Piano and orchestra

SKU: FG.55011-372-5

Composed by Matthew Whittall. Study score. Fennica Gehrman #55011-372-5. Published by Fennica Gehrman (FG.55011-372-5).

ISBN 9790550113725.

Imag es of the sea figure prominently throughout my life and memories: from holidays on the Atlantic coast during my Canadian childhood to my current Baltic home, and the imagined, only later experienced Mediterranean of my ancestral heritage. As an immigrant (son of an immigrant) bound to two northern countries, the sea is emblematic of my twin homelands, from the expanses of water surrounding them to those separating them. A Mari usque ad Mare. The sea is also an enduring image of the unknown, of expanses unexplored, of the raw power of nature and, for too many currently, of terror holding a hope of refuge - or the pain of loss.
Such disparate ideas were captured for me in the seascapes of the New York painter MaryBeth Thielhelm, whom I met in 2008 during a residency on the Gulf of Mexico. Her vast, abstract, nearly monochromatic depictions of imaginary seas in wildly varying moods were the catalyst for a concerto where the piano is frequently far from a hero battling a collective, but rather acts as a channel for elemental forces surging up from the orchestra, floating - sometimes barely so - on its constantly shifting surface. There are few themes to speak of, beyond a handful of iconic ideas that periodically cycle upward. Rather, the piano's material is largely an ornamentation of the more primal rhythmic and harmonic impulses from the orchestra below - a poetic interpretation, if you will, of the more immediate experience of facing the vastness of some unknown body of water.
The title Nameless Seas is borrowed from one of Thielhelm's exhibitions, as are those of the four movements, which are bridged together into two halves of roughly equal weight - one rhapsodic and free, the other more single-minded and direct, separated only by a short breath. The opening movement, Nocturne, is predominantly calm, if brooding, darkness and light alternating throughout. Lyrical arabesques sparkle over gently lapping cross-currents in the strings and mirrored timpani, the piano's full power only rarely deployed. The waves gradually build, drawing in the full orchestra for a meeting of forces in Land and Sea, a brighter, more warmly lyrical scene that unfolds in series of dreamlike, sometimes even nostalgic visions, which for me carry strong memories of sitting on rocks above surging Atlantic waves. The third movement, Wake, is a fast, perpetual-motion texture of glinting, darting rhythms and sudden shafts of light, with a prominent part for the steel drums, limning the piano's quicksilver figurations. An ecstatic climax crashes into a solo cadenza that grows progressively calmer and more introspective rather than virtuosic. Much of the tension finally releases into Unclaimed Waters, a drifting, meditative seascape in which the piano is progressively engulfed by a series of ever-taller waves, ultimately dissolving into a tolling, rippling continuum of sound.
It has been a great privilege to realize such a long-held dream as this piece, and to write it for not one, but two great pianists. Risto-Matti Marin and Angela Hewitt, both of whose friendship and support have been unfailing and humbling, share the dedication. Nameless Seas was commissioned by the PianoEspoo festival and Canada's National Arts Centre, with the premieres in Ottawa and Helsinki led by Hannu Lintu and Olari Elts. Thanks are due also to the Jenny and Antti Wihuri fund, whose generous grant provided me with much-needed time, and Escape to Create in Seaside, Florida, the source to which I returned to do a large part of the work.

Piano and Orchestra

SKU: HL.14030961

Composed by Bent Sorensen. Music Sales America. Classical. Score. 96 pages. Edition Wilhelm Hansen #KP00980. Published by Edition Wilhelm Hansen (HL.14030961).

ISBN 9788759857458. English.

Score of the Danish Composer's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra written in 1996. Bent Sorensen writes: 'The title of this piano concerto came, as usual, very early to me, when my thoughts about the work had started to circulate, but before 'real' music was written down. I held on to the Italian title, even though its association with Vivaldi had no influence on my music, and even when German, French, English, and Danish titles covering almost the same content -'Nachtmusik', 'Nocturne', 'By Night', 'Om Natten', were just about to get the upper hand. The piano concerto has, then, in my opinion, something to do with night, but to describe this further is at least as difficult to me as it is to defend the final Italian title against those which were rejected. The Piano Concerto is in two movements. The first, swarming, is perhaps the mystery of the night, and the second perhaps the dreams of the night; with this, however, I have already given the concerto a more programmatic content than I can defend. Each movement ends with a cadenza and perhaps the last of those - the ending of the work that is - is inspired by a sequence from Bruce Chatwin's wonderful book 'The Viceroy of Ouidah': Or the Amazons howling. 'No, No, No. It was not the leopard that killed him. Not the buffalo that killed him. It was night. Night that killed him!'.

(Chopin National Edition). Composed by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). Edited by Jan Ekier and Pawel Kaminski. For Orchestra, Piano (Full Score). PWM. Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne #51600026. Published by Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne

(Chopin National Edition Series A Vol. XVf). Composed by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). Edited by Jan Ekier. For Orchestra, Piano (Score). PWM. Softcover. Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne #51600005. Published by Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne

Composed by F Chopin. Edited by Jan Ekier. Full Score. PWM. 44 pages. Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne #51600024. Published by Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne

For piano. Les Classiques favoris. Classical. Grade 3. Score. 136 pages. Published by Editions Henry Lemoine

Piano/harpsichord and orchestra (solo: pno - 3(picc).3(cor ang).2.2 - 4.2.3.1 - timp.perc - hp - cel - str)

SKU: BR.EB-11450

Impresiones sinfonicas - Urtext. Composed by Manuel de Falla. Edited by Ullrich Scheideler. Orchestra; Softbound. Edition Breitkopf.

In Cooperation with G. Henle Verlag

Solo concerto; Symphonic poem; Late-romantic; Early modern. Piano reduction. 68 pages. Duration 23'. Breitkopf and Haertel #EB 11450. Published by Breitkopf and Haertel (BR.EB-11450).

ISBN 9790201814506. 9.5 x 12 inches.

Composed by Manuel de Falla during his lengthy residence in Paris, these three symphonic impressions for piano and orchestra are an expressive work bringing the southern Spanish gardens, which are laid out in the European and Arabic-Moorish tradition, to life. The influence of contemporary French music is noticeable in this composition. Despite many modifications, involving among other things, the scoring, number of movements, as well as layout and content, the basic idea of a nocturnal impression is retained from the outset. The work was finished - and likewise the orchestral material - only shortly before its premiere on 9 April 1916, which was a great success. World War I prevented its publication, though further performances followed, played then from manuscript material. The Urtext edition presented by Ullrich Scheideler takes as the main source the first edition of the score. The Critical Report gives detailed information about the source situation.

Piano/harpsichord and orchestra (solo: pno - 3(picc).3(cor ang).2.2 - 4.2.3.1 - timp.perc - hp - cel - str)

SKU: BR.PB-15153

Impresiones sinfonicas - Urtext. Composed by Manuel de Falla. Edited by Ullrich Scheideler. Orchestra; Softbound. Partitur-Bibliothek (Score Library).

In Cooperation with G. Henle Verlag

Solo concerto; Symphonic poem; Late-romantic; Early modern. Full score. 92 pages. Duration 23'. Breitkopf and Haertel #PB 15153. Published by Breitkopf and Haertel (BR.PB-15153).

ISBN 9790004215586. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Composed by Manuel de Falla during his lengthy residence in Paris, these three symphonic impressions for piano and orchestra are an expressive work bringing the southern Spanish gardens, which are laid out in the European and Arabic-Moorish tradition, to life. The influence of contemporary French music is noticeable in this composition. Despite many modifications, involving among other things, the scoring, number of movements, as well as layout and content, the basic idea of a nocturnal impression is retained from the outset. The work was finished - and likewise the orchestral material - only shortly before its premiere on 9 April 1916, which was a great success. World War I prevented its publication, though further performances followed, played then from manuscript material. The Urtext edition presented by Ullrich Scheideler takes as the main source the first edition of the score. The Critical Report gives detailed information about the source situation.