Sounds of Silence

SKU: HL.4003188

UPC: 884088655686. 9.0x12.0x0.083 inches.

On a Sunday afternoon in May of 2011 tornados devastated the city of Joplin, Missouri. In Perfect Silence, I Often Gaze at the New Stars is intended as a musical tribute to those who lost their lives that day and to those heroes who gave everything they could to help others. The music is a beautiful blending of sounds and moods, and carries with it a full range of emotions from reflective quiet moments to the massive outpouring from the entire ensemble. An evocative and moving work for band that will resonate with both performers and listeners. Dur: 3:50.

SKU: PR.416415420

UPC: 680160632312.

Echoes of Silence was commissioned by the Albany Symphony Orchestra for the American Music Festival of 2012 as part of the Capitol Region Heritage Commissions project. The work takes as its inspirations the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Albany, NY, and the Albany Symphony Orchestra. The Troy Savings Bank was founded in 1823 and was one of the more important music halls in early-twentieth-century America. It was honored with performances by many world-renowned artists, such as Vladimir Horowitz, Yehudi Menuhin, and Arthur Rubinstein. The title, Echoes of Silence, refers to the echoes of these and other artists' great performances, which one might imagine still resonate in the hall. If the hall had a voice, it would also sing of the all the wonderful masterpieces that were performed there in the past. The main idea of this piece is to reflect the sounds that were absorbed by the walls of this concert hall during the past century of live performance. Some of the main pitch materials are derived from Alexander Borodin's Symphony No. 2, a masterpiece that was composed in 1823, the same year as the founding of the Troy Savings Bank. The main thematic materials of Echoes of Silence are developed from many small musical motifs found in Borodin's symphony. Another source of material is Igor Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, composed in 1930, the year in which the Albany Symphony Orchestra was founded. These borrowed materials are used as the main elements in maintaining the structural unity of Echoes of Silence. Because this concert hall has absorbed so much wonderful music from so many great performances, we can imagine even the smallest corner of the hall filling its silence with echoes.

SKU: LO.99-3699H

UPC: 000308146370.

Performance/accompaniment CD for The Sounds, the Silence (15/3431H) An inspired text that tells of the enduring power of music to lift the spirit, to promise hope for the future, and to bring joy to each day of life, and contemporary harmonies combine in this piece commissioned for the 46th Annual Schuylkill County Chorus Festival. A gratifying and distinguished work of choral art.

SKU: HL.49011301

ISBN 9790001126571. UPC: 073999556148. 9.0x12.0x0.08 inches.

Dissatisfied with computerized sounds the composer experiments exhaustively with the various techniques of playing two recorders simultaneously and requires advanced breathing abilities and proficiency of the performer.

SKU: HL.49044453

ISBN 9790001197007. UPC: 888680077587. 9.25x12.0x0.4 inches. Latin.

For me, as someone who considers myself far removed from Christian spirituality and closer to the concept of Immanence than to any form of Transcendence, it was obvious to me that I would not compose a Miserere comparable to Alesandro Scarlatti's Lamentazioni. It was also my wish to theatricalise the subject matter, following pagan rituals which appear to have been retained in the monastic Tenebrae services up to Renaissance times. In the series of sequences in which silence plays a prominent role, a path leads to strange rites in which the listeners are invited to stamp their feet on the ground, creating waves of thundering sound, or accompany the chanting of texts. Three sopranos take on an instrumental role, deploying a broad range of vocal sounds from aspirations to screams. Thierry Pecou.

SKU: BT.EMBZ8377

English-German-Hungarian.

The idea of composing 'Games' was suggested by children playing spontaneously, children for whom the piano still means a toy. They experiment with it, caress it, attack it and run their fingers over it. They pile up seemingly disconnected sounds, and if this happens to arouse their musical instinct they look consciously for some of the harmonies found by chance and keep repeating them. Thus this series does not provide a tutor, nor does it simply stand as a collection of pieces. It is a possibility for experimenting and not for learning to play the piano.Pleasure in playing, the joy of movement - daring and if need be fast movement over the entire keyboard right from the firstlessons instead of clumsy groping for keys and the counting of rhythms - all these rather vague ideas lay at the outset of the creation of this collection. Playing - is just playing. It requires a great deal of freedom and initiative from the performer. On no account should the written image be taken seriously but the written image must be taken extremely seriously as regards the musical process, the quality of sound and silence. We should trust the picture of the printed notes and let is exert its influence upon us. The graphic picture conveys an idea about the arrangement in time of even the most free pieces. We should make use of all that we know and remember of free declamation, folk-music parlando-rubato, of Gregorian chant and of all that improvisational musical practice has ever brought forth.Let us tackle bravely even the most difficult task without being afraid of making mistakes: we should try to create valid proportions, unity and continuity out of the long and short values - just for our own pleasure! (BMC CD 139).

SKU: CF.CAS66F

ISBN 9780825889486. UPC: 798408089481. 8.5 x 11 inches.

Yosemite Falls depicts the wide open spaces of this magnificent western treasure, exploring new sounds and harmonies in a fresh approach from Sean O'Loughlin. However, this work retains his signature flourishes, such as angular rhythm, drive, and punctuated harmonies. A very strong choice for your more advanced ensembles in contest or festival performance.
The grandeur and spectacle of Yosemite National Park is the inspiration for the music of Yosemite Falls. Located in the northwest corner of California, this park continues to be a natural wonder to all who visit it each year. The falls are particularly beautiful in the spring when all the snow from winter is melting away.The piece begins with a pulsing rhythmic figure that will return periodically throughout the piece. Bring out the dynamic contrast in the section that follows at m. 9. The main melody appears at m. 17 and should have a light and airy feel to it. The secondary melody comes in at m. 30 and has a much more legato and lyrical quality. This melody continues to grow and expand until m. 44 when the opening rhythmic idea returns. This rhythm gets developed further throughout the nextfew sections until the main and secondary melodies collide at m. 67. Bring out the inner lines to create a lush accompaniment. This culminates in a unison statement of the melody at m. 83. The silence on the downbeat of m. 84 creates space and anticipation for the pulsing rhythms that gain momentum to the exciting conclusion.

About Carl Fischer Concert String Orchestra Series

This series of pieces (Grade 3 and higher) is designed for advancing ensembles. The pieces in this series are characterized by:

• Expanded use of rhythms, ranges and keys but technical demands are still carefully considered
• More comprehensive bowing techniques
• Viola T.C. included
• Careful selection of keys and degree of difficulty for advancing musicians