SKU: SU.80119296

Little Ostinati (1992) consists of four movements in traditional, tonal style: Passacaglia, Ground, Basso Ostinato, Chaconne. Published by: Soundspells Productions.

SKU: PR.11641139S

UPC: 680160682119.

Barcarolles for a Sinking City was inspired by the city of Venice, a place that has long held the fascination of artists, writers and composers, and which I have been lucky enough to visit on several occasions. Sadly it seems that future generations may not be so lucky: in addition to the city's slow sinking and recently discovered tilting, studies predict that if global warming and the resultant rise of ocean levels is unabated, the entire city (as well as many other coastal cities around the globe) will be under water by 2100.   I. Funeral Gondola The late, cryptic piano works of Franz Liszt made a profound impression on me as a young composer, among them two works he entitled La Lugubre Gondola (usually translated as The Funeral Gondola ) which were said to be a premonition of Wagner's death in Venice, his coffin transported through the canals in a black gondola. These late pieces of Liszt acquired even greater significance to me after I spent two summers in Bayreuth under the patronage of Friedelind Wagner, the granddaughter of Wagner and great-granddaughter of Liszt. This movement is a meditation on Wagner, Liszt, Venice and its own evanescence. II. Barcarolle/Quodlibet The Quodlibet (Latin for what pleases) is a musical form dating back to the 15th century where many disparate melodies are juxtaposed. Popular in the Renaissance, sacred and secular melodies were combined, often to comical effect due to the resultant incongruity of the words. The form was considered the ultimate test of a composer's mastery of counterpoint. The most famous Quodlibet is without doubt the final Variation of Bach's Goldberg Variations. As a form the Quodlibet is less common in more recent music, although examples can be found in the works of Kurt Weill and David Del Tredici.   My own Barcarolle/Quodlibet was inspired by the (perhaps apocryphal) story of the funeral where musicians were asked to play a Bach Choral, but due to miscommunication played instead the Bacarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann. Here, the Bach Choral Allen Menschen mussen sterben (All Men Must Die) is heard in the strings pizzicato, with a tempo indication In slow motion. The alto line of the Bach suggests a phrase from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (Alle Menchen werden Bruder) heard in the muted trombone. Before long, the famous tune from Offenbach's opera is heard, followed by quotations from iconic Barcarolles by Chopin, Mendelssohn and Faure, as well as two Venetian popular songs and more Beethoven.   III. Barcarola/Ostinato/Carillon An ostinato is a repeated musical figure, and carillon is Italian for music box. This movement references the obsolete genre of salon pieces that imitated music boxes: such works by composers like Liadov and Gretchaninov used to be a mainstay of pianists' encore repertoire. This movement is however much darker in conception than those pleasant trifles. Utilizing the full battery of percussion, the carefully notated temporal slowing of the ostinato becomes overwhelmed by a poignant chorale melody before this box is snapped shut.   IV. Barcarolle Oubliee (Forgotten Barcarolle) Marked limpido (still) the final movement begins with the sound of rain produced by a percussion instrument called (appropriately) a rain stick. Halting phrases in the harp coalesce into the accompaniment for a plangent melody heard in the clarinet. The central Adagio of this movement leads to a shattering climax, before the opening phrases return and dissipate into nothingness.

SKU: HL.49027054

ISBN 9790001023207.

With this work, Pachelbel, who was born in Nuremberg, created one of the most popular orchestral pieces of the baroque period. In the canon two of the strictest contrapuntal forms are combined: The three violin parts form an extensive canon with entries of two bars distance. To this, a ground bass (basso ostinato) has been added repeating its two-bar tone formula 28 times. The technical mastery of the piece can be ad-mired just as much as its effect lies in the melodic and sensuous power of its string tones. The modest technical demands on the musicians are diametrically opposed to the compositional level: they do not go beyond the third position.

SKU: GI.G-003118

Scripture: Psalm 102, Psalm 30.

The first piece is inspired by Psalm 102:1, “Hear my prayer, O Lord.” This piece is a passacaglia, which is a series of variations over a basso ostinato. It begins with a pleading theme played by the solo violin. An optional bridge connects to the next psalm. In the second piece, Alan takes his inspiration from Psalm 30:11, “You have turned my mourning into dancing.” This psalm is set as a tambourin and variants. A tambourin is a duple-meter dance of Provençal origin, often with a drum-like rhythm. The psalm concludes with a boisterous fiddler’s reel. .

SKU: HF.FH-3111

ISBN 9790203431114. 9 x 12 inches.

1. Praludium; 2. Fuge; 3. Intermezzo; 4. Basso ostinato; 5. Romanze; 6. Toccata; 7. Fuge.

SKU: HL.50574114

SKU: HL.50483016

8.25x11.75x0.09 inches.

SKU: HL.49002179

ISBN 9790204002085. 9.0x12.0x0.065 inches.

SKU: HL.49017947

ISBN 9790001157933. 9.0x12.0x0.216 inches.

With his organ symphonies, the composer Enjott Schneider (born 1950) from Munich has been a profound sensation in recent years and seen world premieres at major European organ events. The Organ Symphony No. 6 'Te Deum' (premiered at Bruckner's St. Florian above Bruckner's tomb in 2008 and recorded there on CD) adopts the five-part structure and several motifs from Bruckner's 'Te Deum', thus becoming a forceful compact work pervaded by the Gotteslob. 1: 'Te Deum' is based on Bruckner's original figuration of fifths and eighths which is connected with the Latin Te Deum; 2: 'Te Ergo' is a 'preghiera' with pleading and praying gestures; 3: 'Aeterna fac' is an extremely virtuoso perpetuum mobile; 4: 'Salvum Fac' a basso ostinato and finally 5: 'In te, Domine speravi' a toccata which, after taking many detours, inevitably leads to the C major.