Choir Secular Double Choir and Violoncello

SKU: PE.EP73479

Composed by Francis Pott. Choral Works (inc. Oratorios). Edition Peters. Living Composer. Vocal Score. 164 pages. Edition Peters #98-EP73479. Published by Edition Peters (PE.EP73479).

ISBN 9790577019888. 297 x 210mm inches. English.

At First Light was commissioned by Eric Bruskin, a resident of Philadelphia, USA, in memory of his mother. Eric had a longstanding enthusiasm for my work, and I was touched to be the person he approached for a task which is both a privilege and a daunting responsibility. In a sense, no music can ever measure up to the weight of love or the hope of consolation vested in it under such circumstances - but in memory I carry the deaths of both my own parents, and I was able to draw upon that. Eric's fondness for my Cello Sonata (itself written in memoriam) led him to ask that I include a solo 'cello part in the new work - but his attachment also to my polyphonic sacred choral writing meant that he wanted a centrepiece which would be both a showcase of that approach and the celebration of a life well lived. Therefore, the seven movements of At First Light arrange themselves as a series of slow meditations surrounding an exuberant 9-minute motet in which the lamenting cello falls temporarily silent.

Eric's Jewish faith meant that approaching an agnostic humanist brought up within the Anglican tradition was hardly free of problems! Gradually, though, I was able to win his approval for a collated mosaic of texts. This embraces some liturgical Latin (necessary for the motet) as the shared preserve of broad western culture in general, but balances it with a secular approach to loss, celebration, remembrance and the many shades of our mourning those whom we see no longer. Eric was adamant that he did not want the title Requiem; but what has emerged is still a form of semi-secular Requiem in all but name, taking its title instead from a phrase in the poem by Thomas Blackburn set as the third movement. This seemed to suggest succinctly how the loss of one very close to us is an awakening into an unfamiliar world where everything is changed. Following the exuberant central movement, the texts by the Lebanese-born Kahlil Gibran and the US, Kentuckian poet Wendell Berry first address the departed loved one directly, then place us within an imaginary funeral cortege, where the perennial and universal in human experience become personal without subscribing explicitly to any particular faith (or lack of it). The final text of all is a translation of a Hebraic prayer, requested and provided by Eric Bruskin, which serves to mirror its Latin counterpart heard at the outset.

Throughout , the lamenting cello represents a commentary on the experience articulated in the text. It evokes and, in a sense, tries to embrace and sanctify the individual existential journeys of the bereft, as they in turn seek to make their own sense of what the short-lived Second World War poet Alun Lewis called 'the unbearable beauty of the dead' (movement 5).

In a modern world hostage to ever greater menace, displacement, bloodshed and anguish, I hope fervently that this music not only brings a measure of solace to the person who commissioned it, but also makes its own small contribution to bailing out the sinking ship of humanity.

Homenaje al Papa Francisco. Composed by Alwin Michael Schronen. This edition: Saddle stitching. Sheet music. Schott Choral Music. Das Werk deutet auf einfuhlsame Art und Weise die Wirkung Papst Franziskus' auf die Menschen. Basierend auf drei argentinischen Volksliedern sorgt es mit eindringlichen und stillen Teilen fur erhebende Gefuhle. Ein abwechslungsreiches Werk und eine grosse. Choral score. Composed 2013. 32 pages. Duration 12' 30''. Schott Music #C56038. Published by Schott Music

Choral (SATB)

SKU: HL.1222050

Andrea Ramsey Choral Series. Composed by Andrea Ramsey. Andrea Ramsey Choral Series. Concert, Festival. Octavo. Published by Hal Leonard (HL.1222050).

UPC: 196288142744. 6.75x10.5x0.029 inches.

The world delights as the long winter turns to spring, new beginnings, and possibilities. The music is full of rhythm and energy, and beautifully reflects this hope and the awakening of spring.

(Ten Action-Packed Assessment Activities). By Jeanette Morgan. Book and CD-ROM. Published by Heritage Music Press

Piano (Piano solo) - x, x

SKU: HL.51481156

Piano. Composed by Claude Debussy. Edited by Ernst-Gü and nter Heinemann. Sheet Music. Paperbound. Henle Music Folios. Single edition from HN 404. Classical, Romantic Period. Softcover. 12 pages. G. Henle #HN1156. Published by G. Henle (HL.51481156).

ISBN 9790201811567. UPC: 888680749705. 9.25x12.25x0.07 inches.

In his youth, when still searching for his own personal style, Debussy composed a series of short, stand-alone piano pieces. He took traditional genres such as the ballade, mazurka, nocturne and waltz, but in general used each of them just once, as if trying them out. One such was the “Valse romantique”, published by Choudens of Paris in 1891 and thus written at the same time as his famous piano works “Two Arabesques” and the “Suite bergamasque”. This charming waltz is of moderate difficulty and thus ideal either as a pedagogical piece or for concert performance. Our collected volume “Debussy: Piano Pieces” (HN 404) offers numerous other short piano pieces of modest difficulty for those who find that this practical, stand-alone edition awakens in them a desire for more.

About Henle Urtext

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• error-free, reliable musical texts based on meticulous musicological research - fingerings and bowings by famous artists and pedagogues
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For guitar. Transcribed by Ernie Hawkins, Historical notes by William L. Ellis. Blues. Intermediate- Advanced. Book/CD Set. 72 pages. Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc

For guitar. Transcribed by Ernie Hawkins, Historical notes by William L. Ellis. Guitar: Fingerpicking, Blues, Ragtime. Intermediate-Advanced. Book/CD Set. 108 pages. Published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc

Guitar

SKU: FG.55011-321-3

Composed by Kai Nieminen. Fennica Gehrman #55011-321-3. Published by Fennica Gehrman (FG.55011-321-3).

ISBN 9790550113213.

Kai Nieminen's Northern Spells for solo guitar is a unique combination of Northern mystique, nature and age-old rituals. The mood of the opening Invocation and Spell is shrouded in mystery dotted with moments of brightness, and chant-like rhythmic passages. As its name suggests, the second movement, Atmosfera, is atmospheric and airy, reiterating a melody that creates an image of something ancient and distant. The recurring pentatonic figures in the closing Charm conjure forth a rhythmic and at times even lithe conclusion.

Strong contrasts are one of the hallmarks of Nieminen's music, and this work is no exception. The guitarist must have a consummate ability to extract specific tones and effects from his or her instrument in order to bring out the required nuances and sometimes even ritualistic moods. One special feature of the work is the damped sound made in the bass by gently pressing the string with the left-hand finger near the nut. This produces a muffled, mystic, drum-like sound that has to be rounded, altogether resonant and ear-catching. Throughout all the movements and moods of this work, the player has to choose the timbres very carefully. The performance must be as imposing and multidimensional as the arctic nature that allows Northern spells to reawaken in the present-day world.

Orchestra (Full Score)

SKU: HL.14042350

Full Score. Composed by Sø and ren Nils Eichberg. Music Sales America. Classical, Contemporary. Softcover. Composed 2013. Edition Wilhelm Hansen #WH31627. Published by Edition Wilhelm Hansen (HL.14042350).

ISBN 9788759826164.

S øren Nils Eichberg's Morpheus - Concerto for Orchestra (2013). Commissioned by The Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR.

Parts are available on hire: hire@ewh.dk

Programme note

Morpheus in the Greek mythology is the most powerful of the Oneroi, the gods of dreams. He is the one who sends us our dreams and he may appear to us within the dreams in disguise.

Analogous to the logic of dreams, in Morpheus everything is interwoven, as chains of associations appear to logically lead us from one line of thought to another. Everything seems strangelyfamiliar. But the logic is treacherous and we already feel, it may only be valid within the dream. Nothing that appears similar is actually ever really the same.

Half awakening, we struggle to hold on to a vanishing world we felt we were on the verge of understanding, but which we already know will eventually escape us when we fully awake.

Everything remains a mystery until the end.

 

The seven movements/dreamscapes are:

 

1. Vortex
2. Trees and Walls
3. Escher (Toccata)
4. Crystal
5. Into the Cloud
6. Non-Euclid
7. Arctica

(Easy Piano). Arranged by Dan Coates. For Piano. Book; Piano - Easy Piano Collection; Piano Supplemental. Top 50. Broadway. Easy Piano. 208 pages. Published by Alfred Music Publishing

(20 Popular Hits). Arranged by Dan Coates. For Piano. This edition: Easy Piano. Book; Piano Collection; Piano Supplemental. Simply Series. Broadway. Easy Piano. 80 pages

By David Bengtson and David N. Childs. For Choral (SSAA). Walton Choral. 20 pages. Walton Music #WW1495. Published by Walton Music