SKU: HL.49008109

ISBN 9790001120678. UPC: 073999881493. 9.0x12.0x0.268 inches.

'Christmas * Peace on Earth' is the leading motive of the String Quartet, a tenet of faith as well as an expression of hope. In the first part of the work Vasks uses themes from a well-known Christmas carol, while the second part is strongly influenced by Latvian folksongs and dances. The third section, with a chromaticiscm strongly reminiscent of Shostakovitch, investigates and questions the feasibility of any peace in our society. The final, calm and slightly melancholy section symbolizes 'Peace on Earth' by means of sonorous sustained choirs.

SKU: CA.940100

ISBN M-007-25186-4.

Brahms always had a fine feeling for lyrical quality. His cycle Vier Quartette (Four Quartets) op. 92 for voices and piano, setting four poems by Goethe, Daumer, Allmers, and Hebbel, demonstrates his musical skills in a particularly moving way. The cycle is about the romantic night atmosphere, about melancholy reflections on autumn, and secret noctural amorous adventures. The Urtext edition from Carus comprises a conductor's score in large format and a choral score, both underlaid with singing text in German and English, and the piano accompaniment. The cycle can be performed by solo voices and piano, or by four-part mixed choir and piano.

SKU: SU.27060280

Six Bagatelles is a set of whimsical character pieces which, in my own composer’s perception, provided balance to some of the heavier works I had written over the previous several years. The first movement, Humming, not only hums along like a well-tuned engine, but it also evokes a melody that someone might actually hum. Let Evening Come is an arrangement of a song, for baritone or mezzo-soprano, flute, and piano, on Jane Kenyon’s poem of the same name—part of a cycle from 1994 called Night Will Blossom. The title Melancholy speaks for itself, as does that of the fifth movement, Solace. Skirmish started out as a march, but when changes of meter emerged in the composing of the piece, I realized it was no longer marchable, though still martial in character. The final movement is a Mosaic in two senses: the accompaniment in the strings in the outer sections of the piece is made up of small bits of material, combining to create an overall texture; and its middle section is made up of fragments of material heard in earlier movements. —Mark Carlson Flute & String Quartet Composed: 1995 Published by: Pacific Serenades.

SKU: AP.1-ADV8426

UPC: 805095084269. English.

The four parts of this fresh work, Mexican Fantasies by Mike Curtis, are delicately interwoven. Alternating between melancholy-solemn and lively, the movements tell of festivities under the starry sky, of wonderful friendships, or even a tale of the queen of the tropics.

SKU: FG.042-08430-4

ISBN 979-0-042-08430-4.

This two-movement work, inspired bythe skills of the Rascher Quartet, is conceived as a constant interplay between four saxophones and a single percussionist. Bright percussion timbres such as vibraphone, campane, crotales and tambourine are used to complement the soloistic, contrapuntal character of the saxwriting. Meditative and virtuosic passages alternate and seemingly contradictory forces are reconciled. The melancholy and grotesque, the lyrical and dramatic all find expression here.