SKU: BR.EOS-20472-00

Today, it is hard to believe that Bedrich Smetana kept receiving rejections when he tried to get his enormously popular Moldau printed.

ISBN 9790004780008. 10 x 12.5 inches.

What is also amazing is that the first text-critical edition prepared by the Czech Smetana expert Milan Pospisil in 1999, which had entailed an exhaustive evaluation of the sources and been given a full text-critical editorial treatment as a Eulenburg study score, had no resonance of any kind among performers since no performance material had been published. After 15 years, Pospisils edition is finally being completed in a manner suitable for practice: with a conducting score and orchestral parts which will ensure that all future performances are based on a musical text that is as reliable as can be.

The work depicts the course of the river Vltava, beginning with its first two sources, the cold and warm Vltava, and the confluence of the two streams that join to form a single river; then the course of the Vltava through forests and meadows, and through open countryside where a peasant wedding is being celebrated; water-sprites dance by the light of the moon; on the nearby cliffs castles, mansions and ruins rise proudly into the air; the Vltava eddies in the St John's Rapids, then flows in a broad stream as it continues its course towards Prague, where the Vysehrad appears, before the river finally disappears into the distance as it flows majestically into the Elbe.

Vltava (The Moldau), Smetana's best-known and most frequently performed orchestral work, was written between 19 November and 8 December 1874, at a time when Smetana was already completely deaf. The world premiere took place in Prague on 4 April 1875, but the score was not published until 1880.

SKU: HL.14030965

ISBN 9788759861448. English.

Version for String Quartet. Score available: KP00510 The composer writes: 'In February 1987 I saw in the Tate Gallery in London a painting by the Victorian English painter John William Waterhouse. The painting kept haunting my memory, and as I at the same time planned to write a piece for solo viola, my ideas for the music and the memory of the painting fused more and more. I decided, then, to let my piece borrow the title of Waterhouse's paint-ing: 'The Lady of Shalott'. The picture of a mad-like, pale, and perhaps singing woman alone in a boat without sculls, which calmly slips out from the rush growth of the river is an illustration for the ending of Alfred Tennyson's poem by the same title, which again plaits into the old English legends about King Arthur. My piece tries to meander - like the river at Camelot - among these sources. As suggested above the piece was originally written for viola solo. The version for string quartet is from 1993.'.

SKU: PR.114405050

UPC: 680160008377. 11 x 14 inches.

Although structurally it subdivides into five movements, the entire quartet emerges as one vast continuum. There are no formal breaks between movements. However, certain musical signposts can be discerned, associated with each of the movements' terminations and new beginnings. The opening movement, The Nostalgia of Clanging Bell Sonorities, begins floating on recurrent Bbs whose soft rhythmic flow slowly puts into motion strong undercurrents suggestive of the latent power of water... After several suggestions of tolling bells, the movement gradually fades into hushed tones of veiled and very distant sonorities. It uses a unique efffect, for the first time in a musical context, conveyed through the use of extra heavy practice mutes. The second movement, The Spill of Water , disengages itself from the first through its distinct contrast in tempo. Water moves fast, and when it splashes, it tends to run wildly. In this case, it happens to be bubbly water that gushes forth bodly... smashing across rocky shorlines. So, too, the music attempts to conjure such moods. At the end of this movement, a cello cadenza emerges, introducing an introspective type of melodicism. The third movement, The Poignancy of Memory, contains many silences as it tries to convey memory through fragmented remembrances much like often occur in our dream state. Progressing through several slowly building images, it gradually works itself into juxtaposition of musical images. Towards the movement's end, high harmonics are sounding in all four instruments while left hand pizzicato notes in the cello pluch the last remembrances of this central core. Almost imperceptibly, the viola assumes leadership as it dissolves into: The fourth movement, The Fluidity of Motion, which has mostly the viola, but also the cello, articulating lyrical statements against the sheets of sound conjured up by the two violins playing a flood of swirling figures, evokes a kind of static motion in spae. Here, the virtually imperceptible manner in which this hushed whisper continues incessantly, can suggest the potential fluidity with which movement may inch forward... Later into the fourth movement , two fairly extended solos by the second and then the first violins, lead to a kind of spontaneous dialogue among the four instrumentalists. Eventually, this musical conversation gets caught up in: The fifth movement's The Rush of Time, which opens with a hushed flurry of speed, precipitates the Finale. It generates, at first slowly, but then very swiftly, whole shifts of rhythmic fields that initially seem to conflict with one another. Ultimately, this use of 'psycho-rhythmics contributes to an on-rush of motion and time. Rhythmic changes are, at times, abruptly precipitated with but little or no preparation creating a kind of inevitability in forward thrust, while the movement rushes forward with a feeling of gradual and continuous acceleration. It gathers density as more and more notes are piled progressively upon successive beats. The attempt is to spark tension and ignite excitement by means of frenetic confrontations of dissimilitudes. Ultimately - with the help of time - these polarities centrifically spin out their own destinies with their accompanying fall-out and own inevitable resolutions.

SKU: PR.11440505S

UPC: 680160008391. 11 x 14 inches.

Although structurally it subdivides into five movements, the entire quartet emerges as one vast continuum. There are no formal breaks between movements. However, certain musical signposts can be discerned, associated with each of the movements' terminations and new beginnings. The opening movement, The Nostalgia of Clanging Bell Sonorities, begins floating on recurrent Bbs whose soft rhythmic flow slowly puts into motion strong undercurrents suggestive of the latent power of water... After several suggestions of tolling bells, the movement gradually fades into hushed tones of veiled and very distant sonorities. It uses a unique effect, for the first time in a musical context, conveyed through the use of extra heavy practice mutes. The second movement, The Spill of Water, disengages itself from the first through its distinct contrast in tempo. Water moves fast, and when it splashes, it tends to run wildly. In this case, it happens to be bubbly water that gushes forth bodly... smashing across rocky shorelines. So, too, the music attempts to conjure such moods. At the end of this movement, a cello cadenza emerges, introducing an introspective type of melodicism. The third movement, The Poignancy of Memory, contains many silences as it tries to convey memory through fragmented remembrances much like often occur in our dream state. Progressing through several slowly building images, it gradually works itself into juxtaposition of musical images. Towards the movement's end, high harmonics are sounding in all four instruments while left hand pizzicato notes in the cello pluck the last remembrances of this central core. Almost imperceptibly, the viola assumes leadership as it dissolves into: The fourth movement, The Fluidity of Motion, which has mostly the viola, but also the cello, articulating lyrical statements against sheets of sound conjured up by the two violins playing a flood of swirling figures, evokes a kind of static motion in space. Here , the virtually imperceptible manner in which this hushed whisper continues incessantly, can suggest the potential fluidity with which movement may inch forward... Later into the fourth movement, two fairly extended solos by the second and then the first violins, lead to a kind of spontaneous dialogue amont the four instrumentalists. Eventually, this musical conversation gets caught up in: The fifth movement's The Rush of Time, which opens with a hushed flurry of speed, precipitates the Finale. It generates, at first slowly, but then very swiftly, whole shifts of rhythmic fields that initially seem to conflict with one another. Ultimately, this use of psycho-rhythmics contributes to an on-rush seem of motion and time. Rhythmic changes are, at times, abruptly precipitated with but little or no preparation creating a kind of inevitability in forward thrust, while the movement rushes forward with a feeling of gradual and continuous acceleration. It gathers density as more and more notes are piled progressively upon successive beats. The attempt is to spark tension and ignite excitement by means of frenetic confrontations of dissimilitudes. Ultimately - with the help of time - these polarities centrifically spin out their own destinies with their accompanying fall-out and own inevitable resolutions.

SKU: BT.1418-07-130-MS

9x12 inches. English-German-French-Dutch.

For Une Belle Histoire, Roland Kernen took his inspiration from the seventies French singer and composer Michel Fugain and his troop of singers and dancers known as “Le Big Bazar”. The cheerful melodic line of his 1972 hit Une belle histoire lends itself perfectly for brass band. Add a little French charm to any concert with this throwback to the hippy period of the early seventies.

In 1972 werd het gezelschap Michel Fugain et le Big Bazar opgericht, een kleurrijk geheel van muzikanten, zangers en dansers met een hippieachtige uitstraling. Met deze formatie bracht Fugain tot eind jaren zeventig veel vrolijkeen mooie hits uit, waaronder Une belle histoireM. Roland Kernen schreef een fraai arrangement van deze levendige en tijdloze hit. De melodieuze muziek zal elk concert voorzien van een vleugje Franse charme.

Mit Une belle histoire (Eine schöne Geschichte) kam die französische Gruppe Michel Fugain et le Big Bazar“ - ein bunter Haufen aus Tänzern und Musikern im Hippie-Stil - in den siebziger Jahren groß heraus. Roland Kernen schrieb diese reizvolle Bearbeitung des lebhaften, zeitlosen Hits. Die melodische Musik verleiht jedem Konzert etwas vom Charme Frankreichs und der fröhlichen, schönen Hippiemusik der Siebziger.

Michel Fugain est un auteur-compositeur et interprète français, né en 1942 Grenoble. Il débute sa carrière dans l’industrie du cinéma tout en écrivant plusieurs chansons pour Michel Sardou. Son talent musical s’impose alors comme une évidence. En 1969, il enregistre son tout premier album Je n’aurai pas le temps. Trois ans plus tard, en 1972, il crée la célèbre troupe du Big Bazar, composée de musiciens, chanteurs, comédiens et danseurs aux couleurs hippies. Ensemble, ils sortent le single Une belle histoire qui connaît un immense succès. Jusqu’ la fin des années 1970, la troupe va égrener quelques tubes, avant de se séparer. Dans les années 1980, MichelFugain se diversifie et se lance dans l'animation télé. Si pour la grande majorité du public, il est resté le leader du Big Bazar, Michel Fugain a néanmoins réussit son renouveau artistique après plusieurs années d’absence.Roland Kernen a réalisé un charmant arrangement du premier grand succès du Big Bazar, Une belle histoire. La mélodie, délicieusement légère, chemine sur des notes au charme et aux parfums de France.

SKU: BT.1418-07-030-MS

9x12 inches. English-German-French-Dutch.

For Une Belle Histoire, Roland Kernen took his inspiration from the seventies French singer and composer Michel Fugain and his troop of singers and dancers known as ?Le Big Bazar?. The cheerful melodic line of his 1972 hit Une belle histoire lends itself perfectly for brass band. Add a little French charm to any concert with this throwback to the hippy period of the early seventies.

In 1972 werd het gezelschap Michel Fugain et le Big Bazar opgericht, een kleurrijk geheel van muzikanten, zangers en dansers met een hippieachtige uitstraling. Met deze formatie bracht Fugain tot eind jaren zeventig veel vrolijkeen mooie hits uit, waaronder Une belle histoire. Roland Kernen schreef een fraai arrangement van deze levendige en tijdloze hit. De melodieuze muziek zal elk concert voorzien van een vleugje Franse charme.

Mit Une belle histoire (Eine schöne Geschichte) kam die französische Gruppe Michel Fugain et le Big Bazar“ - ein bunter Haufen aus Tänzern und Musikern im Hippie-Stil - in den siebziger Jahren groß heraus. Roland Kernen schrieb diese reizvolle Bearbeitung des lebhaften, zeitlosen Hits. Die melodische Musik verleiht jedem Konzert etwas vom Charme Frankreichs und der fröhlichen, schönen Hippiemusik der Siebziger.

Michel Fugain est un auteur-compositeur et interprète français, né en 1942 Grenoble. Il débute sa carrière dans l’industrie du cinéma tout en écrivant plusieurs chansons pour Michel Sardou. Son talent musical s’impose alors comme une évidence. En 1969, il enregistre son tout premier album Je n’aurai pas le temps. Trois ans plus tard, en 1972, il crée la célèbre troupe du Big Bazar, composée de musiciens, chanteurs, comédiens et danseurs aux couleurs hippies. Ensemble, ils sortent le single Une belle histoire qui connaît un immense succès. Jusqu’ la fin des années 1970, la troupe va égrener quelques tubes, avant de se séparer. Dans les années 1980, MichelFugain se diversifie et se lance dans l'animation télé. Si pour la grande majorité du public, il est resté le leader du Big Bazar, Michel Fugain a néanmoins réussit son renouveau artistique après plusieurs années d’absence.Roland Kernen a réalisé un charmant arrangement du premier grand succès du Big Bazar, Une belle histoire. La mélodie, délicieusement légère, chemine sur des notes au charme et aux parfums de France.