SKU: CY.CC2602

These are fifteen short, but intense works by Leos Janacek. This music is indeed a great gift to the Euphonium solo literature by Mr. Sauer.

These pieces can be performed by intermediate to advanced performers and are about 9 minutes total in length.

Below are a few notes from the arrangement by Ralph Sauer.

Originall y for solo piano, the Fifteen Moravian Folksongs are remarkable for their musicality as well as their brevity - the only notated, repeated passage in the entire work is in Number 5. Because Janacek included the text in his piano score (with no indication that it should be sung), and the fact that there are, in many cases, indications that the text is only a first verse, I have included some additional repeats.

The mp3 sound sample is from a recital at the 2012 Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. Performance by Ralph Sauer, trombone and Natasha Kislenko, piano.

SKU: CY.CC2545

Granados was a Spanish composer whose music had the unique style of his homeland burned into his soul. He was also a very talented painter in the style of Goya.

The Two Dances, 1. Oriental and 2. Fandango are taken from the 12 danzas espanolas, volume I from 1890, for Piano.

Mr. Sauer has brilliantly taken the solo Piano part and divided it between solo Euphnium and Piano.

Euphonium performers will enjoy working on this style of Spanish Nationalist music of which there is none in the solo repertoire.

The Two Dances (in tenor clef) are about 6 1/2 minutes in length and can be performed by advanced musicians.

The mp3 sample is an excerpt of the Bass Trombone version taken from a live performance at the 2012 Academy of the West Festival performed by David Hagee and Luis Ortiz, Pianist.

SKU: CY.CC2586

Ralph Sauer has beautifully arranged four movements from Opus 40 for Euphonium and Piano:
1. Chanson Triste
2. Valse
3. Rêverie interrompue
4. Danse russe
These four movements totalling 14 minutes of music offer the artist a great deal of musical contrasts, ranging from lyrical, dramatic, dance-like, etc.
An excellent collection of the Russian master's music for the Euphonium.

SKU: CY.CC2769

As the title suggests the work dying and dancing for Euphonium solo and Piano accompaniment is in two parts, which are played without a pause between the two.

The first part, an adagio, is not necessarily meant to be evocative of the actual act of passing away, but more perhaps of the contemplation and reflection upon one's life as that time approaches, and particularly of sorrow over regret and disappointment. The unsettled mood of the music reflects this bitterness, and stands in contrast to the expansive peace of the grave, heard at the beginning and end of the adagio.

Dance, with ironic wit, the second part, is the other side of the same coin; perhaps humor of the gallows describes its spirit. At once fatalist and mocking, it brings to mind the words of the ancient teacher Koheleth, The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

I was pleased to compose dying and dancing in 2013 for Mark Kellogg, a superb Euphonium artist and my former trombone iProfessor at the Eastman School of Music.

SKU: CY.CC2652

British composer Frank Bridge is mainly remembered for his beautiful chamber music. The Four Pieces from 1912 are originally for Violin and Piano and are titled:
1. Meditation
2. Spring Song
3. Lullaby
4. Country Dance
Mr. Sauer has done a beautiful job scoring these works for Euphonium. There is a wonderful simplicity to Bridge's music, a simplicity that was lost forever just two years later at the beginning of the Great War, WW I. Bridge's most famous composition student was Benjamin Britten, who wrote one of his greatest works as an homage to Bridge.

SKU: FL.FX071155

As the light whose reflection in the water is sometimes broken by the waves, I used ascending and descending movement in the melody. The pervasive use of syncopation also enabled me to exacerbate the impact felt by the ebb and flow.

SKU: FL.FX071528

As a fan of bossa-novas from Antonio Carlos Jobim (with complex and moving harmonies), I have created my samba jazz in order to motivate students to work on typical rhythms of this musical style - Alain LOPEZ.

SKU: MA.EMR-55027

I. Skalitz 1403 / II. Talmberg & Lady Stephanie / III. Sigismund's Army At The Gates / IV. Losing Father's Sword & Parents Theme / V. Fist Fight / VI. Rattay / VII. Good Luck Son / VIII. Millers Theme / IX. Town Square / X. The River Sassau Theme...

SKU: FL.FX071926

The wind carries away the yellow leaves fallen on the pavement, the cafes put tables and chairs in... I evoke here a fall tour that is difficult to do quietly in Paris. How to take your time in this city with so many streets to cross (musical phrases of 3 measures), cars or buses to avoid (musical phrases starts on the second time). While the chestnut vendors are on subway entrances, how not to hurry like others (theme B) to 'catch' the subway...

SKU: FL.FX071536

A rhythmically simple composition that I wanted to be very melodic to encourage students to become familiar with repeated notes. - Alain LOPEZ.