SKU: PR.114422530

ISBN 9781491137307. UPC: 680160688036.

Chen Yi’s ELEGY was composed in 2020 both as her own response to the covid pandemic, and in conjunction with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s series of solo commissions for their performers offered through the SPCO’s website. Musically inspired by a common bond with oboist Cassie Pilgrim’s cultural heritage from southern China, Chen Yi drew from Cantonese folk music materials, whose Yifan mode is particularly sad and mournful.
Elegy was commissioned by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for its principal oboist Cassie Pilgrim who premiered the work at Ordway Hallin St. Paul, MN on November 28, 2020.Since Cassie and I share the same cultural heritage from Southern China, ELEGY has a strong influence from Cantonese folk music material, including the folk tunes in Yifan Mode, which sound sad and sentimental. This solo piece expresses a deep nostalgia for our loved ones, as well as our painful mourning for thousands of people who lost their lives around the world during the Covid-19 pandemic.

SKU: CF.SPS87F

ISBN 9781491156452. UPC: 680160914999. 9 x 12 inches.

About the Work In the spring of 2008 a large number of wildfires plagued the west coast, including the area where my wife and I lived in northern California. Firefighters all along the West Coast worked overtime in what seemed like an endless battle to protect residents and their homes. After hearing of a number of firefighters who had lost their lives in the struggle, I composed this work as a dedication to them, in honor of their sacrifice. It is not dedicated to any one person or group, or even just to the west-coast firefighters who battled those horrible wildfires; instead, to all firefighters who have given their lives in the line of duty. Although designed as a standalone work, I highly recommend following this composition with one of the many fine band settings of Amazing Grace, as it is commonly performed at firefighter memorials. The one by Frank Ticheli is superb, and if you have access to a good piper there is an excellent version by Jay Dawson which features a solo verse for bagpipe; both are quite stirring. Performance Notes The sustained slower tempo may prove a challenge for some groups; as always, emphasize subdivision. Cues should be used only if necessary due to limited instrumentation. The clarinet and cup-muted trumpets at m. 39 should be very sostenuto (almost organ-like); be careful to stagger breathe. The tempo change at m. 55 should not be much of a challenge, but many groups may tend to slow back down to the original tempo by m. 59; the timpani player can greatly assist in avoiding this problem. The coda at m. 82 may be taken more slowly than the indicated tempo if your solo flutist can manage the lengthy sustained notes.
About the WorkIn the spring of 2008 a large number of wildfires plagued the west coast, including the area where my wife and I lived in northern California. Firefighters all along the West Coast worked overtime in what seemed like an endless battle to protect residents and their homes. After hearing of a number of firefighters who had lost their lives in the struggle, I composed this work as a dedication to them, in honor of their sacrifice. It is not dedicated to any one person or group, or even just to the west-coast firefighters who battled those horrible wildfires; instead, to all firefighters who have given their lives in the line of duty.Although designed as a standalone work, I highly recommend following this composition with one of the many fine band settings of Amazing Grace, as it is commonly performed at firefighter memorials. The one by Frank Ticheli is superb, and if you have access to a good piper there is an excellent version by Jay Dawson which features a solo verse for bagpipe; both are quite stirring.Performance Notes The sustained slower tempo may prove a challenge for some groups; as always, emphasize subdivision. Cues should be used only if necessary due to limited instrumentation. The clarinet and cup-muted trumpets at m. 39 should be very sostenuto (almost “organ-like”); be careful to stagger breathe. The tempo change at m. 55 should not be much of a challenge, but many groups may tend to slow back down to the original tempo by m. 59; the timpani player can greatly assist in avoiding this problem. The coda at m. 82 may be taken more slowly than the indicated tempo if your solo flutist can manage the lengthy sustained notes.

SKU: ST.PC5

ISBN 9790220223440.

An extraordinary acknowledgement of the esteem with which the composer was regarded in his lifetime, the three surviving odes on the death of Henry Purcell are also in themselves among the finest works by his English contemporaries. John Blow's extended elegy 'Mark how the lark and linnet sing', which sets a poem by Dryden, modestly scored for two voices, two recorders and continuo, is a masterpiece displaying both the contrapuntal skill which Blow had taught Purcell and the florid declamatory style which Purcell had brought to perfection in such numbers as ''Tis Nature's voice' in Hail! bright Cecilia. Henry Hall's 'Yes my Aminta', laid out for similar forces, is an eloquent and finely crafted pastoral dialogue in the pathetic style, with words probably written by the composer himself. Grandest in conception is 'Come, come along for a dance and a song', by Jeremiah Clarke. Setting a conventional pastoral elegy penned by an unknown hand, it marshals three solo voices, chorus and full baroque orchestra in a sequence of contrasting movements - including both the song and the dance to which the title refers - which together form a lament at once arresting and poignant. The three works have not hitherto been presented together, and the Clarke appears for the first time in a modern critical edition - together with Godfrey Finger's hitherto unpublished 'Farewell' Suite in G minor, probably from his own lost ode on Purcell's death.

SKU: AP.1-ADV7427

ISBN 9783892215813. UPC: 805095074277. English.

For Ravel, the year 1917 was marked by his mother's death and the death of many of his friends who lost their lives in World War I. Hence, the suite he finished that same year can be considered as an elegy. Due to its classical, sonatina-like character, this piece does not radiate an atmosphere of mourning, but rather a light, cool serenity. This arrangement for SATB saxophone quartet is faithful to the original orchestral version. Titles: I. Prélude * II. Forlane * III * Menuet * IV. Rigaudon.