SKU: AP.48033

ISBN 9781470642716. UPC: 038081554600. English.

The three movements of Spring Promises highlight the energy of spring that follows a long winter. The first movement, A Garden's Promise, features a lyrical melody line over a chord progression that includes a descending bass line. It portrays the beauty of the flowers that begin to appear with the warmer weather. Staccato fifths and grace notes suggest the image of Soft Rains in the A section of the second movement. Triplets in the B section give a stronger sense of movement. The final movement---Spring Fever!---is a rondo that uses root position and second inversion chords in a lively setting. The staccato chords alternate with more lyrical lines to provide contrast.

SKU: AP.48701

ISBN 9781470643942. UPC: 038081559780. English.

The three movements of Adventures in Yellowstone present iconic scenes from the park. The first movement, Waiting for Old Faithful, begins with a tremolo, representing the rumbling before the famous geyser erupts, followed by figures that move up and down the keyboard depicting the shooting water. Grand Prismatic Spring is the second movement, a mysterious piece filled with scale-like figures and short motives based on various intervals. The last movement, Wildlife in the Valleys, creates various moods associated with animals found in the region, including wolves, bears, and buffalo. The exciting ending concludes with a glissando and fortissimo chords.

SKU: FG.55011-642-9

ISBN 9790550116429.

Kalevi Aho's Piano Concerto No. 2 is scored for a string orchestra comprising just twenty players. The first performance took place at the concluding concert of the 2003 Mantta Music Festival, in Vilppula Church on 29th June. The soloist was Antti Siirala and the strings of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra were conducted by Osmo Vanska. The demanding piano writing is primarily a consequence of Siirala's remarkable command of the 'Beethovenian-Lisztian-Brahmsian' pianistic tradition. At times the piano part is lean and linear, but the work also contains multi-layered, full-toned piano textures and massive rolling octaves. The concerto requires great artistry on the part of the performer. The Second Piano Concerto lasts roughly half an hour and comprises three untitled movements played without a break. The first movement and the finale are extremely fast; these outer movements contain plenty of playful music. The slow second movement is more serious in tone, and its piano texture is very ample. The difficult cadenza at the end of the finale brings more serious emotions to the coda as well.

SKU: PR.110418490

ISBN 9781491137260. UPC: 680160690022.

Carter Pann writes, the piece might have been titled Three Improvisations, but there is an expressive inertia baked in to these works which makes them truer as rhapsodies. This description tells us much about the work, whose movements are an enterprising tango, a bombastic central movement with virtuosic thrust, and a and a hymn heard from afar without any sense of marked time.
Three Rhapsodies was commissioned by the American Composers Forum with complete support from the Thelma E. Hunter Fund. The premiere performance took place in Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York by pianist Marina Lomazov.As with all of my piano works, this was very much an at-the-piano compositional experience. As a pianist I cannot imagine writing a solo work away from the instrument (though at times that would be quite convenient).The whole work explores a palette of impassioned emotions – sometimes veiled, sometimes emboldened, or even outrageous at times. There are technical freedoms in each movement, allowing the pianist to stretch their interpretive inclinations to great lengths. In this way the piece might have been titled Three Improvisations, but there is an expressive inertia baked in to these works which make them truer as rhapsodies.The first movement is a tango with real wanderlust. The second reminds me of Rachmaninoff’s Polka de W.R. in its bombast, but also Chopin’s sixteenth prelude with its sheer virtuosic thrust. The third is a hymn heard from afar with no rhythmic drive, only sheened sonority.

SKU: A7.ALEA1074

Austrian composer Wolfgang Gabriel (1930-) wrote his Piano Sonata Op.83 for Kimberly Davenport in 2003. The two movement work utilizes the same two twelve-tone rows in both movements. Although structured with the twelve-tone rows, the work's language is quite accessible for performer and audience alike, featuring an opening slow movement which builds in dramatic intensity, and a quick second movement which builds in excitement. There are moderate technical challenges, but the would be an easy addition to the professional pianist's repertoire, and would make an excellent challenge for a high-school or college pianist. The composer's detailed explanation of the twelve-tone rows is included with the score, to aid in the performer's analysis and understanding of the work.