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: BR.PB-4068

The aim of this combined scholarly and practical edition of the Brandenburg Concerto is to offer a state of the art performance material of this standard work of Baroque music literature, which satisfies the practical needs of performing artists.

ISBN 9790004202449. 9 x 12 inches.

The aim of this combined scholarly and practical edition of the Brandenburg Concertos is to offer a state of the art performance material of these standard works of Baroque music literature, which satisfies the practical needs of performing artists.These new editions were based on surviving autographic source material - some of which, for the Fifth Concerto for example, has been taken into account for the first time - and the 'Neue Bach-Ausgabe' (NBA). Moreover, they also make use of relevant 18th-century theoretical writings for editorial additions and observations on performance practice.(from the joint preface to the Six Brandenburg Concertos by the Bach scholars Werner Felix, Winfried Hoffmann and Armin Schneiderheinze)

The aim of this combined scholarly and practical edition of the Brandenburg Concerto is to offer a state of the art performance material of this standard work of Baroque music literature, which satisfies the practical needs of performing artists.

SKU: WD.080689394577

UPC: 080689394577.

Perfectly fitting for Easter or any time of the year, this arrangement for orchestra by Geoff Grant is a gorgeous feature that will prepare the congregation’s hearts for worship!

SKU: HL.50606858

UPC: 196288194552.

Weakened by a series of chronic illnesses and aware of his impending death, Shostakovich looks back on his life in Symphony No.15 inA major, op.141. The work opens with cheerful reminiscences from his youth, featuring quotations from his early works and allusions to Rossini. But already by the second movement, a funeral march rich with self-quotation, the mood changes. In the cantabile movement which follows, one hears the murmuring ghosts of the past. With echoes of Richard Wagner, the eerie finale ultimately instructs the listener to remain fearful through its crumbling tonality. This volume is part of the revised and corrected new edition of all 15 symphonies by Dmitri Shostakovich published by Boosey & Hawkes and Sikorski as large format study scores for optimal legibility. All scores and the related orchestral parts have been newly computer typeset, and the orchestral parts are also compatible for performance use with scores in “The New Collected Works of DmitriShostakovich”.

Special Import titles are specialty titles that are not generally offered for sale by US based retailers. These items must be obtained from our overseas suppliers. When you order a special import title, it will be shipped from our overseas warehouse. The shipment time will be slower than items shipped directly from our US warehouse and may be subject to delays.

SKU: BR.SON-618

Sibelius No. Zero?

ISBN 9790004803202. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Whoever is looking for orchestral works in several movements by Sibelius before the seven officially numbered symphonies will run into Kullervo op. 7, as well as Lemminkainen op. 22. Sibelius follows a cyclical concept in these four tone poems, so that Lemminkainen, owing to its time of origin, can truly be labeled as his Symphony No. Zero. The previously unprinted early versions, presented in the respective volume of the Complete Edition for the first time, can be dated to the year 1895/96. The first revision was made in 1897, after the world premiere. Only after this premiere did Sibelius write his First Symphony before he again revised the Lemminkainen scores some of them much later and had them published.