SKU: PR.362034230

ISBN 9781598069556. UPC: 680160624225. Letter inches. English.

When the Texas Choral Consort asked Welcher to write a short prologue to Haydn's The Creation, his first reaction was that Haydn already presents Chaos in his introductory movement. As he thought about it, Welcher began envisioning a truer void to precede Haydn's depiction of Chaos within the scope of 18th-century classical style - quoting some of Haydn's themes and showing human voices and inhuman sounds in a kind of pre-creation melange of color, mood, and atmosphere. Welcher accepted this challenge with the proviso that his prologue would lead directly into Haydn's masterpiece without stopping, and certainly without applause in between. Scored for mixed chorus and Haydn's instrumentation, Without Form and Void is a dramatically fresh yet pragmatic enhancement to deepen any performance of Haydn's The Creation. Orchestral score and parts are available on rental.
When Brent Baldwin asked me to consider writing a short prologue to THE CREATION, my first response was “Why?”  THE CREATION already contains a prologue; it’s called “Representation of Chaos”, and it’s Haydn’s way of showing the formless universe.  How could a new piece do anything but get in the way? But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.  The Age of Enlightenment’s idea of “Chaos” was just extended chromaticism, no more than Bach used (in fact, Bach went further).Perhaps there might be a way to use the full resources of the modern orchestra (or at least, a Haydn-sized orchestra) and the modern chorus to really present a cosmic soup of unborn musical atoms, just waiting for Haydn’s sure touch to animate them.  Perhaps it could even quote some of Haydn’s themes before he knew them himself, and also show human voices and inhuman sounds in a kind of pre-creation mélange of color, mood, and atmosphere. So I accepted the challenge, with the proviso that my new piece not be treated as some kind of “overture”, but would instead be allowed to lead directly into Haydn’s masterpiece without stopping, and certainly without applause.  I crafted this five minute piece to begin with a kind of “music of the spheres” universe-hum, created by tuned wine glasses and violin harmonics.  The chorus enters very soon after, with the opening words of Genesis whispered simultaneously in as many languages as can be found in a chorus.  The first two minutes of my work are all about unborn human voices and unfocused planetary sounds, gradually becoming more and more “coherent” until we finally hear actual pitches, melodies, and words.  Three of Haydn’s melodies will be heard, to be specific, but not in the way he will present them an hour from now.  It’s almost as if we are listening inside the womb of the universe, looking for a faint heartbeat of worlds, animals, and people to come.  At the end of the piece, the chorus finally finds its voice with a single word: “God!”,  and the orchestra finally finds its own pulse as well.  The unstoppable desire for birth must now be answered, and it is----by Haydn’s marvelous oratorio. I am not a religious man in any traditional sense.  Neither was Haydn, nor Mozart, nor Beethoven.  But all of them, as well as I, share in what is now called a humanistic view of how things came to be, how life in its many forms developed on this planet, and how Man became the recorder of history.  The gospel according to John begins with a parody of Genesis:  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”   I love that phrase, and it’s in that spirit that I offer my humble “opener” to the finest work of one of the greatest composers Western music has ever known.  My piece is not supposed to sound like Haydn.  It’s supposed to sound like a giant palette, on which a composer in 1798 might find more outrageous colors than his era would permit…but which, I hope, he would have been delighted to hear.

SKU: CF.WF218

ISBN 9781491149188. UPC: 680160906680. 9 x 12 inches.

Continuing with the success of the popular Compatible series, Compatible Duets for Winds Volume 2 contains 29 duets in a variety of styles that can be played with any combination of two wind instruments. Students can develop their chamber-ensemble skills while playing with their friends, no matter what wind instruments they play. Ranging from grade levels 2-3, Compatible Duets for Winds Volume 2 is perfect for band directors looking for new tools for the classroom, and its flexibility makes it a must-have for any wind player.
Having students play in small chamber music groups is a very beneficial exercise to improvethe student’s overall musicianship. The simplest form of chamber music is the duet. It is anopportunity for the student to play with a teacher or to play with another student of similarabilities. Aspects of playing such as tone quality, intonation, technique and ensemble skillscan be developed during the process of studying duets.These duets are different in that they have many different performance options, since all ofthe books in this series are compatible. As a former middle-school band director I alwayshad students that wanted to come to the band room during lunch or after school; studentswho just wanted to play with their friends. That was not possible since there was very littleduet material available that was compatible with all of the wind instruments. This bookand the first volume in the series take care of that. A student can now grab their friend,no matter what instrument they play, and have hours of fun playing duets together. Mostimportantly, they will learn something in the process.The duets have been generally placed in the book in order of difficulty and cover a rangeof keys that are appropriate for this ability level. Special care was given to making surethat both of the duet parts were on a similar ability level and that each line was givenan opportunity to play a lead role at some point during the arrangement. Also, most ofthe musical markings are attached to both systems, and the point size of the music wasconsidered for ease of reading.It is my hope that this collection will help to stimulate and enhance the musicianship of theperformers. It was a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to put together this collection.I hope it is a useful tool for you for years to come.

SKU: CF.WF219

ISBN 9781491149195. UPC: 680160906697. 9 x 12 inches.

Continuing with the success of the popular Compatible series, Compatible Duets for Winds Volume 2 contains 29 duets in a variety of styles that can be played with any combination of two wind instruments. Students can develop their chamber-ensemble skills while playing with their friends, no matter what wind instruments they play. Ranging from grade levels 2-3, Compatible Duets for Winds Volume 2 is perfect for band directors looking for new tools for the classroom, and its flexibility makes it a must-have for any wind player.
Having students play in small chamber music groups is a very beneficial exercise to improvethe student’s overall musicianship. The simplest form of chamber music is the duet. It is anopportunity for the student to play with a teacher or to play with another student of similarabilities. Aspects of playing such as tone quality, intonation, technique and ensemble skillscan be developed during the process of studying duets.These duets are different in that they have many different performance options, since all ofthe books in this series are compatible. As a former middle-school band director I alwayshad students that wanted to come to the band room during lunch or after school; studentswho just wanted to play with their friends. That was not possible since there was very littleduet material available that was compatible with all of the wind instruments. This bookand the first volume in the series take care of that. A student can now grab their friend,no matter what instrument they play, and have hours of fun playing duets together. Mostimportantly, they will learn something in the process.The duets have been generally placed in the book in order of difficulty and cover a rangeof keys that are appropriate for this ability level. Special care was given to making surethat both of the duet parts were on a similar ability level and that each line was givenan opportunity to play a lead role at some point during the arrangement. Also, most ofthe musical markings are attached to both systems, and the point size of the music wasconsidered for ease of reading.It is my hope that this collection will help to stimulate and enhance the musicianship of theperformers. It was a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to put together this collection.I hope it is a useful tool for you for years to come.