PARTITIONS GRATUITES
- Mark Morton Mark Morton

Score-At the turn of this century it was the habit of all the royal families of Europe to gather annually for social and state occasions. The great houses of England Austria Spain Germany Russia Sweden Denmark Italy et al were in reality one clan since royal blood was only bred to royal blood in those days.At these fashionable assemblies matches were made courtships begun hunts were staged balls dinners and receptions filled thenights and intrigue was rampant. Sarajevo a city in central Yugoslavia provided the setting for the royal outing in the spring of 1914. Pomp and splendor attended the ruling heads of state who officiated at ceremonies and ledparades. All this magnificence is captured in Morton Gould's 'Sarajevo Suite ' written originally for a CBS documentary television series entitled 'World War I.'This adaptation for Concert Band wasmade from the composer's original score by Louis Brunelli.

Score-St. Lawrence Suite was commissioned by the Power Authority of the State of New York and the Hydro-Electric Power Comission of Ontario for the ceremony September 5 1958 marking the delivery of commercialhydro-electric power from the joint Robert Moses Power Dam and Robert H. Saunders St. Lawrence Generating Station. At this opening of the great St. Lawrence Power Project the composer conducted the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corpsmilitary band in the first performance of this music.St. Lawrence Suite consists of four commemorative movements. Although folk tunes are not used literally the idiom of the work is simple and folk-like incharacter.I. Dedication: lyrical and atmospheric evoking the open country and waterways.II. Quickstep: gay and implying movement and development.III. Chansonette:simple and song-like with an 'old-world' touch.IV. Commemoration March: vigorous and driving culminating in a transformed exposition of the opening 'Dedication' theme.Throughout the work the composermakes use of two solo Trumpets whose antiphon calls serve to introduce and comment on these movements. They symbolise in a general sense the two host countries on either side of the United States-Canadian border. In the finalmovements these Trumpets blend with the band in fanfares that bring the work to a close.

Play Piano Now! is for busy adults whose practice time is limited and for adults without previous musical training. It is a slower-paced method that uses the same conceptual core of the original Adult Piano Course but with several very important added features: more gradual introduction of music fundamentals more pages of reinforcement and a greater emphasis on sight-reading exercises one of the most important skills needed to ensure long-term enjoyment of the piano. Includes specially marked written exercises that can be completed away from the keyboard.