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.
SKU: PR.41641576L
UPC: 680160636549. 11 x 17 inches.
SKU: BR.PB-5105-07
World premiere: Bremen, February 1, 1982
ISBN 9790004208557. 9 x 12 inches.
Gesualdo, Don Carlo, Furst von Venosa (1560-1613) gehort zu den eigenwilligsten italienischen Madrigal-Komponisten der Spatrenaissance. Seine ungewohnlich kuhne, selbst fur heutige Ohren modern klingende Harmonik, seine chromatischen Stimmfortschreitungen, seine ubersteigerte expressive Tonsprache regten mich schon vor Jahren zu einer grosseren Orgelkomposition an und inspirierten mich 1981 zu den >>Sinfonischen Metamorphosen<<. Dieses Werk ist eine vielgestaltige weitausgesponnene Fantasie. Sieben choralartige typische Klangbeispiele aus Gesualdos spaten funfstimmigen Madrigalen (4., 5. u. 6. Band) werden teils streng, teils frei zitiert und von Holz- oder Blechblasern intoniert. Diese Zitate gliedern, als formale und inhaltliche Schwer- und Ruhepunkte, den Verlauf des gesamten Werks. Jedes Zitat steht zu Beginn eines neuen Satzabschnitts; die darauffolgenden >>Metamorphosen<< entwickeln sich als rhapsodische kontrastreiche Charakterstucke. Im >>Preludio<< werden aus den vertonbaren Buchstaben vom Namen >>Gesualdo<< (G - E - Es - A - D) schwebende Klangflachen, rezitativische Gedanken und ein pragnantes rhythmisches Paukenthema gebildet. Diese ,,Grundelemente (Grundstrukturen) tauchen im Verlauf des Stucks immer wieder leitmotivisch auf. Im zweiten Abschnitt stehen sich lineare Streicher-Episoden und dichte Blaser-Klangballungen kontrastierend gegenuber. Der dritte Teil lauft als Passacaglia (Thema ist der Bass eines Gesualdo-Zitats) in mehreren Variationen ab. Im vierten Abschnitt dominiert lebhafte Streicherbewegung, kontrapunktiert von tiefen Blaser-Signalen. Der funfte Teil steigert sich- nach kantablem Beginn- zum ekstatischen Trauermarsch. Abschnitt sechs stellt sich als >>Rondello<< dar, mit um sich selbst kreisenden Klangfiguren (in verschiedenen Tongruppen (zwei, drei, funf). Im siebten und letzten Teil wird die verhalten-resignierende Stimmung des Anfangs beschworen, ehe eine knappe Stretta in den hymnischen Schluss mundet. In den Textender ausgewahlten Zitatstellen geht es meist um Todessehnsucht, Liebesqual und Verzweiflung. z. B. 1. und 2. Zitat: Moro lasso, al mio duolo (Ich sterbe, matt, an meiner Qual) (6. Buch) 3. Zitat: Gia piansi nel dolore; o dolorosa Sorte (Schon weinte ich in Schmerzen, oh schmerzliches Geschick) (6. Buch) 4. Zitat: Ahi gia mi discolero (Ach schon entfarbte ich mich) (Wehe, der Tod kommt) (4. Buch) 5. Zitat: Dolcissima mia vita (Mein allerliebstes Leben) (Dich zu lieben oder zu sterben) (5. Buch) 6. Zitat: lo moro (Ich sterbe) (5. Buch) Dem Werk liegen zwar eine Reihe von dodekaphonischen Strukturen zugrunde (die teilweise von Gesualdos Klangzitaten abgeleitet wurden), doch sind die einzelnen Abschnitte auf,,tonale Pfeiler (G - E - A - D) gegrundet; das Stuck beginnt in G und endet aufD, ist also ubergeordnet tonal konzipiert, - der Versuch einer Synthese moderner Ausdrucksmittel von Vergangenheit und Gegenwart. Die >>Metamorphosen<< sind ein Stuck Bekenntnismusik - Bekenntnis zum Leben und Schaffen Gesualdos, eines Mannes, der vom Schicksal gezeichnet war, denn der Chronik Neapels bekannt war durch die Ermordung seiner ersten Frau und ihres Liebhabers. Dieser eminente Musiker war zugleich ein Mensch von ubertriebener Sensibilitat und wilder ekstatischer Heftigkeit: ,,Er wurde von einer Horde von Damonen heimgesucht, die ihm keine Ruhe gaben, heisst es in einem zeitgenossischen Bericht. Seine Kunst und sein Leben stand unter dem Gesetz der inneren Zerrissenheit, zwischen Auflehnung und Resignation (Verzweiflung und Hoffnung), zwischen Zartheit und Leidenschaft. Davon will meine Musik etwas aussagen. (Jurg Baur)CD:Sinfonieorchester des Westdeutschen Rundfunks, cond. Rudolf BarschaiCD Thorofon CTH 2270Bibliography:Abels, Robert: Studien zur Gesualdo-Rezeption durch Komponisten des 20. Jahrhunderts (= Studien zur Musik 20), Leiden u. a.: Wilhelm Fink 2017, pp. 277-345, 485-489.Wallerang, Lars: Die Orchesterwerke Jurg Baurs als Dialog zwischen Tradition und Moderne, Koln: Dohr 2003.
SKU: BA.BA05540
ISBN 9790006497126. 33 x 26 cm inches. Text: Franz von Schober.
In late September or early October 1821 Schubert and his close friend, Franz von Schober, vacationed in the countryside of Lower Austria. Their first stopover was at Ochsenburg Castle, which belonged to the Bishop of St. Pölten (a close relative of Schober’s), after which they moved on to St. Pölten itself. Roughly a year earlier, two stage works by Schubert had been performed in Vienna: the one-act singspiel Die Zwillingsbrüder and the melodrama Die Zauberharfe. The librettos were both written by the seasoned Viennese playwright Georg von Hofmann, who blamed the press for the indifferent reception the two works were given by the audience. Schubert and Schober now decided, it would seem, to write a grand romantic opera uninfluenced by the workaday world of the theatre and beholden solely to their own ideas of what an opera should be.Not until 24 June 1854 was the opera finally performed in Weimar, under the baton of Franz Liszt. It only achieved success, however, in an arrangement by Johann Nepomuk Fuchs that was staged on many German and Austrian stages in 1881–2, allegedly with brilliant acclaim.
About Barenreiter Urtext
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SKU: HL.49018099
ISBN 9790001158428. UPC: 884088567347. 8.25x11.75x0.457 inches. Latin - German.
On letting go(Concerning the selection of the texts) In the selection of the texts, I have allowed myself to be motivated and inspired by the concept of 'letting go'. This appears to me to be one of the essential aspects of dying, but also of life itself. We humans cling far too strongly to successful achievements, whether they have to do with material or ideal values, or relationships of all kinds. We cannot and do not want to let go, almost as if our life depended on it. As we will have to practise the art of letting go at the latest during our hour of death, perhaps we could already make a start on this while we are still alive. Tagore describes this farewell with very simple but strikingly vivid imagery: 'I will return the key of my door'. I have set this text for tenor solo. Here I imagine, and have correspondingly noted in a certain passage of the score, that the protagonist finds himself as though 'in an ocean' of voices in which he is however not drowning, but immersing himself in complete relaxation. The phenomenon of letting go is described even more simply and tersely in Psalm 90, verse 12: 'So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom'. This cannot be expressed more plainly.I have begun the requiem with a solo boy's voice singing the beginning of this psalm on a single note, the note A. This in effect says it all. The work comes full circle at the culmination with a repeat of the psalm which subsequently leads into a resplendent 'lux aeterna'. The intermediate texts of the Requiem which highlight the phenomenon of letting go in the widest spectrum of colours originate on the one hand from the Latin liturgy of the Messa da Requiem (In Paradisum, Libera me, Requiem aeternam, Mors stupebit) and on the other hand from poems by Joseph von Eichendorff, Hermann Hesse, Rabindranath Tagore and Rainer Maria Rilke.All texts have a distinctive positive element in common and view death as being an organic process within the great system of the universe, for example when Hermann Hesse writes: 'Entreiss dich, Seele, nun der Zeit, entreiss dich deinen Sorgen und mache dich zum Flug bereit in den ersehnten Morgen' ['Tear yourself way , o soul, from time, tear yourself away from your sorrows and prepare yourself to fly away into the long-awaited morning'] and later: 'Und die Seele unbewacht will in freien Flugen schweben, um im Zauberkreis der Nacht tief und tausendfach zu leben' ['And the unfettered soul strives to soar in free flight to live in the magic sphere of the night, deep and thousandfold']. Or Joseph von Eichendorff whose text evokes a distant song in his lines: 'Und meine Seele spannte weit ihre Flugel aus. Flog durch die stillen Lande, als floge sie nach Haus' ['And my soul spread its wings wide. Flew through the still country as if homeward bound.']Here a strong romantically tinged occidental resonance can be detected which is however also accompanied by a universal spirit going far beyond all cultures and religions. In the beginning was the sound Long before any sort of word or meaningful phrase was uttered by vocal chords, sounds, vibrations and tones already existed. This brings us back to the music. Both during my years of study and at subsequent periods, I had been an active participant in the world of contemporary music, both as percussionist and also as conductor and composer. My early scores had a somewhat adventurous appearance, filled with an abundance of small black dots: no rhythm could be too complicated, no register too extreme and no harmony too dissonant. I devoted myself intensely to the handling of different parameters which in serial music coexist in total equality: I also studied aleatory principles and so-called minimal music.I subsequently emigrated and took up residence in Spain from where I embarked on numerous travels over the years to India, Africa and South America. I spent repeated periods during this time as a resident in non-European countries. This meant that the currents of contemporary music swept past me vaguely and at a great distance. What I instead absorbed during this period were other completely new cultures in which I attempted to immerse myself as intensively as possible.I learned foreign languages and came into contact with musicians of all classes and styles who had a different cultural heritage than my own: I was intoxicated with the diversity of artistic potential.Nevertheless, the further I distanced myself from my own Western musical heritage, the more this returned insistently in my consciousness.The scene can be imagined of sitting somewhere in the middle of the Brazilian jungle surrounded by the wailing of Indians and out of the blue being provided with the opportunity to hear Beethoven's late string quartets: this can be a heart-wrenching experience, akin to an identity crisis. This type of experience can also be described as cathartic. Whatever the circumstances, my 'renewed' occupation with the 'old' country would not permit me to return to the point at which I as an audacious young student had maltreated the musical parameters of so-called contemporary music. A completely different approach would be necessary: an extremely careful approach, inching my way gradually back into the Western world: an approach which would welcome tradition back into the fold, attempt to unfurl the petals and gently infuse this tradition with a breath of contemporary life.Although I am aware that I will not unleash a revolution or scandal with this approach, I am nevertheless confident as, with the musical vocabulary of this Requiem, I am travelling in an orbit in which no ballast or complex structures will be transported or intimated: on the contrary, I have attempted to form the message of the texts in music with the naivety of a 'homecomer'. Harald WeissColonia de San PedroMarch 2009.
SKU: HL.244904
8.25x12.0x0.508 inches.
Quilting, co-commissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is my first stand alone work for orchestraand is loosely inspired by the American tradition of quilt making. I composed Quilting while living most of last year in Paris.During my time there, I thought a lot about what it means to compose symphonic music as a young American in the 21st century, when so many of the many masterworks which are programmed year in and out by orchestras across the country are European. I considered which artistic traditions defined the American 19th-century. I began to think of the American crafts-tradition of quilting as a foilto the high-art tradition of European orchestral composition. As the score for my new work began to take shape, I started thinking about the manuscript itself as an object, its vertical and horizontal planes create a kind of patterned geometry of their own. Visually the way a musical score is woven together like patchwork brought to mind quilts and the great American tradition of quilting. I imagined about how conducting an orchestra can feellike stitching a piece together, or sewing together a large number of musical ideas and musicians into a coherent and transcendent whole. Quilting was an integral part of American vernacular in the 18th and 19th centuries, the African-American quilting tradition is especially fascinating, and the quilts tell the stories of the women and communities who made them. The names of the quilt patterns themselves can have their own sense of narrative: 'jacobs ladder', 'drunkards path', 'solomon's puzzle', and (my favorite for its relevance to this piece) 'the road to California. - Bryce Dessner.
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€.
SKU: BR.PB-5435
ISBN 9790004212820. 11.5 x 16.5 inches.
Meine eigene neue Orchesterkomposition hat den Titel ,,SCHREIBEN. Die praktische Aktion des Schreibens, als mechanisches Einwirken per Hand, Stift, Pinsel, auf eine Flache (Papier, Pergament, Stein etc.), ausgelost und gesteuert von einem kommunikativen Bedurfnis und, bei aller Spontaneitat, beherrscht durch die Regeln von Schrift und Sprache, ist fur mich einer der geheimnisvollsten Vorgange im zwischenmenschlichen Alltag, bei dem menschlicher Geist und tote Materie einander begegnen: Gedanken bzw. Gedachtes werden auf einer Flache - Papier, Pergament, Stein - festgehalten, ihr sozusagen anvertraut. Und auf diesem Umweg uber Sprache, Schrift und Gravur begegnen sie dem Geist des lesenden oder entziffernden Mitmenschen. Als Komponist aber frage ich: gibt es auch einen anderen Kausalitatszusammenhang, gibt es z. B. ein ,,autonomes Schreiben, eine sinn-freie Zeichengebung, durch entfesselte, losgelassene Fortbewegung der schreibenden Hand, wo der Schreibende seinem eigenen Schreiben nur noch staunend zusieht? Werden nicht in Japan Bilder, auch ,,abstrakte, geschrieben??? (In einem Underground-Film der 70er-Jahre uber den jungen Mozart sieht sich der Zuschauer versetzt in ein Zimmer eines italienischen Gasthauses, in dem der junge durchreisende Mozart am Tisch eilig die Rezitative einer seiner italienischen Opern zu Papier bringt. Mehr als eine Viertelstunde lang sind wir dabei, horen nicht die entstehende Musik, sondern das nervose Kratzen der Feder auf dem groben Notenpapier in nachmittaglicher Stille - nur der gleichmassige Pendelschlag der Wanduhr ist noch zu horen -, und wir erleben diese sekundare Klangwelt kaum weniger intensiv als nachher andere Horer die dabei stumm entstehende Musik.) Das Orchester in meinem Stuck ,,schreibt. Es fugt Strich zu Strich, versteht sich selbst als eine Art vielfaltiges ,,Schreib-Gerat. Wir als Horer lesen nicht das ,,Geschriebene, aber wir horen den Vorgang des Schreibens, den Bogenstrich, die Bewegung des scharrenden Holzstabs auf Fell oder Tamtam, und wir beobachten dessen Imitation bzw. Transformation durch - zeitweise auch tonlos - sich zu linearen Gestalten verbindende Blasinstrumente als eine Art klingender Schreib-Zeremonie. Es ergibt sich eine Musik, die gelegentlich ihren gedanklichen Ausgangspunkt vergisst und sich als autonome Klang-Situation fortentwickelt und verwandelt, und die schliesslich im hochsten Register eine Art ,,Kantilene be-schreibt. Wer das deutsche Wort ,,Schreiben (engl. ,,to write) schreibt, der schreibt dabei auch unweigerlich das Wort ,,Schrei (engl. ,,shout), und er schreibt auch das Wort ,,reiben (engl. ,,to rub). So emotional der erste Begriff gedacht werden kann, so nuchtern-praktisch ist der zweite. Von beiden Aspekten, samt ihrer Gegensatzlichkeit, ist mein Stuck gepragt. (Helmut Lachenmann, 2003)World premiere: Tokyo/Japan, December 4, 2003.
SKU: SU.91580100
A Grateful Tail - Movement by Movement Siriusly, Dog Star Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, has been used by travelers and navigators for thousands of years as a guiding star and so it is here as the opening movement for the symphony. Sirius, the cornerstone to the constellation Canis Maggiore or Big Dog sits at the foot of Orion, the hunter, leading the way. Highly cinematic, the movement evokes both a musical and visual sense of the mythological and mysterious elements of Sirius and its Dog Godstar secrets. From the clarion call of the opening, Sirius theme, the sound is buoyant and frisky emulating the nature of doggy playtime. Puppy pleasures abound as a doggy four-step, my turn on the traditional American two-step dance, is introduced. The movement transforms into an actual orchestrated frolic of small, large and medium dog barks beginning with the winds (smaller dogs) and ultimately, the big dog, brass. The movement climaxes with the coda or, Dog Park, where the winds and the brass bark and play together over the, doggy ostinato four-step rhythm, culminating with the final call of the Sirius theme. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie, Peacefully It's all in a dog's day and life. Tranquility presides over this supremely gentle, intermezzo-like movement. After a day of play, every dog needs rest. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie, is a lyrical andante inspired by the profound serenity and beauty of a dog at rest. The Last Will and Testament of Silverdene Emblem O'Neill Based on a powerful piece of prose written by the American playwright, Eugene O'Neill this text was intended as a consolation piece for Carlotta, his wife, who had become grief-stricken over the loss of their beloved dog, the Dalmatian known as Blemie.Written for a singing actor who personifies the role of Blemie, a dog at the end of his life, the movement plays like a one act, musical drama as we follow Blemie through a wonderfully three-dimensional, emotional and psychological journey writing his Last Will and Testament, for those who have loved him. Wagging the Tail: Ossia Fido's Lament A life-affirming rumba/samba using Blemie's final words from O'Neill's text, this final movement employs the most unique American musical invention, the gospel choir. In order to make the dances come alive, this movement also calls upon the colors of a rhythm section. Creating the spirit of an Irish Funeral, the movement is a joyful and revival-like celebration of a dog's life as its spirit lives on forever in the hearts and minds of dog lovers everywhere. Remember Me, remember me! My spirit is wagging a grateful tail. Published by: Subito Music Publishing Release Date: July 9, 2013.
SKU: HL.14014802
ISBN 9780711992764. 9.75x13.75x0.285 inches.
Composer's Notes: This piece, written during the winter months of 2000-2001, consists of one movement, Allegro con fuoco, in which an old score is revisited, raided and ravished by its composer. The earlier music had been written in the mid-fifties for a stage work Maratona di Danza and for its maker, the director Luchino Visconti. Elements from the older piece reappear on and off like shadows under the surface of new ones, like more or less vague memories, images of young people suffering pain and despair in their struggle for survival in a barbaric, pitiless modern world. My new composition is a kind of concerto for very large symphony orchestra, an etude on constant and often rapid musical changes of mood and colours, built on a variety of rhythmic figures, incessantly and brutally pushing the music ahead. Sometimes, it is as though voices are weeping, sometimes crying out loud with pain, with anxiety, under the cold hearted pressure of an overwhelming violence. Hans Werner Henze Commissioned on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of das neue werk, Hamburg. Premiered on 29th June 2001. Duration 15 minutes.
SKU: HL.293395
ISBN 9781540050984. UPC: 888680936129. 9.0x13.75x2.61 inches.
This cantata is a celebration of light. Filled with time-honored carols and expressive original songs, this work will dazzle and inspire. The first half of the cantata is dedicated to hopeful prophecies associated with the coming Light of the World. With the birth of Jesus, the second part moves forward to declare the tidings of great joy and is crowned with an opportunity for the congregation to join in singing, Joy to the World. Brant Adams and Robert Sterling shine as orchestrators of this truly festive work. Glorious! Songs include: A Festive Call to Christmas; Celebration of Light; Come, Golden Light; Dazzling Joy; Beautiful Name; Dreamer of Stars; Angel Song; Silver and Shadows; Joyous Carols of Christmas. Score and Parts for Full Orchestra (fl 1-2, ob, cl 1-2, bn, hn 1-2, tpt 1-3, tbn, 1-2, tba, timp, perc 1-2, hp, pno, vn 1-2, va, vc, db) available as a Printed Edition and as a digital download. Score and Parts for Consort (fl, cl, tpt 1-2, tbn, perc, kybd str) available as a Printed Edition and as a digital download.
SKU: HL.14008392
ISBN 9780711936942.
The story centres on the English princess Caroline Mathilde (1751-1775), sister of George III, who at the age of 15 was sent to Denmark to marry the 17-year-old eccentric and schizophrenic Danish King, Christian VII. The ballet portrays her unhappy marriage, the King's growing madness and her fatal love-affair with Struensee, the King's influential physician, which leads to their arrest, his execution and her exile, at the age of 20, separated from her two young children. In keeping with the period, and perhaps also with the traditions of Romantic ballet, the music is relatively simple in harmony and form, and most of the action is conveyed in set-piece dances. The suite, which consists essentially of the second half of Act I, begins with one of these, a bristling interplay of wind and string ensembles in D major, portraying in the ballet a curious nuptial game with the king and princess on movable pedestals. The slow music that follows has to do with the king's healing by Dr. Struensee and the new queen's unquiet reverie (oboe and cor anglais solos). Then the suite, like the act, is capped by a pair of pas-de-deux, the first savage and bizarre for the royal couple, the second rich and passionate for the queen and the miracle-working doctor. Score (miniature). Duration c. 25mins.
SKU: HL.49045270
ISBN 9790220137204. UPC: 841886028883. 8.25x11.75x0.2 inches.
The starting point was the collected letters of Vincent van Gogh. In spite of the tragedies for which van Gogh is best known, his letters are filled with joyous exuberance for the practical considerations of his work: what he will paint next and, most importantly, what colours he will use. For Julian Anderson, it seems the painter relishes 'the sheer stuff of which his art is made'. In Van Gogh Blue, Anderson relishes the sheer stuff of which his own art is made. Its a very physical, highly contrasted work about the joy of sound. Instrumental colour plays a large role, and Andersons use of two mobile clarinetists allows extra colour as their sound moves through the acoustic space of the hall.
SKU: PR.11641867L
UPC: 680160683215.
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: PR.11641867S
UPC: 680160683208.
SKU: BR.PB-5432
World premiere of the orchestral version: Stuttgart, January 1, 2018World premiere of the piano version: Mito, June 17, 2017
Have a look into EB 9283.
ISBN 9790004212790. 10 x 12.5 inches.
Marche fatale is an incautiously daring escapade that may annoy the fans of my compositions more than my earlier works, many of which have prevailed only after scandals at their world premieres. My Marche fatale has, though, little stylistically to do with my previous compositional path; it presents itself without restraint, if not as a regression, then still as a recourse to those empty phrases to which modern civilization still clings in its daily utility music, whereas music in the 20th and 21st centuries has long since advanced to new, unfamiliar soundscapes and expressive possibilities. The key term is banality. As creators we despise it, we try to avoid it - though we are not safe from the cheap banal even within new aesthetic achievements.Many composers have incidentally accepted the banal. Mozart wrote Ein musikalischer Spass [A Musical Jape], a deliberately amateurishly miscarried sextet. Beethoven's Bagatellen op. 119 were rejected by the publisher on the grounds that few will believe that this minor work is by the famous Beethoven. Mauricio Kagel wrote, tongue in cheek, so to speak, Marsche, um den Sieg zu verfehlen [Marches for being Unvictorious], Ligeti wrote Hungarian Rock; in his Circus Polka Stravinsky quoted and distorted the famous, all too popular Schubert military march, composed at the time for piano duet. I myself do not know, though, whether I ought to rank my Marche fatale alongside these examples: I accept the humor in daily life, the more so as this daily life for some of us is not otherwise to be borne. In music, I mistrust it, considering myself all the closer to the profounder idea of cheerfulness having little to do with humor. However: Isn't a march with its compelling claim to a collectively martial or festive mood absurd, a priori? Is it even music at all? Can one march and at the same time listen? Eventually, I resolved to take the absurd seriously - perhaps bitterly seriously - as a debunking emblem of our civilization that is standing on the brink. The way - seemingly unstoppable - into the black hole of all debilitating demons: that can become serene. My old request of myself and my music-creating surroundings is to write a non-music, whence the familiar concept of music is repeatedly re-defined anew and differently, so that derailed here - perhaps? - in a treacherous way, the concert hall becomes the place of mind-opening adventures instead of a refuge in illusory security. How could that happen? The rest is - thinking.(Helmut Lachenmann, 2017)CD (Version for Piano):Nicolas Hodges CD Wergo WER 7393 2 Bibliography:Ich bin nicht ,,pietistisch verformt. Ein Gesprach [von Jan Brachmann] mit dem Komponisten Helmut Lachenmann, in: FAZ vom 7. Juni 2018, p. 15.World premiere of the piano version: Mito/Japan, June 17, 2017, World premiere of the orchestral version: Stuttgart, January 1, 2018, World premiere of the ensemble version: Frankfurt, December 9, 2020.
SKU: HL.260537
ISBN 9788759840276.
Bestilt af DR til DR VokalEnsemblet og DR SymfoniOrkestret til fejringen af 500-ars dagen for Reformationen d. 31. oktober 2017. Tekst fra Luthers Hymne, 1523 Nu fryd jer, kristne menighed, nu ingen sorg vil tynge. I samlet flok, med liv og lyst, vi tillidsfuldt vil synge: at Gud, der er sa god og st''rk, ar gjort et herligt underv''rk som dyrt han matte yde. Hvad jeg har l''rt, alt hvad jeg var, det ma du ogsa v''re. Guds rige vil vokse sig stort til lov og pris og ''re. Korpartitur / Vocal score: WH33037C Stemmer / Parts are available on hire: hire@ewh.dk.
SKU: BT.MUSM570366712
English.
Le Voyage Dans La Lune is a continuous orchestral score of approximately 14 minutes comprising two outer fast sections and a slower inner section of a dream-like character. The work is directly inspired by the film Le Voyage Dans La Lune (1902), written and directed by the pioneering French film-maker, Georges Méliès. Méliès was influenced by 19th century interests in science and discoveries, as well as the science fiction of Jules Verne. At the same time his work seems fantastic, surreal and satirical. Some critics point out an underlying critique of colonial adventuring. The plot centres on a group of astronomers who decide to launch a rocket to the moon containing a handful of their number. They reach the moon (famously landing on the moon’s face) and then encounter a strange race of aliens, whom they battle and destroy. The return to earth involves a dramatic descent, a plunge into the ocean and then celebratory dancing. The film inhabits a surreal and dream-like space, and uses an idiosyncratic visual language which transforms reality. This inspired an active musical response in my own score, which is by turns abrupt, smooth, lyrical and violent, and expresses something of the strange shifting surfaces and multiple and layered tempos evident in the film. The canons in the horns in the first scene reflect the intense arguments of the astronomers as they consider the project. The slower inner section is inspired by the scenes of the industrial City viewed from its rooftops by the astronomers. It also expresses the wonder of the astronomers as they see the earth rise from the perspective of the moon after their arrival there. The music of the final section is in places conflicted, reflecting the violent encounters with the moon’s inhabitants. It moves into a more harmonious phase at the close to match the celebrations upon the astronomers’ return from their adventuring. The music could be considered to be a surreal mini-opera without voices, voicing instead the characters of the silent screen. - Ed Hughes.
SKU: BT.MUSM570366699
SKU: BR.PB-5710
ISBN 9790004216477. 10.5 x 14 inches.
Richard Strauss's last completed tone poem is regarded as the pinnacle of his art of orchestration: Now I've finally learned to orchestrate, he himself is once supposed to have said about it after the dress rehearsal. The single-movement Alpine symphony that we know today ultimately evolved - over almost 15 years - from the original drafts of an artist's tragedy, titled Der Antichrist. Eine Alpensinfonie [The Antichrist. An Alpine Symphony] up to the stage of the last sketches. With unprecedented plasticity, the work showcases a (metaphysical?) mountain hike with stops in the forest, at the waterfall, on the alpine pasture and, of course, at the summit. Apropos alpine pastures: up to the score's fair copy stage, Strauss envisaged a high and a low alphorn for the section Auf der Alm [On the Alpine Pasture] and the well-known Dulioh theme, though for various reasons first detailed in our new Urtext edition, these exotic instruments did not find their way into the printed version. In the new edition, the editor, Nick Pfefferkorn, reproduces the alphorn passages in small print, also adding two alphorn parts to the performance material, besides evaluating the corrections made by Walter Seifert at Strauss's request.First Urtext edition since the first editionEvaluation of all available sources, including sketches and the score corrected by Walter Seifert Extensive preface on the work's compositional history and receptionDetailed Critical ReportFacsimile pages.
SKU: KN.8143
UPC: 822795081435.
William Billings' illustrious hymn Chester is scored here in a very playable concert setting that allows for a full sound and interesting lines in all parts. The simple nobility of the melodic line and its strong, solid harmonies are major factors in the enduring popularity of this song. Duration 2:55. Available in SmartMusic.
SKU: HL.49006187
ISBN 9790001067270. UPC: 884088099282. 8.25x11.75x0.41 inches. German - English.
4 (1., 2. auch Picc., 3., 4. auch Altfl.) * 1 * Ob. d'am. * Engl. Hr. * Heckelphon * Es-Klar. * 1 * Altklar. (oder Bassetthr.) * Bassklar. * Sopransax. * Tenorsax. * 2 * Kfg. - 4 * Picc.-Trp. * 2 * Basstrp. * Altpos. * 1 * Basspos. * Alt-Ofikleide (oder Bombardino) * Bass-Ofikleide (oder Pos. mit Quartventil) * Bombardino (oder Tb. in F) * Wagnertb. * 1 * Kb.-Tb. - P. S. (3 Trgl. * 3 hg. Beck. * Beckenpaar * 3 Gongs * Kuhgl. * 5 Tamt. * Tamb. * Mil. Tr. * 3 Bong. * Tabla * orient. Woodbl. * gr. Tr. * 2 Tempelbl. * Metallbl. * Woodbl. * Mar. * Guiro * Bambusbundel * 3 Metallplatten * Shell-Chimes * Vibr. * Marimba * Rohrengl.) (12 Spieler) - E-Git. * E-Bassgit. * 2 Hfn. * Klav. * E-Org. - Str. (12 * 0 * 8 * 6 * 4).
SKU: SU.25100210
A pops medley of In Dulce Jubilo, O Tannenbaum, Carol of the Bells, Il est ne le petit enfant, and The Twelve Days of Christmas.2(1)222; 4331; 3perc, set, pno, egtr, bgtr(opt); stgs Duration: 7' Composed: 2020 Published by: Gusthold Music Publisher Performance materials available on rental only:.
SKU: AP.33649S
UPC: 038081379968. English.
Imagine spending the Christmas holidays in an old wild west town, with cowboys and Indians, wagon rides, gunfights, and, of course, a visit from Old St. Nick. Based on Jingle Bells with snippets of other well-loved Christmas tunes woven in, this piece is sure to make the audience smile as they experience Christmas and the Old West in a new way!
SKU: HL.14028514
ISBN 9780711997813. UPC: 888680744199. 8.25x11.75x0.26 inches.
Concerto for flute and orchestra. Study score edition. First performed at the Flanders Festival in Brussels 12th October 2001. Composer's Notes: I have been very familiar with the flute since my earliest pieces. I like the sound in which breathing is ever present and with timbral possibilities that befit my musical language: the instrument's body makes it possible to write phrases that go through grinding textures coloured with phonemes whispered by the flutist which gradually go towards pure and smooth sounds. Kaija Saariaho Duration 18 minutes. Solo part is also available on sale. Conductor's score and orchestral parts are available on hire only.
SKU: HL.48024880
ISBN 9781784545154. UPC: 840126918670. 7.25x10.25x0.319 inches.
This publication presents under one cover various short works for sundry orchestral scorings. Larghetto for Orchestra is MacMillan's orchestration (2017) of his celebrated Miserere for a cappella mixed choir (2009), a setting in Latin of Psalm 51, 'Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy great mercy', the penitential text famously set in the 17th century by Gregorio Allegri. The Larghetto orchestration was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in celebration of Manfred Honeck's 10th Anniversary as Music Director. Memoire imperiale is one of a number of variations on General John Reids march tune Old Gaul commissioned from Scottish composers to mark the centenary in 1994 of the Faculty of Music at Edinburgh University. The Faculty was established following a bequest by General Reid (1721-1807), a former law student at the University and a renowned flute player and composer of marches for the BritishArmy, and he asked that an annual concert be organised at which one or more of his compositions be played. Composed in 2012 for the Britten Sinfonia, One is a monody in which a single line is passed around the instruments, painting it with different colours as it emerges and develops. Lasting only a few minutes, its singularity is maintained until blossoming in the lastfew bars. For Sonny (2011, orch 2013) and Ein Lamplein verlosch (2018, orch 2019) are short, private memorial tributes originally for string quartet and here rescored for string orchestra. Hirta was composed in 2016 as part of Deccas The Lost Songs of St Kilda project. Nearly a century ago, the last 36 residents were evacuated from the most remote part of the British Isles, St Kilda, an isolated archipelago off the beautiful and rugged western coast of Scotland. After 86 years, the music of St Kilda was rediscovered, recorded in a Scottish care home by Trevor Morrison, an elderly man who had been taught piano by an inhabitant of St Kilda. The songs were 'reimagined' for the Decca album by various.
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