SKU: BO.B.3340

ISBN 9788480207591.

English comments:
My dedication to the string instruments has been a constant throughout my compositional career and I knew that sooner or later the time would come to compose a concerto for violin and orchestra. That moment came in the autumn of 2002 and after ten months of uninterrupted work I finished it in August of 2003. It is a work structured similarly to the traditional concertos. An important impetus for the elaboration of my concerto was due to the ill-fated violinist Ginette Neveu. Her version of Sibelius' Concerto has always stayed with me. For this reason the first movement, Moderato-Allegro, begins with a contemplative atmosphere similar to that of Sibelius' Concerto in which the principal thematic ideas appear tentatively. These ideas, two rhythmic and two melodic, are reaffirmed through a broad development that culminates in an orchestral fullness. A calm, mysterious passage recalls the introduction and after becoming blurred, three bars burst in leading to the rapid section of the movement. Soloist and orchestra engage in a dialectic struggle of a dramatic nature. The agitation subsides leaving only a tranquil and suggestive clarinet phrase. This will be taken up by the soloist who leads up to the movement's most dramatic moment playing an accelerating triplet figure supported by an orchestral pedal in crescendo. From here the soloist's cadenza emerges beginning with soft double notes. It finishes with an ascending progression and the soloist settles into the high register to elicit the orchestra's intervention in a soft and transfigured atmosphere. Once internalised the second movement, Adagio poco sostenuto e leggero begins. It has a solemn character and opens with two trumpet calls answered by the violoncellos and the contrabasses. The violin soloist introduces and plays two nostalgic themes, the first in the low register and the second, more extensive, in the middle register. The soft and delicate Misterioso e leggero begins with the violin singing on high. The rhythm of the constant quaver figures gradually accelerates until the soloist provokes a dramatic full orchestra as in a cadenza. Once again, the Calmo, in which the soloist with less and less orchestral attire serenely bids farewell. A rising series of double stops by the soloist serves to initiate the Finale-Scherzo. In 6/8 rhythm and with the character of a rondo it carries us along in a carefree, virtuosic ambiance. The principal motives, brief and concise, emerge from the happy, playful theme presented by the soloist. With an intricate progression of rapid sixths in double stops it reaches a tense and somewhat combative moment. However this resolves itself in a diminuendo that the soloist peacefully takes up with the notes re-la to commence the cadenza. This culminates in a series of tied notes to reintroduce the principal theme. A moment of melodic suspension serves as a farewell before the brief and jovial final coda. --The author

Comentarios del Espanol:
A lo largo de mi carrera compositiva mi dedicacion a los instrumentos de cuerda ha sido constante y sabia que, tarde o temprano, llegaria el momento de componer un concierto para violin y orquesta. Este llego en otono de 2002 y, tras diez meses de trabajo ininterrumpido, lo termine en agosto de 2003. Se trata de una obra estructurada de manera similar a los conciertos tradicionales. Un importante impulso a la elaboracion de mi concierto lo debo al recuerdo de la malograda violinista Ginette Neveu. Su version del concierto de Sibelius ha permanecido siempre dentro de mi. Por ese motivo, el primer movimiento Moderato-Allegro se inicia con una atmosfera contemplativa cercana a la del mencionado Concierto, en la que aparecen cautamente las principales ideas tematicas. Con un amplio desarrollo se llega a un lleno orquestal en el que estas ideas -dos ritmicas y dos melodicas- quedan reafirmadas. Un pasaje calmo y misterioso rememora la introduccion. Tras desdibujarse, irrumpen tres compases que nos llevan a la parte rapida del movimiento. Solista y orquesta establecen un combate dialectico de caracter dramatico. La inquietud desaparece hasta una tranquila e insinuante frase del clarinete. Esta sera recogida por el solista, quien, a base de una figuracion de tresillos cada vez mas rapidos apoyada por un pedal de la orquesta in crescendo, conduce hacia el momento mas dramatico del movimiento. De aqui nace la cadenza del solista, que se incia con suaves notas dobles. Finaliza con una progresion ascendente y el solista se coloca en el registro agudo para llamar la intervencion de la orquesta dentro de una atmosfera suave y transfigurada. Interiorizado es el segundo movimiento Adagio poco sostenuto e leggero. Con dos llamadas de las trompas respondidas por los violonchelos y contrabajos inicia el Adagio de caracter grave. El violin solista introduce y canta dos temas nostalgicos. El primero en el registro grave y el segundo, mas amplio, en el medio. Inicia el Misterioso e leggero, de caracter suave y delicado. Con el violin cantando en agudo. La constante figuracion de corcheas acelerara poco a poco el ritmo hasta que el solista a modo de cadenza provocara un dramatico lleno orquestal. De nuevo el Calmo, donde el solista, cada vez con menos ropaje orquestal, se despide serenamente. Una subida de dobles cuerdas a cargo del solista sirve para iniciar el Finale-Scherzo. Este, en ritmo de 6/8 y con caracter de rondo, nos transporta en un clima virtuosistico y despreocupado. Del tema alegre y jugueton presentado por el solista nacen los principales motivos, breves y concisos. Con una intrincada sucesion de rapidas sextas en doble cuerda se llega a un momento crispado y algo combativo que, sin embargo, se resolvera en un diminuendo que el solista recoge apaciblemente con las notas re-la para inciar la cadenza. Esta culmina con un suave rosario de notas en ligado para introducir de nuevo el tema principal. Un momento de suspension melodica sirve como despido antes de la breve y jovial coda final. La obra fue estrenada el 23 de septiembre de 2005 en el Teatre Monumental de Madrid por la Orquesta Sinfonica de RTVE con Markus Placci de solista y Uwe Mund de director. Gravacion: RNE y Canal Clasico de TVE. --El Autor.

SKU: CF.CPS256

ISBN 9781491159712. UPC: 680160918300.

As the title suggests, there should be a tongue-in-cheek aspect to the performance of this piece with the idea that it doesn't take itself too seriously. Close attention should be paid to staccato notes, making sure not to play them too short and clipped, keeping in mind that a staccato quarter note should have the length of an eighth note and not the length of a sixteenth note. Although the piece is a march, it needn't conform to any strict interpretation of what a march should be. Some of the tongued eighth-note passages may need to be double-tongued, depending on tempo, using the Dig-A-Duck method. For instance at m. 34 the repeated eighth notes might be tongued dig-a-da-duck, dig-a-duck, da dot dot. Slurred eighth-note passages should follow the curve of the line, getting slightly louder as notes ascend and slightly softer as they descend. Measure 39 through m. 51 will have a somewhat chaotic feel, so go with the flow! The sparsely orchestrated passage at m. 68 is understated--perhaps a little spacey in keeping with our theme--and not to be overplayed until the crescendo at m. 88, when we return to business as usual. Trumpets show off again (rarely a problem for trumpet players) on the D. S. back to m. 6. On the Coda, another disjointed-sounding theme, again departing from any strict interpretation of a march--again, making sure that the staccatos are not too clipped--is followed by a repeat of the main theme, this time layered. Care should be taken to balance the entrances of the layered instrument groups as they enter. An exuberant final four measures puts the cherry on top. Percussion can play out for the most part, very little subtlety required. Overall, this piece is meant to be FUN, for both the performers and the audience!.
As the title suggests, there should be a tongue-in-cheek aspect to the performance of this piece with the idea that it doesn't take itself too seriously. Close attention should be paid to staccato notes, making surenot to play them too short and clipped, keeping in mind that a staccato quarter note should have the length of an eighth note and not the length of a sixteenth note. Although the piece is a march, it needn't conform toany strict interpretation of what a march should be. Some of the tongued eighth-note passages may need to be double-tongued, depending on tempo, using the Dig-A-Duck method. For instance at m. 34the repeated eighth notes might be tongued dig-a-da-duck, dig-a-duck, da dot dot. Slurred eighth-note passages should follow the curve of the line, getting slightly louder as notes ascend and slightly softeras they descend. Measure 39 through m. 51 will have a somewhat chaotic feel, so go with the flow!The sparsely orchestrated passage at m. 68 is understated—perhaps a little spacey in keeping with our theme—and not to be overplayed until the crescendo at m. 88, when we return to business as usual. Trumpets show off again (rarely a problem for trumpet players) on the D. S. back to m. 6. On the Coda, another disjointed-sounding theme, again departing from any strict interpretation of a march—again, making sure that the staccatos are not too clipped—is followed by a repeat of the main theme, this time layered. Care should be taken to balance the entrances of the layered instrument groups as they enter.An exuberant final four measures puts the cherry on top. Percussion can play out for the most part, very little subtlety required. Overall, this piece is meant to be FUN, for both the performers and the audience!

SKU: HL.44010826

UPC: 884088555818. 9.0x12.0x1.738 inches. English-German-French-Dutch.

Atlantic Odyssey was commissioned by the band program at Oakton High School in Vienna, VA, and its director, Dr. Cheryl Newton. The piece is in two extended movements and seeks to portray an imaginary yacht journey off the eastern seaboard of the USA. The first movement, Sunrise at Sea and the Ocean Awakes, opens with an atmospheric depiction of dawn at sea. Floating woodwinds soar above surging brass until a climax heralds the rising sun. Daylight reveals distant horizons and the prospect of a calm voyage, but the sea is never tamed and a light breeze whips up spray around the boat until a couple of high waves rock the boat alarmingly. But the sea soon calms again and the journey continues serenely. The second movement, Homeward Bound and Spindrift, sees us turn for home, the boat scything calmly through the gentle waves in perfect sailing conditions. But once again conditions change, a stiff breeze tugs at the sails and for a moment we are once again at the mercy of the wind and waves. A moment of calm returns but we are suddenly sprayed by spindrift as a gale picks up. The boat is in danger of overturning but we manage to trim the sail and take advantage of the strong winds to enjoy and exhilarating journey home.

SKU: PR.164002720

UPC: 680160573042. 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: BR.EB-2066

ISBN 9790004160770. 7.5 x 10.5 inches.

Text by the composer Translation: engl. (M. E. Browne) Place: Bagdad Characters: Der Kalif (baritone) - Baba Mustapha, ein Kadi (tenor) - Margiana, seine Tochter (soprano) - Bostana, eine Verwandte (alto) - Nureddin (tenor) - Abul Hassan Ali Ebn Bekar, Barbier (bass) - 1. Muezzin (bass) - 2. Muezzin (tenor) - 3. Muezzin (tenor) - Ein Sklave (tenor) - Vier Bewaffnete (2 Tenore, 2 Basse) Corneliuss opera got off to a bad start, to say the least: the scandal provoked at the first performance in Weimar in 1858 led to protests and ultimately to the resignation of Franz Liszt as court opera director. It was not until 1904 that the opera was played again in that city and proved that the scandal had not been caused by the work but by Liszts aesthetic views. The score was long considered as the ideal example of a musical comedy with a far too complicated plot. Today, however, many prominent commentators beg to differ: This is one of the sunniest scores ever written. Music in the spirit of Mozart and Mendelssohn: a highly delicate mixture of classical formal rigor and romantic irony, heightened with just a touch of exquisite sensuality that has just wafted in from the Orient. It is practically incomprehensible how Cornelius could have been regarded as a composer of the Wagner school for practically a century. With its intricate fusing of comedy, lyricism and sentimentality, it is precisely the opera that Schubert, Schumann, E.T.A. Hoffmann and Mendelssohn were unable to write. (Hans Zender).

SKU: HL.14030704

The second sonata is on a much larger scale than the first, and has three movements which develop in intensity, reaching a climax in the last movement which is a passacaglia. It is a stormy work, in the sense that it opens peacefully and closes in a similar manner, with a heavy shower of notes and ideas in between. There is little hint of this in the gentle opening of the first movement, and although it follows the pattern of its previous sonata in developing a climax and releasing it again, it is not until the scherzo, with its powerful motor rhythms, that the full fury of the storm breaks. The concluding passacaglia is built on repetition. The nature of the form party makes this inevitable, but repetition becomes a subtext, with the idea of speeding up to a climax being itself repeated, the second time subsiding into the peace of a storm blown out. ~ John Joubert.

SKU: CF.SPS78F

ISBN 9781491153239. UPC: 680160910731.

Festival March is presented in a new edition arranged by Richard Summers. It is a tour de force composition for advanced bands and hearkens back to a bygone era during the golden age of the band movement. Directors and students will hear operatic music from composer Victor Herbert who is best known for his Christmas classic, Toyland. This is a richly scored masterpiece that deserves to return to standard status in concert band repertoire. We are proud to bring you this new setting of this cherished classic.
About the CompositionFestival March by Victor Herbert was written for the Pittsburgh Symphony and first performed under Herbert’s direction in Chicago on Dec. 9, 1901 celebrating the 12th anniversary of Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. Also known as the Auditorium Festival March, he included it many times for programs of a festival nature. The main theme Auld Lang Syne, a famous Scottish folk song, is incorporated many times along with brass fanfares, interludes and march melodies. This band arrangement is very similar to the original orchestral composition. The missing string parts, the addition of the saxophone section and other band instruments, editing of the superimposed triplets against sixteenth notes, to one or the other, and articulations suitable for the band, were major challenges. The style of early twentieth-century American music is captured here. This arrangement will give band musicians access to a fine piece of music that could only be appreciated by orchestra musicians up to now. Although suitable for many occasions, this piece is a great way to begin or end a December holiday concert.  Notes to the ConductorVictor Herbert’s music can be interpreted in a romantic style, which is the conductor’s responsibility to read in nuance and musicality. The beginning and other triple-tonguing sections of this piece have a March of the Toys quality to it.  The interludes and Auld Lang Syne sections are legato and musical. The March sections can also be shaped musically.About the ComposerVictor Herbert was born in Ireland in 1861 and raised in Germany. When he moved to America in 1886, he joined the Metropolitan Opera as principal cellist and eventually composed many works including forty-three operettas on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I, including Naughty Marietta and Babes in Toyland. Victor Herbert conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony from 1898 to 1904 and then was the conductor of his own Victor Herbert Orchestra. He formed ASCAP with a group of composers in 1914 and was the director until his death in 1924. Among his thirty-one compositions for orchestra, Festival March was a favorite of his and was eventually published by Carl Fischer Music.  .

SKU: PR.41641613L

UPC: 680160642199. 11 x 17 inches.

On the island of Elba, off the coast of Italy, I composed this work as the sun was rising over the ocean in the mornings and gently sifting through the clouds against the lingering fog. As the piece developed, it took on a shape of its own and gradually became centered around diminished chords and the interval of a tri-tone (diminished 5th). I love these chords for their angst and for their sadness, but also for their flexibility. My piece is very textural in nature; and yes, it does have a melody of sorts, and yet, this melody comes and goes, and is never quite grasped until the end. Portions of it are repeated and spun out creating layers of sound without the heaviness of form. It is indeed a depiction of mist, where one minute you see things and the next they are gone. As you move through the piece, you find that the trumpet is also an antagonist, creeping in with a haunting cry; a reminder of things unsettled. Throughout the piece, we are quietly searching. We search for a tonal center for stability, and also for a melody that will make us feel fulfilled. Once found, we hold them for an instant, and then like the clouds and like life itself, they are gone. We are warmed by their presence and saddened by their loss. I hope that you will reflect upon your own memories of life's quiet moments as we enjoy the world premiere of this new work together. Mist is not a piece to be analyzed, but rather a piece to be experienced and absorbed. As you listen, release your mind, embrace your emotions, close your eyes, and allow the mist to creep in.

SKU: FJ.B1410S

English.

Experience the thrill of a single electron racing through a circuit at mind-boggling speeds! The wild ride begins immediately with two sets of bells creating an invigorating metallic backdrop. The intensity continues until a blackout occurs without warning, shutting down power to the entire circuit. The simple effect of a water gong creates the effect of a machine grinding to a halt. The circuit soon becomes live again as the electron races on. Absolutely stunning!

About FJH Young Band

Appropriate for middle school and smaller high school groups. Second clarinets usually stay below the break. Parts are written with more independence, and instrumentation increases slightly. There is still adequate doubling in the lower voices. Grades 2 - 2.5