O Light, Awaken

SKU: HL.1104111

ISBN 9781705176832. UPC: 196288101918. 6.75x10.5x0.019 inches. Psalm 108:2, Psalm 57.

Delightfully retro, here's a joyful opening for a traditional/transitional worship gathering. The theme is tossed back and forth between the voices before joining together in affirmations of the greatness of God. A driving piano accompaniment holds it all together with style!

SKU: AP.44990S

UPC: 038081517865. English.

This whimsical offering represents a story about a young boy who is chosen to confront a giant in order to learn his secrets. The textures and lilting rhythms create a fairy-tale soundscape sure to delight the performers and audience. (3:15).

SKU: MB.30963

ISBN 9781513468204. 8.75x11.75 inches.

This exceptional collection of 41 truly beautiful airs and ballads from the British Isles offers both well-known tunes by the prolific blind Irish harpist, Turlough Oâ??Carolan and rarely heard melodies by anonymous composers; all have stood the test of time. Arranged for soprano or tenor recorder, these include Oâ??Carolanâ??s classically influenced â??Lord Inchiquinâ? and â??Eleanor Plunkettâ? as well as â??O Gentle Doveâ? and â??Cuckoo Dearâ?â?? both examples of the strong tradition of song in Wales. Among other tunes, the haunting modal melodies of â??The Dark Slender Boyâ? and â??Enchanted Valleyâ? express the melancholic heart and soul of the British Isles.

A few of these songs have taken on a life of their own in modern times. â??Bonny at Mornâ?, a popular traditional tune of northern England and Scotland, was arranged for soprano voice and harp by the 20th century British composer, Benjamin Britten. â??The Skye Boat Songâ? originally recounted Bonnie Prince Charles Edward Stuartâ??s journey to the Isle of Skye after his defeat at the historic Battle of Culloden. Later, the song evolved into a lilting lullaby and was more recently used as the theme song for the popular Outlander television series.

Departing slightly from recorder notation practice, author Marcia Diehl has judiciously arranged these melodies complete with spare slur markings to aid the amateur player in authentically and musically rendering these tunes.

SKU: PE.EP73479

ISBN 9790577019888. 297 x 210mm inches. English.

At First Light was commissioned by Eric Bruskin, a resident of Philadelphia, USA, in memory of his mother. Eric had a longstanding enthusiasm for my work, and I was touched to be the person he approached for a task which is both a privilege and a daunting responsibility. In a sense, no music can ever measure up to the weight of love or the hope of consolation vested in it under such circumstances - but in memory I carry the deaths of both my own parents, and I was able to draw upon that. Eric's fondness for my Cello Sonata (itself written in memoriam) led him to ask that I include a solo 'cello part in the new work - but his attachment also to my polyphonic sacred choral writing meant that he wanted a centrepiece which would be both a showcase of that approach and the celebration of a life well lived. Therefore, the seven movements of At First Light arrange themselves as a series of slow meditations surrounding an exuberant 9-minute motet in which the lamenting cello falls temporarily silent.

Eric's Jewish faith meant that approaching an agnostic humanist brought up within the Anglican tradition was hardly free of problems! Gradually, though, I was able to win his approval for a collated mosaic of texts. This embraces some liturgical Latin (necessary for the motet) as the shared preserve of broad western culture in general, but balances it with a secular approach to loss, celebration, remembrance and the many shades of our mourning those whom we see no longer. Eric was adamant that he did not want the title Requiem; but what has emerged is still a form of semi-secular Requiem in all but name, taking its title instead from a phrase in the poem by Thomas Blackburn set as the third movement. This seemed to suggest succinctly how the loss of one very close to us is an awakening into an unfamiliar world where everything is changed. Following the exuberant central movement, the texts by the Lebanese-born Kahlil Gibran and the US, Kentuckian poet Wendell Berry first address the departed loved one directly, then place us within an imaginary funeral cortege, where the perennial and universal in human experience become personal without subscribing explicitly to any particular faith (or lack of it). The final text of all is a translation of a Hebraic prayer, requested and provided by Eric Bruskin, which serves to mirror its Latin counterpart heard at the outset.

Throughout, the lamenting cello represents a commentary on the experience articulated in the text. It evokes and, in a sense, tries to embrace and sanctify the individual existential journeys of the bereft, as they in turn seek to make their own sense of what the short-lived Second World War poet Alun Lewis called 'the unbearable beauty of the dead' (movement 5).

In a modern world hostage to ever greater menace, displacement, bloodshed and anguish, I hope fervently that this music not only brings a measure of solace to the person who commissioned it, but also makes its own small contribution to bailing out the sinking ship of humanity.

SKU: AP.44281

SKU: CF.BPS120

ISBN 9781491152065. UPC: 680160909568.

An exceptionally clever idea, to combine the standard bugle calls into an easy march for beginning students.  It is something they already know, and can be successful on right away.  We are delighted to welcome composer/educator Chris Ferguson to the Carl Fischer catalog.  He brings a wealth of experience working with beginners that has translated into this wonderful new march for young students.
Reveille March is inspired by the bugle calls found throughout military history.The “Reveille” call is the signal used to awaken the troops for morning roll call and accompanies the raising of the flag. At the conductor’s discretion, the soli sections (measures 29 and 37) may also be performed as solos in reference to the traditional solo bugle call.“To the Color” (measure 49) is used to signal the end of a soldier’s day. It is also used when a full band is not available to render honors and commands all the same courtesies as our National Anthem.

SKU: GI.G-003200

A delightful Mass setting with many performance options including guitar, brass, handbells, and C instrument parts. Arranged for four-part choir and flexible enough to be used with traditional choirs or contemporary ensembles.