(Audio Sampler (includes actor script and listening CD)). Composed by Chad Begue...(+)
(Audio Sampler (includes
actor script and
listening CD)). Composed
by Chad Beguelin and
Matthew Sklar. For Choral
(AUDSAMPLER). Recorded
Promo - Stockable.
Published by MTI (Music
Theatre International)
Ligne De Mélodie, Paroles et Accords [Fake Book] - Facile Hal Leonard
For voice and C instrument. Format: fakebook (spiral bound). With vocal melody, ...(+)
For voice and C
instrument. Format:
fakebook (spiral bound).
With vocal melody,
lyrics, piano
accompaniment, chord
names and leadsheet
notation. Hymn. Series:
Hal Leonard Fake Books.
494 pages. 9x12 inches.
Published by Hal Leonard.
Chamber Music Piano SKU: PR.110418370 Composed by Charles Ives. Arranged ...(+)
Chamber Music Piano
SKU: PR.110418370
Composed by Charles Ives.
Arranged by Danny Holt.
Performance Score. 20
pages. Duration 8
minutes. Theodore Presser
Company #110-41837.
Published by Theodore
Presser Company
(PR.110418370).
ISBN
9781491135075. UPC:
680160686247.
Compo
sed as an organ solo by
the 17-year-old Ives for
his own performance
purposes, the beloved
Variations on America is
a treat for any occasion,
whether a holiday
concert, a serious
recital, or other special
event. Danny
Holt’s
transcription for Piano,
Four Hands adds a
dazzling new option to
play at home or on stage,
taking best advantage of
Ives’ tremendous
contrasts in color,
dynamics, and
texture. Composed when
Charles Ives was a
teenager, Variations on
“America†is
both a convenient
introduction to
Ives’ body of
work, and an early
example of his
iconoclastic musical
voice and creative
genius. Just a few years
after composing this
piece, Ives would leave
home to study music at
Yale. But until then he
had been taught by his
father, George (who had
been a bandmaster in the
Civil War). George
subjected the young Ives
to experiments such as
singing a song in one key
while being accompanied
in another, or arranging
for two marching bands to
converge on a town
center, with the
resulting cacophony that
ensued.The Variations
exemplifies an early
period of experimentation
in Ives’ work,
spurred on by the unusual
pedagogy of his father.
The piece is particularly
notable for its use of
bitonality in the two
interludes, subtly
foreshadowing more
well-known examples by
Stravinsky, Bartók,
and others by
approximately two
decades.The bitonal
interludes were so ahead
of their time, in fact,
they were omitted from
the first copy that was
submitted to a publisher
in 1892. (Alas, the piece
was rejected even despite
these
“shockingâ€
elements having been left
out, and it wasn’t
published until more than
five decades later.)
There is some ambiguity
about when exactly Ives
added the interludes into
his manuscript copy,
though ample evidence
suggests he had performed
the piece with the
interludes around the
time he notated the piece
in 1891-92. In any case,
in light of this piece
and his other polytonal
explorations from the
last decade of the 19th
century, it seems fair to
give Ives credit for
being a pioneer in this
area!This arrangement for
Piano, Four Hands,
closely follows
Ives’ original
version for organ,
setting aside William
Schuman’s popular
adaptation for symphony
orchestra and William
Rhoads’ band
transcription of the
Schuman orchestration.
Pianists will find that
the piece translates well
to the instrument.
Ideally, the choreography
and logistics of
elbow-to-elbow four-hands
playing approximates the
wild joy one gets from
watching an organist play
the piece (e.g., the
elaborate pedal part in
the final variation).In
preparing this
publication, attention
was paid to details in
the dual Critical
Editions (Presser
443-41003) of both
Ives’ manuscript
edition and the 1949
publication edited by
organist E. Power Biggs
(who is credited with
discovering what had been
a long-lost, forgotten
work.) But as with much
of Ives’ output,
attempting to create a
true
‘urtext’
score is a futile
endeavor, and especially
with a piece such as this
one – in which
Ives incorporated
improvisation in live
performance –
seems unnecessary anyhow.
True die-hards are of
course encouraged to
consult the critical
editions and even find
inspiration in the
orchestrated version.
Generally, performers are
advised to be wild, have
fun, and not to be too
rigid in their
interpretive
choices.Dynamics in this
arrangement mostly follow
the organ score closely.
Pianists will use good
judgment about pedaling
throughout, which should
be straightforward and
intuitive. Courtesy
accidentals have been
provided frequently
– without
parentheses –
balancing the need for
extra clarity in the
context of Ives’
murky musical language,
and a desire to avoid
unnecessary clutter.A few
notes that might inform
interpretive
decisions:mm. 15-16:
There are inconsistencies
here between Ives’
original manuscript and
the 1949 Biggs edition,
regarding the top voice
in m. 15, beat 3 (C# vs.
Cn) and m. 16 (D Major
vs. D Minor).mm. 76-84 &
143-146: In both
Interludes, Ives
emphatically notates
extreme dynamic contrast,
in order to highlight the
bitonality. Although it
may seem counterintuitive
(or even a misprint, as
has apparently been
misconstrued by some),
performers are urged to
follow the
composer’s
marking!m. 109: Two-note
slurs have been added
here for clarity and
consistency with other
similar passages, though
they do not appear in
either the original
manuscript or Biggs.m.
112: The last two eighth
notes of Primo appear as
16ths in the original
manuscript.mm. 183-186:
The original manuscript
has a slightly different
bass line.mm. 184 & 186:
Primo gestures have been
re-written to be slightly
more idiomatic for Piano,
Four Hands.m. 186: The
breath mark at the end of
this bar does not appear
in either the manuscript
or Biggs, but is an
editorial suggestion
– aside from being
appropriately dramatic,
it will indeed be
necessary in a
reverberant hall!I would
like to thank Steven
Vanhauwaert, the other
half of my piano duo,
4handsLA, for his input
on early drafts of this
arrangement.—
Danny Holt, April
2022.
Band Bass Clarinet, Bass
Drum, Bassoon 1, Bassoon
2, Bongos, Castanets,
Celesta, Clarinet,
Clarinet 1, Clarinet 2,
Clarinet 3, Contrabass
Clarinet, Contrabassoon,
English Horn, Euphonium,
Euphonium T.C., Flute 1,
Flute 2, Horn 1, Horn 2,
Horn 3 and more.
SKU:
PR.16500100F
Hymns
for Wind Ensemble.
Composed by Dan Welcher.
Sws. Full score. 48
pages. Duration 10
minutes, 41 seconds.
Theodore Presser Company
#165-00100F. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(PR.16500100F).
ISBN
9781491114421. UPC:
680160669783. 9 x 12
inches.
Commissione
d for a consortium of
high school and college
bands in the north Dallas
region, FOR THEMYSTIC
HARMONY is a 10-minute
inspirational work in
homage to Norwood and
Elizabeth Dixon,patrons
of the Fort Worth
Symphony and the Van
Cliburn Competition.
Welcher draws melodic
flavorfrom five American
hymns, spirituals, and
folk tunes of the 19th
century. The last of
these sources toappear is
the hymn tune For the
Beauty of the Earth,
whose third stanza is the
quatrain: “For the
joy of earand eye, For
the heart and
mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony,
Linking sense to sound
and sight,â€giving
rise to the work’s
title. This work,
commissioned for a
consortium of high school
bands in the north Dallas
area, is my fifteenth
maturework for wind
ensemble (not counting
transcriptions). When I
asked Todd Dixon, the
band director
whospearheaded this
project, what kind of a
work he most wanted, he
first said
“something
that’s basically
slow,†butwanted to
leave the details to me.
During a long subsequent
conversation, he
mentioned that his
grandparents,Norwood and
Elizabeth Dixon, were
prime supporters of the
Fort Worth Symphony,
going so far as to
purchase anumber of high
quality instruments for
that orchestra. This
intrigued me, so I asked
more about his
grandparentsand was
provided an 80-page
biographical sketch.
Reading that article,
including a long section
about theirdevotion to
supporting a young man
through the rigors of the
Van Cliburn International
Piano Competition fora
number of years, moved me
very much. Norwood and
Elizabeth Dixon
weren’t just
supporters of the arts;
theywere passionate
lovers of music and
musicians. I determined
to make this work a
testament to that love,
and tothe religious faith
that sustained them both.
The idea of using extant
hymns was also suggested
by Todd Dixon,and this
10-minute work is the
result.I have employed
existing melodies in
several works, delving
into certain kinds of
religious music more than
a fewtimes. In seeking
new sounds, new ways of
harmonizing old tunes,
and the contrapuntal
overlaying of one
tunewith another, I was
able to make works like
ZION (using 19th-century
Revivalist hymns) and
LABORING SONGS(using
Shaker melodies) reflect
the spirit of the
composers who created
these melodies, without
sounding likepastiches or
medleys. I determined to
do the same with this new
work, with the added
problem of
employingmelodies that
were more familiar. I
chose five tunes from the
19th century: hymns,
spirituals, and
folk-tunes.Some of these
are known by differing
titles, but they all
appear in hymnals of
various Christian
denominations(with
various titles and
texts). My idea was to
employ the tunes without
altering their notes,
instead using aconstantly
modulating sense of
harmony —
sometimes leading to
polytonal harmonizations
of what are
normallysimple four-chord
hymns.The work begins and
ends with a repeated
chime on the note C: a
reminder of steeples,
white clapboard
churchesin the country,
and small church organs.
Beginning with a
Mixolydian folk tune of
Caribbean origin
presentedtwice with
layered entrances, the
work starts with a
feeling of mystery and
gentle sorrow. It
proceeds, after along
transition, into a second
hymn that is sometimes
connected to the sea
(hence the sensation of
water andwaves throughout
it). This tune, by John
B. Dykes (1823-1876), is
a bit more chromatic and
“shifty†than
mosthymn-tunes, so I
chose to play with the
constant sensation of
modulation even more than
the original does. Atthe
climax, the familiar
spiritual “Were you
there?†takes over,
with a double-time
polytonal feeling
propelling itforward at
“Sometimes it
causes me to
tremble.â€Trumpets
in counterpoint raise the
temperature, and the
tempo as well, leading
the music into a third
tune (ofunknown
provenance, though it
appears with different
texts in various hymnals)
that is presented in a
sprightlymanner. Bassoons
introduce the melody, but
it is quickly taken up by
other instruments over
three
“verses,â€cons
tantly growing in
orchestration and volume.
A mysterious second tune,
unrelated to this one,
interrupts it inall three
verses, sending the
melody into unknown
regions.The final melody
is “For the Beauty
of the Earth.†This
tune by Conrad Kocher
(1786-1872) is commonly
sung atThanksgiving
— the perfect
choice to end this work
celebrating two people
known for their
generosity.Keeping the
sense of constant
modulation that has been
present throughout, I
chose to present this
hymn in threegrowing
verses, but with a twist:
every four bars, the
“key†of the
hymn seems to shift
— until the
“Lord of all,
toThee we praiseâ€
melody bursts out in a
surprising compound
meter. This, as it turns
out, was the
“mystery
tuneâ€heard earlier
in the piece. After an
Ivesian, almost polytonal
climax, the Coda begins
over a long B( pedal. At
first,it seems to be a
restatement of the first
two phrases of “For
the Beauty†with
long spaces between them,
but it soonchanges to a
series of
“Amenâ€
cadences, widely
separated by range and
color. These, too, do not
conform to anykey, but
instead overlay each
other in ways that are
unpredictable but
strangely comforting.The
third verse of “For
the Beauty of the
Earth†contains
this quatrain:“For
the joy of ear and eye,
–For the heart and
mind’s delightFor
the mystic harmonyLinking
sense to sound and
sightâ€and it was
from this poetry that I
drew the title for the
present work. It is my
hope that audiences and
performerswill find
within it a sense of
grace: more than a little
familiar, but also quite
new and unexpected.
Band Concert Band SKU: PR.465000130 For Large Wind Ensemble. Compo...(+)
Band Concert Band
SKU:
PR.465000130
For
Large Wind Ensemble.
Composed by Dan Welcher.
Sws. Contemporary. Full
score. With Standard
notation. Composed 2010.
Duration 14 minutes.
Theodore Presser Company
#465-00013. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(PR.465000130).
ISBN
9781598064070. UPC:
680160600144. 9x12
inches.
Following a
celebrated series of wind
ensemble tone poems about
national parks in the
American West, Dan
Welcher’s Upriver
celebrates the Lewis &
Clark Expedition from the
Missouri River to
Oregon’s Columbia
Gorge, following the
Louisiana Purchase of
1803. Welcher’s
imaginative textures and
inventiveness are freshly
modern, evoking our
American heritage,
including references to
Shenandoah and other folk
songs known to have been
sung on the expedition.
For advanced players.
Duration:
14’. In 1803,
President Thomas
Jefferson sent Meriwether
Lewis and William
Clark’s Corps of
Discovery to find a water
route to the Pacific and
explore the uncharted
West. He believed woolly
mammoths, erupting
volcanoes, and mountains
of pure salt awaited
them. What they found was
no less mind-boggling:
some 300 species unknown
to science, nearly 50
Indian tribes, and the
Rockies.Ihave been a
student of the Lewis and
Clark expedition, which
Thomas Jefferson called
the “Voyage of
Discovery,†for as
long as I can remember.
This astonishing journey,
lasting more than
two-and-a-half years,
began and ended in St.
Louis, Missouri —
and took the travelers up
more than a few rivers in
their quest to find the
Northwest Passage to the
Pacific Ocean. In an age
without speedy
communication, this was
akin to space travel out
of radio range in our own
time: no one knew if,
indeed, the party had
even survived the voyage
for more than a year.
Most of them were
soldiers. A few were
French-Canadian voyageurs
— hired trappers
and explorers, who were
fluent in French (spoken
extensively in the
region, due to earlier
explorers from France)
and in some of the Indian
languages they might
encounter. One of the
voyageurs, a man named
Pierre Cruzatte, also
happened to be a
better-than-average
fiddle player. In many
respects, the travelers
were completely on their
own for supplies and
survival, yet,
incredibly, only one of
them died during the
voyage. Jefferson had
outfitted them with food,
weapons, medicine, and
clothing — and
along with other
trinkets, a box of 200
jaw harps to be used in
trading with the Indians.
Their trip was long,
perilous to the point of
near catastrophe, and
arduous. The dream of a
Northwest Passage proved
ephemeral, but the
northwestern quarter of
the continent had finally
been explored, mapped,
and described to an
anxious world. When the
party returned to St.
Louis in 1806, and with
the Louisiana Purchase
now part of the United
States, they were greeted
as national heroes.Ihave
written a sizeable number
of works for wind
ensemble that draw their
inspiration from the
monumental spaces found
in the American West.
Four of them (Arches, The
Yellowstone Fires,
Glacier, and Zion) take
their names, and in large
part their being, from
actual national parks in
Utah, Wyoming, and
Montana. But Upriver,
although it found its
voice (and its finale) in
the magnificent Columbia
Gorge in Oregon, is about
a much larger region.
This piece, like its
brother works about the
national parks,
doesn’t try to
tell a story. Instead, it
captures the flavor of a
certain time, and of a
grand adventure. Cast in
one continuous movement
and lasting close to
fourteen minutes, the
piece falls into several
subsections, each with
its own heading: The
Dream (in which
Jefferson’s vision
of a vast expanse of
western land is opened);
The Promise, a chorale
that re-appears several
times in the course of
the piece and represents
the seriousness of the
presidential mission; The
River; The Voyageurs; The
River II ; Death and
Disappointment; Return to
the Voyage; and The River
III .The music includes
several quoted melodies,
one of which is familiar
to everyone as the
ultimate “river
song,†and which
becomes the
through-stream of the
work. All of the quoted
tunes were either sung by
the men on the voyage, or
played by
Cruzatte’s fiddle.
From various journals and
diaries, we know the men
found enjoyment and
solace in music, and
almost every night
encampment had at least a
bit of music in it. In
addition to Cruzatte,
there were two other
members of the party who
played the fiddle, and
others made do with
singing, or playing upon
sticks, bones, the
ever-present jaw harps,
and boat horns. From
Lewis’ journals, I
found all the tunes used
in Upriver: Shenandoah
(still popular after more
than 200 years),
V’la bon vent,
Soldier’s Joy,
Johnny Has Gone for a
Soldier, Come Ye Sinners
Poor and Needy (a hymn
sung to the tune
“Beech
Springâ€) and
Fisher’s Hornpipe.
The work follows an
emotional journey: not
necessarily step-by-step
with the Voyage of
Discovery heroes, but a
kind of grand arch.
Beginning in the mists of
history and myth,
traversing peaks and
valleys both real and
emotional (and a solemn
funeral scene), finding
help from native people,
and recalling their zeal
upon finding the one
great river that will, in
fact, take them to the
Pacific. When the men
finally roar through the
Columbia Gorge in their
boats (a feat that even
the Indians had not
attempted), the
magnificent river
combines its theme with
the chorale of
Jefferson’s
Promise. The Dream is
fulfilled: not quite the
one Jefferson had
imagined (there is no
navigable water passage
from the Missouri to the
Pacific), but the dream
of a continental
destiny.
Band Concert Band SKU: PR.46500013L For Wind Ensemble. Composed by...(+)
Band Concert Band
SKU:
PR.46500013L
For
Wind Ensemble.
Composed by Dan Welcher.
Contemporary. Large
Score. With Standard
notation. Composed 2010.
Duration 14 minutes.
Theodore Presser Company
#465-00013L. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(PR.46500013L).
UPC:
680160600151. 11 x 14
inches.
I n 1803,
President Thomas
Jefferson sent Meriwether
Lewis and William Clarks
Corps of Discovery to
find a water route to the
Pacific and explore the
uncharted West. He
believed woolly mammoths,
erupting volcanoes, and
mountains of pure salt
awaited them. What they
found was no less
mind-boggling: some 300
species unknown to
science, nearly 50 Indian
tribes, and the Rockies.
I have been a student of
the Lewis and Clark
expedition, which Thomas
Jefferson called the
Voyage of Discovery, for
as long as I can
remember. This
astonishing journey,
lasting more than
two-and-a-half years,
began and ended in St.
Louis, Missouri and took
the travelers up more
than a few rivers in
their quest to find the
Northwest Passage to the
Pacific Ocean. In an age
without speedy
communication, this was
akin to space travel out
of radio range in our own
time: no one knew if,
indeed, the party had
even survived the voyage
for more than a year.
Most of them were
soldiers. A few were
French-Canadian voyageurs
hired trappers and
explorers, who were
fluent in French (spoken
extensively in the
region, due to earlier
explorers from France)
and in some of the Indian
languages they might
encounter. One of the
voyageurs, a man named
Pierre Cruzatte, also
happened to be a
better-than-average
fiddle player. In many
respects, the travelers
were completely on their
own for supplies and
survival, yet,
incredibly, only one of
them died during the
voyage. Jefferson had
outfitted them with food,
weapons, medicine, and
clothing and along with
other trinkets, a box of
200 jaw harps to be used
in trading with the
Indians. Their trip was
long, perilous to the
point of near
catastrophe, and arduous.
The dream of a Northwest
Passage proved ephemeral,
but the northwestern
quarter of the continent
had finally been
explored, mapped, and
described to an anxious
world. When the party
returned to St. Louis in
1806, and with the
Louisiana Purchase now
part of the United
States, they were greeted
as national heroes. I
have written a sizeable
number of works for wind
ensemble that draw their
inspiration from the
monumental spaces found
in the American West.
Four of them (Arches, The
Yellowstone Fires,
Glacier, and Zion) take
their names, and in large
part their being, from
actual national parks in
Utah, Wyoming, and
Montana. But Upriver,
although it found its
voice (and its finale) in
the magnificent Columbia
Gorge in Oregon, is about
a much larger region.
This piece, like its
brother works about the
national parks, doesnt
try to tell a story.
Instead, it captures the
flavor of a certain time,
and of a grand adventure.
Cast in one continuous
movement and lasting
close to fourteen
minutes, the piece falls
into several subsections,
each with its own
heading: The Dream (in
which Jeffersons vision
of a vast expanse of
western land is opened);
The Promise, a chorale
that re-appears several
times in the course of
the piece and represents
the seriousness of the
presidential mission; The
River; The Voyageurs; The
River II ; Death and
Disappointment; Return to
the Voyage; and The River
III . The music includes
several quoted melodies,
one of which is familiar
to everyone as the
ultimate river song, and
which becomes the
through-stream of the
work. All of the quoted
tunes were either sung by
the men on the voyage, or
played by Cruzattes
fiddle. From various
journals and diaries, we
know the men found
enjoyment and solace in
music, and almost every
night encampment had at
least a bit of music in
it. In addition to
Cruzatte, there were two
other members of the
party who played the
fiddle, and others made
do with singing, or
playing upon sticks,
bones, the ever-present
jaw harps, and boat
horns. From Lewis
journals, I found all the
tunes used in Upriver:
Shenandoah (still popular
after more than 200
years), Vla bon vent,
Soldiers Joy, Johnny Has
Gone for a Soldier, Come
Ye Sinners Poor and Needy
(a hymn sung to the tune
Beech Spring) and Fishers
Hornpipe. The work
follows an emotional
journey: not necessarily
step-by-step with the
Voyage of Discovery
heroes, but a kind of
grand arch. Beginning in
the mists of history and
myth, traversing peaks
and valleys both real and
emotional (and a solemn
funeral scene), finding
help from native people,
and recalling their zeal
upon finding the one
great river that will, in
fact, take them to the
Pacific. When the men
finally roar through the
Columbia Gorge in their
boats (a feat that even
the Indians had not
attempted), the
magnificent river
combines its theme with
the chorale of Jeffersons
Promise. The Dream is
fulfilled: not quite the
one Jefferson had
imagined (there is no
navigable water passage
from the Missouri to the
Pacific), but the dream
of a continental
destiny.
Cassatt. Composed
by Dan Welcher. Premiere:
Cassatt Quartet,
Northeastern Illinois
University, Chicago, IL.
Contemporary. Full score.
With Standard notation.
Composed 2007. WRT11142.
52 pages. Duration 24
minutes. Theodore Presser
Company #164-00272S.
Published by Theodore
Presser Company
(PR.16400272S).
UPC:
680160588442. 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.
Chamber Music String Quartet SKU: PR.164002720 Cassatt. Composed b...(+)
Chamber Music String
Quartet
SKU:
PR.164002720
Cassatt. Composed
by Dan Welcher. Spiral
and Saddle. Premiere:
Cassatt Quartet,
Northeastern Illinois
University, Chicago, IL.
Contemporary. Set of
Score and Parts. With
Standard notation.
Composed 2007. WRT11142.
52+16+16+16+16 pages.
Duration 24 minutes.
Theodore Presser Company
#164-00272. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(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.
Composed by Anton
Dvorá, Patti
Drennan, and k. Daybreak
Choral Series. General
Worship, Sacred. Octavo.
12 pages. Duration 220
seconds. Published by
Daybreak Music
(HL.374951).
UPC:
196288017455.
6.75x10.5x0.025 inches. I
John 2:25, James 1:12,
Revelation
22:1.
There is much
emotion in this choral
concept joining a
well-known hymn text with
a melody from classical
repertoire. Replete with
images of our journey in
life and our hope for
heaven, this heartfelt
anthem is touched with
simple sincerity. The
violin adds a bittersweet
element and the
appearance of Going Home
is an inspired touch. The
anthem doesn't linger in
reflection but embraces
the hope of heaven,
rising to a dramatic
finale of praise.
(65 Soul, Blues, and Funk Classics). Composed by various artists and composer...(+)
(65 Soul, Blues, and Funk
Classics). Composed by
various artists and
composers. For Guitar.
This
edition: Guitar TAB
Edition.
Artist/Personality; Book;
Guitar Mixed Folio;
Guitar
TAB. The Guitar
Collection.
Blues; Funk. 256 pages.
Published by Alfred Music
Piano seul [Feuillet] - Intermédiaire Warner Brothers
Composed by Marvin Hamlisch. For piano. From the motion picture "Ice Castles". F...(+)
Composed by Marvin
Hamlisch. For piano. From
the motion picture "Ice
Castles". Format: piano
solo single. With chord
names. Movies and
traditional pop. G Major.
4 pages. 9x12 inches.
Published by Warner
Brothers.
Théorie de la musique [Partition] Kjos Music Company
Written by Charles S. Peters, Paul Yoder. Format: instructional book. With instr...(+)
Written by Charles S.
Peters, Paul Yoder.
Format: instructional
book. With instructional
text and musical
examples. General Theory.
32 pages. 9x12 inches.
Published by Neil A. Kjos
Music Company.
Dan Welcher’s most enduringly and frequently played orchestral work, Prai...(+)
Dan Welcher’s most
enduringly and frequently
played orchestral work,
Prairie Light is a
fascinating musical
companion to three of
Georgia
O’Keeffe’s
most unusual paintings,
Light Coming on the
Plains, Canyon with
Crows, and Starlight
Night. This work is ideal
for performances using
visual projections of the
paintings, and is
frequently programmed for
subscription concerts as
well as those for
educational settings.
Duration: 14’
Parts available on
rental. This work for
full orchestra was
inspired by three
paintings of the noted
Americanartist Georgia
O’Keeffe. These
three watercolors were
done in 1917 while the
artist was living in
Canyon, Texas (near
Amarillo), and deal
primarily with color and
shape. Consequently, the
music is primarily
concerned with broad
lines and shapes rather
than rhythms, with subtle
washes of color rather
than constant harmonic
movement, and with
arching melody instead of
linear counterpoint.The
first movement, Light
Coming on the Plains, is
an elliptical-shaped
painting, deep blue to
indigo with a
“horizon†at
the bottom that seems
flat and unchanging. The
sun hasn’t risen
yet, although it does in
the course of this
movement, but it seems
instead to be providing
light from behind the
canvas. The music is
unmoving in terms of
rhythm or harmony
(although there is a
modulation midway
through), a color-infused
mantra of sound that is
almost Eastern.At the
height of the sun, we
proceed to the second
movement, entitled Canyon
with Crows. The canyon is
red-orange, with black
crows circling above
friendly unfolding hills.
The music is gentle but
lively and more rhythmic,
with the birds
represented by solo oboe,
clarinet, and sometimes
flute. Halfway through,
the brass have a chorale
version of the opening
motive, played very
slowly, over the unending
triplets of woodwinds and
strings. At the end of
the movement, the
birds return for a
duo-cadenza, accompanied
by the dying rays of the
sun in muted strings and
the ongoing triplets of
the solo quartet.The
stage is set for the
final movement, Starlight
Night. In
O’Keeffe’s
painting, the stars are
represented by
regularly-spaced
rectangles of bright pale
yellow on a blue-black
sky, with the same shape
to the field of vision
and the horizon that is
found in Light Coming on
the Plains. The stars
become audible: harp,
celesta, glockenspiel,
and string pizzicati all
lend a sparkle while a
solo flute introduces a
slowly unfolding theme.
After this theme has been
heard twice and the sky
has begun to really
brighten, there is a
sudden interruption: a
xylophone and a piano
begin another
“mantra†in
brittle staccato chords.
This is the same
mechanical eternity as
O’Keeffe’s
regularly-spaced square
stars, and it continues
on its own as the night
progresses. The music
builds and grows as the
moon rises and arcs, then
falls as the pre-dawn
light that opened the
work returns to bring it
to a close. Acycle of
light, changing with the
movements of sun, moon,
and stars, appearing
differently from various
points of view
Théorie de la musique [Livre d'activité] Kjos Music Company
(Intermediate Theory Workbook) Written by Charles S. Peters, Paul Yoder. Format:...(+)
(Intermediate Theory
Workbook) Written by
Charles S. Peters, Paul
Yoder. Format:
instructional book. With
instructional text and
musical examples. General
Theory. 9x12 inches.
Published by Neil A. Kjos
Music Company.
The Book of Urizen is Jacob de Haan his first Symphony for concert band, ...(+)
The Book of Urizen
is Jacob de Haan his
first Symphony for
concert band, solo
soprano, and a male
narrator in which sound
collages of expressions
are used. The piece is
inspired by the
compelling visionary poem
of the samename (which
the poet illustrated
himself) by the
Englishman William Blake
(1757-1827). The
Vision, first
movement and The
Creation, second
movement of The Book
of Urizen are
available by following
editionnumber: DHP
1043551. The Web,
the third movement of
The Book of Urizen
is available by the
following edition number:
DHP 1125252. Download the
audio samples here: track
1, track 2, track
3
In The Book
of Urizen - Jacob de
Haan zijn eerste symfonie
voor harmonieorkest,
zangstem (sopraan) en een
mannelijke spreekstem -
wordt gebruik gemaakt van
geluidscollages. De
compositie is ge
nspireerd op het
gelijknamigegedicht van
William Blake
(1757-1827). The
Vision, het eerste
deel en The
Creation, het tweede
deel van The Book of
Urizen zijn
beschikbaar via volgend
editienummer: DHP
1043551. The Web,
het derdedeel van The
Book of Urizen is
verkrijgbaar via
editienummer: DHP
1125252. Download
audiofragmenten hier:
track 1, track 2, track
3
The Book of
Urizen ist Jacob de
Haan seine erste
Symphonie für
Blasorchester, Gesang
(Sopran) und
(männliche)
Sprechstimme, in welcher
Botschaften durch
Geräuschcollagen
wiedergegeben werden. Als
Inspirationsquelle
dienteder gleichnamige
Gedichtzyklus des
großen englischen
Dichters und Malers
William Blake
(1757-1827). The
Vision, erster Satz
und The Creation,
zweiter Satz von The
Book of Urizen sind
unter der
folgendenEditionsnummer
erhältlich: DHP
1043551. The Web,
der dritte Satz von
The Book of Urizen , ist
unter der folgenden
Editionsnummer
erhältlich: DHP
1125252. Laden Sie hier
die Audiosamples
herunter: track 1, track
2,track 3
The Book of
Urizen is a work for
concert band, solo
soprano, and a male
narrator in which sound
collages of religious
expressions are used. The
piece is inspired by the
compelling visionary poem
of the same name (which
the poet
illustratedhimself) by
the Englishman William
Blake (1757-1827), who
occupies a unique
position in western
literature and the visual
arts. He was not just a
poet and a writer, but he
was also a graphic
artist, a painter, an
illustrator, a
spiritualist, areligious
visionary, and a mystic
philosopher. For the
performance of this work,
a professional sound
system, including two
microphones and a CD
player, is needed. The
three sound collages are
three separate tracks on
the enclosed CD and can
beplayed easily at the
right moment. The Book
of Urizen bears
resemblance to Genesis
and Exodus, of which the
contents form the basis
of the Christian, Jewish,
and Islamic faith. Blake
adhered to the principle
that all religions are in
fact one,and that deities
reside in human beings.
In The Book of
Urizen this is
represented in “The
Net of Religion,â€
which is spanned over the
earth by Urizen. The
sound collages, compiled
by Jacob de Haan in the
studio, find their origin
inJerusalem, the Holy
City, where the
afore-mentioned faiths
“come
together.†In the
first movement of
this composition, The
Vision, Urizen
prepares his vision of
the world, and he
presents this to the
“Eternals.â€
His vision is
rejected,and Urizen locks
himself up in his own
abstract world. When he
does emerge again, he is
confronted with rage by
the gathered Eternals.
Urizen flees the wrath of
the Eternals, “the
flames of eternal
fury,†and enwombs
himself in his own world.
Whenthe Eternals see
Urizen in his
“stony
sleep,†they wonder
if this is death. The
blacksmith Los is torn by
grief because of the
isolation of Urizen. It
brings him to rouse his
fires, prepare his forge,
and to give
Urizen’s world
concrete form. In
thesecond
movement, The
Creation,
Urizen’s world,
but also man, woman, and
child are created. Los is
horrified with the
appearance of
Urizen’s body. He
mourns and pities Urizen,
and from his blood a
female form comes into
being, with thename
Enitharmon. The Eternals,
fearful of the female
form, decide to erect a
tent to obstruct their
view to eternity.
Enitharmon and Los beget
a son, called Orc. Los
baptizes him as a child
of the “fallen
world.†Orc is fed
at Enitharmon’s
breast,which makes a
girdle of jealousy
restrict Los’
chest. He takes the child
to the top of the
mountain and chains him
down. The cries of Orc
awaken Urizen, who
explores his world
creating instruments of
scientific measurement to
do so. Los encircles
theface of Enitharmon
from the sight of Urizen
and Orc. She then
populates the earth by
giving birth to an
enormous race.The
Web, third movement
of The Book of
Urizen is now
available: DHP 1125252