SKU: PR.11641737S
ISBN 9781491136133. UPC: 680160688432.
Son et lumière (“sound and light,†a kind of show staged for tourists at historic sites or famous buildings) is an orchestral entertainment whose subject is the play of colors, bright surfaces, and shimmery textures. I have tried in this music to recapture the élan and immediacy that regular meters and repetitive rhythms make possible—something forbidden during the modernist regime but recently restored in the post-modern work of composers like John Adams, Steve Reich, and others. Throughout its brief nine-minute span, then, the piece is built almost exclusively of short, busy ostinato figures—my attempt, I suppose, to achieve the rhythmic vitality of minimalism, but without giving in to the over-simple harmonic language that usually comes with it.Surprisingly, the musical materials seemed determined to shape themselves into an approximation of nineteenth-century sonata form. We hear an introduction, a first theme (based on triadic broken chords), a second theme (beginning with the flute solo), and a closing theme (led by two piccolos). In a sort of development section, these materials are recombined in new ways; in a recapitulation, both the first and second themes are recalled more or less intact (part of the second is actually repeated quite literally).Then, in the coda, a second surprise: as if another, different music has been lurking all the while behind the shiny surface, the strings now unexpectedly split off from the rest of the orchestra to assert a new, more passionate, more “serious†voice, transcending the external show of sound and light.Son et lumière, commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, was composed between June and December 1988 in Ithaca (N.Y.), in Los Angeles, and at the artists’ colony Yaddo, in Saratoga Springs (N.Y.). David Zinman conducted the first performance in Baltimore on 18 May 1989; André Previn gave the West Coast premiere with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on 18 January, 1990.Son et lumière (“sound and light,†a kind of show staged for tourists at historic sites or famous buildings) is an orchestral entertainment whose subject is the play of colors, bright surfaces, and shimmery textures. I have tried in this music to recapture the élan and immediacy that regular meters and repetitive rhythms make possible—something forbidden during the modernist regime but recently restored in the post-modern work of composers like John Adams, Steve Reich, and others. Throughout its brief nine-minute span, then, the piece is built almost exclusively of short, busy ostinato figures—my attempt, I suppose, to achieve the rhythmic vitality of minimalism, but without giving in to the over-simple harmonic language that usually comes with it.Surprisingly, the musical materials seemed determined to shape themselves into an approximation of nineteenth-century sonata form. We hear an introduction, a first theme (based on triadic broken chords), a second theme (beginning with the flute solo), and a closing theme (led by two piccolos). In a sort of development section, these materials are recombined in new ways; in a recapitulation, both the first and second themes are recalled more or less intact (part of the second is actually repeated quite literally).Then, in the coda, a second surprise: as if another, different music has been lurking all the while behind the shiny surface, the strings now unexpectedly split off from the rest of the orchestra to assert a new, more passionate, more “serious†voice, transcending the external show of sound and light.Son et lumière, commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, was composed between June and December 1988 in Ithaca (N.Y.), in Los Angeles, and at the artists’ colony Yaddo, in Saratoga Springs (N.Y.). David Zinman conducted the first performance in Baltimore on 18 May 1989; André Previn gave the West Coast premiere with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on 18 January, 1990.
SKU: HL.49046544
ISBN 9781705122655. UPC: 842819108726. 9.0x12.0x0.224 inches.
I composed the Piano Concerto in two stages: the first three movements during the years 1985-86, the next two in 1987, the final autograph of the last movement was ready by January, 1988. The concerto is dedicated to the American conductor Mario di Bonaventura. The markings of the movements are the following: 1. Vivace molto ritmico e preciso 2. Lento e deserto 3. Vivace cantabile 4. Allegro risoluto 5. Presto luminoso.The first performance of the three-movement Concerto was on October 23rd, 1986 in Graz. Mario di Bonaventura conducted while his brother, Anthony di Bonaventura, was the soloist. Two days later the performance was repeated in the Vienna Konzerthaus. After hearing the work twice, I came to the conclusion that the third movement is not an adequate finale; my feeling of form demanded continuation, a supplement. That led to the composing of the next two movements. The premiere of the whole cycle took place on February 29th, 1988, in the Vienna Konzerthaus with the same conductor and the same pianist. The orchestra consisted of the following: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, tenor trombone, percussion and strings. The flautist also plays the piccoIo, the clarinetist, the alto ocarina. The percussion is made up of diverse instruments, which one musician-virtuoso can play. It is more practical, however, if two or three musicians share the instruments. Besides traditional instruments the percussion part calls also for two simple wind instruments: the swanee whistle and the harmonica. The string instrument parts (two violins, viola, cello and doubles bass) can be performed soloistic since they do not contain divisi. For balance, however, the ensemble playing is recommended, for example 6-8 first violins, 6-8 second, 4-6 violas, 4-6 cellos, 3-4 double basses. In the Piano Concerto I realized new concepts of harmony and rhythm. The first movement is entirely written in bimetry: simultaneously 12/8 and 4/4 (8/8). This relates to the known triplet on a doule relation and in itself is nothing new. Because, however, I articulate 12 triola and 8 duola pulses, an entangled, up till now unheard kind of polymetry is created. The rhythm is additionally complicated because of asymmetric groupings inside two speed layers, which means accents are asymmetrically distributed. These groups, as in the talea technique, have a fixed, continuously repeating rhythmic structures of varying lengths in speed layers of 12/8 and 4/4. This means that the repeating pattern in the 12/8 level and the pattern in the 4/4 level do not coincide and continuously give a kaleidoscope of renewing combinations. In our perception we quickly resign from following particular rhythmical successions and that what is going on in time appears for us as something static, resting. This music, if it is played properly, in the right tempo and with the right accents inside particular layers, after a certain time 'rises, as it were, as a plane after taking off: the rhythmic action, too complex to be able to follow in detail, begins flying. This diffusion of individual structures into a different global structure is one of my basic compositional concepts: from the end of the fifties, from the orchestral works Apparitions and Atmospheres I continuously have been looking for new ways of resolving this basic question. The harmony of the first movement is based on mixtures, hence on the parallel leading of voices. This technique is used here in a rather simple form; later in the fourth movement it will be considerably developed. The second movement (the only slow one amongst five movements) also has a talea type of structure, it is however much simpler rhythmically, because it contains only one speed layer. The melody is consisted in the development of a rigorous interval mode in which two minor seconds and one major second alternate therefore nine notes inside an octave. This mode is transposed into different degrees and it also determines the harmony of the movement; however, in closing episode in the piano part there is a combination of diatonics (white keys) and pentatonics (black keys) led in brilliant, sparkling quasimixtures, while the orchestra continues to play in the nine tone mode. In this movement I used isolated sounds and extreme registers (piccolo in a very low register, bassoon in a very high register, canons played by the swanee whistle, the alto ocarina and brass with a harmon-mute' damper, cutting sound combinations of the piccolo, clarinet and oboe in an extremely high register, also alternating of a whistle-siren and xylophone). The third movement also has one speed layer and because of this it appears as simpler than the first, but actually the rhythm is very complicated in a different way here. Above the uninterrupted, fast and regular basic pulse, thanks to the asymmetric distribution of accents, different types of hemiolas and inherent melodical patterns appear (the term was coined by Gerhard Kubik in relation to central African music). If this movement is played with the adequate speed and with very clear accentuation, illusory rhythmic-melodical figures appear. These figures are not played directly; they do not appear in the score, but exist only in our perception as a result of co-operation of different voices. Already earlier I had experimented with illusory rhythmics, namely in Poeme symphonique for 100 metronomes (1962), in Continuum for harpsichord (1968), in Monument for two pianos (1976), and especially in the first and sixth piano etude Desordre and Automne a Varsovie (1985). The third movement of the Piano Concerto is up to now the clearest example of illusory rhythmics and illusory melody. In intervallic and chordal structure this movement is based on alternation, and also inter-relation of various modal and quasi-equidistant harmony spaces. The tempered twelve-part division of the octave allows for diatonical and other modal interval successions, which are not equidistant, but are based on the alternation of major and minor seconds in different groups. The tempered system also allows for the use of the anhemitonic pentatonic scale (the black keys of the piano). From equidistant scales, therefore interval formations which are based on the division of an octave in equal distances, the twelve-tone tempered system allows only chromatics (only minor seconds) and the six-tone scale (the whole-tone: only major seconds). Moreover, the division of the octave into four parts only minor thirds) and three parts (three major thirds) is possible. In several music cultures different equidistant divisions of an octave are accepted, for example, in the Javanese slendro into five parts, in Melanesia into seven parts, popular also in southeastern Asia, and apart from this, in southern Africa. This does not mean an exact equidistance: there is a certain tolerance for the inaccurateness of the interval tuning. These exotic for us, Europeans, harmony and melody have attracted me for several years. However I did not want to re-tune the piano (microtone deviations appear in the concerto only in a few places in the horn and trombone parts led in natural tones). After the period of experimenting, I got to pseudo- or quasiequidistant intervals, which is neither whole-tone nor chromatic: in the twelve-tone system, two whole-tone scales are possible, shifted a minor second apart from each other. Therefore, I connect these two scales (or sound resources), and for example, places occur where the melodies and figurations in the piano part are created from both whole tone scales; in one band one six-tone sound resource is utilized, and in the other hand, the complementary. In this way whole-tonality and chromaticism mutually reduce themselves: a type of deformed equidistancism is formed, strangely brilliant and at the same time slanting; illusory harmony, indeed being created inside the tempered twelve-tone system, but in sound quality not belonging to it anymore. The appearance of such slantedequidistant harmony fields alternating with modal fields and based on chords built on fifths (mainly in the piano part), complemented with mixtures built on fifths in the orchestra, gives this movement an individual, soft-metallic colour (a metallic sound resulting from harmonics). The fourth movement was meant to be the central movement of the Concerto. Its melodc-rhythmic elements (embryos or fragments of motives) in themselves are simple. The movement also begins simply, with a succession of overlapping of these elements in the mixture type structures. Also here a kaleidoscope is created, due to a limited number of these elements - of these pebbles in the kaleidoscope - which continuously return in augmentations and diminutions. Step by step, however, so that in the beginning we cannot hear it, a compiled rhythmic organization of the talea type gradually comes into daylight, based on the simultaneity of two mutually shifted to each other speed layers (also triplet and duoles, however, with different asymmetric structures than in the first movement). While longer rests are gradually filled in with motive fragments, we slowly come to the conclusion that we have found ourselves inside a rhythmic-melodical whirl: without change in tempo, only through increasing the density of the musical events, a rotation is created in the stream of successive and compiled, augmented and diminished motive fragments, and increasing the density suggests acceleration. Thanks to the periodical structure of the composition, always new but however of the same (all the motivic cells are similar to earlier ones but none of them are exactly repeated; the general structure is therefore self-similar), an impression is created of a gigantic, indissoluble network. Also, rhythmic structures at first hidden gradually begin to emerge, two independent speed layers with their various internal accentuations. This great, self-similar whirl in a very indirect way relates to musical associations, which came to my mind while watching the graphic projection of the mathematical sets of Julia and of Mandelbrot made with the help of a computer. I saw these wonderful pictures of fractal creations, made by scientists from Brema, Peitgen and Richter, for the first time in 1984. From that time they have played a great role in my musical concepts. This does not mean, however, that composing the fourth movement I used mathematical methods or iterative calculus; indeed, I did use constructions which, however, are not based on mathematical thinking, but are rather craftman's constructions (in this respect, my attitude towards mathematics is similar to that of the graphic artist Maurits Escher). I am concerned rather with intuitional, poetic, synesthetic correspondence, not on the scientific, but on the poetic level of thinking. The fifth, very short Presto movement is harmonically very simple, but all the more complicated in its rhythmic structure: it is based on the further development of ''inherent patterns of the third movement. The quasi-equidistance system dominates harmonically and melodically in this movement, as in the third, alternating with harmonic fields, which are based on the division of the chromatic whole into diatonics and anhemitonic pentatonics. Polyrhythms and harmonic mixtures reach their greatest density, and at the same time this movement is strikingly light, enlightened with very bright colours: at first it seems chaotic, but after listening to it for a few times it is easy to grasp its content: many autonomous but self-similar figures which crossing themselves. I present my artistic credo in the Piano Concerto: I demonstrate my independence from criteria of the traditional avantgarde, as well as the fashionable postmodernism. Musical illusions which I consider to be also so important are not a goal in itself for me, but a foundation for my aesthetical attitude. I prefer musical forms which have a more object-like than processual character. Music as frozen time, as an object in imaginary space evoked by music in our imagination, as a creation which really develops in time, but in imagination it exists simultaneously in all its moments. The spell of time, the enduring its passing by, closing it in a moment of the present is my main intention as a composer. (Gyorgy Ligeti).
SKU: CF.SPS96
ISBN 9781491163795. UPC: 680160922581.
Popcatepetl, “Smoke Mountain†in Aztec, is a dormant volcano which the Mexican people affectionately call “POPO.†This dormant volcano in Mexico is on the boundary between the states of Mexico and Pueblo.In 1921 Popocatepetl belched smoke and gas for several months. Since then is has occasionally emitted the smoke and sulfurous vapors that earned its Aztec name.This suite is my musical impression of the Aztec volcano. The piece is divided into three scenes.The first scene, Prologue, is the first impression formed when you first come upon the volcano. The emotions range from fear to excitement to respect for nature. This scene should be played with spirit and every rhythmically.The second scene, Ballad. represents my feelings after the initial emotions have faded. One is quickly relaxed by the beauty of the volcano and its surroundings. This scene is scored in a dance-band style with lush sounding harmonics. This section of the composition should be played very slowly and with a relaxed feeling.The third scene, Introduction and Samba, is the emotion of joy utilizing Latin rhythms. This scene takes advantage of all of the color and rhythms associated with Mexico. Samba opens with a fanfare which is the main theme on which the whole scene is developed. This section should be played very crisply and rhythmically.Particular attention should be paid to all of the dynamic expressions even though the scoring will in most cases achieve dynamic changes.
SKU: CF.YPS240F
ISBN 9781491159644. UPC: 680160918232.
An Ankh is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic representing the word Life. The Ankh of Eternity depicts an epic journey through ancient lands to find the mythical Ankh of Eternity amulet promising eternal life. The piece journeys through the desert in a caravan, with a stop for a Kaff celebration, an Arabic hand-clapping folk art. The discovery of the tomb is spine chilling and eerie with special percussion effects. After the Ankh is discovered, swarms of locusts descend and our travelers run for their lives. They may have found eternal life, but will they be forever cursed? The Ankh of Eternity uses an Arabic or double harmonic-major scale. Performers have multiple soloing and improvising opportunities. Complex but repeating rhythms offer players a chance to practice getting in the groove. Players and audiences alike will be invigorated by the many celebratory moments and thrilled at the eerie and downright scary moments! The Ankh of Eternity offers cultural and historical inclusion opportunities, improvisation, unique scales, rhythmic challenges, and a thrilling story. Conductor Notes: Measures 45-61: Kaff is the ancient Arabic art of hand clapping over improvised poetry. The Kaff Celebration section represents this art form. The improvising soloists should be designated by the conductor and should each be four measures long . Alternatively, soloists may copy the phrase in the second ending as a solo. The AYE! should be shouted joyously. The repeat may be omitted for performance time concerns, or, of course, repeated multiple times for more solos. Measures 64-73: Experiment with different cymbal noises, such as scrapes with a nail or coin, taps with triangle beaters, bowed cymbals, etc. Water-cymbal techniques should also be used. Fill a storage tub with water, and with the suspended cymbal still on the stand, hit the cymbal a couple times with a soft mallet, and lower the cymbal into the water for a glissando effect. The overall effect should be creepy cave-like echoes bending around corners.An Ankh is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic representing the word Life. The Ankh of Eternity depicts an epic journey through ancient lands to find the mythical Ankh of Eternity amulet promising eternal life. The piece journeys through the desert in a caravan, with a stop for a Kaff celebration, an Arabic hand-clapping folk art. The discovery of the tomb is spine chilling and eerie with special percussion effects. After the Ankh is discovered, swarms of locusts descend and our travelers run for their lives. They may have found eternal life, but will they be forever cursed?The Ankh of Eternity uses an Arabic or double harmonic-major scale. Performers have multiple soloing and improvising opportunities. Complex but repeating rhythms offer players a chance to practice getting in the groove. Players and audiences alike will be invigorated by the many celebratory moments and thrilled at the eerie and downright scary moments! The Ankh of Eternity offers cultural and historical inclusion opportunities, improvisation, unique scales, rhythmic challenges, and a thrilling story.Conductor Notes: Measures 45–61: Kaff is the ancient Arabic art of hand clapping over improvised poetry. The Kaff Celebration section represents this art form. The improvising soloists should be designated by the conductor and should each be four measures long . Alternatively, soloists may copy the phrase in the second ending as a solo. The AYE! should be shouted joyously. The repeat may be omitted for performance time concerns, or, of course, repeated multiple times for more solos. Measures 64–73: Experiment with different cymbal noises, such as scrapes with a nail or coin, taps with triangle beaters, bowed cymbals, etc. Water-cymbal techniques should also be used. Fill a storage tub with water, and with the suspended cymbal still on the stand, hit the cymbal a couple times with a soft mallet, and lower the cymbal into the water for a glissando effect. The overall effect should be creepy cave-like echoes bending around corners.
SKU: CF.YPS240
ISBN 9781491159637. UPC: 680160918225.
SKU: CF.CPS173F
ISBN 9781491140871. UPC: 680160628933. 9 x 12 inches.
Meaning messenger in Inuit, Carl Strommen's piece Kivgik was inspired by the composer's observance of a large gathering of the Inuit people in Alaska. Carl has tried to emulate the sound of their drums being used to communicate between tribes. The piece also contains bold harmonic colors and driving 6/8 rhythms. There is a nice repose section in the middle of the piece that symbolizes the more solemn parts of this annual gathering or Kivgik. This multicultural piece offers many unique, cross-curriculum teaching opportunities and will be perfect at your next contest or festival performance.
SKU: CF.CPS225
ISBN 9781491152515. UPC: 680160910014.
Tartan Tapestries is an original piece that sets out to emulate Scottish folk music. Composer Larry Clark has created a concert overture in triple meter to capture the essence of music from Scotland. After a lilting first section, lush and beautiful moments weave a tapestry of sounds with the lyrical, middle section of the piece. There is an optional part for bagpipes, and an optional ending should you chose to use this instrument as part of the piece. Alert your contest music committee about this strong new piece for advancing groups.Tartan Tapestries was commissioned by Friends of the Arts for the Saint Andrew's School Band in Boca Raton, Florida. The band program at Saint Andrew’s School is under the direction of Andrea Wolgin. The premiere took place on November 29, 2017.When I was asked by their conductor Ms. Wolgin to write a piece for the Saint Andrew’s School, I asked her what kind of involvement she wanted the students to have in the process. We discussed several options for having the students involved in the process of creating with the type of piece they wanted. We set up a “Skype†meeting with members of the band to discuss the piece. During this discussion, the consensus of the students was that they wanted a piece depicting the Scottish influence to the school. They also wanted a piece that would challenge all sections of the band and to include bagpipes if possible. I asked that the students be involved in helping to name the piece once it was completed, for which they agreed and were very helpful. Armed with this information, I set out to compose a piece for them, and Tartan Tapestries is the result.The piece begins with a fanfare gesture based upon rhythms and harmonies that appear throughout the piece. I chose the lilting triple feel to the piece, to bring about the Scottish flavor. I wanted the fanfare to be bardic sounding, to depict the strength of the Scottish people and for the piece to have a dynamic opening. The fanfare contains material that alludes to the main theme and with a bit of dissonance and tension that is resolved in the main body of the piece.The main theme is a lilting original melody, but one that I hope with have the essence of Scottish folk songs. The main idea is followed by a more modal and dark sounding secondary theme, first stated in the horns. This material is later used in the development section of the piece. The main theme returns several times, with different and varied orchestrations and harmonic treatments. This is followed by a short transition leading to the more lyrical and slower second section of the piece. A transparent presentation of the lyrical theme, which is based on aspects of the main theme, is presented first by a solo flute. This section is a nod to famous composer Malcom Arnold’s wonderful works for orchestra in its style and orchestration. After a transition or bridge section with a solo euphonium, the piece builds to a dramatic climax of the lyrical theme by the full band. This subsides to a return of the solo flute to end this second section of the piece, followed by a transition back the main theme.The solo bagpipes play a central role in the return of the main theme and take center stage after being heard in the distance earlier in the work. The piece brings back a shortened version of the darker secondary theme, followed by a hint of the fanfare material that builds to one last statement of the main theme by the full band, before leading to a dramatic coda to complete the work.It has been my pleasure to have been given the opportunity to compose this piece for the Saint Andrew’s School Band! I thank Andrea Wolgin for making it happen, and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed bringing the piece to life.–Larry ClarkLakeland, Florida 2017.
SKU: CF.CPS225F
ISBN 9781491153192. UPC: 680160910694.
SKU: CF.FPS119
ISBN 9781491140260. UPC: 680160628322. 9 x 12 inches.
Eternal Summer is like a breath of fresh air in the warm heat of summer. It is a tuneful composition from composer Peter Terry that exhibits all of the elements he has already become known for, including fresh harmonic perspectives, driving rhythms and wonderful scoring. This is another example of why Peter's popularity is growing so quickly in the band world!
SKU: CF.CPS161F
ISBN 9781491140758. UPC: 680160628810. 9 x 12 inches.
Thrive is a very strong concert opener or closer with all of the elements that have made Sean O'Louhglin's pieces so successful in the past. You will hear driving angular rhythms, memorable melodic motives, lush harmonic structures and interesting parts for every section of the band to play. Sean's music is bold, dynamic and sweeping in its intensity and musical sophistication. That is why he is one of the top selling composers of concert band music today!
SKU: CF.CPS173
ISBN 9781491140222. UPC: 680160628285. 9 x 12 inches.
Meaning messenger in Inuit, Carl Strommen's piece Kivgik was inspired by the composer's observance of a large gathering of the Inuit people in Alaska. Carl has tried to emulate the sound of their drums being used for communication. The piece also contains bold harmonic colors and driving 6/8 rhythms. There is a nice repose section in the middle of the piece that symbolizes the more solemn parts of this annual gathering or Kivgik. This multicultural piece offers many unique, cross-curriculum teaching opportunities and will be perfect at your next contest or festival performance.
