Philip Stone is an actor of long and wide experience. In cinema he has worked with distinguished directors such as Stanley Kubrick Lindsay Anderson and Stephen Spielburg.he has also been a familiar face on our televisions for the past thirty years as well. Down those years he's always had a quiet ability to compose songs-words and music. They were written en passant in various places: in a tubercular chalet on the shores of Morecambe Bay - in a back room in Brixton - in a bedroom in Leeds - in a friend's house in St John's Wood. Some of these songs feature in his one-man show Beginnings and Endings and these eight are a varied example of that ability.

Mittlere Stimme / Medium Voice-As a continuation of the new Urtext edition of the Schubert lieder Walther Dürr has now edited volume five for high medium and low voices. Volumes 1 to 4 of this edition contain mainly lieder which Schubert himself saw into print (in his own choice and order) and in the fourth volume works from the last two years of his life are included. The lieder in volume 5 onwards are strictly presented in the order of Deutsch's Thematic Catalogue which means that in principle they are arranged chronologically.The lieder in volume five were composed in the years 1811 to 1814. The first 'Hagars Klage' (D 5) dated 30 March 1811 is also his first complete surviving song. Thefirst eleven lieder are evidence of his early studies (1811 1813/14). During this period Schubert immersed himself in Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg's ballads and lieder and wrote Italian arias during his composition lessons with Antonio Salieri. He also composed a single strophic song ('Klaglied' D 23) which the only one of these songs was published shortly after his death in November 1830 as op. 131 3. His apprentice work as it were was the major ballade 'Der Taucher' (D 77) which was composed between 1813 and roughly the beginning of 1815. Probably not by chance his first complete opera ('Des Teufels Lustschloss' D 84) was written at the same time. He also set fourteen poems by Friedrich von Matthisson exploring the principle of the strophic lied.- Excellent new engraving based on the 'New Schubert Edition'- Foreword by Walther Dürr discussing the history the works? compositionand transmission together with a list of sources for each song (Ger/Eng)- English translation of the song texts by Richard WigmoreContents:Hagars Klage D 5 / Leichenfantasie D 7 /Der Vatermörder D 10 / Klaglied op. post. 131 3 D 23 / Misero pargoletto D 42 (high voice only) / Totengräberlied D 44 / Die Schatten D 50 / Verklärung D 59 / Pensa che questo istante D 76 (medium and low voice only) /Der Taucher D 77 / Son fra l?onde D 78 (high voice only) /Adelaide D 95 / Trost. An Elisa D 97 /Erinnerungen D 98 / Andenken D 99 /Geisternähe D 100 / Erinnerung D 101 /Die Betende D 102 / Die Befreier Europas in Paris D 104

Par VACCAI NICOLA. This excellent singing tutor presents 15 lessons, all designed to teach the singer both vocal exercises and the use of the Italian language. It has long been thought that the Italian language is best suited to the art of singing, and in this edition, rather than use meaningless monosyllables, Vaccai has set Metastasio's beautiful poetry to each exercise. The lyrics to this 'practical voice method' are in Italian, with German singing translation by John Bernhoff. / Pédagogie / Méthode / Chant

Singers will cherish these powerful solo arrangements by Mark Hayes, Jay Althouse, Philip Kern, Greg Gilpin, and other fine Alfred arrangers. Including favorite traditional spirituals like Deep River, Sit Down Servant, Witness, and Down in the Valley to Pray, this inspirational collection is essential to every solo singer's library. Fresh contemporary arrangements that sing and play well, available in medium high and medium low editions, with or without the accompaniment CD.