SKU: PR.111402890

ISBN 9781491134672. UPC: 680160685264.

What�??s in a name? While the title is French for �??Eight Flower Songs,�?� the texts are all in English. The poems�?? flowers metaphorically evoke fragrance, love and loss, life and death, rebirth and regrowth. Perhaps the texture and beauty of Gordon�??s music are themselves French. The 20-minute song cycle draws on poems from Wordsworth to Dorothy Parker, as well as from contemporary poets including the composer himself.
When So-Chung Shinn came to me with the idea of commissioning a song cycle with her spectacular husband Tony Lee, she had in mind something having to do with flowers. Tony had asked her what she wanted for her birthday, and she said she wanted to be behind the creating of a new work. Lucky me, I was the recipient of the commission. So-Chung sent me a little description of all the flowers she loves, but I had to take the idea and create a narrative in my head.It is always a matter of pleasing the commissioner, yet coming up with something you can get behind and hear music for as well. I already knew I wanted to use my �??Tulips�?� poem which is really about the arc of a relationship as represented through the life span of the Tulips, and, in many ways, disappointment; and Dorothy Parker�??s �??One Perfect Rose,�?� which is wry, bitter, cynical, and funny, in a way only Dorothy Parker can so pithily express.I thought of Jane Kenyon�??s exquisite �??Peonies at Dusk,�?� because knowing she died so young (46) of leukemia, the poem has such a particular resonance, almost humanizing the Peonies, casting the moon as a sentient being, illustrating so beautifully how connected everything is, alive here, and revolving around these exquisite blossoms. Then, I remembered her husband Donald Hall�??s poem �??Her Garden,�?� which he wrote after Jane died, his grief intermingled with his inability to care for what she had created, to keep alive what so represented her aliveness, broken as he was, and I felt I already had a story.I found the Wordsworth, because it felt like pure joy to me, but also, if each of the songs has a color in my head, �??The Daffodils�?� is pure yellow and a good place to start. My partner Kevin and I live on a lake, and every year, the first Daffodils, the shock of yellows, the oranges, the blinding whites, after the long snowy winters, sing of the newness that is about to enfold us in its green miraculousness.At first, the cycle ended with the Langston Hughes poem �??Cycle,�?� or �??New Flowers,�?� because it was lovely, and about rebirth, which is obviously optimistic, and apt, but then, my friend Telmo Dos Santos, a wonderful Canadian poet whom I met at Banff, sent me his poem �??Afterlife With Lilacs,�?� having no idea what I was working on. I felt I had to add it because it is so dazzling, and it immediately felt like the missing link. Finally, there were unfortunately rights issues, namely, we could not, no how, get in touch with the Langston Hughes Estate, after so many happy collaborations.After almost a year�??s frustration, I wrote my own text, �??Play, Orpheus,�?� which ended up being fortuitous, because the first time I met So-Chung, she entered the room and the most exquisite scent of Lillies of the Valley, Muguet de Bois, filled the room. I went right over to her and rudely put my nose to her neck, for the intoxication of the scent. So �??Play, Orpheus�?� is for So-Chung, to remind us of the precious treasures of this world flowers remind us of. Everything and everyone lives and dies, lives and dies. Death and resurrection.And of course, this is music, this is song, so the inclusion of the God of music, Orpheus, seems apt. Huit Chansons de Fleurs is really about what flowers represent, their radiance, their flickering impermanence, the way they are used to celebrate, as well as to mourn...... and of course, their fragrance. Their fragrance.Ricky Ian GordonJuly 28, 2021.

SKU: HL.7011595

UPC: 884088257101. 9.0x12.0x0.024 inches.

This catchy jazz standard from Dexter Gordon is masterfully arranged for younger players by Rick Stitzel. Featuring the saxes on the head, brass on the bridge, plus a solo for tenor and a full ensemble shout chorus, this medium swing chart will make your band sound great!

SKU: AP.43676S

UPC: 038081496016. English.

It's funky and accessible---it's a Gordon Goodwin tune arranged for young band. The tempo is around 180 BPM with written-out solos available for any saxophone. The lead trumpet range is to written G on top of the staff. Great chart! (2:38).

SKU: AP.49551S

ISBN 9781470649111. UPC: 038081569895. English.

Of all of Gordon Jacob's major contributions to the British wind band repertoire, the William Byrd Suite (written in 1923) stands as his most-often programmed work. Though originally based on six movements from William Byrd's Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, this setting for developing band incorporates two contrasting movements including The Earle of Oxford's Marche and Wolsey's Wilde. Like Jacob's wind band work, the music is not a mere transcription from the original keyboard collection, but rather stylized with his own inventive musical spirit for modern concert band. A wealth of material here that opens doors to teachable moments as musical textures---dynamic contrasts, articulations, scoring options---are continually changing. Bravo! (2:33).

SKU: ST.CN72P

ISBN 9790220228629.

A perfect seasonal choice, Onward we go is a consummate example of Thomas Hewitt Jones�??s feeling for young voices, and his passion for sharing the joy of Christmas through memorable tunes. A beautiful, arching melody carries the delightful verse by Canon Gordon Giles, which tells of children singing as they journey to the manger. Shepherds, angels and the Magi accompany them on their way, bearing gifts of love to honour the incarnation in faith, hope and reverence. Expressive and irresistible, words and music go straight to the heart, with a warmth especially inspired by the dedicatees, chorister-tutor Caroline Lenton-Ward and the children�??s choir of St Stephen�??s, South Dulwich, a church which also played a formative part in the composer�??s musical upbringing.

Onward we go may be performed by unison voices with organ or piano, or with organ or piano and additional flexible instrumental ensemble including any available upper strings and woodwind, plus optional cello, bass guitar or double bass, mark tree and tubular bells.

A set of score and parts for the optional ensemble (Cat. No. Y373) will be available to purchase.