SKU: CF.H84

ISBN 9781491165539. UPC: 680160924530.

Marcel Tournier (1879–1951) was one of the most important harpist/composers in the history of the harp. Over his long career, he added a significant catalogue of very beautiful works to the harp repertoire. Many of his solo works, almost one hundred, have been consistently in print since they were first published. But in recent years harpist Carl Swanson has discovered a treasure trove of pieces by Tournier heretofore unknown and unpublished. These include the Déchiffrages in this edition, as well as songs set for voice, harp, and string quartet, and ensemble arrangements of some of his most beloved works.All of the works that Carl Swanson found were in manuscript only. With the help of the great harpist Catherine Michel, he has put these pieces into playable form, and they are being published for the very first time. He and Catherine often had to re-notate passages to show clearly how they could be played, adding fingerings and musical nuances, tempos, pedals, and pedal diagrams.Tournier wrote these pieces when he was in his 20s, and before he became the impressionistic composer those familiar with his work know so well. They are written in the late nineteenth-century romantic style that was being taught at that time at the Paris Conservatory. They are beautiful short, intermediate level pieces by a first rate composer, and add much needed repertoire to that level of playing.
Marcel Tournier (1879–1951) was one of the most important harpist/composers in the history of the harp. He graduated from the Paris Conservatory with a first prize in harp in 1899. He also studied composition there and won a second prize in the prestigious Prix de Rome competition, as well as a first prize in the Rossini competition, another major composition competition of the day. From 1912 to 1948 he taught the harp class at the Paris Conservatory. But composition, and almost entirely, composition for the harp, was the main focus of his life. His published works, including many works for solo harp, a few for harp and other instruments, and several songs, number around one hundred pieces.In 2019, while researching Tournier for my edition MARCEL TOURNIER: 10 Pieces for Solo Harp, I discovered that there was a significant list of pieces by this composer that had never been published and were not included on any inventory of his music. Principal on this list were his déchiffrages (pronounced day-she-frahge, like the second syllable in the word garage).The word déchiffrage means sight-reading exercise, and that was their original purpose. Tournier numbered and dated these pieces, with dates ranging from 1900 to 1910, indicating that they were in all likelihood written for Alphonse Hasselmans’ class at the Paris Conservatory. Tournier was probably told how long to make each one, and how difficult. They range in length from two to four pages, with only one in the whole series extending to five, and from thirty to fifty-five measures, with only one extending to eight-five. The level of difficulty for the whole series is intermediate, with some at the easier end, and others at the middle or upper end.We don’t know if they were intended to test students trying to enter the harp class, or if they were used to test students in the class as they played their exams. The fact that they were never published means that students had to not only sight read them, but sight read them in manuscript form!I worked from digital images of the original manuscripts, which are in the private music library of a harpist in France. She had twenty-seven of these pieces, and this edition is the second in a series of three that will publish, for the first time, all of the ones that I have found thus far. The manuscripts themselves consist of little more than notes on the page: no pedals written in, no fingerings, few if any musical nuances and tempo markings, and no clear indication as to which hand plays which notes. These would have been difficult to sight read indeed! My collaborator Catherine Michel and I added musical nuances, fingerings, pedals and pedal diagrams, and tempo indications to put them into their current condition.At the time these were written, Tournier would have been in his twenties, having just graduated from the harp class himself (1899), and might still have been in the composition class. These are the earliest known pieces that he wrote, and they were written at the very beginning of a cultural revolution and upheaval in Paris that was to completely and profoundly alter musical composition. Tournier himself would eventually be caught up in this new way of composing. But not yet.All of the déchiffrages are written in the late romantic style that was being taught at that time at the Paris Conservatory. Each one is built on a clear musical idea, and the variety over the whole series makes them wonderful to listen to as well as to learn. They are also great technical lessons for intermediate level players.The obvious question is: Why didn’t Tournier publish these pieces, and why didn’t he list them on his own inventory of his music? Actually, four of them were published, with small changes, as his collection Four Preludes, Op. 16. These came from the ones that will be in volume three of this series from Carl Fischer. His first large piece, Theme and Variations, was published in 1908, and his two best known and frequently played pieces, Féerie and Au Matin, followed in 1912 and 1913 respectively. We can only speculate because there is so much still unknown about Tournier and about these unpublished pieces. He may have looked at them, fresh out of school as he was, as simply a way to make some quick money. The first several pieces that he did publish are much longer than any of the déchiffrages. So it could be that, because of their shorter length, as well as the earlier musical style that he was moving away from, he chose not to publish any more of them. We may never know the full story. But all these years later, more than a century after they were composed, we can listen to them for their own merits, and not measured against whatever else was going on at the time. The numbers on these pieces are the ones that Tournier assigned to them, and the gaps between some of the numbers suggest that there are perhaps thirty or more of these pieces still to be found, if they still exist. They will, in all likelihood, be found, as these were, in private collections of harp music, not in institutional libraries. We can only hope that more of them will be located in years to come.—Carl SwansonGlossary of French Musical TermsTournier was very precise about how he wanted his pieces played, and carefully communicated this with many musical indications. He used standard Italian words, but also used French words and phrases, and occasionally mixed both together. It is extremely important to observe and understand everything that he put on the page.Here is a list of the French words and phrases found in the pieces in this edition, with their translation.bien chanté well sung, melodiousdécidé firm, resolutediminu peu à peu becoming softer little by littleen diminuant becoming softeren riten. slowing downen se perdant dying awayGaiement gayly, lightlygracieusement gracefully, elegantlyLéger light, quickLent slowmarquez le chant emphasize the melodyModéré at a moderate tempopeu à peu animé more lively, little by littleplus lent slowerRetenu held backsans lenteur without slownesssans retinir without slowing downsec drily, abruptlysoutenu sustained, heldtrès arpegé very arpeggiatedTrès Modéré Very moderate tempoTrès peu retenu slightly held backTrès soutenu very sustainedun peu retenu slightly held back.

SKU: CF.YAS182F

ISBN 9781491151846. UPC: 680160909346. 9 x 12 inches.

The title, Live On, by Larry Clark, is taken from Chrissie Pinney's poem about grief and loss. The piece is meant to depict the personality of Linda Mann, to whom it is dedicated. The opening is poignant and pensive, followed by a whimsical theme which alludes to happy thoughts of a life well-lived. The piece builds to a triumphant?conclusion based on an augmented version of the theme.

Live On was commissioned by Diplomat Middle School's staff, faculty and students in Cape Coral, Florida, and is dedicated to the memory of their Director of Bands, Linda Mann. Director of Orchestras, Roland Forti, championed the commissioning of this piece to honor the life of Linda after her untimely passing in February of 2017. Linda Manns impact on the field of music education was profound and wide-reaching. She was a beloved member of the staff at Diplomat Middle School, as well as the music community of Cape Coral and the state of Florida. Linda was highly respected throughout the state, serving as recent past-president of the Florida Bandmasters Association.

In discussing the type of piece the school wanted to honor Ms. Mann, they indicated the piece should depict Lindas personality - dynamic, sassy, yet thoughtful and almost mentor-like. They wanted a piece that was upbeat, yet still had moments that were thoughtful, portraying the grief that the Diplomat Middle School community has suffered from the sudden loss of such a beloved teacher.

After contemplating their thoughts, I did some research to find inspiration for the piece. This led me to poetry about grief and loss. In time, I stumbled upon a short, yet poignant poem that I felt perfectly depicted the sentiment that I wanted the piece to convey. That poem is entitled Live On by Chrissie Pinney.

Live On

Now as I live on

Without you

I hope to keep

The pieces of you

That I loved so dearly

Your mannerisms

And compassionate character

And smiles through struggle

So that you

May live on too

-Chrissie Pinney

I reached out to Ms. Pinney, and she graciously agreed to allow me to quote her powerful poem in these notes. She expressed that she was deeply touched that her work would inspire me to write a piece in honor of Linda Mann.

The piece begins with a poignant, pensive opening section. The use of the musical interval of a tritone between the first two openly voiced chords are used to represent the sadness we all feel from this type of loss. When I sat in front of my piano and started to work on this piece, my hands seemed to naturally and immediately play these first two chords, which set the process in motion of composing the piece.

After the somber opening, the piece shifts to a whimsical theme that I hope brings about happy thoughts of Linda and her personality. It was also my intent, however, to include some musical dissonance in the theme that still reflected the bittersweet loss at the same time. The piece develops into a secondary theme that is a quasi inversion of the main fast theme. This section is followed by a return of the opening material, with snippets of the fast theme intertwined, before the piece builds to a triumphant, augmented presentation of the main theme in a lush form to complete the work.

It is my hope that in some small way, this piece will bring comfort to those affected by the loss of Linda Mann, and that the music will allow her memory to Live On.

Larry Clark

Lakeland, FL 2017

Live On was commissioned by Diplomat Middle School's staff, faculty and students in Cape Coral, Florida, and is dedicated to the memory of their Director of Bands, Linda Mann. Director of Orchestras, Roland Forti, championed the commissioning of this piece to honor the life of Linda after her untimely passing in February of 2017.A Linda Mannas impact on the field of music education was profound and wide-reaching. She was a beloved member of the staff at Diplomat Middle School, as well as the music community of Cape Coral and the state of Florida. Linda was highly respected throughout the state, serving as recent past-president of the Florida Bandmasters Association.

In discussing the type of piece the school wanted to honor Ms. Mann, they indicated the piece should adepict Lindaas personality - dynamic, sassy, yet thoughtful and almost mentor-like.a They wanted a piece that was upbeat, yet still had moments that were thoughtful, portraying the grief that the Diplomat Middle School community has suffered from the sudden loss of such a beloved teacher.

After contemplating their thoughts, I did some research to find inspiration for the piece. This led me to poetry about grief and loss. In time, I stumbled upon a short, yet poignant poem that I felt perfectly depicted the sentiment that I wanted the piece to convey.A That poem is entitled Live On by Chrissie Pinney.

Live On

Now as I live on

Without you

I hope to keep

The pieces of you

That I loved so dearly

Your mannerisms

And compassionate character

And smiles through struggle

So that you

May live on too

A

-Chrissie Pinney

I reached out to Ms. Pinney, and she graciously agreed to allow me to quote her powerful poem in these notes.A She expressed that she was deeply touched that her work would inspire me to write a piece in honor of Linda Mann.

The piece begins with a poignant, pensive opening section. The use of the musical interval of a tritone between the first two openly voiced chords are used to represent the sadness we all feel from this type of loss. When I sat in front of my piano and started to work on this piece, my hands seemed to naturally and immediately play these first two chords, which set the process in motion of composing the piece.

After the somber opening, the piece shifts to a whimsical theme that I hope brings about happy thoughts of Linda and her personality. It was also my intent, however, to include some musical dissonance in the theme that still reflected the bittersweet loss at the same time.A The piece develops into a secondary theme that is a quasi inversion of the main fast theme.A This section is followed by a return of the opening material, with snippets of the fast theme intertwined, before the piece builds to a triumphant, augmented presentation of the main theme in a lush form to complete the work.

It is my hope that in some small way, this piece will bring comfort to those affected by the loss of Linda Mann, and that the music will allow her memory to Live On.

aLarry Clark

Lakeland, FL 2017

Live On was commissioned by Diplomat Middle School's staff, faculty and students in Cape Coral, Florida, and is dedicated to the memory of their Director of Bands, Linda Mann. Director of Orchestras, Roland Forti, championed the commissioning of this piece to honor the life of Linda after her untimely passing in February of 2017.A Linda Mannas impact on the field of music education was profound and wide-reaching. She was a beloved member of the staff at Diplomat Middle School, as well as the music community of Cape Coral and the state of Florida. Linda was highly respected throughout the state, serving as recent past-president of the Florida Bandmasters Association.

In discussing the type of piece the school wanted to honor Ms. Mann, they indicated the piece should adepict Lindaas personality - dynamic, sassy, yet thoughtful and almost mentor-like.a They wanted a piece that was upbeat, yet still had moments that were thoughtful, portraying the grief that the Diplomat Middle School community has suffered from the sudden loss of such a beloved teacher.

After contemplating their thoughts, I did some research to find inspiration for the piece. This led me to poetry about grief and loss. In time, I stumbled upon a short, yet poignant poem that I felt perfectly depicted the sentiment that I wanted the piece to convey.A That poem is entitled Live On by Chrissie Pinney.

Live On

Now as I live on

Without you

I hope to keep

The pieces of you

That I loved so dearly

Your mannerisms

And compassionate character

And smiles through struggle

So that you

May live on too

A

-Chrissie Pinney

I reached out to Ms. Pinney, and she graciously agreed to allow me to quote her powerful poem in these notes.A She expressed that she was deeply touched that her work would inspire me to write a piece in honor of Linda Mann.

The piece begins with a poignant, pensive opening section. The use of the musical interval of a tritone between the first two openly voiced chords are used to represent the sadness we all feel from this type of loss. When I sat in front of my piano and started to work on this piece, my hands seemed to naturally and immediately play these first two chords, which set the process in motion of composing the piece.

After the somber opening, the piece shifts to a whimsical theme that I hope brings about happy thoughts of Linda and her personality. It was also my intent, however, to include some musical dissonance in the theme that still reflected the bittersweet loss at the same time.A The piece develops into a secondary theme that is a quasi inversion of the main fast theme.A This section is followed by a return of the opening material, with snippets of the fast theme intertwined, before the piece builds to a triumphant, augmented presentation of the main theme in a lush form to complete the work.

It is my hope that in some small way, this piece will bring comfort to those affected by the loss of Linda Mann, and that the music will allow her memory to Live On.

aLarry Clark

Lakeland, FL 2017

Live On was commissioned by Diplomat Middle School's staff, faculty and students in Cape Coral, Florida, and is dedicated to the memory of their Director of Bands, Linda Mann. Director of Orchestras, Roland Forti, championed the commissioning of this piece to honor the life of Linda after her untimely passing in February of 2017. Linda Mann's impact on the field of music education was profound and wide-reaching. She was a beloved member of the staff at Diplomat Middle School, as well as the music community of Cape Coral and the state of Florida. Linda was highly respected throughout the state, serving as recent past-president of the Florida Bandmasters Association.

In discussing the type of piece the school wanted to honor Ms. Mann, they indicated the piece should depict Linda's personality - dynamic, sassy, yet thoughtful and almost mentor-like. They wanted a piece that was upbeat, yet still had moments that were thoughtful, portraying the grief that the Diplomat Middle School community has suffered from the sudden loss of such a beloved teacher.

After contemplating their thoughts, I did some research to find inspiration for the piece. This led me to poetry about grief and loss. In time, I stumbled upon a short, yet poignant poem that I felt perfectly depicted the sentiment that I wanted the piece to convey. That poem is entitled Live On by Chrissie Pinney.

Live On

Now as I live on

Without you

I hope to keep

The pieces of you

That I loved so dearly

Your mannerisms

And compassionate character

And smiles through struggle

So that you

May live on too

-Chrissie Pinney

I reached out to Ms. Pinney, and she graciously agreed to allow me to quote her powerful poem in these notes. She expressed that she was deeply touched that her work would inspire me to write a piece in honor of Linda Mann.

The piece begins with a poignant, pensive opening section. The use of the musical interval of a tritone between the first two openly voiced chords are used to represent the sadness we all feel from this type of loss. When I sat in front of my piano and started to work on this piece, my hands seemed to naturally and immediately play these first two chords, which set the process in motion of composing the piece.

After the somber opening, the piece shifts to a whimsical theme that I hope brings about happy thoughts of Linda and her personality. It was also my intent, however, to include some musical dissonance in the theme that still reflected the bittersweet loss at the same time. The piece develops into a secondary theme that is a quasi inversion of the main fast theme. This section is followed by a return of the opening material, with snippets of the fast theme intertwined, before the piece builds to a triumphant, augmented presentation of the main theme in a lush form to complete the work.

It is my hope that in some small way, this piece will bring comfort to those affected by the loss of Linda Mann, and that the music will allow her memory to Live On.

-Larry Clark

Lakeland, FL 2017

About Carl Fischer Young String Orchestra Series

This series of Grade 2/Grade 2.5 pieces is designed for second and third year ensembles. The pieces in this series are characterized by:
--Occasionally extending to third position
--Keys carefully considered for appropriate difficulty
--Addition of separate 2nd violin and viola parts
--Viola T.C. part included
--Increase in independence of parts over beginning levels