SKU: PR.16400272S

UPC: 680160588442. 8.5 x 11 inches.

My third quartet is laid out in a three-movement structure, with each movement based on an early, middle, and late work of the great American impressionist painter Mary Cassatt. Although the movements are separate, with full-stop endings, the music is connected by a common scale-form, derived from the name MARY CASSATT, and by a recurring theme that introduces all three movements. I see this theme as Mary's Theme, a personality that stays intact while undergoing gradual change.   I The Bacchante (1876) [Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]   The painting shows a young girl of Italian or Spanish origin, playing a small pair of cymbals. Since Cassatt was trying very hard to fit in at the French Academy at the time, she painted a lot of these subjects, which were considered typical and universal. The style of the painting doesn't yet show Cassatt's originality, except perhaps for certain details in the face. Accordingly the music for this movement is Spanish/Italian, in a similar period-style but using the musical signature described above. The music begins with Mary's Theme, ruminative and slow, then abruptly changes to an alla Spagnola-type fast 3/4 - 6/8 meter. It evokes the Spanish-influenced music of Ravel and Falla.   Midway through, there's an accompanied recitative for the viola, which figures large in this particular movement, then back to a truncated recapitulation of the fast music. The overall feeling is of a well-made, rather conventional movement in a contemporary Spanish/Italian style. Cassatt's painting, too, is rather conventional.   II At the Opera (1880) [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts]   This painting is one of Cassatt's most well known works, and it hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The painting shows a woman alone in a box at the opera house, completely dressed (including gloves) and looking through opera glasses at someone or something that is NOT on the stage. Across the auditorium from her, but exactly at eye level, is a gentleman with opera glasses intently watching her - though it is not him that she's looking at. It's an intriguing picture.   This movement is far less conventional than the first movement, as the painting is far less conventional. The music begins with a rapid, Shostakovich-type mini-overture lasting less than a minute, based on Mary's Theme. My conjecture is that the woman in the painting has arrived late to the opera, busily stumbling into her box. What happens next is a kind of collage, a kind of surrealistic overlaying of two different elements: the foreground music, at first is a direct quotation of Soldier's Chorus from Gounod's FAUST (an opera Cassatt would certainly have heard in the brand-new Paris Opera House at that time), played by Violin II, Viola, and Cello. This music is played sul ponticello in the melody and col legno in the marching accompaniment. On top of this, the first violin hovers at first on a high harmonic, then descends into a slow melody, completely separate from the Gounod. It's as if the woman in the painting is hearing the opera onstage but is not really interested in it. Then the cello joins the first violin in a kind of love-duet (just the two of them, at first). This music isn't at all Gounod-derived; it's entirely from the same scale patterns as the first movement and derives from Mary's Theme and its scale. The music stays in a kind of dichotomy feeling, usually three-against-one, until the end of the movement, when another Gounod melody, Valentin's aria Avant de quitter ce lieux reappears in a kind of coda for all four players. It ends atmospherically and emotionally disconnected, however. The overall feeling is a kind of schizophrenic, opera-inspired dream.   III Young Woman in Green, Outdoors in the Sun (1909) [Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts]   The painting, one of Cassatt's last, is very simple: just a figure, looking sideways out of the picture. The colors are pastel and yet bold - and the woman is likewise very self-assured and not in the least demure. It is eight minutes long, and is all about melody - three melodies, to be exact (Young Woman, Green, and Sunlight). No angst, no choppy rhythms, just ever-unfolding melody and lush harmonies. I quote one other French composer here, too: Debussy's song Green, from Ariettes Oubliees. 1909 would have been Debussy's heyday in Paris, and it makes perfect sense musically as well as visually to do this.   Mary Cassatt lived her last several years in near-total blindness, and as she lost visual acuity, her work became less sharply defined - something akin to late water lilies of Monet, who suffered similar vision loss. My idea of making this movement entirely melodic was compounded by having each of the three melodies appear twice, once in a pure form, and the second time in a more diffuse setting. This makes an interesting two ways form: A-B-C-A1-B1-C1.   String Quartet No.3 (Cassatt) is dedicated, with great affection and respect, to the Cassatt String Quartet, whose members have dedicated themselves in large measure to the furthering of the contemporary repertoire for quartet.

SKU: SP.TS180

ISBN 9781585604623. UPC: 649571101800.

Variety lies at the core of 83 Classified Piano Solos published by Santorella Publications. It combines eighty-three songs from seven different genres to form an incredibly unique product. From Hymns to Marches, Waltzes to Folk songs and Classics to Boogie, 83 Classified Piano Solos has everything that a beginning piano student needs. Boredom is a major obstacle to learning which students and teachers have encountered. They have found it extremely difficult to maintain interest when using a single resource. Often, supplemental materials are needed to keep study interesting and exciting since it is nearly impossible to find adequately diverse books. This adds a significant and unnecessary financial burden on both parties. 83 Classified Piano Solos from Santorella Publications is different. This best-selling easy piano title eliminates the need for costly supplemental materials while exploring many composers in varied genres and keeping study fun and interesting. To take full advantage of the variety, we strongly urge that you jump around from section to section and explore all that 83 Classified Piano Solos has to offer. This Jonathon Robbins best seller from Santorella Publications includes a performance CD which serves as a great tool for the beginning student. He or she can listen to a performance of each piece performed at the appropriate tempos, dynamics and stylings, then emulate this during their own performance, practice or study sessions. Just take a look at the incredibly diverse range of titles found in this great Santorella title: WALTZES - WALTZ (From, The Sleeping Beauty) - Tchaikovsky - EMPEROR WALTZ - Strauss - WALTZ IN A MINOR - Chopin, WALTZ IN Bb - Schubert - WALTZ IN C - Schubert - WALTZ IN C - Brahms - WAVES OF THE DANUBE - Ivanovici - WALTZ OF THE FLOWERS (From, The Nutcracker) - Tchaikovsky COWBOY MUSIC RED RIVER VALLEY - HOME ON THE RANGE - POOR, LONESOME COWBOY - GOOD BYE OLD PAINT - BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN - I'D LIKE TO BE IN TEXAS - THE COLORADO TRAIL - TO BURY ME NOT ON THE LONE PRAIRIE - WHOOPIE TI-YI-YO! (Git Along Little Dogies!) HYMNS ABIDE WITH ME - I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR - WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS - ETERNAL FATHER - STRONG TO SAVE - HEAR OUR PRAYER - O LORD - I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY - ROCK OF AGES - COME, THOU ALMIGHTY KING - MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE - NEARER, MY GOD TO THEE - HE LEADETH ME - ALL HAIL THE POWER OF JESUS' NAME - HOLY, HOLY, HOLY - SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER - IN THE SWEET BYE AND BYE - FAITH OF OUR FATHERS FOLK MUSIC BILLYBOY - ALOUETTE - ON TOP OF OLD SMOKY - CRAWDAD SONG - TURKEY IN THE STRAW - THE FARMER IN THE DELL - SKIP TO MY LOU - SHE'LL BE COMIN''ROUND THE MOUNTAIN - PUT YOUR LITTLE FOOT - JOHN PEEL - OH, WHERE HAS MY LITTLE DOG GONE - MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB - FOR HE'S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW - POLLY WOLLY DOODLE MARCHES THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER - AMERICAN PATROL - MARCH OF THE PRIESTS (From, Athalia) - GRAND MARCH (From the Opera, Aida) - DIXIE - THE MARINES' HYMN - SOLDIER'S CHORUS (From the Opera, Faust) - HAIL TO THE CHIEF - ANCHORS AWEIGH - THE THUNDERER CLASSICS CRADLE SONG - Brahms - TURKISH MARCH (From, The Ruins of Athens) - Beethoven, NOCTURNE IN F - Chopin - MINUET IN G - Bach - MUSETTE - Bach - FANTASIE IMPROMTU - Chopin - GAITE PARISIENNE (Can Can) - Offenbach - THEME FROM SURPRISE SYMPHONY - Haydn - MARCHE MILITAIRE - Schubert - UNFINISHED SYMPHONY THEME - Schubert - LARGO (From the Opera, Xerxes) - Handel - TOREADOR SONG (From the Opera, Carmen) - Bizet - JUNE - Tchaikovsky - BRIDAL CHORUS (From the Opera, Lohengrin) - Wagner - BARCAROLLE (From, The Tales of Hoffman) - Offenbach, HALLELUJAH CHORUS (From, The Messiah) - Handel - LA DONNA E MOBILE (From the Opera, Rigoletto) - Verdi. BOOGIE WOOGIES (Jonathon Robbins) BOOGIE WOOGIE BLUES - DOODLIN'- RIDE THE BOOGIE WOOGIE TRAIN - THE LAZY BOOGIE WOOGIE - ONE NOTE BOOGIE - MR. BOOGIE WOOGIE - THE NON-STOP BOOGIE - THE HORSE BACK BOOGIE.