Concerto for Violin and Jazz Band

SKU: CN.S11242

Scenes from an English Landscape is a brief nostalgic tone poem taking its inspiration from visions of rural England as depicted in the paintings of John Constable, the novels of Thomas Hard, and the music of Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams. A chorale-like theme is stated in the brass and then taken up at three times the tempo in the woodwinds. At the end of the work, both versions of the theme are stated together to bring the piece to a triumphant climax.

This is a brief nostalgic tone poem taking its inspiration from visions of rural England as depicted in the paintings of John Constable, the novels of Thomas Hard, and the music of Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams. I imagined a community of villagers coming out of church and filling a village square with their vibrant presence. A chorale-like theme is stated in the brass and then taken up at three times the tempo in the woodwinds. At the end o the work, both versions of the theme are stated together to bring the piece to a triumphant climax. Adam Gorb was born in Cardiff and started composing at the age of ten. His first work broadcast on national radio was written when he was fifteen. He studied at Cambridge University (1977-1980) and the Royal Academy of Music (1991-1993) where he graduated with the highest honours including the Principal's Prize. He has been on the staff at the London College of Music and Media, the junior Academy of the Royal Academy of Music and, since 2000 he has been the Head of School of Composition at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester . International recognition came in 1994 with the US Walter Beeler Prize for his work Metropolis . With it began what has developed into probably the most important wind ensemble catalogue by a contemporary composer, ranging from extremely challenging to the most accessible, at all technical levels, seized on by players internationally, widely recorded and now absolutely central to the world's wind repertoire. Equally important though are his works for dance, and concert pieces like the chamber orchestral Weimar , the Violin Sonata , a Clarinet Concerto for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Diaspora for strings (for the Goldberg Ensemble). Deceptively mainstream at first glance, they display the same inventive brilliance, pulsating sound world, striking use of rhythm and an undogmatic absence of stylistic hang-ups to embrace jazz and serialism in works where power, poetry, irony and pathos, often underlaid by a theatrical and deeply subversive element, coalesce in an integrated, highly individual musical voice. Gorb is also not afraid to draw on the vivid musical heritage of his Jewish roots, sometimes directly, often in a more subsumed or radically creative way. The crucial and consistent feature of Gorb's work though is that it communicates strongly without patronizing players or audiences. He firmly believes that if contemporary music - any music - does not impact on listeners then its message is irrelevant; it is lost.

SKU: HL.50607005

UPC: 196288217381.

P�TER WOLF (1947) studied classical piano and jazz piano at the B�la Bart�k Secondary School under Korn�l Zempl�ni, Ferenc Rados and J�nos Gonda. In 2015 he obtained his DLA degree from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music with his thesis on jazz arrangements. In 1969 he became the keyboard-player of the band Ex Antiquis. He composed many hits of the 1970s and 1980s as well as scores for popular films and musicals. His virtuosity as an orchestrator was shown in concerts and albums of the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra; he also orchestrated violin pieces for Isaac Stern's ''Kreisler'' CD. In 1995 he was awarded the F�nyes Szabolcs Prize, in 2005 the Erkel Prize, and in 2018 Artisjus's Life Prize. In recent years he has had numerous large-scale compositions premiered by excellent performers: his two piano concertos and his concertos for oboe, clarinet, and violin respectively. About Inventions for Young Pianists, piano teacher Rita Znamen�k writes: ''This volume expressly aims at extending the repertoire of 3rd- and 4th-grade primary music students (and, of course, that of the older ones, too). Each of the 23 inventions expands and revolves around a musical idea. The short pieces inspire the children's imagination already with their titles. Teachers and student scan freely choose among pieces which require crossing hands, arpeggios, clusters, polyphony, syncopated rhythm, chromaticism, and pedalling. There are melodies with accompaniment, playing with alternate hands, playing legato and staccato, notes with appoggiaturas and acciaccaturas, jazz accents, and glissandi, too. The composer wrote unusual sound effects into a few pieces for the brave. It's my most sincere wish for young pianists that they find joy in studying Peter Wolf's works, and I encourage my colleagues to include pieces from this volume into their material: maybe students will also become more open to contemporary music through them.''.

SKU: P2.PZA90187

Concert Duets is a collection of 14 arrangements of works by prominent 18th-century composers, mostly taken from Trio Sonatas. Duet 11 is a Jim Self original work in the Rococo style; and Duets 12, 13 and 14 are arrangements of the three-movements of the Bach Concerto for Two Violins. Included with this edition are play-along recorded tracks by tubist Zach Collins, who also served as editor of the current edition.

I created these duets as Christmas gifts for my tuba playing friends, with the first duet being arranged in 1976. All 14 of the duets are challenging and fun to play and are especially effective as concert pieces.

As a young musician I had the privilege of playing duets with many of the world’s finest tubists including Harvey Phillips, John Fletcher, Bob Pallansch, Chester, Schmitz, Dan Perantoni, Toby Hanks, Ron Bishop, Winston Morris and Tommy Johnson. I learned more about playing music in these duo sessions than from any other musical activity I have ever experienced. Duets are powerful teaching tools for learning and mastering rhythm, phrasing and intonation and for developing overall musicianship.

Jim Self:

Self (b. 1943) is a Los Angeles free-lance musician, a veteran of thousands of Hollywood motion pictures, television shows and records, and tuba soloist on many prominent movies. His tuba was the “Voice of the Mothership” in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He is Principal Tuba/Cimbasso with the Pacific and Pasadena Symphonies and the Los Angeles Opera and Hollywood Bowl Orchestras. Formerly he was in The U.S. Army Band and tuba / euphonium professor at the University of Tennessee. He holds a DMA from the USC Thornton School of Music where he is Adjunct Professor of Tuba and Chamber Music. His compositions and arrangements include works for solo tuba, brass quintet, other brass, string and woodwind chamber music, wind band and orchestra. Jim has produced many solo jazz and classical recordings. His music and recordings are available from Potenza Music and www.jimself.com. Jim Self is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

Zach Collins, editor:

Zach Collins is professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In 2019, he released his first solo album, Chronicle. It was recognized with the 2021 ITEA Roger Bobo Award for Excellence in Recording for the best Solo Tuba Album.

His interpretation of William Kraft’s Encounters II for Solo Tuba was released on Cambria Master Recordings. Zach performs with Eastern Standard, a horn, tuba, piano trio he formed with Heidi Lucas and Jacob Ertl. The ensemble has released two commercial albums, Eastern Standard and Wanderlust.

Zach regularly performs with the Keystone Chamber Winds, Altoona Symphony Orchestra, and West Virginia Symphony Orchestras. His compositions and arrangements for brass and for tuba and euphonium can be purchased from Cimarron Music and Eighth Note Publications. Zach earned degrees from Texas Christian University and the University of Southern California. His primary teachers have been Richard Murrow, Jim Self, Tommy Johnson, and Norm Pearson. Zach Collins is a Miraphone artist.