SKU: PR.16500104F
ISBN 9781491132159. UPC: 680160681082.
Ever since the success of my series of wind ensemble works Places in the West, I've been wanting to write a companion piece for national parks on the other side of the north American continent. The earlier work, consisting of GLACIER, THE YELLOWSTONE FIRES, ARCHES, and ZION, spanned some twenty years of my composing life, and since the pieces called for differing groups of instruments, and were in slightly different styles from each other, I never considered them to be connected except in their subject matter. In their depiction of both the scenery and the human history within these wondrous places, they had a common goal: awaking the listener to the fragile beauty that is in them; and calling attention to the ever more crucial need for preservation and protection of these wild places, unique in all the world. With this new work, commissioned by a consortium of college and conservatory wind ensembles led by the University of Georgia, I decided to build upon that same model---but to solidify the process. The result, consisting of three movements (each named for a different national park in the eastern US), is a bona-fide symphony. While the three pieces could be performed separately, they share a musical theme---and also a common style and instrumentation. It is a true symphony, in that the first movement is long and expository, the second is a rather tightly structured scherzo-with-trio, and the finale is a true culmination of the whole. The first movement, Everglades, was the original inspiration for the entire symphony. Conceived over the course of two trips to that astonishing place (which the native Americans called River of Grass, the subtitle of this movement), this movement not only conveys a sense of the humid, lush, and even frightening scenery there---but also an overview of the entire settling-of- Florida experience. It contains not one, but two native American chants, and also presents a view of the staggering influence of modern man on this fragile part of the world. Beginning with a slow unfolding marked Heavy, humid, the music soon presents a gentle, lyrical theme in the solo alto saxophone. This theme, which goes through three expansive phrases with breaks in between, will appear in all three movements of the symphony. After the mood has been established, the music opens up to a rich, warm setting of a Cherokee morning song, with the simple happiness that this part of Florida must have had prior to the nineteenth century. This music, enveloping and comforting, gradually gives way to a more frenetic, driven section representative of the intrusion of the white man. Since Florida was populated and developed largely due to the introduction of a train system, there's a suggestion of the mechanized iron horse driving straight into the heartland. At that point, the native Americans become considerably less gentle, and a second chant seems to stand in the way of the intruder; a kind of warning song. The second part of this movement shows us the great swampy center of the peninsula, with its wildlife both in and out of the water. A new theme appears, sad but noble, suggesting that this land is precious and must be protected by all the people who inhabit it. At length, the morning song reappears in all its splendor, until the sunset---with one last iteration of the warning song in the solo piccolo. Functioning as a scherzo, the second movement, Great Smoky Mountains, describes not just that huge park itself, but one brave soul's attempt to climb a mountain there. It begins with three iterations of the UR-theme (which began the first movement as well), but this time as up-tempo brass fanfares in octaves. Each time it begins again, the theme is a little slower and less confident than the previous time---almost as though the hiker were becoming aware of the daunting mountain before him. But then, a steady, quick-pulsed ostinato appears, in a constantly shifting meter system of 2/4- 3/4 in alteration, and the hike has begun. Over this, a slower new melody appears, as the trek up the mountain progresses. It's a big mountain, and the ascent seems to take quite awhile, with little breaks in the hiker's stride, until at length he simply must stop and rest. An oboe solo, over several free cadenza-like measures, allows us (and our friend the hiker) to catch our breath, and also to view in the distance the rocky peak before us. The goal is somehow even more daunting than at first, being closer and thus more frighteningly steep. When we do push off again, it's at a slower pace, and with more careful attention to our footholds as we trek over broken rocks. Tantalizing little views of the valley at every switchback make our determination even stronger. Finally, we burst through a stand of pines and----we're at the summit! The immensity of the view is overwhelming, and ultimately humbling. A brief coda, while we sit dazed on the rocks, ends the movement in a feeling of triumph. The final movement, Acadia, is also about a trip. In the summer of 2014, I took a sailing trip with a dear friend from North Haven, Maine, to the southern coast of Mt. Desert Island in Acadia National Park. The experience left me both exuberant and exhausted, with an appreciation for the ocean that I hadn't had previously. The approach to Acadia National Park by water, too, was thrilling: like the difference between climbing a mountain on foot with riding up on a ski-lift, I felt I'd earned the right to be there. The music for this movement is entirely based on the opening UR-theme. There's a sense of the water and the mysterious, quiet deep from the very beginning, with seagulls and bell buoys setting the scene. As we leave the harbor, the theme (in a canon between solo euphonium and tuba) almost seems as if large subaquatic animals are observing our departure. There are three themes (call them A, B and C) in this seafaring journey---but they are all based on the UR theme, in its original form with octaves displaced, in an upside-down form, and in a backwards version as well. (The ocean, while appearing to be unchanging, is always changing.) We move out into the main channel (A), passing several islands (B), until we reach the long draw that parallels the coastline called Eggemoggin Reach, and a sudden burst of new speed (C). Things suddenly stop, as if the wind had died, and we have a vision: is that really Mt. Desert Island we can see off the port bow, vaguely in the distance? A chorale of saxophones seems to suggest that. We push off anew as the chorale ends, and go through all three themes again---but in different instrumentations, and different keys. At the final tack-turn, there it is, for real: Mt. Desert Island, big as life. We've made it. As we pull into the harbor, where we'll secure the boat for the night, there's a feeling of achievement. Our whale and dolphin friends return, and we end our journey with gratitude and celebration. I am profoundly grateful to Jaclyn Hartenberger, Professor of Conducting at the University of Georgia, for leading the consortium which provided the commissioning of this work.
SKU: PR.16500101F
ISBN 9781491131725. UPC: 680160680252.
SKU: BT.MUSM570361922
English.
The song repertoire has its origins in the late nineteenth century when every household had a piano and for much of the twentieth century, singers and their pianist collaborators were able to create recital programmes from a deep reservoir of European and North American song. The recital genre became more sophisticated as the century progressed and metamorphosed from a miscellaneous collection of lollipops to something altogether more sophisticated, often featuring elaborate themes which would enable the music to be presented in a variety of new contexts. In the twenty first century opportunities for recitalists are fewer and programmes still tend to focus on the much-loved butwell-explored repertoire. We hope this collection will contribute to a broadening of possibilities for recitalists or anyone who just wants something new to sing. There are several songs for voice and piano but some require other instruments. There is a wide range of styles. We have resisted the temptation to grade them by difficulty, as our criteria were more broadly performative and musical rather than didactic. All selected composers have a particular sympathy for the singing voice, so there is nothing that cannot be sung by a competent performer. The songs generally have a designated voice type, but this shouldn't be thought of as prescriptive; they are designed to be flexible and to offer the maximum opportunity for creative interpretation. They range from the curious and quirky to the virtuosic and challenging, the intense and mysterious to the sad and the light-hearted. We hope that many performers will find their tastes represented here. Compiled by David Blake and John Potter. Edited by Michael Hooper.
SKU: PR.16500103F
ISBN 9781491131763. UPC: 680160680290.
SKU: PR.16500102F
ISBN 9781491131749. UPC: 680160680276.
SKU: BT.MUSAM996996
ISBN 9781849380140. English.
The Complete Guitar Player series has taught hundreds of thousands how to play and the accompanying songbooks have featured hits by Paul Simon, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, John Denver and many othertopartists.Now these songbooks are available in super value omnibus editions like this one. The songs are still graded by ease of playing and everything is there... standard notation, Guitar chord boxes, full lyrics andevenstrumming patterns!Over 180 great songs! Perfect for all players and singers!The bonus CD contains backing tracks to 16 of the songs in the book.
SKU: PR.114423500
ISBN 9781491137758. UPC: 680160691531.
Commissioned by The Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program, IMPRESSIONS FROM THE CHINESE ZODIAC is a suite of three characteristic pieces within reach of advanced pre-college saxophonists, and introducing advanced techniques. The work is equally satisfying and impressive for top-level performers. The movements are titled:1. Rooster Singing Out in the Morning2. Monkey Jumping Around in the Forest3. Tiger Walking Down from the Mountain.Commissioned by The Juilliard School for Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program, Impressions from the Chinese Zodiac was composed for any size saxophone in 2022. It consists of three independent movements featuring different musical characteristics with various performing techniques. The inspiration for the music came from impressions of three animal signs (rooster, monkey, and tiger), from the twelve in the Chinese Zodiac.The first piece begins with a repeated phrase imitating a rooster’s loud singing in the morning; the pitch with fluttertongue sounds like the noise from the rooster’s throat), followed by phrases of a pentatonic melody drawn from The Sun Is Rising With Our Joy, a Chinese folk song from Sichuan province. There are descending passages, simulating the dropping-down sound of the singing. Each passage is different from others, each of which should be played accurately and smoothly. The melody is moved up a step with variation, followed by an echo of the rooster singing at the end of the piece. Now the sky is bright, so the rooster call returns up four scale steps!The second piece includes two Chinese folk songs: Thinking of My Darling (from Shanxi province) and Guessing (from Yunnan province). Both songs have large interval skips spanning different registers, as well as microtonal intervals in their original singing, which show the characteristics of the regional musical languages respectively. The tone colors should be matched when registers are changed. The microtonal pitches (quarter-tone flat or three-quarter-tone flat) may be done by bending the tone with one’s lips. The image is the monkey jumping around lively, and the music is played humorously. The high and long pitch with a yelling-down effect at the end of the piece brings the music to an exciting peak.The third piece features the strong and brave tiger, with accented tones in the lowest register. The first 3-pitch motive is developed throughout the piece, while peristaltic chromatic material is formed in various shapes and directions, to show the gestures of a mighty and fierce image.Getting accustomed to special fingerings for the chromatic passages and trills, along with precisely notated articulations, and the techniques of tongue slap and key clicks, are the basic goals to achieve in this piece.
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