SKU: PR.144407530

ISBN 9781491136614. UPC: 680160687992.

A violinist herself, Lauren Bernofsky has described SONATA FOR SOLO VIOLIN as drawn from autobiographical inspiration, including gestures from Bachâ??s beloved Partita in E Major. Bernofsky opens with a Preludio movement whose references to Bach may be disguised, but they are surely lurking. The second movement is lusciously contrapuntal with the idiomatic finesse of a violinist composing for her own instrument, while musically journaling the emotional pain of living through 2020. The third and final movement is aptly marked â??white-hot,â? and the music certainly is.
My SONATA FOR SOLO VIOLIN was commissioned by violinist Megan Healy as part of The Maud Powell Project, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The project included the creation of five new works for solo violin inspired by and dedicated to the memory of pioneering American violinist Maud Powell (1867-1920). Healy premiered the sonata on May 8, 2021 at PianoForte Studios in Chicago.Among the works Powell most frequently performed in her recitals was the â??Preludioâ? movement from Bachâ??s E major Partita, and I decided to refer to that music in my own first movement, also titled â??Preludio.â? The beginning subtly reflects Bachâ??s opening three-note motive, wherein the music dips down a semitone and then comes back up. This melodic material returns throughout the movement in various forms. I also refer to Bachâ??s sixteenth-note dominated texture, and the gesture in the third measure, which outlines a perfect fifth and then fills it in with notes that alternate between a scale and a pedal tone. The corresponding passage in my piece occurs in the same place, measure 3. Apart from these references to Bach, my sonata is much more modern sounding, especially in its chromatic character.I was still thinking of Bachâ??s solo violin writing while composing the second movement, particularly the polyphonic nature of the slow movements, where the melodic interest moves around between the voices. Emotionally, I wanted my movement to reflect the acute sadness I had been experiencing over the political and social situation in the United States as I wrote the piece. I realized that this is a historically noteworthy time in U.S. history, marked not only by political unrest, but also by a challenge to the very values that I consider essential to what makes a person fundamentally human. I wanted to create a record of that pain in my music.The final movement is marked â??White-hot.â? It is imbued with a relentless, passionate intensity. Wanting again to reflect aspects of our own time, I included glissandi that refer to rock music, specifically the â??fall-offsâ? I frequently hear played by electric guitarists. I borrowed from another (completely different) musical tradition as well, one that is near-and-dear to my heart: Klezmer. Klezmer (Eastern European Jewish folk music) is characterized in part by scales colored by augmented seconds, and is often performed by solo instrumentalists who improvise embellishments like quick grace notes. The second, more lyrical theme in this movement is my nod to Klezmer style.While this piece is an homage to Maud Powell, I also think of it as my own musical autobiography, as it combines some of my favorite aspects of music, and is played on my own instrument.

SKU: ST.Y274

ISBN 9790220223358.

1st perf: Keisuke Okazaki, Tokyo Opera City Recital Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 22 April 2008
1st UK perf: Darragh Morgan, Schott Recital Room, Bauer & Hieber, London, 5 February 2009

Though the jagged figures and phrases of Lucky's Dream by Morgan Hayes are unmistakably those of a contemporary musical expressionist, the shadow of Bach also falls on this work, inspired by the virtuosity of the young Japanese soloist Keisuke Okazaki and his playing of the E major Partita.

In fact, though 'standard' contemporary techniques are widely used in the piece - left-hand pizzicato, harmonics and microtones, all deployed in edgy, unpredictable rhythms - there is also a classical shape to the structure. In this two-part form, lasting around four minutes, the first section is reflective, dwelling on single notes, phantoms as it were of pitches that are subtly deflected through slow glissandi. Then a spectral dance ensues, delivered largely on plucked strings, ethereal, disembodied, strange.

The 'Lucky' in question is a character from Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot, and Lucky's Dream is a complementary work to the earlier, impassioned Lucky's Speech (2006). The two items can stand alone or may be performed consecutively. Both are to be found on the recent all-Hayes CD released on the NMC label (NMC D163), which also features the composer's 17-minute Violin Concerto as further evidence for his original approach to writing for the instrument.

SKU: CF.PL1072

ISBN 9781491160244. UPC: 680160918836.

An Anthology of Piano Music for the Left Hand Alone marks a rare and significant entry to the piano literature as one of the only collections of the oft-neglected left-hand piano repertoire. Serious literature for the left hand alone has a long and storied past. Contained within this volume, the serious advanced pianist will find a wealth of artistically satisfying repertoire for the left hand that will not only strengthen the technical development of the left hand, but also make for impressive showpieces on the recital stage.This volume includes hitherto unpublished gems like Earl Wild's Etude No. 3 for the Left Hand Alone (Based on Gershwin’s The Man I Love) and Ruth Wylie's Soliloquy for Piano, Left Hand, Op. 23, as well as established classics of the repertoire like Godowky's Chopin arrangements, and even modern and contemporary additions like Bartok’s Etude for the Left Hand and Corigliano's Etude No. 1 for the Left Hand Alone.

SKU: HL.51481261

UPC: 840126933031. 9.0x12.0x0.202 inches.

For flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (B flat), 2 bassoons, double bassoon or bass tuba, 4 horns (E flat major/B flat) with additional parts for horns in F. When he was a mere 18 years old, Richard Strauss composed the highly Romantic, one-movement Serenade for Wind Instruments, op. 7. Extremely popular among wind players to this day, this work recalls in instrumentation and structure Mozart's “Gran Partita”, which certainly served as a model for Strauss. The serenade was not premiered in its Bavarian homeland as might have been expected, butrather in Dresden, in 1882, under the direction of the then much-esteemed conductor Franz Wüllner, who had also given the inaugural performances of Richard Wagner's Rheingold and Die Walküre and later premiered Strauss' tone poems Till Eulenspiegel and Don Quixote. So it was a great honour for the young Bavarian! Editor Norbert Gertsch presents this little masterwork here for the first time in Urtext quality - in full score and instrumental parts - for which not just the first edition but also the autograph manuscript was scrutinised fastidiously.

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