SKU: HL.48024477
ISBN 9781540037992. UPC: 888680885397. 9.0x12.0x0.061 inches.
Written in 2010 for violinists Todd Reynolds, and the sky was still there tells the story of an old friend, Amber Ferenz, and the epiphany that led her to embrace her true self, confront the US Army, and accept a dishonorable discharge under the Army's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. Amber tells her own story in this work, while the violin plays along, providing a sometimes-somber, sometimes-whimsical sub-text. Amber's story, though unique, represents a struggle we all face on some level, whether to confrom to cultural expectations, or defy them in pursuit of greater truths. -- David T. Little.
SKU: PR.144407380
ISBN 9781491133903. UPC: 680160683475. 9 x 12 inches.
In her powerful Foreword to the music, violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins has written: “There are great works which give voice to important moments for generations, and this is one of them.†The tragedy of Elijah McClain’s murder has moved us all, and for many musicians the image of this gentle young man playing his violin for kittens at an animal shelter has added a poignant extra layer. Zwilich was a professional violinist before turning exclusively to composing, and A LITTLE VIOLIN MUSIC is a memorial from the heart of one violinist to another.[THESE NOTES MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED OUTSIDE OF THE PUBLICATION; OK TO QUOTE A BIT AND GIVE AUTHOR CREDIT]We often research important pieces of music to gain some glimpse into the mind of the composer by understanding the times in which a piece was written. The times that brought this piece into being, 2020, has been a year like no other in our lifetimes.With the suffering of a once in a century pandemic raging in ever higher waves, and millions of people around the world confined to their homes with a shared attention span for the first time in generations, we watched in horror the 8 minute 46 second killing of George Floyd, a man previously unknown to us, but now unwillingly joining a long list of names of unarmed African Americans killed by police. The anguished backlash of citizens around the world, from Japan to New Zealand to Germany to the United States, of every age, color, and creed, has rallied for weeks and months on end to demand enough and that “Black Lives Matter.â€And yet, in the midst of it all is an America starkly divided against itself with some defiantly pushing back, emboldened by authoritarian-style government actions against its own citizens occurring all over the country. It is against this backdrop that we ever had a chance to know of Elijah McClain. Here in quarantine I sometimes practice my scales in front of the news. And one day the mirror image looking back at me from the screen was a slight young man, warm, affable brown eyes, and also a violin under his chin. The newsreel-style camera pan so familiar now, I knew the only reason we were gazing upon his unfamous face was that he too had been killed by police nearly a year before. But the revelation of it in the broadcast hit me particularly hard.Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, who is not only one of the great composers of our time, is also a dear friend, and called me the next day, also deeply saddened by the news. It was from Ellen that I learned that Elijah used to play for the kittens at the local animal shelter so they wouldn’t be lonely. This kind, gentle soul was aggressively taken into police custody while saying, “I am an introvert. Please respect the boundaries that I am speaking... I’m going home.†He was never seen alive again.Ellen and I spoke of the sadness and the injustice of this several times. She felt a powerful calling to contribute something in a statement and the result is the piece you now hold in your hands. I am deeply honored to be the dedicatee of the piece, to have worked together with Ellen on some of the final details, and to pen this score note. As an invited alumna of the Eastman School of Music, I premiered the work for their virtual event on Diversity and Inclusion. Each time I play it, there is a persistent lump in my throat because Ellen has captured something poignant and powerful here.There are great works which give voice to important moments for generations, and this is one of them. We humbly offer this piece in memory of Elijah McClain.Foreword © 2021 by Kelly Hall-Tompkins. Used by permission.
SKU: PR.114418750
ISBN 9781491129524. UPC: 680160655489. 9 x 12 inches.
The seven-movement in the snowy margins might be considered a sort of atomic suite, as each movement is succinct, yet a microcosmic powerhouse inspired by “The Comet,” by Polish writer and Holocaust victim Bruno Schulz. Hersch’s intensity is expressed through dramatically captivating violin gestures, pushing the boundaries of texture, technique, and emotion.Michael Hersch’s in the snowy margins was written in 2010. Like much of his work, it is grounded in literature and art. The title is drawn from a short story, The Comet by Polish writer, poet, and artist, Bruno Schulz (1892-1942). This forms the last of his collection The Street of Crocodiles, published in 1934. Schulz was shot by a Nazi officer in 1942.Both the title of Hersch’s work, and the ‘motto’ found on the composer’s manuscript (‘Thus far and no further. But what has become of the end of the world…’) are to be found in The Comet. It’s interesting that in in the snowy margins, unlike his earlier Fourteen Pieces which were inspired by the poetry of Primo Levi, Hersch chose to not title each individual movement with a quote. However his choices of text are applied, there is a clear quality of distillation. In every case, the texts which the composer has chosen to eschew lie beneath the music, akin to the greater mass of an iceberg, submerged, but imminent.Hersch also has very particular taste in visual art, and there seems to be common ground between the intensely expressionist drawing of Schulz, and those of Michael Mazur, which inspired his string quartet Images from a Closed Ward. The parallels between these artists reflect common traits shared between these two pieces, which provide a window on how the music should be approached, expressively and technically. I would argue, that from a violinist’s point of view, this pertains directly to how bow and left hand should approach the string: the febrile vibrancy of both Mazur and Schulz’s pencil and charcoal strokes, perhaps what T.S. Eliot called the ‘circulation of the lymph’, in every gesture, speaks to the intense experience, physically and emotionally, of playing (and hearing) this music. There is an intense sense of ‘truth to materials’ at every moment, the sense that every note sings on the edge of, or even beyond, total collapse.— Peter Sheppard-Skaerved.
SKU: HL.844286
ISBN 9780793533008. UPC: 073999442861. 9x12 inches.
60 of McCartney and Lennon's greatest, including: All My Loving* Eleanor Rigby* Help!* I Want To Hold Your Hand* Yesterday* more. Includes discography.
SKU: PR.416415110
UPC: 680160621286.
Commissioned by Kennesaw State University Symphony Orchestra in 2012, Chinese Rap for violin and orchestra is premiered by Prof. Helen Kim as the soloist and the KSUSO led by Prof. Michael Alexander at Bailey Center in KSU, GA on Feb. 17, 2014. The work is inspired by Chinese folk musical story telling, Quyi, in a form of mixed reciting and singing style, with interludes played by percussion and plucking instruments in accompaniment. The folk musical story telling is sung in dialects from different geographic regions. I mixed all these elements in a complex three-part form, with an introduction, a cadenza in the middle, and a coda as the frame in the structure. The melodies are delicate and leisurely, and the rhythmic parts are energetic, vivid and lively. There are big contrasts between sections, which are juxtaposed and connected smoothly and congenially.Commissioned by Kennesaw State University Symphony Orchestra in 2012,Chinese Rap for violin and orchestra is premiered by Prof. Helen Kim as thesoloist and the KSUSO led by Prof. Michael Alexander at Bailey Center inKSU, GA on Feb. 17, 2014. The work is inspired by Chinese folk musical storytelling, Quyi, in a form of mixed reciting and singing style, with interludesplayed by percussion and plucking instruments in accompaniment. The folkmusical story telling is sung in dialects from different geographic regions. Imixed all these elements in a complex three-part form, with an introduction, a cadenza in the middle, and a coda as the frame in the structure. The melodies are delicate and leisurely, and the rhythmic parts are energetic, vivid and lively. There are big contrasts between sections, which are juxtaposed and connected smoothly and congenially.
SKU: PR.41641511L
UPC: 680160621293.
SKU: ST.C544
ISBN 9790570815449.
Student Violin part with either teacher (as violin duets) or with piano accompaniment (Vln & Pno).This bumper volume incorporates the three separate former publications from Spartan Press, the series called 'Concertinos in the Olden Style' (SP1121–3).Piano accompaniments by Heidi Rolfe.Nigel Goldberg writes:I can still remember the thrill I felt as a child of 8 when my violin teacher introduced me to my first concertino. Learning, playing and eventually mastering the famous Küchler Concertino in D major made me feel privileged and grown-up, as if I were joining a very special club.That was a long time ago, yet for me concertinos still hold a distinctive place in the teaching repertoire. Having now taught the violin for the last thirty years and seen how happily my pupils respond to learning duets - that distinctive sense of enjoyment at playing with an adult, the improvement of intonation and tone production, the liveliness of the lesson - I have composed three new concertinos, inspired by the duet form.Taking three great keys for the violin – G, D and A minor, I have endeavoured to combine emotionally engaging and technically educational music in the 'Olden Style'. Uniquely, I have written a second violin part for the teacher to play alongside their pupil's part and there is also a piano accompaniment for use alternatively in concert settings.I very much hope that these concertinos prove as popular and as helpful as the series of duets in my previously published books, Sounds of a Rainbow and, that they ignite that sense of wonderment and purpose I experienced while playing the Kuchler, all those years ago.Former Spartan Press Cat. No.: SP1121.
SKU: CF.BF115
ISBN 9781491150993. UPC: 680160908493. 9x12 inches.
Johann Sebastian Bach’s (1685—1750) SixSonatas and Partitas have captivated violinistsfor centuries. Rachel Barton Pine—havingspent decades studying the music of Bach,his contemporaries, and his predecessors—now offers this unparalleled edition completewith detailed historical notes, performancesuggestions, and downloadable study materialsincluding a new Urtext edition and a speciallyprepared manuscript. Pine’s interpretationis informed by thorough historical study, which has been polished byyears of performance insight, but also encourages those studying Bach’srepertoire to craft their own unique interpretation of these timelessmasterpieces. This edition closely follows Pine’s critically acclaimed 2016recording “Testament: Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin byJ.S. Bach†(Avie 2360) making it an invaluable resource for any student,teacher, or performer enthralled with J.S. Bach’s long standing legacy.Ms. Pine holds the distinction of being the only American and youngestperson to win the gold medal at the J.S. Bach International ViolinCompetition in Leipzig, Germany, 1992.here is no one right way to play Bach. More thanalmost any repertoire, each individual’s interpretation isas unique as their personality. Though I have spent decadesstudying Bach’s music as well as that of his contemporariesand predecessors, my final rationale for artisticdecisions is often taste and instinct. Every violinist whoundertakes a lifetime’s journey with this incredible repertoireis continually discovering new ideas. Thus, theopinions on the following pages may evolve over time.However, everything in the sheet music closely follows my2016 recording “Testament: Complete Sonatas and Partitasfor Solo Violin by J.S. Bach†(Avie 2360), which I trulyfeel represents the culmination of my exploration intothese extraordinary works.In choosing to present this edition, my hope is thatyou will find useful solutions to challenges of fingering,bowing, and polyphony, and helpful information aboutphrasing. I have also included additional dynamic suggestionswith the hope that trying these ideas will help inspireyou to discover your own. All of these markings aredesigned to work with a baroque violin and baroque bow,a modern violin and baroque bow, or a modern violinand modern bow. While the information in this editionis unusually dense, there is much that I did not include,such as lifts, breaths, articulations, whether to play on oroff the string, metronome markings, details of timing,and emphases other than hemiolas.I offer this book to you in the spirit of Bach: “SoliDeo Gloria.â€.
