Chamber Music Piano

SKU: PR.140401330

Composed by R. Nathaniel Dett. Edited by Lara Downes. 32 pages. Duration 18 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #140-40133. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.140401330).

ISBN 9781491134412. UPC: 680160684939.

Natha niel Dett was among America’s leading composers in the early 20th century, and MAGNOLIA SUITE is a beautiful example of his rich, hybrid style. Deeply inspired by the music and mission of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Dett’s piano music springs from the late Romantic traditions of florid texture and embellishment, along with programmatic titles and raw emotion. It is notable for melody writing inspired by and paraphrasing African-American song. The 18-minute MAGNOLIA SUITE contains five movements, any of which may also be performed separately. This edition by Lara Downes provides a clean, new engraving that corrects the many errors and unclear indications appearing in the historical printing.
Robert Nathaniel Dett was born in a place that was built on freedom. The little village of Drummondville, Ontario was founded by enslaved Africans – Dett’s ancestors among them – who traveled the Underground Railroad out of the American South into Canada. Their journey brought them to a safe haven, a place where fortunes and futures could be transformed in the span of one generation, to lives full of new possibilities. You could call it “the place where the rainbow ends,” which is the title of the last movement of Dett’s Magnolia Suite.When Dett wrote these pieces, he was a young teacher at Lane College in Tennessee, a historically Black college that had been founded in 1882, the year of his birth. A place built on freedom, with the purpose of educating newly-emancipated slaves – a place designed to nurture the blossoming of ideas, the vibrant flowering of minds set free. This music is inspired by the gorgeous splendor of the magnolia blooms on that college campus, and also by the shared histories, experiences, and aspirations of the community that Dett found there.These five pieces pay affectionate tribute to lineage and legacy. They express gratitude for the bittersweet beauties of the present; nostalgia for the past (a bit romanticized, as the past always is); and an effervescent optimism for the future that awaits us in the place where the rainbow ends.

Concert Band Bass Clarinet, Bassoon 1, Bassoon 2, Clarinet, Clarinet 1, Clarinet 2, Clarinet 3, Contrabassoon, English Horn, Euphonium, Flute 1, Flute 2, Flute 3, Horn 1, Horn 2, Horn 3, Horn 4, Oboe 1, Oboe 2, Percussion 1, Percussion 2, Percussion 3 and more.

SKU: PR.16500092L

For Concert Band. Composed by Dan Welcher. Spiral. Contemporary. Large Full Score. With Standard notation. Composed 1994. 76 pages. Duration 10 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #165-00092L. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.16500092L).

UPC: 680160039531. 11 x 17 inches.

Zion is the third and final installment of a series of works for Wind Ensemble inspired by national parks in the western United States, collectively called Three Places in the West. As in the other two works (The Yellowstone Fires and Arches), it is my intention to convey more an impression of the feelings I've had in Zion National Park in Utah than an attempt at pictorial description. Zion is a place with unrivalled natural grandeur, being a sort of huge box canyon in which the traveler is constantly overwhelmed by towering rock walls on every side of him -- but it is also a place with a human history, having been inhabited by several tribes of native Americans before the arrival of the Mormon settlers in the mid-19th century. By the time the Mormons reached Utah, they had been driven all the way from New York State through Ohio and, with tragic losses, through Missouri. They saw Utah in general as a place nobody wanted, but they were nonetheless determined to keep it to themselves. Although Zion Canyon was never a Mormon Stronghold, the people who reached it and claimed it (and gave it its present name) had been through extreme trials. It is the religious fervor of these persecuted people that I was able to draw upon in creating Zion as a piece of music. There are two quoted hymns in the work: Zion's Walls (which Aaron Copland adapted to his own purposes in both is Old American Songs and the opera The Tender Land) and Zion's Security, which I found in the same volume in which Copland found Zion's Walls -- that inexhaustible storehouse of 19th-century hymnody called The Sacred Harp. My work opens with a three-verse setting of Zion's Security, a stern tune in F-sharp minor which is full of resolve. (The words of this hymn are resolute and strong, rallying the faithful to be firm, and describing the city of our God they hope to establish). This melody alternates with a fanfare tune, whose origins will be revealed in later music, until the second half of the piece begins: a driving rhythmic ostinato based on a 3/4-4/4 alternating meter scheme. This pauses at its height to restate Zion's Security one more time, in a rather obscure setting surrounded by freely shifting patterns in the flutes, clarinets, and percussion -- until the sun warms the ground sufficiently for the second hymn to appear. Zion's Walls is set in 7/8, unlike Copland's 9/8-6/8 meters (the original is quite strange, and doesn't really fit any constant meter), and is introduced by a warm horn solo. The two hymns vie for attention from here to the end of the piece, with the glowingly optimistic Zion's Walls finally achieving prominence. The work ends with a sense of triumph and unbreakable spirit. Zion was commissioned in 1994 by the wind ensembles of the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Oklahoma. It is dedicated to the memory of Aaron Copland.

Orchestra (Study Score)

SKU: HL.14021000

Composed by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Music Sales America. Classical. Book [Softcover]. Composed 1999. 44 pages. Chester Music #CH61307. Published by Chester Music (HL.14021000).

ISBN 9780711959927. 5.5x7.5x0.2 inches.

Commissione d to write a piece for the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, Davies provided a musical General Assembly of his own: a bright overture based on an Australian aboriginal song which gives rise to 'national anthems' of various kinds and instrumental colourings. Finally the 'anthems' are combined, 'if not triumphantly', Davies says, 'at least in a manner whereby they get along together'. The first performance took place in June 1995 in Nottingham. It was given by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Peter Maxwell Davies. Score (miniature). Duration c. 14mins.

For SATB chorus, brass quintet and organ. Composed by Thea Musgrave (1928-). Choral. Octavo. 76 pages. Novello and Co Ltd. #NOV165231. Published by Novello and Co Ltd. (HL.14047823).

Artist Edition B-Flat Instruments. By Pat Metheny. Fake Book. Jazz. Softcover. 272 pages. Published by Hal Leonard

Artist Edition C Instruments. By Pat Metheny. Fake Book. Softcover. 272 pages. Published by Hal Leonard (HL.120809).

By Nicolas Horvath. By Robert Orledge and Claude Debussy (1862-1918). Rediscoverd Debussy. Christmas. Score. Musik Fabrik #MFCD017A. Published by Musik Fabrik

Piano - Grade 5

SKU: FA.MFCD017B

By Nicolas Horvath. By Claude Debussy and Robert Orledge. Rediscoverd Debussy. Christmas. Score. Musik Fabrik #MFCD017B. Published by Musik Fabrik (FA.MFCD017B).

8.27 x 11.69 inches.

Contains Le Roi Lear: Prelude,Premiere Fanfare, and La Mort de Cordelia,Toomai des elephants, Rodrigue et Chimene: Prelude a l'acte 1p. Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien: La Passion , and No-ja-li ou Le Palais du Silence

From Robert Orledge's notes:

My interest in the wonderful music of Claude Debussy began in the 1980s when I researched and published a book with Cambridge University Press entitled Debussy and the Theatre. During the course of my studies in Paris, I was amazed to discover that Debussy planned over 50 theatrical works but only finished two of these entirely by himself (the opera Pelleas et Melisande in 1893-1902 and the ballet Jeux for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1912-13). Of the rest, many were never started musically (like Siddartha and Orphee-roi with the Oriental scholar Victor Segalen, 1907); some had a few tantalising sketches (like the Edgar Allan Poe opera Le Diable dans le beffroi, 1902-03); some were half-finished (like his other Poe opera La Chute de la Maison Usher, 1908-17); while others were musically complete but had their orchestrations completed by other composers (like Khamma, by Charles Koechlin, 1912-13; or Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien and La Boite a joujoux by his 'angel of corrections' ['l'ange des Corrections'] Andre Caplet in 1911 and 1919 respectively).

For it has to be admitted that what some scholars call Debussy's 'compulsive achievement' could equally well be viewed as laziness, especially as far as the minute detail required for calligraphing his orchestral scores was concerned. It was as if creating the music itself was of greater importance than controlling its final sound, even if Debussy was an imaginative orchestrator when he found the time and energy to do it. It also seems true that Debussy also preferred inventing ideas to turning them into complete pieces. However, despite the lack of detail in many of his sketches (missing clefs, key signatures, dynamics, phrasing, etc.) the notes themselves are surprisingly accurate, whether or not they can be compared with a later draft. Thus, a large number of sketches exist for his Chinese ballet No-ja-li ou Le Palais du Silence and it is not too difficult to see which parts of Georges de Feure's 1913 scenario (see below) inspired which ideas. But Debussy hardly made any attempt to join them together after the first few bars.

It was usually up to his publisher, Jacques Durand, to find solutions when Debussy risked a breach of contract. Debussy was supposed to supervise the orchestrations completed by others, but this supervision was usually very light and restricted to quiet, sensitive moments in which problems were easier to spot. Far from jealously guarding every one of his created notes, as Ravel did, Debussy once even went as far as to ask Koechlin to 'write a ballet for him that he would sign' on 26 March 1914 when he was hard-pressed to fulfil his lucrative contract for No-ja-li with Andre Charlot at the Alhambra Theatre in London. In the end, Debussy (through Durand) sent Charlot the symphonic suite Printemps instead, whose orchestration had been completed by Henri Busser in the Spring of 1912.

So, when I was offered early retirement as Professor of Music at Liverpool University in 2004, I seized the opportunity it would give me to spend time trying to reconstruct some of Debussy's lost potential masterpieces from his existing sketches and drafts--then orchestrating them in Debussy's style when this was appropriate. I had begun this mission in 2001 with the most promising project, the missing parts of Scene 2 of La Chute de la Maison Usher and the sheer joy it gave me at every stage persuaded me to tackle other projects, especially when Debussy experts were unable to identify exactly where I took over from Debussy (and vice versa) in Usher.

Chamber Music Piano, alto Saxophone

SKU: PR.114419850

Composed by Stacy Garrop. Sws. See lengthy program note on prefatory page. Set of Score and Parts. 44+24 pages. Duration 23 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #114-41985. Published by Theodore Presser Company (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.

Piano, Vocal and Guitar

SKU: BT.MUSAM971531

Book Only. Wise Publications #MUSAM971531. Published by Wise Publications (BT.MUSAM971531).

ISBN 9780711989900.

E verybody's favourite Christmas carols and songs in one wonderfully practical and convenient edition creates The Best Christmas Songbook Ever (A5 Format), featuring 49 songs arranged for Piano, VoiceandGuitar. 

Every member of the family is catered for, young and old, with a selection of favourites covering the traditional classics that make the season special like Away In A Manger, We Three Kings OfOrientAre and O Come, All Ye Faithful. Not only this, but more recent pop tunes are represented such as I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day, Last Christmas and Santa ClausIsComing To Town. The generous selection of songs from old carols to new tunes makes this the perfect book for you this Christmas, so you can begin Christmas Eve with the classic carols and bring in Christmas Day with thefuncontemporary pop. 

The accessible arrangements of lyrics, melody, Piano and Guitar chords mean that you don't have to spend too much time practising before family and friends can gather around the Piano for aChristmassing-along. Because this songbook has everything, you can keep it as part of your music collection and dig it out every year for those times when the family can gather around and sing the songs that get you into thespirit of theseason. 

For the best and most varied collection of Christmas songs ever compiled, from old to new, classic to contemporary, pick up The Best Christmas Songbook Ever, and put a Yuletidesmile on theface of everyone with these universally loved tunes.

You can also purchase this book in its larger, standardsize for abumper-sized Yuletide.

By Traditional. Arranged by Carrie Lane Gruselle. Intermediate String Orchestra. FJH Developing Strings. Score for this title: ST6104S. Extra part for this title: ST6104P. String Orchestra. Level: 2. Score and Set of Parts. Published by The FJH Music Company Inc.

For Guitar. 1-2-3 Fingerstyle Guitar is designed for intermediate to advanced flat-pick players who are ready to throw down that pick for a while to finally get a handle on fingerstyle. That's the secret ingredient of this study program -- its a beginning fingerstyle. DVD. Published by eMedia Music

Ravel's Bolero for Classical Guitar composed by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). Arranged by Jerry George. For guitar solo. Solo. Classical. Sheet Music. Text Language: English; Standard notation and tablature. 4 pages. Published by Santorella Publications

Concert Band (Score & Parts) - Grade 4

SKU: HL.48024054

Composed by Gustav Holst. Arranged by Jon Mitchell. Windependence Master Level. Classical, Concert. Softcover. Boosey & Hawkes #M051663637. Published by Boosey & Hawkes (HL.48024054).

UPC: 888680678678. 9x12 inches.

A century ago, James Causley Windram, then band director of the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers (and later the Coldstream Guards) asked Gustav Holst if he would transcribe some of the composer's Hymns from the Rig Veda for military band. Always a band advocate, Holst readily agreed. In this thoroughly characteristic suite, two of Windram's settings (Hymn of the Travellers and Battle Hymn) have been edited for modern instrumentation, while a third (Hymn to Manas) has been arranged by Jon Ceander Mitchell from Holst's original choral setting.

Brass Band - Grade 6

SKU: BT.AMP-448-130

In search of 'La Valse'. Composed by Philip Sparke. Elite Series. Score Only. Composed 2016. 85 pages. Anglo Music Press #AMP 448-130. Published by Anglo Music Press (BT.AMP-448-130).

9x12 inches. English-German-French-Dut ch.

WINNING PERFORMANCE EBBC LILLE 2016Raveling, Unraveling In Search of ‘La Valse’ was written for the Cory Band as their own-choice test piece for the 2016 European Brass Band Championships in Lille. The piece found its genesis in Sparke’s The Unknown Journey (2014) forconcert band, and the use of Ravel’s La Valse as a structural undercurrent to the original piece is an act of reverence. Sparke’s aim was to produce a work that is organic rather than episodic in nature. The composer’s view is that little inmusic does this better than La Valse and for this reason he uses various sections of this masterpiece, both manipulated and quoted verbatim (including much of its stunningclosing passages) to provide the overall geography of his new work. Asthe music progresses, more of the Ravel appears, surfacing completely as the piece reaches its climax - a gesture of homage to the French master.

WINNAAR EBBC LILLE 2016Raveling, Unraveling In Search of ‘La Valse’ is geschreven voor de Britse Cory Band als keuzewerk voor de Europese Brassband Kampioenschappen van 2016 in Lille. De oorsprong ligt in Sparkes The Unknown Journey (2014) voorharmonieorkest. Het is een diepe buiging naar Ravels La Valse, die wordt gebruikt als een soort structurele onderstroom van een origineel stuk muziek, met als doel een werk te maken dat organisch van karakter is. De componist heeftverschillende gedeelten uit het meesterwerk ingebracht, zowel bewerkt als letterlijk geciteerd met veel van de prachtige slotpassages om de algehele opbouw van zijn nieuwe werk te scheppen. Naarmate demuziek voortgaat, verschijnt er meer vanRavel, waarna de wals volledig opduikt in de apotheose: een fraai eerbetoon aan de Franse meester.

SIEGER EBBC LILLE 2016Raveling, Unraveling In Search of La Valse wurde für die Cory Band als selbst ausgewähltes Prüfungsstück bei den European Brass Band Championships 2016 in Lille komponiert. Die Komposition hat ihren Ursprung in Sparkes 2014 entstandenemStück The Unknown Journey für Blasorchester. Es handelt sich um eine Art Hommage, denn Ravels La Valse wird hier als formale Grundlage für ein eher in sich geschlossenes und nicht nur episodenhaftes Originalwerk verwendet. DemKomponisten zufolge gibt es kaum eine Musik, die dies besser vermag als La Valse. Er verwendet verschiedene Abschnitte aus diesem Meisterwerk, sowohl bearbeitet als auch direkt übernommen inklusive zahlreicher fantastischer Schlusspassagen ,um die Gesamtstruktur seines neuen Werkes darzustellen. Je mehr die Musik voranschreitet, umso mehr wird Ravels Einfluss erkennbar, vor allem beim Erreichen des musikalischen Höhepunktes des gesamten Stückes eine Hommage an den französischenMeister.

VAINQUEUR EBBC LILlE 2016Raveling, Unraveling In Search of La Valse a été composé pour le Cory Band comme pièce de choix pour le Championnat Européen de Brass Band 2016 Lille. L’œuvre tire son origine de la pièce de concert pour orchestre d’harmonie de Sparke,The Unknown Journey (2014). Une marque de respect La Valse, ce nouveau morceau utilise l’œuvre de Ravel comme sous-courant structurel et a comme objectif un genre organique plutôt qu’épisodique. D’après le compositeur, La Valseest l’un des seuls morceaux qui réussit accomplir ceci. Il se sert de plusieurs sections de ce chef d’œuvre, aussi bien modifiées que citées telles quelles y inclus laplupart de ses magnifiques passages finaux pour établir la structure généralede ce nouveau morceau. Plus la musique progresse, plus la musique de Ravel apparaît, et domine alors que l’apogée est atteinte un hommage au maestro français.

Brass Band - Grade 6

SKU: BT.AMP-448-030

In search of 'La Valse'. Composed by Philip Sparke. Elite Series. Concert Piece. Set (Score & Parts). Composed 2016. Anglo Music Press #AMP 448-030. Published by Anglo Music Press (BT.AMP-448-030).

English-German-French- Dutch.

WINNING PERFORMANCE EBBC LILLE 2016Raveling, Unraveling In Search of ‘La Valse’ was written for the Cory Band as their own-choice test piece for the 2016 European Brass Band Championships in Lille. The piece found its genesis in Sparke’s The Unknown Journey (2014) forconcert band, and the use of Ravel’s La Valse as a structural undercurrent to the original piece is an act of reverence. Sparke’s aim was to produce a work that is organic rather than episodic in nature. The composer’s view is that little inmusic does this better than La Valse and for this reason he uses various sections of this masterpiece, both manipulated and quoted verbatim (including much of its stunningclosing passages) to provide the overall geography of his new work. Asthe music progresses, more of the Ravel appears, surfacing completely as the piece reaches its climax - a gesture of homage to the French master.

WINNAAR EBBC LILLE 2016Raveling, Unraveling In Search of ‘La Valse’ is geschreven voor de Britse Cory Band als keuzewerk voor de Europese Brassband Kampioenschappen van 2016 in Lille. De oorsprong ligt in Sparkes The Unknown Journey (2014) voorharmonieorkest. Het is een diepe buiging naar Ravels La Valse, die wordt gebruikt als een soort structurele onderstroom van een origineel stuk muziek, met als doel een werk te maken dat organisch van karakter is. De componist heeftverschillende gedeelten uit het meesterwerk ingebracht, zowel bewerkt als letterlijk geciteerd met veel van de prachtige slotpassages om de algehele opbouw van zijn nieuwe werk te scheppen. Naarmate demuziek voortgaat, verschijnt er meer vanRavel, waarna de wals volledig opduikt in de apotheose: een fraai eerbetoon aan de Franse meester.

SIEGER EBBC LILLE 2016Raveling, Unraveling In Search of La Valse wurde für die Cory Band als selbst ausgewähltes Prüfungsstück bei den European Brass Band Championships 2016 in Lille komponiert. Die Komposition hat ihren Ursprung in Sparkes 2014 entstandenemStück The Unknown Journey für Blasorchester. Es handelt sich um eine Art Hommage, denn Ravels La Valse wird hier als formale Grundlage für ein eher in sich geschlossenes und nicht nur episodenhaftes Originalwerk verwendet. DemKomponisten zufolge gibt es kaum eine Musik, die dies besser vermag als La Valse. Er verwendet verschiedene Abschnitte aus diesem Meisterwerk, sowohl bearbeitet als auch direkt übernommen inklusive zahlreicher fantastischer Schlusspassagen ,um die Gesamtstruktur seines neuen Werkes darzustellen. Je mehr die Musik voranschreitet, umso mehr wird Ravels Einfluss erkennbar, vor allem beim Erreichen des musikalischen Höhepunktes des gesamten Stückes eine Hommage an den französischenMeister.

VAINQUEUR EBBC LILlE 2016Raveling, Unraveling In Search of La Valse a été composé pour le Cory Band comme pièce de choix pour le Championnat Européen de Brass Band 2016 Lille. L’œuvre tire son origine de la pièce de concert pour orchestre d’harmonie de Sparke,The Unknown Journey (2014). Une marque de respect La Valse, ce nouveau morceau utilise l’œuvre de Ravel comme sous-courant structurel et a comme objectif un genre organique plutôt qu’épisodique. D’après le compositeur, La Valseest l’un des seuls morceaux qui réussit accomplir ceci. Il se sert de plusieurs sections de ce chef d’œuvre, aussi bien modifiées que citées telles quelles y inclus laplupart de ses magnifiques passages finaux pour établir la structure généralede ce nouveau morceau. Plus la musique progresse, plus la musique de Ravel apparaît, et domine alors que l’apogée est atteinte un hommage au maestro français.

Orchestra Bassoon 1, Bassoon 2, Bassoon 3, Clarinet 1, Clarinet 2, Clarinet 3, Contrabass, Flute 1, Flute 2, Flute 3, Harp, Horn 1, Horn 3, Horn 4, Oboe 1, Oboe 2, Oboe 3, Percussion 1, Percussion 2, Percussion 3, Percussion 4, Piano, Timpani, Trombone 1 and more.

SKU: PR.466000470

Composed by Dan Welcher. Spiral. Large Score. With Standard notation. Duration 10 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #466-00047. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.466000470).

UPC: 680160099405. 11 x 17 inches.

This is the second incarnation of a work I first composed in 1994 for symphonic wind ensemble. The earlier version was intended to be the summation of three-part suite, each part being named for a different national park in the Western United States. This orchestral version, commissioned in 1999 by the Utah Symphony and dedicated to the memory of Aaron Copland, is more than a re-scoring of the earlier piece; it is a re-thinking of all its elements. Zion is a place with unrivaled natural grandeur, being a sort of huge box canyon in which the traveler is constantly overwhelmed by towering rock walls on every side of him -- but it is also a place with a human history, having been inhabited by several tribes of native Americans before the arrival of the Mormon settlers in the mid-19th century. By the time the Mormons reached Utah, they had been driven all the way from New York State through Ohio and, with tragic losses, through Missouri. They saw Utah in general as a place nobody wanted, but they were nonetheless determined to keep it to themselves. Although Zion Canyon was never a Mormon Stronghold, the people who reached it and claimed it (and gave it its present name) had been through extreme trials. It is the religious fervor of these persecuted people that I was able to draw upon in creating Zion as a piece of music. There are two quoted hymns in the work: Zion's Walls (which Aaron Copland adapted to his own purposes in both his Old American Songs and the opera The Tender Land) and Zion's Security, which I found in the same volume in which Copland found Zion's Walls -- that inexhaustible storehouse of 19th-century hymnody called The Sacred Harp. My work opens with a three-verse setting of Zion's Security, a stern tune in F-sharp minor which is full of resolve. (The words of this hymn are resolute and strong, rallying the faithful to be firm, and describing the city of our God they hope to establish). This melody alternates with a fanfare tune, whose origins will be revealed in later music, until the second half of the piece begins: a driving rhythmic ostinato based on a 3/4-4/4 alternating meter scheme. This pauses at its height to restate Zion's Security one more time, in a rather obscure setting surrounded by freely shifting patterns in the flutes, clarinets, and percussion -- until the sun warms the ground sufficiently for the second hymn to appear. Zion's Walls is set in 7/8, unlike Copland's 9/8-6/8 meters (the original is quite strange, and doesn't really fit any constant meter), and is introduced by a warm horn solo. The two hymns vie for attention from here to the end of the piece, with the glowingly optimistic Zion's Walls finally achieving prominence. The work ends with a sense of triumph.

(Encounters with the Healer, the Servant, the Lord of Easter). By Pepper Choplin. Cantatas. Eastertide, Lent, Sacred. CD kit. Published by Lorenz Publishing Company

For Flute and Piano. Composed by Gary Schocker. Solo part with piano reduction. With Standard notation. 10 pages. Duration 4 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #114-41363. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.114413630).

Composed by Various. Edited by Richard Walters. Vocal Collection. Softcover. 212 pages. Published by Hal Leonard

(An Inspiring Method to Playing the Drums, Guided by the Legends). By Rich Lackowski. For Drumset. Artist/Personality; Book; DVD; Method/Instruction; Percussion - Drum Set Method or Collection. On the Beaten Path. Beginner. 136 pages. Published by Alfred Music Publishing

Piano SKU: HU.HN842 Composed by Maurice Ravel. Edited by Peter Jost. Piano Solo, Piano and Keyboard, Repertoire, Solos. Miroirs. 20th Century, Classical, Romantic. Softcover Book. 69 pages. G. Henle #HN842. Published by G. Henle (HU.HN842). 12.2 x 9.3 x 0.2 inches.