SKU: FG.55011-608-5
ISBN 9790550116085.
Aulis Sallinen (b. 1935) is one of the most famous Finnish contemporary composers. In his early instrumental works, Sallinen was still seeking to establish a style of his own. He had studied at the Sibelius Academy in the late 1950s, first with Aarre Merikanto - a composer representing a national brand of Neoclassicism - and then with Joonas Kokkonen, at that time just transitioning from Neoclassicism to dodecaphony. Twelve-tone music had won fairly widespread acceptance in contemporary Finn-ish music, and Sallinen was influenced, too. The Variations are Sallinen's first real work for the cello - an instrument that would later be one of his favourites, its warm, deep voice corres-ponding to his music's often dark undercurrent. The Variations for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 5 were composed in 1961-1962 and premiered in October 1962. The basic motif consists of a set of three descending intervals stated by the cello at the beginning: D-D flat-F, C-B-G and B flat-A-F sharp. Their use as basic material is a ref-lection of the composer's dodecaphony-oriented period, and variation of this material provides the framework for the piece. Variations for Cello and Orchestra are now published for the first time. Available are a reduction for cello and piano, study score and complete performance material with orchestra.
SKU: BR.PB-16110
ISBN 9790004214374. 10 x 12.5 inches.
Johannes Brahms's only violin concerto, one of the most important violin concertos of the 19th century, is now a central repertoire piece. This fact is all the more notable, as, by his own account, Brahms understood all too little about the instrument. The concerto was composed at Worthersee during the summer of 1878 in collaboration with Joseph Joachim, a leading contemporary violinist. The solo part is extremely demanding, with really unusual difficulties. This circumstance did not go unnoticed by the critics of the first performance: Even to Joachim, the battled-seasoned wrestler, the technically difficult and tricky solo part was to be mastered only with obvious effort. Evidencing this close collaboration between composer and performer is not only the work's genesis and publication history, together with its dedication to Joachim, but also its solo cadenza. Based on the New Brahms Complete Edition, this Urtext edition includes both the printed version of Joachim's cadenza as well as its shorter version arranged in 1885 by the violinist Marie Soldat.
SKU: HL.14028003
ISBN 9788759862896.
Poul Ruders Polydrama (Manyfold Event) for cello and orchestra, is the last part of a drama trilogy otherwise consisting of Dramaphonia for piano and 11 instruments and Monodrama for percussion and 32 instruments. In this abstract drama, the individual listener is left entirely to his own associations. The composer has compared polydrama with the gradual defoliation of a big tree: the vigorously growing organism is attacked by a swarm of locusts until, finally, nothing remains but bare branches in a landscape of long shadows; a solitary, singing bird remains, however, like a streak of hope in an increasingly dark and pessimistic universe.
SKU: BR.PB-5531-07
Beethoven would probably have loved to be able to commission a new edition of his violin concerto from Clive Brown, since he is one of the top specialists, with a profound knowledge and experience of performance practice in Beethoven's day.
ISBN 9790004212608. 6.5 x 9 inches.
What with all the traditional editions available on the market, can we still expect new readings? This is what editor Clive Brown asked himself as he meticulously examined the often conflicting sources. The result is a wealth of new readings in the score, which deserve as much attention as the extensively commented arrangement for violin and piano. The treatment of the solo instrument is particularly interesting: next to the Urtext solo part, the edition also contains a historically informed and marked-up part with fingerings and bowings that go back to Franz Clement, the soloist of the premiere performance, and to the Viennese performance tradition of Beethovens time. For violinists of today, this is a treasure trove of new, innovative ideas and suggestions for the individual shaping of the part.
