SKU: UT.DM-1

ISBN 9790215300767. 9 x 12 inches.

Valzer; O Tannebaum (Canzone natalizia - Germania); Schlaf Kindchen, also wohl (Ninna nanna - Germania); Scaramella (Italia); Ah, vous dirai-je maman (Francia); Die Nachtigall (Germania); Su, al combattimento (Galles); Au clair de la lune (Ninna nanna - Francia); Love will find a way (Inghilterra); Melodia francese; We shall overcome (USA); Melodia svedese; The first Nowell (Carola natalizia - Inghilterra); The Marsh of Rhuddlan (Galles)

All the music presented in this booklet are arrangements of pre-existing melodies and were conceived to respond to the real need to provide students with simple or very simple teaching material, but at the same time of pleasant listening. For this reason these pieces can and must be treated elastically, adding or subtracting - as needed - parts, voices and instruments. The upper voice is always meant for a German recorder (with facilitated fingering); for this reason, the F sharp in this voice are not frequent throughout the collection. Considering the limitate extension of the parts, it is always possible to carry the pieces one tone higher or lower, according to personal didactic needs. Chords can be played by the teacher, or by capable students, on a keyboard or guitar.

SKU: BR.EB-9243

ISBN 9790004185438. 9 x 12 inches.

It was the practice of Khoomii (throat singing) - following several workshops with Michael Ormiston - that first attracted me to Tuvan music. Composing this Songbook, the first in a series commissioned by the Ligeti Quartet, I took the chance to reflect on compositional questions around transcription and arrangement of existing music, and frequently found myself asking: where is the boundary between the source material and the new substance? Of course the relationship varies from piece to piece, and moment to moment: sometimes we seem to glimpse the pure source, but most of the time there are differing degrees of distance, working towards or away from it. This new version for string orchestra corresponds closely to the original quartet version, with an additional part for double basses.The traditional Tuvan songs that I have transcribed and recomposed are all known to me from the Ay Kherel CD The Music of Tuva: Throat Singing and Instruments from Central Asia (2004, Arc Music). According to the notes from that CD, this is what the songs are about:1. Dyngylday: If you have come on a horse in blue, it doesn't mean that you are the best. My heart tells me something else: my sweetheart doesn't have such a beautiful horse, but he is my darling.An alternative interpretation from Alash Ensemble (alashensemble.com): The word dyngylday is a nonsense term with no translation. The song makes good-humored fun of somebody for being a good-for-nothing.2. Eki Attar (The Best Steeds): The horse is the basis of our life. It is a magic creature. Even its step is full of music and rhythm. You may not be a horse rider, but when you hear this song you will always remember horses.3. Kuda Yry: This wedding song glorifies the strength of the groom and the beauty of his Horse.4. Ezir-Kara ('Black Eagle'): This was the name of a horse, who became a legend through his remarkable strength and speed.It is not just overtones that abound here: there are galloping rhythms aplenty, and though I am no horse rider I tried to keep the horses galloping in my imagination while composing these pieces.Christian Mason (with quotes from Ay Kherel and Alash Ensemble)

World premiere of the original version: London/UK, May 10, 2016, World premiere of the string orchestra version: Clermont-Ferrand/France, October 8, 2020.