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: 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.

SKU: HL.49017922

ISBN 9790220127397. UPC: 884088567620. 9.0x12.0x0.125 inches.

These six short pieces might more readily be described as fantasies, each with its own sound-world but linked by shared material. The mood of each of these short movements is guided by an imaginary landscape, one shadowed by the blackened tree, a far-away song, shadows past, a quickening moon, forgotten voices, and by the harrowed land. The title of the last movement plays on the word harrow, something that is used to break up the soil, but also bringing with it suggestions of a land both pained and wounded.

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 schlie�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. Au�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: PR.14440516S

UPC: 680160667864. 9 x 12 inches.

In 1979, Martin produced a set of three quintets, in consideration of Gorky's piece Nighttime Enigma Nostalgia. Each is scored for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. As the title suggests, the music is in a state of perpetual questioning using a variety of approaches. For example, Enigma opens using ostinati (plural of ostinato) that do not match in length, like a staircase with each step a different height. Additionally, the music has sudden starts and stops, again unexplained. There are dramatic and powerful explosive passages that are interrupted. The technique, used to create this feeling of a perplexed music world where things seem often not to make sense and to be left unresolved, is called in poetry and literature, anticlimax. In Enigma, the music suggests one direction; then refuses to continue, striking out in another direction. Artists use approaches such as this to force themselves into creative circumstances that they otherwise might not have discovered. (From the performance notes.).

SKU: FP.FDC24

ISBN 9790570504336.

An imaginative first violin book, featuring 12 music sketches with fingering and tips on technique and reading music, inspired by the composer's experience teaching a young boy named Peter, and the musical pictures they painted together.


Composer and critic Cyril Carr Dalmaine graduated from the Royal College of Music and was Music master at Uppington School before going on to become chorus master to the BBC. He is most famous for coining the term 'Lord Haw-Haw' in his work as radio critic of the Daily Express under the pseudonym Jonah Barrington, in reference to the Nazi propaganda broadcasts of William Joyce during the Second World War.

Dalmaine was also a record presenter in the pre-1955 days and responsible for the 'discovery' of the then deceased Italian tenor, Alessandro Valente, giving Valente enjoyed a considerable posthumous vogue. As a composer Dalmaine wrote chamber music, and transcribed the cantatas of J.S. Bach to piano as well as a wide range of piano and string works published by Forsyth. His works such as Variation from Versailles and Pathway to the Proms remain in print and are well worth re-discovering, while his arrangements of popular classics in our Silhouette Series remain best sellers.

SKU: IS.VLP6039EM

ISBN 9790365060399.

Charles Camilleri (1931 - 2009) was a Maltese composer. As a teenager, he composed a number of works based on folk music and legends of his native Malta. He moved from his early influences by Maltese folk music to a musical form in which nothing is fixed and his compositions evolve from themselves with a sense of fluency and inevitability. He composed over 100 works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, voice and solo instruments. Camilleri's work has been performed throughout the world and his research of folk music and improvisation, the influences of the sounds of Africa and Asia, together with the academic study of European music, helped him create a universal style. Camilleri is recognized in Malta as one of the major composers of his generation. He died on 3 January 2009 at the age of 77. His funeral took place two days later at Naxxar, his long-time town of residence. Flags across Malta were flown at half-mast in tribute to him. Just like Bach's 6 suites for cello solo, these 6 arabesques are composed of a number of distinct movements which follow the suite principle. The melodies in these 6 arabesques are influenced by Mediterranean folk music.

SKU: IS.VLP6034EM

ISBN 9790365060344.

Charles Camilleri (1931 - 2009) was a Maltese composer. As a teenager, he composed a number of works based on folk music and legends of his native Malta. He moved from his early influences by Maltese folk music to a musical form in which nothing is fixed and his compositions evolve from themselves with a sense of fluency and inevitability. He composed over 100 works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, voice and solo instruments. Camilleri's work has been performed throughout the world and his research of folk music and improvisation, the influences of the sounds of Africa and Asia, together with the academic study of European music, helped him create a universal style. Camilleri is recognized in Malta as one of the major composers of his generation. He died on 3 January 2009 at the age of 77. His funeral took place two days later at Naxxar, his long-time town of residence. Flags across Malta were flown at half-mast in tribute to him. Just like Bach's 6 suites for cello solo, these 6 arabesques are composed of a number of distinct movements which follow the suite principle. The melodies in these 6 arabesques are influenced by Mediterranean folk music.

SKU: BA.BA11527-90

ISBN 9790260107946. 31 x 24.5 cm inches. Preface: Sandra Bergmannova.

Bohuslav Martinu wrote his First Violin Concerto in Paris in 1932-33, this work having been commissioned by the violin virtuoso Samuel Dushkin. However, it was never performed during the composer's lifetime and was even considered lost after his death. It was not until 1961 that musicologist and collector Hans Moldenhauer bought it from Boaz Piller, contrabassoonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Moldenhauer approached Czech violinist Josef Suk, who gave the world premiere of the work with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Georg Solti in October 1973.

This piano reduction is based on the musical text of the first edition. The solo part has been revised by a leading Czech violinist and performer of Martinu's music.

* Major violin concerto of the 20th century
* New Foreword by Martinu scholar Sandra Bergmannova (Cz/Eng/Ger)

SKU: AP.36-60710007

ISBN 9798888521687. UPC: 676737816278. English.

In the years preceding World War I, Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist Béla Bartók (1881-1945) took trips to the Transylvanian region to explore the musical traditions of the Romanian population. Following a two-year depression caused by the war, as well as some professional setbacks, he returned to composition. The Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56, emerged in 1915, bearing a strong influence from his experiences as an ethnomusicologist. They comprise 6 dances, all based on folk tunes that Bartók had recorded and transcribed. In 1917, he arranged a version for full orchestra. Hungarian violinist and composer Zoltán Székely (1903-2001) transcribed these six short movements for violin and piano in 1926, which are offered here in this reprint edition. Movements: 1. Joc cu bâta (Stick Dance), 2. Brâul (Sash Dance), 3. Topogó / Pê-loc (In One Spot), 4. Bucsumí tánc / Buciumeana (Dance from Bucsum), 5. Poarga româneasca (Romanian Polka), 6. Aprózó / Maruntel (Fast Dance).

These products are currently being prepared by a new publisher. While many items are ready and will ship on time, some others may see delays of several months.