SKU: HL.48025074

ISBN 9783793143147. UPC: 196288059721. 9.0x12.0x0.061 inches.

Russian Rag is one of Elena Kats-Chernins most famous pieces. It was arranged by her for various instrumentations and was used, among other things, as film music in the clay animation film Mary & Max. The composer herself says: Ragtimes are such fun to write and they have a somewhat dark melancholy. Russian music often has a melancholic quality, and I was brought up on Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. I rarely write in major keys it seems and Russian Rag is no exception, however it concludesoptimistically on a major chord..

SKU: HL.48025075

ISBN 9783793143154. UPC: 196288059738. 9.0x12.0x0.055 inches.

Tangos, like ragtimes and waltzes, are an integral part of Elena Kats-Chernin's music, always in a new and varied form. In it, the composer allusively combines her present time with the classical tradition and high art with light music. Slicked Back Tango was originally written in 1995 for piano four hands, the present version in 2002 for the Australian Streeton Trio. This tango harks back to the time of silent movies. I was thinking of the 1920s and film star Rudolph Valentino. The title refers to his hairstyle, says Kats-Chernin.

SKU: HL.48025076

ISBN 9783793143185. UPC: 196288059745. 9.0x12.0x0.124 inches.

Composer's note: Originally a song for children about flying in ones dreams, this lyrical piece tries never to touch the ground. The work was used in the Rugby 2003 World Cup opening ceremony in a version for full orchestra. The original text by Christopher Latham refers to afanciful and exhilarating fight..

SKU: HL.48025073

ISBN 9783793143123. UPC: 196288059714. 9.0x12.0x0.079 inches.

Composer's note: In 2000 I wrote a piece called Sand Waltz for the Canberra Wind Players. In the middle of it I wrote a four-chord progression. WhenI started working on the ballet Wild Swans (2003) I came back to this material and it became something that I grew to rather like. Eventually it became the basis for the overture to the whole ballet. It had somewhat dreamy quality but also a sense of anticipationand mystery. Later, when writing this as the first movement of the Concert Suite Wild Swans I gave it a title Green Leaf as it refected the way the princess Eliza was making a hole in a green leaf to look through it, imagining far-away exotic lands and birds..