SKU: HL.14041576

9.25x12.0x0.21 inches.

For Violin, Cello and Piano Duet.

In the past composers wrote 'pieces' of music. More important pieces were called'works'. Nowadays, however, most composers write minutes. Phone up anyprofessional composer and ask how'r'ya doing? and nine out of ten will say something like: 'Terrible/ awful ... I've only written 4 (or .....) minutes and I have to write ... minutes!'
We're all commissioned to write minutes - like so many feet of wallpaper. Imagine this:' We loved your Jupiter Symphony Mr. Mozart, but it's 3 minutes less than wecommissioned.'

Fortunately most composers cheat a bit, and most commissioners don't sit with stopwatches in their hands.1000bars is not 1000 bars long. I stopped when the piece was finished. However it did turn out to be exactly 4'33' in duration.

What the piece itself is about has nothing to do with its title or length.

 - Kevin Volans

SKU: BR.PB-5587

ISBN 9790004213971. 6.5 x 9 inches.

... a forest god in New YorkThe symphonic poem Tapiola is the final major composition for orchestra that Sibelius was able to complete and publish. In January 1926 he had accepted the commission from the conductor Walter Damrosch to compose an orchestral work of at most 20 minutes in length for a performance in New York at the end of that year. Shortly thereafter Sibelius was successful in getting Breitkopf & Hartel to do the first publication of this tone poem. The premiere of Tapiola took place on 26 December 1926. The edition takes over the music text published in volume I/16 of the complete edition Jean Sibelius Works.

SKU: HL.14021104

UPC: 884088433321. 9.75x13.75 inches.

The composer writes: Pilgrim was inspired, it will be no surprise to learn, by reading Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress - Vaughan Williams's great opera on the subject had fascinated me from its first performance, yet it was a long time before I caught up with this essential item in any well-stocked library of English classics. It made a great impression, not least because of its theme of a journey of self-discovery, and a rediscovery or renewal of faith. These are ideas which have a strong interest for me, not in religious terms but in their application to every aspect of human life (including great journeys), and this piece reflects my response in musical terms to this concern. The tempo of the whole piece, which lasts about 18 minutes, is basically slow. There are two quick episodes, but these act somewhat like the trio sections of a classical scherzo, save that the tempo relationships are inverted (the classical trios would have been slower, not quicker) and the canvas is much larger, being that of a single, substantial, slow movement. The form of the whole is perhaps fantasia-like rather than having any relationship to classical forms such as sonata or rondo - some motifs and themes are varied as the work develops, and the opening chords are of primary importance throughout the work. There has been no attempt to convey any pictorial elements deriving from Bunyan's great book. There is, however, one feature which, upon completion of the score, struck me with some force, which is that almost all the thematic material is essentially striving upwards - there is a constant upward movement (sometimes over a lengthy period) throughout the work. Pilgrim was commissioned by the Luton Music Club for the Raphael Ensemble with funds provided by the Eastern Arts Board and Bedfordshire County Council, and is dedicated to the Luton Music Club. The first performance was given in Luton on February 10th 1997 and followed, as part of a joint scheme, by performances in the same week at the Music Clubs of Bedford and Leighton Buzzard.

SKU: PR.114419850

ISBN 9781491135808. UPC: 680160681044. 9 x 12 inches.

Both a spectacular concerto for saxophone, and a dramatic tone poem on Roman mythology, QUICKSILVER is a 23-minute concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble by one of the sax literature’s most commissioned and admired composers.Through worded captions as well as gorgeously expressive tone painting, Movement 1 depicts the birth and childhood pranks of Mercury, Movement 2 shows him escorting souls to the gates of the Underworld, and Movement 3 is a phantasmagoric finale portraying Mercury as messenger amid the conflicts of other mythological figures. There are many YouTube performances available, both in the original version with Wind Ensemble, and with Piano.
In addition to being another name for the element mercury, “quicksilver” is used to describe something that changes quickly or is difficult to contain. My concerto of the same name was inspired by the Roman god Mercury, as well as the mercurial nature of the saxophone: unpredictable, very lively, and volatile. Mercury (known as Hermes in Greek mythology) is best known for his winged shoes, which allowed him to fly swiftly as the messenger of his fellow Olympians. Mercury had other duties too, including serving as the god of merchants, travelers, and tricksters; he also ushered souls of the departed to the Underworld.Quicksilver tells three tales of the Roman god. The first movement (Antics of a Newborn God) opens with the birth of Mercury; after he takes his first steps, he toddles around, gleefully looking for mischief. He stumbles across a herd of cows that belong to his brother Apollo; Mercury slyly lets the cows out of their pen before toddling onward with his mischief-making.In the second movement (Guiding Souls to the Underworld), Pluto, god of the Underworld, bids Mercury to bring him fresh souls. The movement begins with death-knells tolling for humans who are about to die; Mercury picks up these souls and leads them down to the gates of the Underworld.The third and final movement (Messenger of Olympus) depicts Mercury as he is busily running errands for various gods and goddesses. We first encounter him mid-flight as he dashes to earth to find Aeneas, a Trojan lieutenant who had been run out of Troy by the invading Greeks. Aeneas is on a quest to find land on which to establish a new city that would eventually become Rome. While traveling, he is distracted from his quest when he meets the beautiful queen Dido. They live together for many years before Mercury intervenes; he chastises Aeneas for giving up on his quest and persuades him to pick it up again. As Aeneas mournfully resumes his journey, we hear Dido perish of a broken heart. Mercury then takes to the skies to seek out Perseus, who is preparing to kill Medusa, the hideous gorgon who has snakes for hair and a gaze that turns those who catch her glance into stone. Mercury advises Perseus on how to slay Medusa and lends Perseus his sword to do the deed. We hear Perseus victorious in the beheading of Medusa, after which Mercury takes to the skies once more to fly home to Olympus.