SKU: CF.B3470

ISBN 9781491159460. UPC: 680160918058.

The awardee of two Guggenheim fellowships, Julia Perry studied composition with Luigi Dallapiccola and Nadia Boulanger, and conducted her works on a tour throughout Europe with the Vienna Philharmonic and the BBC Orchestra. She would become one of the first African-American female composers to have an orchestral work performed by the New York Philharmonic. Although she had an auspicious and promising career in her early life, it was tragically cut short by a series of strokes leading to partial paralysis and eventually, her death, at age 55 in 1979.Perry’s catalog is widely varied, featuring thirteen symphonies, numerous chamber and solo works, pieces for band, choral and vocal music, and four operas. Her Violin Concerto, completed in 1968, shows the influence of Dallapiccola’s teachings: sharp harmonic dissonances organized around specific pitch centers, short repetitive patterns that establish significant musical materials, and contrapuntal textures. Her fastidious performance markings in the solo violin part indicate her profound understanding of the instrument. Angular, muscled, and sparkling by turns, this piece is a sophisticated entry to the serious violinist's concert repertoire.There is no evidence or documentation that the Violin Concerto was ever premiered or performed during her lifetime, despite the fact that the composer prepared a full score, piano reduction and orchestral parts. Regrettably, this is the case with the majority of her works composed in the final decade of her life.
What is extraordinary about Julia Perry’s musical career was the astonishing success she attained in her early years. In her youth she studied piano, voice, violin and cello. She began to compose in her teenage years, her first publication being a choral work in 1947 by Carl Fischer. Her Stabat Mater was published in 1951 and would become one of her most often performed pieces, with performances in Europe and the United States. In 1953 she was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship to study with the Italian composer Luigi Dallapiccola, first at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood, later in Florence, Italy. During this time, she also pursued studies with Nadia Boulanger in Paris and was awarded a second Guggenheim fellowship. She studied conducting at this time, touring Europe in 1957 to conduct her own works with the Vienna Philharmonic and the BBC Orchestra. During her European sojourns, she learned and mastered French, German and Italian. She would become one of the first African-American female composers to have an orchestral work performed by the New York Philharmonic.Perry’s circumstances would change dramatically once she reached forty years of age, having returned permanently to the United States. At some point in the spring of 1970, she suffered the first of two strokes that would paralyze her right side and confine her to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Nonetheless, she continued to compose and to promote her works with publishers and conductors. A second stroke contributed to her death in 1979 at age 55. She likely endured harsh ethnic and gender discrimination in the course of her career, and her later years would witness a period of extreme civil unrest. These matters and the significance of music in her life are undoubtedly what led her to say, “Music has a great role to play in establishing the brotherhood of man.”Perry’s catalog is widely varied, featuring thirteen symphonies, numerous chamber and solo works, pieces for band, choral and vocal music, and four operas. Her Violin Concerto, completed in 1968, is indicative of the influence of Dallapiccola’s teachings: sharp harmonic dissonances organized around specific pitch centers, short repetitive patterns that establish significant musical materials, and contrapuntal textures. The work is a single movement of 392 measures organized around three alternating tempos: Slow (Œ = 60), Moderate (Œ = 84) and Fast (Œ = 120). The opening thirty-measure cadenza for the solo violin introduces most of the thematic material for the piece. The orchestration commonly features antiphonal writing between orchestral groups, for example, strings alternating with brass, or strings alternating with winds. The harp and piano generally appear as solo instruments, rather than as members of the orchestra. Her fastidious performance markings in the solo violin part indicate her profound understanding of the instrument.There is no evidence or documentation that the Violin Concerto was ever premiered or performed during her lifetime, despite the fact that the composer prepared a full score, piano reduction and orchestral parts. Regrettably, this is the case with the majority of her works composed in the final decade of her life.

SKU: BR.PB-14560

The piano reduction and the study score (,,Studien-Edition) are available at G. Henle Verlag.

ISBN 9790004211014. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Beethoven's autographs of the first three piano concertos opp. 15, 19 and 37 are the earliest of all orchestral scores which have survived integrally. Thanks to source studies, we know today that a first version of the Concerto in Bb major op. 19 had already originated in Bonn in 1790 at the latest. It was followed by a second version written in Vienna most likely in 1793 which included the Rondo in Bb major WoO 6 as finale. A third version followed most probably in 1794 and led to the fourth and final version, written in Prague in October 1798, as Beethoven sojourned there at the beginning of the concert season. (from the Preface)This autograph together with the autograph solo part which was made at the beginning of 1801 and the parts printed in the same year, are the main sources of the present edition.

SKU: HL.301728

UPC: 888680966041. 5.0x5.0x0.184 inches. Isaiah 35:8, Psalm 119:19, Psalm 56:8.

From the Bound for Glory collection, this highly recognized spiritual carries in its essence the longing for peace and rest. The bittersweet spirit is front and center in an arrangement replete with lyrical keyboard and thoughtful part writing. As the song of the sojourner rises and falls with the crescendo of the words, one imagines a homecoming just over the hill with each hopeful verse. Sensitive writing! Score and Parts (pno, perc 1-2, vn 1-2, va, vc, db) available as a digital download.

SKU: PR.144404960

UPC: 680160545476.

Although my wife Elizabeth took me on a two-week Caribbean cruise as a pre-70th birthday vacation gift, two short works for string instruments emerged during the trip: Trance for solo violoncello and Sojournen for solo viola. This cello piece invokes two of the many meanings of spell: an incantation and also a short period of time. The solo is a trance-like, fleeting scherzo in a three-part through-composed design. The entire piece is constructed from very limited material stated in the opening gestures with much use made of open strings. Following an introduction, the three brief sections serve as mini-etudes for glissandi tremolandos, measured tremolos, and double-stopped rapid bowing. I think an omnipresent autumnal aural breeze was in my mind since the soloist's oration -- indeed under a spell -- never lets up, even at very low dynamic levels. This constant motion requires dexterity, finesse and an elegant control from the performer. Trance is approximately five minutes in duration, was written while at sea and completed on December 15, 2003, in Saint Johns, Antigua. The score is dedicated to the American cellist Jeffrey Zeigler.