SKU: PR.110418480

ISBN 9781491136294. UPC: 680160688784.

Chen Yi’s beautiful and highly-textured tone poem was inspired by ancient Chinese poetry; its melodic ideas were developed from musical phrases characteristic of Chinese opera. Wang Ya’s original verse as translated by Chen Yi reads:“SONG OF SPRING OUTING”Ten thousand apricot trees by the riverside,Spring flowers bloom after the wind at night.Covered over the garden, colors dark and light,Mirrored in the green water ripples.
SONG OF SPRING OUTING was commissioned by the Center for East Asian Studies and the Asian Classical Music Initiative at the University of Kansas in 2022 for Dr. Yi-Yang Chen to premiere in 2023.The work was inspired by an ancient Chinese poem with the same title:Song of Spring Outingby Wang Ya (Tang Dynasty)English translation by Chen YiTen thousand apricot trees by the riverside,Spring flowers bloom after the wind at night.Covered over the garden, colors dark and light,Mirrored in the green water ripples.This inspiring image is like taking a walk through a beautiful garden with layers of colorful trees and flowers, mirrored in the green water.The opening phrase of the music introduces the signature intervals, the leap of a seventh found in Beijing Opera fiddle’s language, followed by melodic material with a major 2nd and perfect 4th in pentatonic style as the thematic materials. [C-Bb-G in bars 1-2, followed by the top pitches A-B and Ab-E( in bars 2-3]. This statement is brought back (Rehearsal F) in a retrograded form of the introduction at the climatic end of the piece.The musical form is a combination of variations on thematic materials, and a rondo. After the introductory section, Rehearsal A introduces an improvisation-like mountain song melody (developed from the pentatonic material in the introduction).Rehearsal B brings in a lively texture in short groupings with staccato in both hands (using the seventh leap interval introduced in the opening of the piece).Rehearsals C and D develop the introduction’s pentatonic melody and the mountain tune (introduced in Rehearsal A) with more layers in the texture.Rehearsal E develops the material presented in Rehearsal B, with an extended range in both ends of the keyboard, increasing the freshness and excitement.

SKU: PR.41641439L

UPC: 680160606924. 11 x 14 inches.

2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in Bb, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns in F, Percussion, Strings.
The work Tone Poem is composed for chamber orchestra, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 B-flat clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 French horns, 1 percussion and strings. The length is about 8 minutes. It is inspired by two poems by Su Dong-po (1036-1101) about southern Chinese landscape paintings. The imagination of the two beautiful ancient Chinese poems became the sonic landscape pictures, to share with my musicians and audience. The brimming waves, the sunny day, The dimming hills, the rainy haze. The West Lake as the Beauty Xizi, Whether she is adorned richly or plainly. Like spilt ink dark clouds spread o'er the hills as a pall; Like bouncing pearls the raindrops in the boat run riot. A sudden rolling gale comes and dispels them all, Below Lake View Pavilion sky-mirrored water's quiet.
The work Tone Poem is composed for chamber orchestra, 2 flutes, 2oboes, 2 B-flat clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 French horns, 1 percussion andstrings. The length is about 8 minutes. It is inspired by two poems by SuDong-po (1036-1101) about southern Chinese landscape paintings.The imagination of the two beautiful ancient Chinese poems became thesonic landscape pictures, to share with my musicians and audience.The brimming waves, the sunny day,The dimming hills, the rainy haze.The West Lake as the Beauty Xizi,Whether she is adorned richly or plainly.Like spilt ink dark clouds spread o'er the hills as a pall;Like bouncing pearls the raindrops in the boat run riot.A sudden rolling gale comes and dispels them all,Below Lake View Pavilion sky-mirrored water's quiet.

SKU: PR.11642007L

UPC: 680160688715.

SKU: ST.Y215

ISBN 9790220221309.

1st perf: Sarah Nicolls, The Warehouse, London, 12 December 2003

Lute Stop, inspired by the legendary playing of Glen Gould and Alexis Weissenberg, is the latest bravura solo from Morgan Hayes, an outstanding young British composer of piano music. The interpretative style of these performers, favouring a block-like rather than a nuanced approach to dynamics, is mirrored in the formal aspect of the piece and the extreme dynamic contrasts of its material. Sudden shifts in register, octave doublings and quiet left-hand punctuations also feature prominently in the textures, suggesting changes of registration on a harpsichord - hence the title.

SKU: CF.SPS85

ISBN 9781491156421. UPC: 680160914968. 9 x 12 inches.

Blue Horizons is a spirited tribute to the musical heritage of the United States Air Force. The main theme is a variation of the U.S. Air Force Song (Off We Go), with a secondary theme based on A Toast to the Host (the bridge of The Air Force Song). Throughout the work, fragments of other Air Force-related songs appear: Lord, Guard and Guide (the Air Force Hymn), Air Force Blue, and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. The original request for this work was a daunting task: I was asked to create an Air Force companion piece to Robert Jager's Esprit de Corps that would mirror the style and spirit of that landmark work. The goal was to use elements of our various Air Force tunes in the same way that Jager incorporated The Marine's Hymn into his work - that is, to weave a musical tapestry of the Air Force's musical heritage without ever becoming a mere arrangement of the original material. As a former student of Robert Jager at Tennessee Technological University, I discussed my plans for the piece with him, shared my progress along the way, and sought his guidance as I had done so many times in the past. He was delighted that I managed to incorporate a few Jager-isms into the music, including one direct quote from Esprit de Corps. Although Blue Horizons was conceived as a dedication to the Air Force's musical legacy, it is also a personal homage to my teacher and friend, Robert Jager. Performance Notes * If only two flutists are available, omit the piccolo part and have them play Flute 1 and 2; in this case, Flute 1 should switch over to piccolo (still playing from the Flute 1 part) at m. 81 and back to regular flute at m. 114. If only covering the Flute 1 and 2 parts, Flute 2 should ignore indications to switch to piccolo and just play the entire work on regular flute. * Oboe 1 and 2 parts should be covered before adding the English Horn part. * The clarinet in Eb part should not be covered unless there are a sufficient number of players on the clarinet in Bb parts. * The trumpet cues in mm. 77-80 are only necessary if the horns need assistance finishing their soli phrase with enough strength to be heard. If you can hear them without extra support, leave the trumpets out. * From mm. 89-95, be sure the wind players with static eighth notes do not cover up the players with moving lines. * There is a strong tendency to rush m. 121. * During the oboe solo from mm. 157-168, ensure that the suspension/resolution lines in the bassoon and clarinet parts are heard; emphasize the importance of growing into the suspension with a slight crescendo. * In the scherzo section that begins at m. 217, be sure that each player knows how his/her part fits into the overall sound. I recommend isolating different textural items so the players can hear those parts on their own. (The bass line from mm. 243-260, for example, or the moving inner-voice line from mm. 251-260.) * In this same scherzo section, care should be taken to not play too loud and save a little strength for the climax fanfare at m. 279. * If you have an abundance of tubas, I would recommend having one or two of them play up an octave from mm. 243-271 if the lower part seems too heavy.
Blue Horizons is a spirited tribute to the musical heritage of the United States Air Force. The main theme is a variation of the U.S. Air Force Song (Off We Go), with a secondary theme based on A Toast to the Host (the bridge of The Air Force Song). Throughout the work, fragments of other Air Force-related songs appear: Lord, Guard and Guide (the Air Force Hymn), Air Force Blue, and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines.The original request for this work was a daunting task: I was asked to create an Air Force “companion piece” to Robert Jager’s Esprit de Corps that would mirror the style and spirit of that landmark work. The goal was to use elements of our various Air Force tunes in the same way that Jager incorporated The Marine’s Hymn into his work – that is, to weave amusical tapestry of the Air Force’s musical heritage without ever becoming a mere arrangement of the original material. As a former student of Robert Jager at Tennessee Technological University, I discussed my plans for the piece with him, shared my progress along the way, and sought his guidance as I had done so many times in the past. He was delighted that I managed to incorporate a few “Jager-isms” into the music, including one direct quote from Esprit de Corps. Although Blue Horizons was conceived asa dedication to the Air Force’s musical legacy, it is also a personal homage to my teacher and friend, Robert Jager.Performance Notes• If only two flutists are available, omit the piccolo part and have them play Flute 1 and 2; in this case, Flute 1 should switch over to piccolo (still playing from the Flute 1 part) at m. 81 and back to regular flute at m. 114. If only covering the Flute 1 and 2 parts, Flute 2 should ignore indications to switch to piccolo and just play the entire work on regular flute.• Oboe 1 and 2 parts should be covered before adding the English Horn part.• The clarinet in Eb part should not be covered unless there are a sufficient number of players on the clarinet in Bb parts.• The trumpet cues in mm. 77-80 are only necessary if the horns need assistance finishing their soli phrase with enough strength to be heard. If you can hear them without extra support, leave the trumpets out.• From mm. 89-95, be sure the wind players with static eighth notes do not cover up the players with moving lines.• There is a strong tendency to rush m. 121.• During the oboe solo from mm. 157-168, ensure that the suspension/resolution lines in the bassoon and clarinet parts are heard; emphasize the importance of growing into the suspension with a slight crescendo.• In the scherzo section that begins at m. 217, be sure that each player knows how his/her part fits into the overall sound. I recommend isolating different textural items so the players can hear those parts on their own. (The bass line from mm. 243-260, for example, or the moving inner-voice linefrom mm. 251-260.)• In this same scherzo section, care should be taken to not play too loud and save a little strength for the climax fanfare at m. 279.• If you have an abundance of tubas, I would recommend having one or two of them play up an octave from mm. 243-271 if the lower part seems too heavy.

SKU: CF.SPS85F

ISBN 9781491156438. UPC: 680160914975. 9 x 12 inches.

Blue Horizons is a spirited tribute to the musical heritage of the United States Air Force. The main theme is a variation of the U.S. Air Force Song (Off We Go), with a secondary theme based on A Toast to the Host (the bridge of The Air Force Song). Throughout the work, fragments of other Air Force-related songs appear: Lord, Guard and Guide (the Air Force Hymn), Air Force Blue, and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. The original request for this work was a daunting task: I was asked to create an Air Force companion piece to Robert Jager's Esprit de Corps that would mirror the style and spirit of that landmark work. The goal was to use elements of our various Air Force tunes in the same way that Jager incorporated The Marine's Hymn into his work - that is, to weave a musical tapestry of the Air Force's musical heritage without ever becoming a mere arrangement of the original material. As a former student of Robert Jager at Tennessee Technological University, I discussed my plans for the piece with him, shared my progress along the way, and sought his guidance as I had done so many times in the past. He was delighted that I managed to incorporate a few Jager-isms into the music, including one direct quote from Esprit de Corps. Although Blue Horizons was conceived as a dedication to the Air Force's musical legacy, it is also a personal homage to my teacher and friend, Robert Jager. Performance Notes * If only two flutists are available, omit the piccolo part and have them play Flute 1 and 2; in this case, Flute 1 should switch over to piccolo (still playing from the Flute 1 part) at m. 81 and back to regular flute at m. 114. If only covering the Flute 1 and 2 parts, Flute 2 should ignore indications to switch to piccolo and just play the entire work on regular flute. * Oboe 1 and 2 parts should be covered before adding the English Horn part. * The clarinet in Eb part should not be covered unless there are a sufficient number of players on the clarinet in Bb parts. * The trumpet cues in mm. 77-80 are only necessary if the horns need assistance finishing their soli phrase with enough strength to be heard. If you can hear them without extra support, leave the trumpets out. * From mm. 89-95, be sure the wind players with static eighth notes do not cover up the players with moving lines. * There is a strong tendency to rush m. 121. * During the oboe solo from mm. 157-168, ensure that the suspension/resolution lines in the bassoon and clarinet parts are heard; emphasize the importance of growing into the suspension with a slight crescendo. * In the scherzo section that begins at m. 217, be sure that each player knows how his/her part fits into the overall sound. I recommend isolating different textural items so the players can hear those parts on their own. (The bass line from mm. 243-260, for example, or the moving inner-voice line from mm. 251-260.) * In this same scherzo section, care should be taken to not play too loud and save a little strength for the climax fanfare at m. 279. * If you have an abundance of tubas, I would recommend having one or two of them play up an octave from mm. 243-271 if the lower part seems too heavy.
Blue Horizons is a spirited tribute to the musical heritage of the United States Air Force. The main theme is a variation of the U.S. Air Force Song (Off We Go), with a secondary theme based on A Toast to the Host (the bridge of The Air Force Song). Throughout the work, fragments of other Air Force-related songs appear: Lord, Guard and Guide (the Air Force Hymn), Air Force Blue, and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines.The original request for this work was a daunting task: I was asked to create an Air Force “companion piece” to Robert Jager’s Esprit de Corps that would mirror the style and spirit of that landmark work. The goal was to use elements of our various Air Force tunes in the same way that Jager incorporated The Marine’s Hymn into his work – that is, to weave amusical tapestry of the Air Force’s musical heritage without ever becoming a mere arrangement of the original material. As a former student of Robert Jager at Tennessee Technological University, I discussed my plans for the piece with him, shared my progress along the way, and sought his guidance as I had done so many times in the past. He was delighted that I managed to incorporate a few “Jager-isms” into the music, including one direct quote from Esprit de Corps. Although Blue Horizons was conceived asa dedication to the Air Force’s musical legacy, it is also a personal homage to my teacher and friend, Robert Jager.Performance Notes• If only two flutists are available, omit the piccolo part and have them play Flute 1 and 2; in this case, Flute 1 should switch over to piccolo (still playing from the Flute 1 part) at m. 81 and back to regular flute at m. 114. If only covering the Flute 1 and 2 parts, Flute 2 should ignore indications to switch to piccolo and just play the entire work on regular flute.• Oboe 1 and 2 parts should be covered before adding the English Horn part.• The clarinet in Eb part should not be covered unless there are a sufficient number of players on the clarinet in Bb parts.• The trumpet cues in mm. 77-80 are only necessary if the horns need assistance finishing their soli phrase with enough strength to be heard. If you can hear them without extra support, leave the trumpets out.• From mm. 89-95, be sure the wind players with static eighth notes do not cover up the players with moving lines.• There is a strong tendency to rush m. 121.• During the oboe solo from mm. 157-168, ensure that the suspension/resolution lines in the bassoon and clarinet parts are heard; emphasize the importance of growing into the suspension with a slight crescendo.• In the scherzo section that begins at m. 217, be sure that each player knows how his/her part fits into the overall sound. I recommend isolating different textural items so the players can hear those parts on their own. (The bass line from mm. 243-260, for example, or the moving inner-voice linefrom mm. 251-260.)• In this same scherzo section, care should be taken to not play too loud and save a little strength for the climax fanfare at m. 279.• If you have an abundance of tubas, I would recommend having one or two of them play up an octave from mm. 243-271 if the lower part seems too heavy.

SKU: CF.CM9768

ISBN 9781491160343. UPC: 680160923298. Key: G major. English.

About the WorkThe text of this work is most often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, although it doesn't mirror his style, and no research credits an essay, book or letter with its source. Other individuals are occasionally suggested as possible authors, but equally unsubstantiated. Even whether the textis a poem or a quote seems unclear. But there is one thing that is without question: that this beloved text has inspired countless people and contributed toward a view of the world through eyes of hope, resilience, courage, beauty, and joy. Music for this text flowed more easily than about any text I have ever set. It has an emotional connection that is mystical, and after I read it for the first time, I immediately sat down and wrote this work without stop.Rehearsal NotesIn many cases, art is more expressive and reaches a wider range of human emotions when multiple artistic fields are fused together. Such is the case with choral music: the intertwining of literature, music, and very often dance, visual arts, and more. The story in choral music is often quite specific, much like film scoring. At times, the music is the picture frame (score) around the picture (text), while at others the music is the leading dramatic/emotional impetus.In the present case (My Farewell Wish), the text is sincere, innocent, heartfelt, and earnest. By all accounts, the message is altruistic, expressing selfless desire for another's present/future happiness. Capturing this message has a strong reliance on the performers to not only carry the emotional intent of the moment (a phrase of text or a measure), but the the energy and continuance of the message throughout.The use of the [o] vowel functions almost as instrumental interludes or underpinning of strings. The conductor may use the [o] as indicated in the score, or a [u] vowel, a hum (with [o] as the vowel inside the mouth), or all three at different times for different reasons. In an acoustical performance (no mic), the soloist and the ensemble are a reflection of each other's natural sound. And, even gentle, warm solo voices should have no trouble projecting.Two final thoughts: 1) the obbligato or added voice or two on high passages (m. 66) or a single note (final chord) will be best delivered by lyrical, pure voices with demonstrated control; and 2) the metronome marking of 80 bpm (mm. 1–81) was strongly considered and should be followed.About the ComposerZ. Randall Stroope is an American composer and conductor. His composition teachers were Normand Lockwood and Cecil Effinger, both students of the Nadia Boulanger, the famous French teacher (and student of Gabriel Fauré). Randall is the artistic director of two international summer music festivals, is an Honorary Board Member of the NationalAssociation of Italian Choral Directors, and has conducted in 25 countries. He has directed over 40 times at Carnegie Hall, and is a frequent conductor at other prestigious concert venues. Randall has 190 published works, and his music can be heard on Spotify, YouTube and other platforms, including his website (www.zrstroope.com).

SKU: CA.2441100

ISBN 9790007108953. Key: D major. Language: German.

Besides the Weihnachtsoratorium BVW 248, Bach composed an additional work for the feast days of the church year 1734/35: The Himmelfahrtsoratorium BWV 11 (Ascension Oratorio). Although in its dimensions and character the oratorio is akin to his cantatas, it occupies a special position as a result of the epic text on which it is based; the text includes a biblical story. In particular, the festive atmosphere and instrumentation of the opening and closing choruses mirror the triumphant joy of Christ's ascension. This is a new edition in the Stuttgart Bach Editions series, edited by Ulrich Leisinger.