Piano - Grade 7-8

SKU: ST.C463

Composed by Federico Ruiz. Edited by Clara Rodriguez. Piano and keyboard music. Collection. Clifton Edition #C463. Published by Clifton Edition (ST.C463).

ISBN 9790570814633.

This volume contains contrasting works by Federico Ruiz spanning quite a large and rich period of his compositional output that goes from his early Micro-Suite (1971), to lilting, sweet and rhythmic Venezuelan waltzes passing by the mysterious, intimate, and intense Nocturno (1994) plus pieces originally composed for film, and theatre. Real eclecticism in styles, moods and atmospheres that show Ruizâ??s talents and scope.

The Nocturno is a deep, intriguing, substantial piece presenting a satisfying length which moves from different paths of the mind and the heart written in an abstract, chromatic idiom, that does not dissociate itself from the Venezuelan waltz and the joropo. One could perhaps say that there is a deconstruction of the latter. For the interpretation, the composer has suggested to me that it is allowed to have some flexibility in the tempo. Ruiz kindly dedicated it to me, and I have had the pleasure of performing it in many concerts.

Although all highly expressive, the Three Venezuelan Waltzes present in this collection as well as the piece titled Aliseo, are works that are close to the colourful Venezuelan folk tradition. Federico Ruiz had given me two of them when we first met: â??Tu Presenciaâ?? (1981) and â??Eloísaâ?? (1989) and then I attended a performance of the play â??Office Number Oneâ?? by Miguel Otero Silva with a fantastic actor, Elba Escobar in the role of Carmen Rosa and, I just fell in love and was very moved by the incidental music that I later discovered, by reading the programme, had been written by Federico Ruiz. Later that evening, I called him and asked to please make a piano score of the composition, so I could have the desired piece in my hands. That is how â??Carmen Rosaâ? waltz (1987) came to exist in a piano version.

â??Elois aâ?? is another Venezuelan waltz with more jazzy harmonies where precision in the rhythm and elegant playing is also essential, as it is in most of his pieces.

â??Tu Presenciaâ?? was dedicated to his mother, Margarita. It is written with the structure of the Venezuelan waltz, which consists of a nostalgic subject that leads to a faster, happier middle section where the typical graceful rhythm is given by the left-hand accompaniment figure of a dotted crotchet followed by a quaver and a crotchet.

The craft and magic found in the five movements of the Micro-Suite is based on a dodecaphonic row by Ernst Krenek. They remind us of the idiom of the Second Viennese School. These real miniatures seem to tell short stories. The â??Preludioâ?? is full of humour. I imagine dancing figures given by the jumps all over the keyboard and extreme dynamics; the phrases give the impression of a conversation with many questions and answers. The â??Invenciónâ?? is a kaleidoscopic piece where the hands mirror each other. The â??Passacagliaâ?? is the longest movement, at just over a minute where the prime motif is repeated three times on the bass line. For its construction Federico Ruiz uses as well the retrograde and the retrograde inversion of the twelve-tone series. It must be played expressively with dynamic contrasts between pianissimo and louder events. The â??Scherzoâ?? has repetitive motifs of a minor third in both hands and the â??Finalâ?? displays virtuosic passages for the pianist.

Aliseo was originally written for the film â??Aire libreâ? (1995), by Luis Armando Roche. It contains elements of diverse types of Venezuelan joropo. In the film, the character of Aliseo Carvallo is played by the composer himself who performs this piece on a harpsichord to welcome scientists Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland one day at the turn of the 1800â??s, as a sample of the new music from the South American land. It presents the refinement of the late European classical era in fusion with Venezuelan folk music.

By Benjamin Britten (1913-1976). For Choral (TBB). BH Secular Choral. 22 pages. Boosey and Hawkes #M051481705. Published by Boosey and Hawkes

2 solo tubas and big band (4 trumpets, horn, 3 tenor trombones, bass trombone, 2 alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, piano, marimba, vibraphone (xylophone), bass guitar and drum set) - Grade 5-6

SKU: ET.TU132D

Composed by Roland Szentpali. Jazz. Study score and solo part(s). Editions BIM #TU132D. Published by Editions BIM (ET.TU132D).

ISBN 9790207020833.

3 Dances is a Suite in three movements for 2 solo tubas and big band (2 alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, bariton saxophone, 4 trumpets, horn in F, 3 trombones, bass trombone, xylophone, vibraphone, marimba, piano, bass guitar, drum set) written in 3 movements.
It is a typical example of the versatile composing talent of Roland Szentpali. His approach to jazz is well structured, with subtle fast or slow groovy sequences of the different instrumental and rhythm sections, stimulating (and how !) the two solo tubas interacting with each other.
I. Blow On Fire starts with a free cadenza that is an introduction merging into fast elements which appear all along this movement. The two tubas start to play once the melodic elements burn, and from then develop their own dynamic shifts.
II. Oriental Flavors is another kind of groove (as the movement title suggests), beginning with a short opening of the trombone section falling into secco rhythm that beats in contrasts with the stimulating lyrical intervention by the two tubists.
III. Cinder Dance has a specific introduction that leads the musicians and the audience on the path of various trances over several uneven time signatures. At a certain point, the 2 tubas fly through cadencial sequences just over the rhythm section, before ending on a long collective and steamy final progression.

World premiere and recording premiere: May 13-14, 2017 in the L. Austin Weeks Center for Recording and Performance at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami - Coral Gables, Florida, USA with the award winning Frost Concert Jazz Band conducted by John Daversa, and soloists Aaron Tindall and Roland Szentpali on tuba.

2 solo tubas and big band (2 alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, 4 trumpets, horn, 3 tenor trombones, bass trombone, xylophone, vibraphone, marimba, piano, bass guitar, drum set) - Grade 5-6

SKU: ET.TU132C

Composed by Roland Szentpali. Jazz. Parts. Editions BIM #TU132C. Published by Editions BIM (ET.TU132C).

ISBN 9790207020826.

3 Dances is a Suite in three movements for 2 solo tubas and big band (2 alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, bariton saxophone, 4 trumpets, horn in F, 3 trombones, bass trombone, xylophone, vibraphone, marimba, piano, bass guitar, drum set) written in 3 movements.
It is a typical example of the versatile composing talent of Roland Szentpali. His approach to jazz is well structured, with subtle fast or slow groovy sequences of the different instrumental and rhythm sections, stimulating (and how !) the two solo tubas interacting with each other.
I. Blow On Fire starts with a free cadenza that is an introduction merging into fast elements which appear all along this movement. The two tubas start to play once the melodic elements burn, and from then develop their own dynamic shifts.
II. Oriental Flavors is another kind of groove (as the movement title suggests), beginning with a short opening of the trombone section falling into secco rhythm that beats in contrasts with the stimulating lyrical intervention by the two tubists.
III. Cinder Dance has a specific introduction that leads the musicians and the audience on the path of various trances over several uneven time signatures. At a certain point, the 2 tubas fly through cadencial sequences just over the rhythm section, before ending on a long collective and steamy final progression.

World premiere and recording premiere: May 13-14, 2017 in the L. Austin Weeks Center for Recording and Performance at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami - Coral Gables, Florida, USA with the award winning Frost Concert Jazz Band conducted by John Daversa, and soloists Aaron Tindall and Roland Szentpali on tuba.