SKU: PR.312418710

ISBN 9781598066265. UPC: 680160618743. Octavo inches. The Devil's Verse.

To celebrate 25 years of excellence and promotion of new concert works, the New York Virtuoso Singers commissioned 25 contemporary composers for 25 new choral works, all of which now appear on their recording, 25 X 25: Twenty-Five Premieres for Twenty-Five Years. Among the 25 is Richard Wernick's The Devil's Game. Here, Wernick uses The Devil's Verse, a Latin palindrome that still puzzles us today as to its meaning, and appropriately embraces repetitive use of the verse in a musical palindrome of his own.
The text is a palindrome (in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni), a rather mysterious one called The Devil’s Verse. Its origin is vague (probably Roman, but possibly Medieval) and it does not surrender its meaning easily; many scholars have fussed over it. It is a riddle as well as a palindrome, in other words a puzzle within a puzzle. My preferred translation, without going into the niceties of Latin grammar, is “We enter the circle at night and are consumed by fire.”This music is also a palindrome, the outer parts of which are homophonic, while the turning around point in the center (where the basses enter for the first time) is a brief double canon.

SKU: HL.4007945

Stories, sagas and legends--who among us doesn't know them? Always delivered with a tinge of brutality, these cautionary tales are a legacy of moral education from times past: inquisitive children alone in the forest are generally eaten by a witch; the “Soup-Kasper” of Hoffmann's Struwwelpeter dies from starvation rather than eating his soup; anyone letting in strangers usually gets devoured; anyone who plays with matches gets burned; and thumb-suckers get their thumbs cut off. The list of unfortunate demises is almost endless.In the tale of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, parents lose their children through greed, ridicule, scorn and a failure to appreciate art. There is still a street in the town of Hamelin in which neither drumming nor playing has not been allowed since 130 children disappeared into a mountain, never to be seen again. This composition by Otto M. Schwarz opens with exactly this scene, taking us back to the year 1284. As in many towns at the time, Hamelin in Germany suffered with hygiene problems--rats and mice began to multiply rapidly, and the town was overrun with the plague. There appeared a man dressed in colorful clothes who promised the locals to free them from this burden. They agreed and settled on a fee. Then the man pulled out a pipe and began to play. When the rats and mice heard this, they followed him. He led the animals into the Weser River, where they all drowned. Back in town, the people refused to pay him. They didn't recognize this man's skills and knowledge and were only prepared to pay for simple labour. A pact with the devil was made, which led to the Pied Piper leaving the town in a furious rage. One Sunday, when many people were at church, he returned, took out his flute and began to play. The town's children were so enchanted by his playing that they followed him. He led them out of the town and disappeared with them forever into a mountain. Of all the children, only two survived--however one was mute, and one was blind. In the street from which the children left Hamelin, music may no longer be played in memory of this event.

SKU: MB.30844M

ISBN 9781513464268. 8.75 x 11.75 inches.

Skip James was one of the most influential early Bluesmen, but his importance as a stylist remained undiscovered until he was brought out of a long retirement by the Folk/Blues revival of the early 1960â??s. Born in 1902 and raised in Bentonia, Nehemiah Curtis James was brought up in a religious family: his father was a bootlegger who reformed and became a Baptist preacher. Skip learned piano in school but picked up guitar from his friend Henry Stuckey. In 1931 Skip was picked up by a scout for Paramount Records and he cut 26 tracks, of which 18 were released, in a two day session at their Grafton, Wisconsin studios. These recordings presented a unique and haunting genius that influenced legendary bluesmen as Robert Johnson, Kansas Joe McCoy and Johnny Temple. But the recordings sold poorly, having been released during the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity.

< span style=font-family: Arial;> We have included as online downloads Skipâ??s 1931 recordings. The crackling sound of these rare recordings cannot obscure the brilliance of this seminal Blues master.

After over 30 yearâ??s retirement from music, Skip was rediscovered by Blues enthusiasts Bill Barth, John Fahey and Henry Vestine. They persuaded Skip to appear at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964, where his renditions of his old songs were still powerful and moving. His performances as well as his old and new recordings influenced a generation of new musicians: Eric Clapton, Alan Wilson of Canned Heat, Cream, Deep Purple, Chris Thomas King, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Derek Trucks, Beck, Big Sugar, John Martyn, Lucinda Williams and Rory Block to name a few.

Books on legendary Blues musicians written by white musicologists tend to offer a subjective perspective on how the artists felt, thought or reacted. A tainted picture is captured that has more to do with the writerâ??s social and musical experiences. This autobiography is different. The words, thoughts and feelings come directly from the artistâ??s lips. This is the story of Nehemiah â??Skipâ? James told by Nehemiah â??Skipâ? James.