SKU: PR.164002390
UPC: 680160038091.
I became interested in the work of Plato through my friend and collaborator, the writer and philosopher Paul Woodruff. Paul's new translation, with Alexander Nehamas, of the Symposium gave me insights into ancient Greek ways of thinking about Love, Beauty, and Wisdom -- and managed to keep the earthy, and often bawdy side of it all in full view. But their new translation of Plato's later dialogue Phaedrus went even further: the beauty of the speeches is breathtaking, and the discourse itself is enough to keep one awake at night. Basically the Great Speech of Socrates in the Phaedrus dialogue has to do with the place of Eros in the world, and with the conflict in the soul between fleshly pleasure and philosophic discovery. I will not attempt to encapsulate this brilliant discourse in a program note: suffice it to say that reading it gave rise to my two-sided work for clarinet, violin, and piano, Phaedrus. The first movement represents the Philosophic life, and is thus subtitled Apollo's Lyre (Invocation and Hymn). It begins with an unaccompanied melody for the clarinet, which (after a pair of harp-like flourishes for the piano, expands into an accompanied canon. The voices in the dialogue (clarinet and violin) follow each other by a prescribed number of beats, but the music is totally devoid of any meter at all. The piano, representing the lyre, accompanies this lyric love-feast with repeated strummed chords. The canon has three large sections, and ends with violin echoing the unaccompanied clarinet invocation as the sound of the lyre fades. The second movement, called Dionysus' Dream-Orgy (Ritual Dance) presents, after a brief introduction, another kind of unmetered music. Rather than long lyric flights of philosophic song, however, this time we hear a unison dance of unbridled energy and sensual transport. The piece soon forms itself into a loose arch form, with contrasting metered dance sections divided by the unison unmetered orgy tune. Midway through the movement, Apollo's melody returns from the first movement, but it is a temporary reminiscence. The orgiastic dance returns, reaches a climax, and ends with a stomping of feet. While Plato asserts that a proper balance between lust and reason is necessary in all men, he (naturally) gives the nod to Philosophy as the better choice in which to live. Not so in my music: the two sides are meant to coexist and to complement each other. No sides are taken. Phaedrus was commissioned of the Verdehr Trio by Michigan State University. It is dedicated to the Vedehr Trio with great affection and admiration.
SKU: CF.B3475
ISBN 9781491162026. UPC: 680160920709.
This work for violin and piano by Martin Bresnick is a play on the words suite and bittersweet. Each of the four movements is based on a Yiddish folk song, which in English translate to On the Road, My Resting Place, Black Cat, and Dona, Dona. Each of the four pieces is primarily based on a Jewish folk song, but re-envisions them in a modern context, akin to Bartok and Kodaly. The composer noted, I found it a very challenging, yet touching way to remain in contact with some part of my own past that I don't usually reveal. The title references the difficult (bitter) and pleasant (sweet) aspects of experiencing the tumultuous history of a people through their folk music.This work for violin and piano by Martin Bresnick is a play on the words suite and bittersweet. Each of the four movements is based on a Yiddish folk song, which in English translate to On the Road, My Resting Place, Black Cat, and Dona, Dona. Each of the four pieces is primarily based on a Jewish folk song, but re-envisions them in a modern context, akin to Bartok and Kodaly. The composer noted, “I found it a very challenging, yet touching way to remain in contact with some part of my own past that I don’t usually reveal.†The title references the difficult (bitter) and pleasant (sweet) aspects of experiencing the tumultuous history of a people through their folk music.
SKU: PR.114423360
UPC: 680160686285.
When the Newport Music Festival commissioned me for a piano trio in honor of their 2021 season, I looked for a topic that would celebrate an aspect of the Newport community. While researching the area, I was struck by the nine lighthouses situated around the island. The dual nature of lighthouses was particularly appealing to me: not only do they serve a vital role in the navigation of ships around rocks and land, but they are also a beautiful sight, particularly at night when their blinking beacons are clearly visible to the eye. It occurred to me that lighthouses link the past with the present, and will endure long into the future, with their beacons serving the same purpose for every generation.I became fascinated with the lighthouse on the property of Castle Hill Inn, located at the opening of the East Passage of the Narragansett Bay. This squat thirty-four foot granite structure was erected in 1890 on a very picturesque spot, right at the water’s edge. Its “characteristic,†the nautical term for each lighthouse’s unique light sequence that allows ships to identify the lighthouse, is to alternate on for three seconds, then off for three seconds. The lighthouse has also served as the starting and finish line for numerous high profile yacht races, as well as survived a massive hurricane in 1938, though the lighthouse keeper’s nearby residence wasn’t so lucky. American novelist Thornton Wilder wrote much of his 1973 novel Theophilus North while staying at the Castle Hill Inn; a passage from the book perfectly captures the dual nature of lighthouses:“At a later visit I was able to engage the pentagonal room in a turret above the house; from that magical room I could see at night the beacons of six lighthouses and hear the booming and chiming of as many sea buoys.â€In Beacon of the Bay, we first hear the lighthouse’s characteristic as its ruby light blinks on and off. This is followed by a simple theme that represents the lighthouse performing its solitary duty. As the piece progresses, we hear waves playfully lapping around its base, then yachts gracefully floating by; this is followed by a violent storm that churns the waves with so much force that they crash against the lighthouse’s granite body. But the steadfast lighthouse holds firm to the rocks, grandly blinking its ruby light. The music quiets back down to its simple theme, with yachts sailing by once more as the piece concludes.
SKU: PR.114422690
UPC: 680160684809. 9 x 12 inches.
In 2014, I enjoyed a wonderful residence at the Ucross Foundation in Clearmont,Wyoming. Ucross is an artist colony that gives writers, composers, and visual artists thegift of time, space, and support to follow their artistic pursuits; we are provided withstudio space, housing, and meals so that we can work continuously on our projects. I havebeen in residence at numerous artist colonies; however, nothing in my previousexperiences prepared me for living in such isolated, wild country. Ucross is situated on a20,000-acre cattle ranch at nearly 4,000 feet in elevation with fewer than 150 peopleliving within the town. But what Clearmont lacks in population, it makes up forabundantly and spectacularly in wilderness and wildlife. I composed the sextet Postcardsfrom Wyoming to offer three glimpses of what I found to be the most striking aspects ofmy residence. The Solitude of Stars, the third and final movement of the original sextet,was inspired by the stunning nightly display of the heavens above. Without city lightsdimming the night sky, countless stars shone brightly over the vast expanse of the prairie.This edition is part of The Solitude of Stars Project that I undertook during the 2020COVID-19 pandemic, which consists of a series of arrangements that I made forcolleagues and friends.In 2014, I enjoyed a wonderful residence at the Ucross Foundation in Clearmont, Wyoming. Ucross is an artist colony that gives writers, composers, and visual artists the gift of time, space, and support to follow their artistic pursuits; we are provided with studio space, housing, and meals so that we can work continuously on our projects. I have been in residence at numerous artist colonies; however, nothing in my previous experiences prepared me for living in such isolated, wild country. Ucross is situated on a 20,000-acre cattle ranch at nearly 4,000 feet in elevation with fewer than 150 people living within the town. But what Clearmont lacks in population, it makes up for abundantly and spectacularly in wilderness and wildlife. I composed the sextet Postcards from Wyoming to offer three glimpses of what I found to be the most striking aspects of my residence. The Solitude of Stars, the third and final movement of the original sextet, was inspired by the stunning nightly display of the heavens above. Without city lights dimming the night sky, countless stars shone brightly over the vast expanse of the prairie. This edition is part of The Solitude of Stars Project that I undertook during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, which consists of a series of arrangements that I made for colleagues and friends.In 2014, I enjoyed a wonderful residence at the Ucross Foundation in Clearmont,Wyoming. Ucross is an artist colony that gives writers, composers, and visual artists thegift of time, space, and support to follow their artistic pursuits; we are provided withstudio space, housing, and meals so that we can work continuously on our projects. I havebeen in residence at numerous artist colonies; however, nothing in my previousexperiences prepared me for living in such isolated, wild country. Ucross is situated on a20,000-acre cattle ranch at nearly 4,000 feet in elevation with fewer than 150 peopleliving within the town. But what Clearmont lacks in population, it makes up forabundantly and spectacularly in wilderness and wildlife. I composed the sextet Postcardsfrom Wyoming to offer three glimpses of what I found to be the most striking aspects ofmy residence. The Solitude of Stars, the third and final movement of the original sextet,was inspired by the stunning nightly display of the heavens above. Without city lightsdimming the night sky, countless stars shone brightly over the vast expanse of the prairie.This edition is part of The Solitude of Stars Project that I undertook during the 2020COVID-19 pandemic, which consists of a series of arrangements that I made forcolleagues and friends.
SKU: FG.55011-785-3
ISBN 9790550117853.
Fennica Gehrman the music publisher pays tribute to its composers with this 20th-anniversary collection of commissions for violin and piano. Stringendo - Contemporary works for violin and piano (2022) is a collection of ten pieces, which vary greatly as regards their genesis. That by Harri Wessman is playful and exhilarating; Mikko Heiniö wrote his on Women's Day, while the duets by Kalevi Aho and Matthew Whittall are tributes to the late Jaakko Kuusisto. Einojuhani Rautavaara is also represented, in an arrangement for violin and piano of his plaintive, melodic Sydämeni laulu (The Song of my Heart). The title of Lotta Wennäkoski's work, Vestige, is a fitting symbol for the whole collection.Short introductions to the pieces by their composers are included in the collection in English, Finnish, and Swedish.ContentsKalevi Aho (b. 1949): Le Tombeau de J. K.Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016): Sydämeni laulu - Song of my heartMikko Heiniö (b.1948): Naisten päivä - Women's DayJyrki Linjama (b. 1962): De Profundis ILotta Wennäkoski (b. 1970): VestigeMatthew Whittall (b.1975): Waiting to hearOlli Kortekangas (b. 1955): CapricciettoHarri Wessman (b.1949): GiocosoVeli-Matti Puumala (b. 1965): Édera IVKimmo Hakola (b.1958): A Double Jubilee.
SKU: PR.414411630
ISBN 9781491114551. UPC: 680160089956. 9.5 x 13 inches.
EXCURSIONS is a one-movement work exploring two “characters.†A rhapsodic, descending passage is introduced by the cello, followed by a static, chorale-like phrase for the violin and cello. Their individual developments are separated by a slow, contrasting middle section. The composer has written: “This is analogous to situations in life: we stand by a crossroad, choosing one option and forfeiting the other. But in art, the realm of the imagination, we can perhaps afford to pursue more than one route to its ultimate destination… or can we? It is symbolic that in this work both roads eventually lead to the same place.â€.Excursions for violin, cello and piano, is a one-movement work of tripartite structure in which materials explored in the first of three large sections are brought back in the last section. The traditional statement-contrast-restatement form, which is readily suggested by such a description, is, however, not at all in the mold in which the work is cast. Rather, my aim was to subject the essential materials of the piece (two “characters†–the rhapsodic, descending passage played by the cello in the very opening and, later, a static, slow moving, chorale-like phrase for the violin and cello) to two entirely different developments separated by a slow, contrasting middle section. This is analogous to an exploration of the ramifications that two divergent choices made by the same person might lead to. In life, as we stand by a crossroad, choosing one option usually means having to forfeit the other. But in art, the realm of the imagination, we can perhaps afford to pursue more than one route to its ultimate destination…or can we? It is, I believe, symbolic that in this work both roads eventually lead to the same place: in composing Excursions, it seemed absolutely inescapable that at the end the slow, contrasting middle sections – both more resigned and peaceful than the battling spirits of the outer parts – should return briefly to end the work. The piano trio combination (once highly favored, but to this composer still as challenging today) is approached here as a collaborative effort of three equal soloists – partners. Of the available pairings, the two strings find themselves occasionally approached as a team pitted against the piano. The cello-piano combination is also not uncommon here, and there is an extended violin cadenza toward the end of the piece. The writing for the three instruments is closely and at times interlinked, but the players are all instructed to play from scores. Excursions was first performed at Brandeis University in 1982.
SKU: BT.DHP-1115211-400
9x12 inches. French-Spanish-Italian.
Musical Challenges works alongside the third volume of the violin method Play the Violin!, but it can also be used by intermediate students along with any other method. The pieces are in jazz, pop, world music and classical styles and contain musical as well as technical challenges with some being accompanied by a relevant technical exercise. Many of the pieces have chord symbols or piano accompaniment whilst others are duets. The CD contains all accompaniments and many demo tracks.Musical Challenges sluit aan op het derde deel van Speel Viool!, maar kan ook los van deze methode worden gebruikt. De stukken in de stijlen jazz, pop en klassiek bevatten zowel technische als muzikale uitdagingen, enkeletitels worden voorafgegaan door een technische oefening. Een aantal werken kan als duet worden uitgevoerd en andere stukken zijn voorzien van akkoordsymbolen of pianobegeleiding. Daarnaast kan met de cd, die ook talrijke demo'sbevat, worden meegespeeld.Musical Challenges schlieÃ?t an den dritten Band der Schule Spiel Violine! an, kann aber von allen fortgeschrittenen Geigenschülern verwendet werden. Die Stücke in den Stilen Jazz, Pop, Weltmusik und Klassik enthalten sowohl musikalische als auch technische Herausforderungen; teilweise sind sind sie mit Akkordsymbolen oder Klavierstimmen versehen oder als Duett ausnotiert. AuÃ?erdem kann zu den beiden CDs gespielt werden, die sämtliche Begleitungen und zahlreiche Demoversionen enthalten.Musical Challenges peut être considéré comme lâ??épilogue du deuxième volume de la méthode Je joue du violon! Mais ce recueil peut également être utilisé par les violonistes ayant suivi une méthode dâ??apprentissage différente. Les pièces contenues offrent une grande variété de style et abordent des exercices techniques divers. Certains morceaux présentent une notation dâ??accord ou un accompagnement de piano, dâ??autres sont écrits sous forme de duos. Le compact disc contient tous les accompagnements et de nombreuses versions intégrales.Musical Challenges rappresenta valido materiale complementare da usare assieme (ma anche individualmente) al secondo volume del metodo Suona il Violino! I brani proposti sono in stile jazz, pop, folk e classico (musica originale e non) e contengono sfide musicali e tecniche. Alcuni brani propongono un breve esercizio tecnico, mentre altri contengono i simboli degli accordi o le parti del piano. Sono previsti anche alcuni duetti. E per chi non ha un altro musicista con cui suonare, il CD propone gli accompagnamenti e un grande numero di tracce demo.
SKU: HL.49045822
ISBN 9781540024749. UPC: 888680737764. 9.25x12.0x0.29 inches.
The Kreutzer Sonata was originally dedicated not to Rudolphe Kreutzer (who never performed it) but to George Bridgetower, a famed 18th-century Afro-European concert violinist. In an early draft, Beethoven jokingly labeled the piece in starkly racialized terms: Sonata Mulattica composed for the mulatto Brischdauer, big wild mulatto composer.Beethoven and Bridgetower performed the premiere, which was by all accounts a success, and even featuring some improvised embellishment by the violinist. While celebrating afterwards, the two quarreled about what Beethoven construed as Bridgetower's insult of a female acquaintance; the composer then revoked the original dedication, adding Kreutzer's name instead. The work gained acclaim, while Bridgetower's career languished; he eventually died in poverty.Bridgetower has been the subject of considerable research and speculation, most notably in poet Rita Dove's book, Sonata Mulattica. From our 21st-century vantage, considering Bridgetower's unique circumstance, we can only see him as an ambiguous figure who, in embodying difference, provoked inspiration, fantasy, desire, anger and, finally, erasure.My piece is a collection of imaginings about George Bridgetower. It is not programmatic, but it takes on an episodic character, assembled from contrasting fragments. The dance rhythms, recurring figures and gestural contours are intended to feature the embodied expertise and expressivity of the performers, who at times must access liminal sounds and execute complex synchronies. I am grateful to Jenny Koh and Shai Wosner for involving me in their beautiful, virtuosic music-making.
SKU: BR.EB-9250
World premiere: Toronto, November 17, 2016Written for the Duo Wapiti (Genevieve Liboiron, Daniel Anez)
ISBN 9790004185506. 10 x 12.5 inches.
Whereas Nono considered the world to be only fragmentarily analyzable, so-called consumer capitalism increasingly intrudes upon ego structures, by fragmenting them to the point of: assumed insufficiency, i.e., was consumption a form of infiltration?, or: in television you can see models licking face cream because it's so rich etc. (retranslated), as Meredith Haaf cited in her book review (SZ / 23.05.2016 Alexandra Kleeman: You Too Can Have A Body Like Mine) , and to the point of similar perfection-senselessness. Music doesn't do things by halves. Even when events or notes are puffed up, they can retain elegance and significance. Other ego amplitudes are of violinistic nature or are favourite memories - Paganini's Capricci, Stockhausen's Studie I, Steve Reich, the tone C and similar things. The craziest egos are quantums, because at no time are they identical with themselves. They can entangle and superpose, are nonlocal, etc. Although the sound character in this Duo is fairly open, I believe I succeeded in making probability waves of harmonic stopovers perceptible. This means hearing without analyzing and without constantly measuring. Nonlocality - without messenger particles - means no harmonic steps, but with the capacity to interact. (Nicolaus A. Huber, May 2016)World premiere: Toronto, November 17, 2016 Written for the Duo Wapiti (Genevieve Liboiron, Daniel Anez).
SKU: DY.DO-1525
ISBN 9782897963057.
J'aime les formes musicales concises telles que le Prélude et la Fugue, où il y a une idée claire et directe, suivie d'une autre plus complexe et développée.Conformément à cette idée, cette œuvre se compose de deux pièces distinctes, la première - Transfigured Life - vise à attirer l'auditeur avec son rythme rapide et dansant et sa partie de violon simple et mélodique. Il se «transfigure» via quelques courts intermèdes au piano solo en seulement deux notes alternées pour terminer - qui sont le cœur de l'idée originale, maintenant clarifiée en effaçant tout le reste.Le deuxième morceau - Still Life - conserve son sentiment de quiétude grâce à une ligne de piano simple qui laisse beaucoup d'espace à la partie contrastée (mais encore une fois simple) du violon. En tant que pièce absolue et non programmatique, le titre fait référence uniquement à la couleur et au rythme atmosphériques ; c'est à l'auditeur de voir la « nature morte » de son choix dans son esprit.Une note sur les performances :Malgré ma référence à des lignes « simples » et l'évitement déterminé par l'œuvre des grincements modernistes traditionnels, l'œuvre présente certains défis d'exécution en termes de phrasé et d'ensemble qui nécessitent des compétences et une musicalité considérables. L'œuvre a eu le privilège d'être récemment enregistrée par le violoniste Ezgi Sarıkcıoğlu et la pianiste Rossitza Stoycheva, et est disponible sur toutes les principales plateformes :https://open.spotify.com/album/6p5YIe17ci0UMuo2RqZgjRhttps://music.apple.com/gb/album/transfigured-life-still-life-world-premiere-recording/1738035953Envoyer des commentairesTransfigured Life - Still Life, Op. 165 (violin and piano) - David BraidI am keen on concise musical forms such as Prelude and Fugue, where there is one clear straightforward idea, followed by another that is more involved and developed. In keeping with that idea, this work consists of two distinct pieces, the first - Transfigured Life - aims to draw in the listener with its quick, dancing rhythm and simple, melodic violin part. It 'transfigures' via a few short solo piano interludes into just two alternating notes to end - which are the core of the original idea, now made clear by clearing everything else out of the way.The second piece - Still Life - retains its sense of stillness through an uncomplicated piano line that gives lots of space for the violin's contrasting (but again simple) part. As an absolute, not programmatic, piece the title refers to the atmospheric colour and pacing only; it's up to the listener to see 'Still life' of their choosing in their own mind.A note on performance: Despite my reference to 'simple' lines, and the work's determined avoidance of mainstream modernist squeak - the work has certain performance challenges of phrasing and ensemble that requires considerable skill and musicianship. The work has had the privilege of being recently recorded by violinist Ezgi Sarıkcıoğlu and pianist Rossitza Stoycheva, and is available on all major platforms:https://open.spotify.com/album/6p5YIe17ci0UMuo2RqZgjRhttps://music.apple.com/gb/album/transfigured-life-still-life-world-premiere-recording/1738035953.
SKU: BA.BA11086
ISBN 9790006564446. 32.5 x 25.5 cm inches.
A suite whose movements always deliver something other than what they seem to promise. But throughout, the two instruments and respectively their players act like two people in very specific situations:I.: The opening movement is reserved for the piano; the initially earnest, solitary cantilena intensifies creating expectation. SuddenlyII.: the violin sounds. Its moving figures replace the now silent piano, also soloistically.III. „Passacaglia“: The title is taken literally – the two instruments/persons encounter each other in the street. Two musical characters who meet at a specific point, recognize each other, but move on again, each one by itself. IV. „Rondo“: The two of them dance together. Before me, I saw people dancing the Sardana – a round dance – in front of the cathedral of Barcelona. Four themes in different time signatures circle ceaselessly between the two instruments. V. „Fuga“: At last, regardless, panic flight – again the title is taken literally ... Human, only too human …
SKU: HL.14047780
ISBN 9788759837511. 10.0x14.5 inches. English.
Program Note: Resurrection is the act of bringing something back to practice, notice, use or vibrancy - never mind raising the dead. I've brought new life to two forgotten works of mine by subtly merging them into each other and touching them up with 20 extra years of craftmanship. So they're reworked; reimagined - but still a Blast from the Past: I've remained true to the way we used to do it back in the 90ties. -Niels Marthinsen.
SKU: BO.B.3673
It is a work for violin and piano inspired directly by Paganini's Capriccio No. 13, known as La risata del diavolo and one of the most renowned capriccios from the series of twenty-four composed by the celebrated Genovese violinist and composer. In my version for violin and piano, I have singled out the two essential features of the work: the third notes on a double string that emulate the devil's laughter, and the quick eighth notes that follow, all of it within a light and humorous chromaticism.Il diavolo begins with a slow and fragmented but suggestive violin cadenza. It then follows the Allegro deciso, built on the two features mentioned above. In the central part, yet another violin cadenza of a similar character but which recalls the devil's laughter more evidently. The Allegro deciso goes on up to a carefree and virtuosic finale.The work is dedicated to violinist Jesus Reina.
SKU: FG.55011-466-1
ISBN 9790550114661.
Armas Jarnefelt (1869-1958) was a Finnish composer and conductor. Jarnefelt studied in Berlin in 1890-91 with Albert Becker as his teacher. In addition to composing studies, Jarnefelt fully enjoyed the life that a bustling metropolis could offer to a young man - concerts, operas, cafe life etc. Romanze, composed for Geraldine Morgan, was premiered in Helsinki in February 1892. According to critics (notably Bis Wasenius) the work was un-Finnish, perhaps echoing the continental winds Jarnefelt had experienced in Berlin. That aside, Jarnefelt's future brother-in-law, Jean Sibelius, analyzed the Romanze in a letter to his fiancee, Aino, sister of Armas: I think Romanze is a fine technical accomplishment, even the structure works well, given the theme as it is. But Armas certainly can do better than this, he should not waste his efforts in small-scale [salon] music. - Armas will find his own way and will be hailed as the greatest musician of this country..
SKU: BR.EB-10708
In Cooperation with G. Henle Verlag
ISBN 9790201807089. 9.5 x 12 inches.
Bruch's evergreen for the first time in Urtext Thanks to the premiere performance by Joseph Joachim and to the release of the printed edition in 1868, Max Bruch's Violin Concerto no. 1 zipped onto the road to success and has never left it since. Yet from the preface of the BreitkopfUrtext edition,one can infer how things looked like behind the dazzling facade. After the world premiere, the composer struggled for the definitive form. He wrote 3, 4 development sections in the finale, and sought the advice of celebrated virtuosi such as Joseph Joachim and Ferdinand David to revise the solo part. And after all this was done (see above), Bruch suffered under the work's popularity: Have I written nothing but this one concerto? The new Urtext edition is based primarily on the first edition. Next to the main source and the autograph, what is supremely interesting is a solo part with entries by Joachim and Bruch. It confirms how intensively the two men collaborated on honing the final form of the work.In Cooperation with G. Henle Verlag.
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