU: AP.44805S

UPC: 038081517360. English. French Carol.

Realms of Endless Day is a fantasy setting of the hymn tune melody, Picardy. This melody, thought to have been named for the region in France where it is believed the melody originated, is also the melody for the hymns Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence and Christians, Let Us Love One Another, as well as the Hymn of Saint James. This enduring and tuneful melody is given three contrasting statements that gradually build to an exciting conclusion. This piece is scored for full orchestra by arranger Michael Kamuf, but will work quite effectively with strings alone. (3:30).

SKU: PR.416415760

UPC: 680160636532. 9 x 12 inches.

The 1712 Overture stands out in P.D.Q. Bach's oeuvre for two reasons, among others: it is by far the most programmatic instrumental piece among those by the minimeister of Wein-am-Rhein so far unearthed, and 2) its discovery has led to a revelation about the composer's father, Johann Sebastian Bach, that has exploded like a bombshell on the usually serene musicological landscape. The overture is based on an anecdote told to P.D.Q. Bach by a cousin, Peter Ulrich. Since P.U. Bach lived in Dudeldorf, only a few miles down the road from Wein-am-Rhein, he was P.D.Q.'s closest relative, and he was, in fact, one of the few members of the family who was on speaking terms with P.D.Q. The story, related to P.D.Q. (fortunately for us posterity types) in a letter, may be summarized thus: The town of Dudeldorf was founded by two brothers, Rudi and Dieter Dudel, early in the 18th century. Rudi remained mayor of the newborn burg for the rest of his long life, but Dieter had a dream of starting a musicians' colony, an entire city devoted to music, which dream, he finally decided, could be realized only in the New World. In 1712, he and several other bagpipers sailed to Boston, never to return to Germany. (Henceforth, Rudi became known as der deutscher Dudel and Dieter as the Yankee Dudel). Unfortunately, the head of the Boston Musicians' Guild had gotten wind of Dudel's plans, and Wilhelm Wiesel (pron. VEE-zle), known none too affectionately around town as Wiesel the Weasel, was not about to share what few gigs there were in colonial America with more foreigners and outside agitators. He and his cronies were on hand to meet Dudel's boat when it pulled into Boston Harbor; they intended to prevent the newcomers' disembarkation, but Dudel and his companions managed to escape to the other side of the bay in a dinghy, landing with just enough time to rent a carriage and horses before hearing the sound of The Weasel and his men, who had had to come around the long way. The Germans headed West, with the Bostonians in furious pursuit. soon the city had been left far behind, and by midnight so had the pursuers; Dieter Dudel decided that it was safe for him and his men to stop and sleep until daybreak. When they awoke, they found that they were in a beautiful landscape of low, forested mountains and pleasant fields, warmed by the brilliant morning sun and serenaded by an entrancing variety of birds. Here, Dudel thought, her is where I will build my colony. The immigrants continued down the road at a leisurely pace until they came upon a little church, all by itself in the countryside, from which there suddenly emanated the sounds of a pipe organ. At this point, the temptation to quote from P.U. Bach's letter to P.D.Q. cannot be resisted: They went inside and, after listening to the glorious music for a while, introduced themselves to the organist. And who do you think it was? Are you ready for this -- it was your old man! Hey, no kidding -- you know, I'm sure, that your father was the guy to get when it came to testing new organs, and whoever had that one in Massachusetts built offered old Sebastian a tidy sum to go over there and check it out. The unexpected meeting with J.S. Bach and his sponsors was interrupted by the sound of horse hooves, as the dreaded Wiesel and his men thundered on to the scene. They had been riding all night, however, and they were no spring chickens to start with, and as soon as they reached the church they all dropped, exhausted, to the ground. The elated Germans rang the church bells and offered to buy everyone a beer at the nearest tavern. There they were taught, and joined in singing, what might be called the national anthem of the New World. The melody of this pre-revolutionary patriotic song is still remembered (P.D.Q. Bach quotes it, in the bass instruments, near the end of the overture), but is words are now all but forgotten: Freedom, of thee we sing, Freedom e'er is our goal; Death to the English King, Long live Rock and Ross. The striking paucity of biographical references to Johann Sebastian Bah during the year 1712 can now be explained: he was abroad for a significant part of that year, testing organs in the British Colonies. That this revelation has not been accepted as fact by the musicological establishment is no surprise, since it means that a lot of books would have to be rewritten. The members of that establishment haven't even accepted the existence of P.D.Q. Bach, one of whose major works the 1712 Overture certainly is. It is also a work that shows Tchaikowsky up as the shameless plagiarizer that some of us have always known he was. The discovery of this awesome opus was made possible by a Boston Pops Centennial Research Commission; the first modern performance took place at the opening concert of the 100th anniversary season of that orchestra, under the exciting but authentic direction of John Williams.