SKU: JK.02036

UPC: 093285020368.

A Truly Classic Christmas consists of twelve tasteful Baroque Christmas settings for string quartet, as played by the Piranesi String Quartet. These arrangements are masterfully crafted for advanced players and will liven any Christmas event.

Instrumental books are each sold separately.
Violin 1 - #02035
Violin 2 - #02036
Viola - #02037
Cello - #02038
Songs Included:
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Deck the Halls
O Tannenbaum
Angels We Have Heard on High
God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen
O Little Town of Bethlehem
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
The Twelve Days of Christmas
We Three Kings
Joy to the World
Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful

Composer: Various
Arranger: David Fick
Difficulty: Advanced
Reference: Luke 2.

SKU: HL.49046112

ISBN 9790001188685. UPC: 842819100164. 9.0x12.0x0.198 inches. German - English - French.

Garth Knox is one of the most prolific violists of his generation, and as a former member of the Arditti Quartet for years, he has developed his love of contemporary music. He now gives concerts and organizes workshops all over the world. Following his highly successful Viola Spaces, he has now released the Violin Spaces, concert etudes for violin, which bring advanced playing techniques to advanced players. The pieces - or â??spacesâ? - give each of them a space for specific techniques, such as the flageolette, pizzicato technique (with 10 fingers!) Or glissando variants. The Violin Spaces are dedicated to the violinist Diamanda Dramm, who worked closely with the composer during the development of the pieces.

SKU: ST.Y274

ISBN 9790220223358.

1st perf: Keisuke Okazaki, Tokyo Opera City Recital Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 22 April 2008
1st UK perf: Darragh Morgan, Schott Recital Room, Bauer & Hieber, London, 5 February 2009

Though the jagged figures and phrases of Lucky's Dream by Morgan Hayes are unmistakably those of a contemporary musical expressionist, the shadow of Bach also falls on this work, inspired by the virtuosity of the young Japanese soloist Keisuke Okazaki and his playing of the E major Partita.

In fact, though 'standard' contemporary techniques are widely used in the piece - left-hand pizzicato, harmonics and microtones, all deployed in edgy, unpredictable rhythms - there is also a classical shape to the structure. In this two-part form, lasting around four minutes, the first section is reflective, dwelling on single notes, phantoms as it were of pitches that are subtly deflected through slow glissandi. Then a spectral dance ensues, delivered largely on plucked strings, ethereal, disembodied, strange.

The 'Lucky' in question is a character from Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot, and Lucky's Dream is a complementary work to the earlier, impassioned Lucky's Speech (2006). The two items can stand alone or may be performed consecutively. Both are to be found on the recent all-Hayes CD released on the NMC label (NMC D163), which also features the composer's 17-minute Violin Concerto as further evidence for his original approach to writing for the instrument.

SKU: HL.50499695

ISBN 979080148853. 9.0x12.0x0.063 inches. Andras Szollosy; Mihaly Barta.

Andras Szollosy (1921-2007) was one of the most significant Hungarian composers of the second half of the 20th century, yet his oeuvre has not become as well-known as that of Gyorgy Ligeti, two years his junior, or of Gyorgy Kurtag, five years his junior. Szollosy did not compose many works and he was strict about which of them he would allow to go public. As a younger colleague of his once remarked: He only composed his good works. Szollosy's Sonata for Solo Violin, which was written at the age of 26 and was publicly performed only in 2006, almost 60 years after its composition, fell victim to his self-criticism. Although the model of Bartok's Sonata for Solo Violin of just three years earlier was obviously on the young composer's mind, he was no epigone of the great master. From the aspect of both composition and instrumental technique, the 11-minute Sonata for Solo Violin represents exacting and prominent music, and is a remarkable piece among works written for the violin in 20th-century Hungarian music. The score of the posthumously published work was edited by the soloist of its world premiere, Michael Barta.