Chamber Music Clarinet, Piano, Violin

SKU: PR.164002390

Composed by Dan Welcher. Set of Score and Parts. With Standard notation. Composed 1995. 26+14+14 pages. Duration 14 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #164-00239. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.164002390).

UPC: 680160038091.

I became interested in the work of Plato through my friend and collaborator, the writer and philosopher Paul Woodruff. Paul's new translation, with Alexander Nehamas, of the Symposium gave me insights into ancient Greek ways of thinking about Love, Beauty, and Wisdom -- and managed to keep the earthy, and often bawdy side of it all in full view. But their new translation of Plato's later dialogue Phaedrus went even further: the beauty of the speeches is breathtaking, and the discourse itself is enough to keep one awake at night. Basically the Great Speech of Socrates in the Phaedrus dialogue has to do with the place of Eros in the world, and with the conflict in the soul between fleshly pleasure and philosophic discovery. I will not attempt to encapsulate this brilliant discourse in a program note: suffice it to say that reading it gave rise to my two-sided work for clarinet, violin, and piano, Phaedrus. The first movement represents the Philosophic life, and is thus subtitled Apollo's Lyre (Invocation and Hymn). It begins with an unaccompanied melody for the clarinet, which (after a pair of harp-like flourishes for the piano, expands into an accompanied canon. The voices in the dialogue (clarinet and violin) follow each other by a prescribed number of beats, but the music is totally devoid of any meter at all. The piano, representing the lyre, accompanies this lyric love-feast with repeated strummed chords. The canon has three large sections, and ends with violin echoing the unaccompanied clarinet invocation as the sound of the lyre fades. The second movement, called Dionysus' Dream-Orgy (Ritual Dance) presents, after a brief introduction, another kind of unmetered music. Rather than long lyric flights of philosophic song, however, this time we hear a unison dance of unbridled energy and sensual transport. The piece soon forms itself into a loose arch form, with contrasting metered dance sections divided by the unison unmetered orgy tune. Midway through the movement, Apollo's melody returns from the first movement, but it is a temporary reminiscence. The orgiastic dance returns, reaches a climax, and ends with a stomping of feet. While Plato asserts that a proper balance between lust and reason is necessary in all men, he (naturally) gives the nod to Philosophy as the better choice in which to live. Not so in my music: the two sides are meant to coexist and to complement each other. No sides are taken. Phaedrus was commissioned of the Verdehr Trio by Michigan State University. It is dedicated to the Vedehr Trio with great affection and admiration.

Chamber Music Clarinet, Flute, Narrator, Percussion, Trumpet, Violoncello, soprano voice

SKU: PR.161000820

A Musical Fable for Children. Composed by Dan Welcher. Original story by Santiago Vaquera-Vasquez; Lyrics by Dan Welcher. Premiered by faculty from Texas A&M Kingsville, Kingsville, TX. Folk. Set of Score and Parts. With Standard notation. Composed July 30 2012. 51+30+12+12+12+16+20 pages. Duration 20 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #161-00082. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.161000820).

UPC: 680160610822. 9 x 12 inches. Text: Santiago Vaquera-Vasquez; Dan Welcher. Santiago Vaquera-Vasquez, Dan Welcher. Original story by Santiago Vaquera-Vasquez; Lyrics by Dan Welcher.

Commissioned for the Kingsville (TX) Independent School District and its thriving music department, Welcher has created A Musical Fable for Children, based upon a story by Santiago Vaquera-Vasquez. A narrator tells the tale of two children on opposite sides of the border and the magical creatures who allowed them to see as the other sees. Welcher uses musical themes and instruments to help identify the characters for the audience. The musical play was performed at the Kingsville campus, as well as six other elementary schools in the district.
The Need to See is a theater piece for children, featuring a narrator/singer and five instrumentalists. Designed to show children (aged 8-10) a fable about acceptance and diversity, the work also exposes children to live musicians in a highly portable, suitable-for-classroom theater piece.The narrator/singer begins by teaching the children a well-known Mexican folk tune, “Naranja Dulce”, which leads directly into the story.  The fable concerns two figures from folklore: Don Conejo (the rabbit god) and Don Coyote (the coyote god).  These two trickster/adversaries take on the task of helping Isabella, an American girl, and Tomàs, a Mexican boy, understand each other’s culture—by means of a trick.  The two children, living on opposite sides of the Rio Grande in Texas and Mexico, have been taught to fear el otro lado (“the other side”), and to stay away from the river.  This causes both children to be nervous and afraid, and Conejo and Coyote decide to do something about that.Borrowing from another well-known tale, writer Santiago Vaquera-Vàsquez has the two trickster-deities perform a bit of hocus-pocus, exchanging the two childrens’ eyes for one day, so they can “see” through someone else’s perspective.  The result, told in two languages with narration, song, and constant music, allows the children in the audience to participate as singers, and also as spectators to a tale that has relevance and contemporary meaning.   Employing three familiar songs from Latin American culture (“Naranja Dulce”, “Tengo una Muñeca”, and “Mambru se fue a la Guerra”), the piece takes its audience on a journey both familiar and new—and ultimately enlightening.

P/V/G. By Will Schmid. (Teacher Ed). Expressive Art (Choral). Size 9x12 inches. 84 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.

Recorder and Piano - Advanced

SKU: FP.FDD02

Composed by David Dubery. Sheet Music and Books. An evocative piece for treble recorder or oboe and piano inspired by two historic Stockport landmarks. Classical. Collection. Forsyths Publications #FDD02. Published by Forsyths Publications (FP.FDD02).

ISBN 9790570503834.

Vernon Park, Stockport’s oldest park, was created on land donated by Lord Vernon (George John Warren). It was built by poor mill workers who called it pinch-belly park and opened on 20th September 1858. Comprising twenty-one acres, it houses a museum, a bandstand, ornamental fountains, a fernery, rockery, borders and sunken rose garden as well terraced walkways that overlook the river and weir. The piece depicts a solitary walker engrossed in his own thoughts on a winter’s day, the landscape, and the park’s Victorian past.

At the very end of the piece a reminder of the park’s Victorian origins can be detected in a quote from Elgar’s Salut d’amour of 1899, which may well have been played by a band in the bandstand. Stockport market celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2010. It dated back to September 1260 when a Royal Charter allowed Robert de Stokeport, the Mayor, to hold a weekly market within the defensive walls of the Norman Castle on the present site of Castle Yard.

The Glass Umbrella was a popular name given to the 1861 covered market built of timber, glass and iron - nine bays with open sides and a glass canopy. In 1912, one bay was removed to enable electric trams and trolley buses to turn a sharp corner.

The piece depicts a lively market day, the multiculturalism of the present day and the old cries of pick and pay without delay. The bells of St Mary’s Church are depicted by a cascading peel tuned to the ten bells of the church tower, and a fleeting reference to John Wainwright’s famous Christmas hymn Christians Awake, and the Westminster chimes striking the hour from St Mary’s, bring to piece to a conclusion. Separate parts are provided for recorder and oboe.

(Full Size Edition). Composed by Various. For Ukulele. Ukulele. Softcover. 688 pages. Published by Hal Leonard

For percussion trio. Composed by Andy Harnsberger. Score and parts on CD-Rom. 26 pages. Duration 8 minutes, 20 seconds. Published by Tapspace Publications (TA.TSPCE15-008).

Orchestra Soli Voices ATBarB (ATB), SATB Choir, Picc, 2 Fl, 2 Ob, 2 Clt, 2 Fg, 2 Cor, 2 Tr, 3 Trb, Timp, Gran Tamburo e Piatti, 2 Vl, Va, Vc, Cb - Level 3

SKU: CA.4013803

Ballad for chorus and orchestra. Composed by Felix Bartholdy Mendelssohn. Edited by R. Larry Todd. Secular choral music. Stuttgart Urtext Edition: Mendelssohn. Secular choral music. Vocal score. MWV D 3. Duration 30 minutes. Carus Verlag #CV 40.138/03. Published by Carus Verlag (CA.4013803).

ISBN 9790007186456. Language: German/English. Text: Goethe, Johann Wolfgang.

Goethe's dramatic ballad The First Walpurgis Night inspired Mendelssohn to write a magnificent and vivid portrayal of the conflict between an old heathen community and the new aspirations of Christianization, between belief and superstition on both sides. In 1833 Mendelssohn had his ballad premiered, but he decided to make far-reaching revisions before he finally had the work published in 1844. The Carus edition by the leading Mendelssohn scholar R. Larry Todd is based on the first printed edition of the score and thus the last authentic version of the work. This important choral work by Mendelssohn is now available in a modern Urtext edition, with full score (in two languages), vocal score, choral score and orchestral material available on sale, as well as a CD recording by the Kammerchor Stuttgart conducted by Frieder Bernius (planned for autumn 2019). Score available separately - see item CA.4013800.

By Various. Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook. Pop, Rock. Softcover. Published by Hal Leonard

Orchestra Soli Voices ATBarB (ATB), SATB Choir, Picc, 2 Fl, 2 Ob, 2 Clt, 2 Fg, 2 Cor, 2 Tr, 3 Trb, Timp, Gran Tamburo e Piatti, 2 Vl, Va, Vc, Cb - Level 3

SKU: CA.4013805

Ballad for chorus and orchestra. Composed by Felix Bartholdy Mendelssohn. Edited by R. Larry Todd. Secular choral music. Stuttgart Urtext Edition: Mendelssohn. Secular choral music. Choral Score. MWV D 3. Duration 30 minutes. Carus Verlag #CV 40.138/05. Published by Carus Verlag (CA.4013805).

ISBN 9790007186463. Language: German/English. Text: Goethe, Johann Wolfgang.

Goethe's dramatic ballad The First Walpurgis Night inspired Mendelssohn to write a magnificent and vivid portrayal of the conflict between an old heathen community and the new aspirations of Christianization, between belief and superstition on both sides. In 1833 Mendelssohn had his ballad premiered, but he decided to make far-reaching revisions before he finally had the work published in 1844. The Carus edition by the leading Mendelssohn scholar R. Larry Todd is based on the first printed edition of the score and thus the last authentic version of the work. This important choral work by Mendelssohn is now available in a modern Urtext edition, with full score (in two languages), vocal score, choral score and orchestral material available on sale, as well as a CD recording by the Kammerchor Stuttgart conducted by Frieder Bernius (planned for autumn 2019). Score available separately - see item CA.4013800.

For Trombone. Instrumental Series. Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Level: Level 2-3. Book and CD. 20 pages. Published by Alfred Publishing.

Arranged by Tom Porter. For SSA choir, piano/violin. Octavo. Published by Alliance Music Publications