SKU: PR.816600040

UPC: 680160600045. 5.5x5 inches.

This disk contains study scores of all 41 of Mozart's Symphonies, as well as Concertos for Winds and Strings (Piano Concertos are on a companion CD-ROM), Serenades, Opera Overtures, Divertimentos, and other works.

About CD Sheet Music (Version 1)

CD Sheet Music (Version 1) was the initial CD Sheet Music series distributed by Theodore Presser. The CDs include thousands of pages of music that are viewable and printable on Mac or PC. Version 1 titles are a great value at 40% off, as we make room in our warehouse for the newly enhanced CD Sheet Music (Version 2.0) series.

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: PR.11641139L

UPC: 680160682126.

Barcarolles for a Sinking City was inspired by the city of Venice, a place that has long held the fascination of artists, writers and composers, and which I have been lucky enough to visit on several occasions. Sadly it seems that future generations may not be so lucky: in addition to the city's slow sinking and recently discovered tilting, studies predict that if global warming and the resultant rise of ocean levels is unabated, the entire city (as well as many other coastal cities around the globe) will be under water by 2100.   I. Funeral Gondola The late, cryptic piano works of Franz Liszt made a profound impression on me as a young composer, among them two works he entitled La Lugubre Gondola (usually translated as The Funeral Gondola ) which were said to be a premonition of Wagner's death in Venice, his coffin transported through the canals in a black gondola. These late pieces of Liszt acquired even greater significance to me after I spent two summers in Bayreuth under the patronage of Friedelind Wagner, the granddaughter of Wagner and great-granddaughter of Liszt. This movement is a meditation on Wagner, Liszt, Venice and its own evanescence. II. Barcarolle/Quodlibet The Quodlibet (Latin for what pleases) is a musical form dating back to the 15th century where many disparate melodies are juxtaposed. Popular in the Renaissance, sacred and secular melodies were combined, often to comical effect due to the resultant incongruity of the words. The form was considered the ultimate test of a composer's mastery of counterpoint. The most famous Quodlibet is without doubt the final Variation of Bach's Goldberg Variations. As a form the Quodlibet is less common in more recent music, although examples can be found in the works of Kurt Weill and David Del Tredici.   My own Barcarolle/Quodlibet was inspired by the (perhaps apocryphal) story of the funeral where musicians were asked to play a Bach Choral, but due to miscommunication played instead the Bacarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann. Here, the Bach Choral Allen Menschen mussen sterben (All Men Must Die) is heard in the strings pizzicato, with a tempo indication In slow motion. The alto line of the Bach suggests a phrase from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (Alle Menchen werden Bruder) heard in the muted trombone. Before long, the famous tune from Offenbach's opera is heard, followed by quotations from iconic Barcarolles by Chopin, Mendelssohn and Faure, as well as two Venetian popular songs and more Beethoven.   III. Barcarola/Ostinato/Carillon An ostinato is a repeated musical figure, and carillon is Italian for music box. This movement references the obsolete genre of salon pieces that imitated music boxes: such works by composers like Liadov and Gretchaninov used to be a mainstay of pianists' encore repertoire. This movement is however much darker in conception than those pleasant trifles. Utilizing the full battery of percussion, the carefully notated temporal slowing of the ostinato becomes overwhelmed by a poignant chorale melody before this box is snapped shut.   IV. Barcarolle Oubliee (Forgotten Barcarolle) Marked limpido (still) the final movement begins with the sound of rain produced by a percussion instrument called (appropriately) a rain stick. Halting phrases in the harp coalesce into the accompaniment for a plangent melody heard in the clarinet. The central Adagio of this movement leads to a shattering climax, before the opening phrases return and dissipate into nothingness.

SKU: PR.41541156L

UPC: 680160642953. 11 x 17 inches.

The Mythology Suite consists of three movements of my Mythology Symphony, which I arranged for large wind ensemble. The arrangements of The Lovely Sirens and Penelope Waits were commissioned by James Ripley and Carthage College for the Carthage Wind Orchestra's 2017 Japan tour. I added Pandora Undone to complete the set; Stephen Squires and the Chicago College of Performing Arts gave the premiere of the entire Suite in February 2017. Movement 1: The Lovely Sirens The Sirens were sea nymphs, usually pictured as part woman and part bird, who lived on a secluded island surrounded by rocks. Their enchanting song was irresistible to passing sailors, who were lured to their deaths as their ships were destroyed upon the rocks. The Lovely Sirens presents three ideas: the Sirens' beautiful song, an unfortunate group of sailors whose course takes them near the island, and the disaster that befalls the sailors. The sailors' peril is represented by the Morse code S.O.S. signal (three dots, three dashes, and three dots--represented musically by short and long rhythms). The S.O.S. signal grows increasingly more insistent and distressed as it becomes obvious that the sailors, smitten with the voices of the Sirens, are headed for their demise. Movement 2: Penelope Waits This quiet movement represents Queen Penelope, the faithful wife of Odysseus, as she patiently waits twenty years for her husband's return from fighting the Trojan Wars. Penelope herself is represented as an oboe. She is accompanied by the ensemble as she keeps at bay the suitors who wish to marry her and inherit her riches. Movement 3: Pandora Undone This movement is, in turns, both lighthearted and serious. The music depicts a young, naive Pandora who, while dancing around her house, spies a mysterious box. She tries to resist opening it, but her curiosity ultimately gets the best of her. When she cracks the lid open and looks inside, all evils escape into the world. Dismayed by what she has done, she looks inside the box once more. She discovers hope still in the box and releases it to temper the escaped evils and assuage mankind's new burden.
The Mythology Suite consists of three movements of my Mythology Symphony, which I arranged for large wind ensemble. The arrangements of The Lovely Sirens and Penelope Waits were commissioned by James Ripley and Carthage College for the Carthage Wind Orchestra’s 2017 Japan tour. I added Pandora Undone to complete the set; Stephen Squires and the Chicago College of Performing Arts gave the premiere of the entire Suite in February 2017.Movement 1: The Lovely SirensThe Sirens were sea nymphs, usually pictured as part woman and part bird, who lived on a secluded island surrounded by rocks. Their enchanting song was irresistible to passing sailors, who were lured to their deaths as their ships were destroyed upon the rocks. The Lovely Sirens presents three ideas: the Sirens’ beautiful song, an unfortunate group of sailors whose course takes them near the island, and the disaster that befalls the sailors. The sailors’ peril is represented by the Morse code S.O.S. signal (three dots, three dashes, and three dots—represented musically by short and long rhythms). The S.O.S. signal grows increasingly more insistent and distressed as it becomes obvious that the sailors, smitten with the voices of the Sirens, are headed for their demise.Movement 2: Penelope WaitsThis quiet movement represents Queen Penelope, the faithful wife of Odysseus, as she patiently waits twenty years for her husband's return from fighting the Trojan Wars. Penelope herself is represented as an oboe. She is accompanied by the ensemble as she keeps at bay the suitors who wish to marry her and inherit her riches.Movement 3: Pandora UndoneThis movement is, in turns, both lighthearted and serious. The music depicts a young, naïve Pandora who, while dancing around her house, spies a mysterious box. She tries to resist opening it, but her curiosity ultimately gets the best of her. When she cracks the lid open and looks inside, all evils escape into the world. Dismayed by what she has done, she looks inside the box once more. She discovers hope still in the box and releases it to temper the escaped evils and assuage mankind's new burden.