SKU: CF.CY3486F

ISBN 9780825886348. UPC: 798408086343. 11 x 17 inches.

Commissioned by the NFA, Bresnick's flute concerto was written for master flutist Robert Dick, who also had some editorial input. The symbiosis between composer and performer is furthered by Bresnick's use of contemporary techniques, as discussed in Dick's writings. Bresnick later created a version of Pan Penseroso for two flutes and orchestra, and both flute solo and flute duo versions are also available with piano reduction. Duration: 24'.

SKU: PR.16400222S

UPC: 680160037841.

This work follows my Quartet No. 1 by five years. In terms of style and aesthetic aim, however, it seems light years away. Where the first work, a 28-minute, four-movement piece, took aim at cosmic conflicts and heroic resolutions, the present work is intended as a kind of divertissment. Harbor Music lasts a mere eleven minutes, is cast in a single movement with six sections, and should leave both performers and listeners with a feeling of good humor and affection.   The title comes from my experience as a guest in the magnificent city of Sydney, Australia. One of its most attractive features is its unique system of ferry boats: the city is laid out around a large, multi-channeled harbor, with destinations more easily approached by water than by land. Consequently, inhabitants of Sydney get around on small, people-friendly boats that come and go from the central docks at Circular Quay. During a week's visit in 1991, I must have boarded these boats at least a dozen times, always bound for a new location - the resort town of Manley, or the Zoo at Taronga Park, or the shopping district at Darling Harbour.   In casting about for a form for my second string quartet, a kind of loose rondo came to mind. Each new destination would be approached from the same starting-out point (although there are subtle variations in the repeating theme; it's always in a new key, and the texture is never the same). The result, I hope, is a sense of constant new information presented with introductory frames of a more familiar nature.   The embarkation theme, which begins the piece, is a sort of bi-tonal fanfare in which the violins are in G major and the viola and cello are in B-flat major. It is bold, eager, and forward-looking. The first voyage maintains this bi-tonality, beginning as a 9/8 due for second violin and viola in a kind of rocking motion -much as a boat produces when reaching the deeper water in the harbor. A sweet, nostalgic theme emerges over this rocking accompaniment. This music is developed somewhat, then transforms quickly into a much faster and lighter episode, filled with rising and falling scales (again, in differing keys). A scherzando interlude in short notes and changing meters provides contrast, and the episode ends with a reprise of the scales.   The second embarkation follows, this time in A major/C major. It leads quickly into a very warm and slow theme, in wide-leaping intervals for the viola. This section is interrupted twice by solo cadenzas for the cello, suggesting distant boat-horns in major thirds. The end of the episode becomes a transition, with boat-horns leading into the final appearance of the embarkation music, this time in trills and tremolos instead of sharply accented chords. The nostalgic theme of the first episode makes a final appearance, serving now as a coda. The rocking motion continues, in a lullaby fashion, leaving us drowsy and satisfied on our homeward journey.   Harbor Music was written for the Cavani Quartet, and is dedicated to Richard J. Bogomolny. Commissioned by his employees at First National Supermarkets as a gift, it represents a thank you from many of the people (including this composer) who have benefitted from his vision and generosity. An ardent advocate of chamber music (and a cellist himself), Mr. Bogomolny has for many years been Chairman of the Board of Chamber Music America. -- Dan Welcher.

SKU: PR.114424380

ISBN 9781491138076. UPC: 680160693467. 18 x 12 inches.

If you love playing Eric Ewazen’s flute sonatas or horn chamber music, or if you are fan of Brahms’s chamber music, then this exhilarating work is for you! Among Ewazen’s most performed works, the TRIO, inspired by the Brahms horn trio and originally for Violin, Horn, and Piano, has been adapted by the composer for Flute, Horn, and Piano. With a rollicking scherzo and beautiful melodic movements, this 21-minute work is a joy to play and to listen to.
I’ve always been fascinated and inspired by chamber works offering several instrumental versions of the same piece, resulting in a new feel and color. One famous example is the great Franck Sonata, originally for violin and piano, and beautifully arranged for flute and piano by Jean-PIerre Rampal. Subsequently other versions of the piece were created for an array of instruments: cello, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, and even tuba!  Creating this flute version of my TRIO (flute replacing the original violin part), considered the range, allowing the flute to sometimes sing in a bright, higher register than the original violin part; passages where there were double stops in the violin now have arpeggiated figurations. The original scoring for Horn, Violin, and Piano was commissioned by and gratefully dedicated to Chamberosity, representing an homage to one of my favorite chamber pieces of all time, the Trio for Horn, Violin, and Piano by Brahms. Having both performed (on piano) and analyzed that work, I so loved Brahms’ wonderful weaving of the colors of the instruments, creating an almost orchestral color palette. For years I wanted to write a trio for the same combination, and when my friends in Chamberosity were enthusiastic about me writing that piece for them, I was delighted. The four movements are modeled after the Brahms, with a slow-fast-slow-fast scheme to the entire work. A gentle, somewhat mysterious first movement accumulates depth and momentum as it proceeds, only to return to the gentle world of the opening. The second movement is a rip-roaring scherzo, a true energetic dance with melodies tossed back and forth from the violin to the horn, while the piano provides a resonant accompaniment, inserting its own lively melodies as counterpoint to the violin and horn. The third movement is filled with melancholy, with long lyric melodies appearing sometimes as solos, sometimes as duets, and sometimes as a chorale with all three instruments singing their soulful songs. The final movement, following an austere, dramatic introduction, turns into a grand fugue, with a jumping fugue theme full of life and excitement, culminating in the themes heard in augmentation, strong and bold.

SKU: BO.B.3430

The Geminis Concertino was written in 2005 and dedicated to Gerard Claret and the National Chamber Orchestra of Andorra (ONCA).

The work, as its name implies, is a small-scale concerto for violin and 15 string instruments. Its score is basically a chamber piece in which the solo part never takes an overly virtuoso role. Conceived as a single movement, played without interruption, its internal construction consists of three classic sections: A, bars 1-72, B, bars 73-161, and C, from bar 162 to the end of the piece. Part B begins with the two opening measures of Bela Bartok's Violin Concerto simply as a reminder of a composer and a work that has impressed me since I was very young.I should confess that the entire Geminis Concertino has a certain Bartokian air that I attribute to the love I have always professed for this composer and that lately seems to affect me much as it did in my youth.
--The author. Barcelona, march 2006

Comentarios del Espanol: Concertino Geminis es una obra escrita el ano 2005, que dedique a Gerard Claret y a la Orquestra de Cambra de Andorra.

La obra, como su nombre indica, es un pequeno concierto para violin y 15 instrumentos de cuerda, sin que la parte solista tome nunca un papel excesivamente virtuosistico, ya que la partitura tiene un caracter eminentemente cameristico. Concebida en un solo tiempo y, por lo tanto, interpretada sin interrupcion, su construccion interna la constituyen los tres movimientos clasicos: A, del compas 1 al 72; B, del compas 73 al 161; y C, del compas 162 al final. La parte B comienza con los dos primeros compases del Concierto para violin de Bela Bartok, simplemente como recuerdo de un compositor y de una obra que, ya desde muy joven, me impresionaron.

Debo confesar que entiendo que todo el Concertino Geminis adquiere un cierto aire bartokiano, que atribuyo al amor que siempre he profesado por ese autor y que ultimamente vuelve a estar presente, igual como lo estuvo en mi juventud.
--El autor. Barcelona, marzo de 2006