And Piano,- Version for Violin and Piano. By Robert Schumann. Edited by W. Haug-Freienstein. Violin. Pages: Score = VII and 29 * Vl Part = 8. Edition for Violin-paper bound. Published by G. Henle.

Chamber Music Clarinet, Piano, Violin

SKU: PR.164002390

Composed by Dan Welcher. Set of Score and Parts. With Standard notation. Composed 1995. 26+14+14 pages. Duration 14 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #164-00239. Published by Theodore Presser Company (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.

Composed by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). Arranged by Otto Taubmann. Edition Breitkopf. Early 20th Century. Solo part, piano reduction. Breitkopf and Haertel #EB-3122. Published by Breitkopf and Haertel (BR.EB-3122).

Chamber Music violin, piano

SKU: PR.144407050

Composed by James Primosch. Set of Score and Parts. With Standard notation. 28+12 pages. Duration 20 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #144-40705. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.144407050).

UPC: 680160655519. 9 x 12 inches.

Celebrating 30 years, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society commissioned a work of 20-25 minutes for violin and piano from James Primosch, University of Pennsylvania professor of music. Primosch had originally thought to create a new sonata, but what developed is more appropriately a set of five character pieces, two of which were directly inspired by poems. Five Poems was premiered in May, 2016, and Primosch's thoughts are recorded at his website: https://jamesprimosch.com/2016/05/10/five-poems-premiere/.
Upon receiving a commission from the Philadelphia Chamber MusicSociety for a violin and piano piece in honor of its 30th anniversary, myplan was to write a sonata, a term suggesting a relatively abstractdiscourse. But as the piece developed, the movements struck me ascharacter pieces rather than music employing a more “symphonic”approach. When specific poems started to attach themselves in my mindwith two of the movements, the overall title Five Poems became clear.The title of the second movement is a line from Susan Stewart’s“Descent”, which deals with Aeneas’s visit to the underworld. The musicis alternately fiercely driving and quite still, though tense. RobertFrost’s Nothing Gold Can Stay summons fleet scale passages framinglyrical counterpoint. The remaining movements do not refer to specificpoems, but have titles reflecting their expressive tone. Dreamscape ismusing with an improvisatory violin line over shifting pairs of pianochords. Nightsong is a bluesy lullaby that turns highly dramatic.Vision begins with a closely argued struggle but breaks through tosomething spacious and clear.

Violin, piano

SKU: BR.EB-8327

Urtext. Composed by Tommaso Giordani. Edited by Martin Lutz. Solo instruments; Softcover. Edition Breitkopf. Tommaso Giordani wrote sonatas - here for violin or flute - that are typical examples of early Classical chamber music: their scoring is flexible, they are fun to play, and their technical demands are moderate. Sonata; Classical. Score. 48 pages. Breitkopf and Haertel #EB 8327. Published by Breitkopf and Haertel (BR.EB-8327).

ISBN 9790004176351. 9 x 12 inches.

Tommaso Giordani wrote sonatas - here for violin or flute - that are typical examples of early Classical chamber music: their scoring is flexible, they are fun to play, and their technical demands are moderate. The Sonatas Op. IVa show that Giordani is a Haydn contemporary who can really hold his own. Giordani's chamber-music works with obbligato piano were actually very important for the development of chamber music. Too bad Giordani did not contend himself with writing more of these enchanting ensemble sonatas rather than investing in dubious opera projects and going bankrupt. That was no way to become a serious Classical composer!

Tommaso Giordani wrote sonatas - here for violin or flute - that are typical examples of early Classical chamber music: their scoring is flexible, they are fun to play, and their technical demands are moderate.

Violin, piano

SKU: BR.EB-9168

Composed by Steffen Schleiermacher. Solo instruments; Softcover. Edition Breitkopf.

World premiere: Halle, February 16, 2002

Music post-1945; New music (post-2000). Score. Composed 2002. 20 pages. Duration 4'30. Breitkopf and Haertel #EB 9168. Published by Breitkopf and Haertel (BR.EB-9168).

ISBN 9790004184806. 9 x 12 inches.

Waldschrats Nachtlied is a concert piece that is practically guaranteed to make a major impact. In the dark of night, a hobgoblin and his companion are whisking about the forest. The tempo is brisk, and the permanent change of meter ensures productive turbulence. At the beginning, the roles of the two instruments are distributed rather traditionally; then the violins and the pianos upper part are briefly led in genuine parallel motion in the monolithic section. Afterwards, the virtuoso chase through the woods continues as before.

World premiere: Halle, February 16, 2002.

Chamber Music Clarinet, Flute, Piano, Violin

SKU: PR.11440561S

Composed by Ralph Shapey. Score. With Standard notation. 36 pages. Duration 12:30. Theodore Presser Company #114-40561S. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.11440561S).

UPC: 680160009039.

The three movements examine the same materials from different points of view; in the first, the ideas are chronologically separated, but they alternate and develop through the instruments in an intensifying way that generates a rather imposing and grandiose rhetoric. The second, with its hypnoti, incessant reiterations at maximum volume of a simultaneous combination of motives of different l lengths and shapes, ends just short of becoming unbearable... In the last movement the flute, clarinet and violin slowly unfold a continuous texture that combines several of the earlier elements, while the piano softly interjects the echo of its first movement triplets.