Phaedrus

SKU: PR.164002390

UPC: 680160038091.

I became interested in the work of Plato through my friend and collaborator, the writer and philosopher Paul Woodruff. Paul's new translation, with Alexander Nehamas, of the Symposium gave me insights into ancient Greek ways of thinking about Love, Beauty, and Wisdom -- and managed to keep the earthy, and often bawdy side of it all in full view. But their new translation of Plato's later dialogue Phaedrus went even further: the beauty of the speeches is breathtaking, and the discourse itself is enough to keep one awake at night. Basically the Great Speech of Socrates in the Phaedrus dialogue has to do with the place of Eros in the world, and with the conflict in the soul between fleshly pleasure and philosophic discovery. I will not attempt to encapsulate this brilliant discourse in a program note: suffice it to say that reading it gave rise to my two-sided work for clarinet, violin, and piano, Phaedrus. The first movement represents the Philosophic life, and is thus subtitled Apollo's Lyre (Invocation and Hymn). It begins with an unaccompanied melody for the clarinet, which (after a pair of harp-like flourishes for the piano, expands into an accompanied canon. The voices in the dialogue (clarinet and violin) follow each other by a prescribed number of beats, but the music is totally devoid of any meter at all. The piano, representing the lyre, accompanies this lyric love-feast with repeated strummed chords. The canon has three large sections, and ends with violin echoing the unaccompanied clarinet invocation as the sound of the lyre fades. The second movement, called Dionysus' Dream-Orgy (Ritual Dance) presents, after a brief introduction, another kind of unmetered music. Rather than long lyric flights of philosophic song, however, this time we hear a unison dance of unbridled energy and sensual transport. The piece soon forms itself into a loose arch form, with contrasting metered dance sections divided by the unison unmetered orgy tune. Midway through the movement, Apollo's melody returns from the first movement, but it is a temporary reminiscence. The orgiastic dance returns, reaches a climax, and ends with a stomping of feet. While Plato asserts that a proper balance between lust and reason is necessary in all men, he (naturally) gives the nod to Philosophy as the better choice in which to live. Not so in my music: the two sides are meant to coexist and to complement each other. No sides are taken. Phaedrus was commissioned of the Verdehr Trio by Michigan State University. It is dedicated to the Vedehr Trio with great affection and admiration.

SKU: SA.41021

ISBN 9781608741021. 9.5 x 12.5 inches.

This is a new urtext edition of Debussy's early gem first published in 1891. Unlike so many on-demand scores now available, this one comes with all the pages and the images have been checked to make sure it is thoroughly readable. The score is beautifully printed on large size (9 x 12) off-white stock with a quality cover, all saddle-stitched in the traditional sheet music binding. As with all PLP scores a percentage of each sale is donated to the amazing online archive of free music scores and recordings, IMSLP - Petrucci Music Library.

SKU: SA.41014

ISBN 9781608741014. 9.5 x 12.5 inches.

This is a new urtext score of Debussy's masterwork first published in 1908. Unlike so many of the on-demand scores now available, this one comes with all the pages and the images have been thoroughly checked to make sure it is readable. The score is beautifully printed on large size (9 x 12) off-white stock with a quality cover, all saddle-stitched in the traditional sheet music binding. As with all PLP scores a percentage of each sale is donated to the amazing online archive of free music scores and recordings, IMSLP - Petrucci Music Library.

SKU: SA.41762

ISBN 9781608741762. 9.5 x 12.5 inches.

Composed in the late summer of 1876, Dvorak's first effort at a full-blown concerto shows signs of an unusual amount of revision in the composer's hand - especially for the solo piano part. This might explain the delay in the concerto's premiere, which was given at the Provisional Theatre in Prague on March 24, 1878 with Karel Slavkovsky as soloist accompanied by the Provisional Theatre Orchestra under the baton of Adolf Cech. The composer himself wrote: I see I am unable to write a Concerto for a virtuoso; I must think of other things. The ungainly solo part no doubt also played a role in the work's dely in publication, which didn't take place until 1883. Even after this, and despite much beauty in the music itself, performances were scarce due to the difficulty and charchter of the solo part. The solo part was revised heavily by the Czech pianist Vilem Kurz (1872-1945), whose version was premired by his daughter Ilona KurzovA! and the Czech Philharmonic on December 9, 1919 and is the one most often performed today. This new study score is a digitally enhanced reissue of the full score first published in 1956 by the Czech State Publishers as part of the Dvorak collected works, edited by Jiri Berkovec and Karel Solc, which includes both the composer's original solo part and the re-arranged one made by Kurz. Unlike so many of the on-demand scores now available, this one comes with all the pages and the images have been thoroughly checked to make sure it is readable. As with all PLP scores a percentage of each sale is donated to the amazing online archive of free music scores and recordings, IMSLP - Petrucci Music Library.

SKU: SA.10135

6.69 x 9.61 inches.

This is a beautifully digitized reprint of Debussy's early gem first published in 1905, from a beautifully engraved score. In contrast so many on-demand scores now available, this one comes complete with all the pages and the images have been checked to make sure it is highly readable. The score is beautifully printed on large size (9 x 12) off-white stock and saddle-stitched in a traditional sheet music binding. As with all PLP scores a percentage of each sale is donated to the amazing online archive of free music scores and recordings, IMSLP - Petrucci Music Library.

SKU: FG.042-07997-3

ISBN 979-0-042-07997-3.

The Petrarca Suite comprises four settings of sonnets from if Canzioniere by Petrarch, the immortal poetry dedicated to the mysterious Laura for whom the poet yearned. The baritone solo is characterised by richly expressive recitative, accompanied in a homophonic style by the choir. Published in the Chorus series (CH 94).

SKU: HL.49036969