SKU: FP.FBS03
ISBN 9790570500192.
Sarah Baker is Vocal Composer in Residence at Education Music Services, an ABRSM examiner and a well known composer of songs and musicals for primary schools and massed-choral events.All this experience has come together in the creation of this album of piano pieces, inspired by growing up in the Chiltern Hills. Suitable for players of around grade 4-5 standard, her evocative sound pieces describe a crash-landing hot air balloon, garden invading cows and a even a snake in a pond!Air Balloon!: One vivid memory I have as a child is of the day that a hot air balloon passed over our house and made an emergency landing on the road in front! The sound of the gas being blown into the balloon to try to keep it high enough to pass the house sounded so loud and intimidating, and then there was the bustle of the neighbours as we all went out into the street to watch. It was both terrifying and exhilarating to watch the balloon float past and then land so near by.Buzzards Circling: There is something so calming and restful about watching birds of prey circling in the thermal currents of a summer sky. Growing up in the Chilterns gave me plenty of opportunity to watch buzzards and red kites. This piano solo captures the beauty of their flight as they glide so effortlessly through the air.There’s A Cow In The Garden Eating The Flowers: Inspired by the memory of seeing an unexpected cow in the garden! This surreal image is captured in a quirky waltz, as I portray both the absurdity of the moment and the sense of wonder I felt as a child, looking out of the window and seeing the cow walking round and eating the flowers. The final phrase articulates my longing: ‘I wish it would come again’.Watching The World Go By: A short, reflective piece, remembering what it was like to have time to just sit and watch the world go by from my bedroom window.Autumn Skies: A miniature about the beauty of Autumn skies and the poignant sense of loss for a summer gone. Friends I was fortunate to have several children of my own age living close by. We seemed to be forever making dens, playing out in the street and generally enjoying each other’s company. This piece reflects that sense of well-being.Snake In The Pond: One hot summer I was astonished and scared to see a grass snake cooling off in our garden pond! I watched, both horrified and fascinated, as it rose up from the depths and then disappeared again. Here I portray the sense of the hazy summer afternoon as I peacefully watched the tiny movements of fish in the pond, contrasted with the fear and excitement of seeing the snake appear.Morning Commute: I recollect many mornings stuck in traffic as my Dad took me to school on his way to work. There is one main road out of the village where I grew up, and that got more and more congested the closer we got to the town. We may not have chatted a lot, but it was always good to be together with my Dad, lost in our own thoughts.The Witch’s Cottage: My siblings and I had a fascination with a small cottage nearby. It was set back from the road in a dark part of the woods and we called it 'the witch's cottage’. Every time we passed, I imagined I heard the distant cackle of the witch and wished I could catch a glimpse of her.These pieces are written to complement my other collection, Night Time Impressions, which also draw on childhood recollections, particularly of the woods behind the house where I grew up. - Sarah Baker 2023.
SKU: SU.80111202
Violin & Clarinet Duration: ' Composed: 1972 Published by: Soundspells Productions Includes set of 2 scores The Garden of My Father's House (1973) is a dramatic rhapsody for violin and clarinet duo. The composer wrote the following: I composed THE GARDEN OF MY FATHER'S HOUSE in 1972 in memory of my father, who was my first music teacher. Although he played many instruments and loved to sing, he could not read a note of music. When I was very young he would sing Gypsy songs, Yiddish folk-songs and Rumanian tunes to me and I would play them back on my clarinet, often with ornaments and variations. Sometimes he would accompany me on the piano; he had a few favorite chords which always seemed to pop up no matter what the tune. The piece is a musical ritual, based on a C-sharp drone, or pedal note, that is heard without interruption, across several ranges, throughout the piece. The violin's drone tremolos, often combined with perfect fifths and quarter-tone tunings, imply the key of Csharp minor. The violin part is always rubato — lyrical, expressive and frequently very passionate. But, most importantly, the violin is always tonal. The clarinet, on the other hand, is atonal, its pitches drawn from the twelve-tone row that I used to write my Cycles of Infinities. The style of the clarinet is contemporary, using wide-range intervals, biting accents and unusual instrumental effects, including fluttertonguing and quarter-tone trills. In combining the 'contrasting' roles of the two instruments, I sought to create a musical ritual-game that would draw energy and bits of information from the polarized instruments. The language of the piece calls the listener's attention to the cogent features of both instrumental personalities in a manner that is somewhat similar to the way in which Yiddish combines German and Hebrew. The drone becomes more and more magnetic and begins to join the parts together until they become one in the final C-sharp unison.
SKU: GI.G-1095
The Universe works in strange ways. Recorded almost three years ago, none of us could have known that when this recording was released the world would have lived through a life-altering pandemic or a tumultuous upheaval in the cultural awareness that now surrounds us. The work that opens this recording—with the words of Quaker George Fox that end with, “So be faithful, and live in that which doth not think the time longâ€â€”provides a haunting premonition regarding the time in which we live, Quaker George Fox is strangely prophetic about these days and perhaps provides a future caution for us all. The music chosen for this recording is strangely and poignantly relevant, I believe, for each of us. “The Fruit of Silence†by PÄ“teris Vasks reminds us to visit those beliefs that are most sacred in the work by Cortlandt Matthews. A deeply personal Requiem by Peter Relph, in reflection, remembers the hundreds of thousands of lives lost in the pandemic. And then there is Thomas LaVoy’s “O Great Beyond.†All great texts are timeless and speak to the universality of the human condition. Particularly, the George Fox text set by Jackson Hill and the Tagore text set by LaVoy give us messages to reinforce the humanness of each of us for hope. Two other works on this recording poignantly remind us of the passing of life, with the Relph Requiem and especially the final movement of “O Great Beyond.†May these words give comfort to all those who endured the deepest of Life’s losses during our shared pandemic journey. For so many loved ones, goodbyes were said in silence, and alone. It is our hope that all the music on this CD will show us a way for living as we move forward and also give loving comfort to those who have lost loved ones. Peace, my heart, let the time for the parting be sweet. Let it not be a death but completeness. Let love melt into memory and pain into songs. Let the flight through the sky end in the folding of the wings over the nest. Let the last touch of your hands be gentle like the flower of the night. Stand still, O Beautiful End, for a moment, and say your last words in silence. I bow to you and hold up my lamp to light you on your way. —Rabindranath Tagore in The Gardener (1913).
SKU: GI.G-5960
English. Text by Catherine Bell Robertson.
A Guide for Your First Year of Teaching From fundraisers to irate parents, from meeting other teachers to measuring for new marching band uniforms, your teaching methods class never covered this territory! In Confessions of a First-Year Maestro, author Catherine Bell Robertson takes readers along as she rides the roller coaster of first year teaching! Centered on journal entries written during her first year as director of all bands, choirs, and ensembles at a parochial high school, this book captures the surprises, joys, and woes of her hectic year. As a survivor and now veteran teacher, she also looks back on this challenging time and offers insightful reflections. Robertson's journal and commentary are filled with lessons that every future teacher should read, especially those who will teach music. But while offering inspiration and a few warnings for education students, the humorous and often touching stories in this book also offer encouragement and understanding for teachers in their own first year, as well as a trip down memory lane for many veterans. A delightful and sincere look into the world of a first-year teacher as she begins her real education! Kate Robertson teaches at Arrowhead High School in Hartland, Wisconsin (not the school described in this book). She graduated with highest honors from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a Bachelor of Science in Music Education and has been teaching for four years. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, gardening, cross-country skiing, and spending time with her husband, Cal, and their dog, Jake. Currently, Ms. Robertson is pursuing a Master's Degree in Education and is beginning work on her follow-up book to Confessions of a First-Year Maestro, entitled More Confessions: A Fellowship of Teaching Strategies, Stories, and Ideas. For more information, or to contribute to this collective book, please contact Ms. Robertson at teacherconfessions@yahoo.com.
SKU: SU.50018610
Harpsichord (or Piano) Published by: Seesaw Music.
