SKU: PR.111402890
ISBN 9781491134672. UPC: 680160685264.
Whatâ??s in a name? While the title is French for â??Eight Flower Songs,â? the texts are all in English. The poemsâ?? flowers metaphorically evoke fragrance, love and loss, life and death, rebirth and regrowth. Perhaps the texture and beauty of Gordonâ??s music are themselves French. The 20-minute song cycle draws on poems from Wordsworth to Dorothy Parker, as well as from contemporary poets including the composer himself.When So-Chung Shinn came to me with the idea of commissioning a song cycle with her spectacular husband Tony Lee, she had in mind something having to do with flowers. Tony had asked her what she wanted for her birthday, and she said she wanted to be behind the creating of a new work. Lucky me, I was the recipient of the commission. So-Chung sent me a little description of all the flowers she loves, but I had to take the idea and create a narrative in my head.It is always a matter of pleasing the commissioner, yet coming up with something you can get behind and hear music for as well. I already knew I wanted to use my â??Tulipsâ? poem which is really about the arc of a relationship as represented through the life span of the Tulips, and, in many ways, disappointment; and Dorothy Parkerâ??s â??One Perfect Rose,â? which is wry, bitter, cynical, and funny, in a way only Dorothy Parker can so pithily express.I thought of Jane Kenyonâ??s exquisite â??Peonies at Dusk,â? because knowing she died so young (46) of leukemia, the poem has such a particular resonance, almost humanizing the Peonies, casting the moon as a sentient being, illustrating so beautifully how connected everything is, alive here, and revolving around these exquisite blossoms. Then, I remembered her husband Donald Hallâ??s poem â??Her Garden,â? which he wrote after Jane died, his grief intermingled with his inability to care for what she had created, to keep alive what so represented her aliveness, broken as he was, and I felt I already had a story.I found the Wordsworth, because it felt like pure joy to me, but also, if each of the songs has a color in my head, â??The Daffodilsâ? is pure yellow and a good place to start. My partner Kevin and I live on a lake, and every year, the first Daffodils, the shock of yellows, the oranges, the blinding whites, after the long snowy winters, sing of the newness that is about to enfold us in its green miraculousness.At first, the cycle ended with the Langston Hughes poem â??Cycle,â? or â??New Flowers,â? because it was lovely, and about rebirth, which is obviously optimistic, and apt, but then, my friend Telmo Dos Santos, a wonderful Canadian poet whom I met at Banff, sent me his poem â??Afterlife With Lilacs,â? having no idea what I was working on. I felt I had to add it because it is so dazzling, and it immediately felt like the missing link. Finally, there were unfortunately rights issues, namely, we could not, no how, get in touch with the Langston Hughes Estate, after so many happy collaborations.After almost a yearâ??s frustration, I wrote my own text, â??Play, Orpheus,â? which ended up being fortuitous, because the first time I met So-Chung, she entered the room and the most exquisite scent of Lillies of the Valley, Muguet de Bois, filled the room. I went right over to her and rudely put my nose to her neck, for the intoxication of the scent. So â??Play, Orpheusâ? is for So-Chung, to remind us of the precious treasures of this world flowers remind us of. Everything and everyone lives and dies, lives and dies. Death and resurrection.And of course, this is music, this is song, so the inclusion of the God of music, Orpheus, seems apt. Huit Chansons de Fleurs is really about what flowers represent, their radiance, their flickering impermanence, the way they are used to celebrate, as well as to mourn...... and of course, their fragrance. Their fragrance.Ricky Ian GordonJuly 28, 2021.
SKU: HL.268960
UPC: 888680737153. 8.5x11.0x0.271 inches.
This 5-movement, multi-media choral drama honors one of the great heroes of the emancipation era. The journey of those who sacrificed becomes a story we can relive and honor. Dr. Kean's goal was to compose and arrange original music and traditional spirituals in a style that is evocative of the enslaved Africans' frame of mind. The spirituals are accompanied with kalimba (thumb piano) to honor the sub-Saharan African musical tradition of connecting with ancestors and with the marimba to sound like the west African balafon. This is a work that will move an audience to tears. Medium to difficult. The Journey of Harriet Tubman has generated a much needed discussion of African American enslavement and and cultural appropriation. The composer has dedicated half of his royalties from this work to â??The Equal Justice Initiative,â? a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society. Please visit https://eji.org/about for more info.
SKU: HL.288346
UPC: 888680910938. 8.5x11.0x0.281 inches.
This 5-movement, multi-media choral drama honors one of the great heroes of the emancipation era. The journey of those who sacrificed becomes a story we can relive and honor. Dr. Kean's goal was to compose and arrange original music and traditional spirituals in a style that is evocative of the enslaved Africans' frame of mind. The spirituals are accompanied with kalimba (thumb piano) to honor the sub-Saharan African musical tradition of connecting with ancestors and with the marimba to sound like the west African balafon. This is a work that will move an audience to tears. Medium to Advanced. The Journey of Harriet Tubman has generated a much needed discussion of African American enslavement and and cultural appropriation. The composer has dedicated half of his royalties from this work to The Equal Justice Initiative, a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society. Please visit https://eji.org/about for more info.
SKU: HL.48025302
UPC: 196288174806. 7.25x10.25x0.413 inches.
One World deals with a fractured world (populist governments, plagues, climate change, human trafficking, disrespect for basic humanrights, terrorism, war) and heralds a vision of a peaceful and egalitarian planet. The work is best encapsulated by one of the textsset: “Tikkun Olamâ€, Hebrew for “repair the worldâ€, a Jewish concept of stewardship over GodÂ’s creation. Scored for soloists, chorus and orchestra in Jenkins's inimitable style familiar from such works as Adiemus: Songs of Sanctuary, The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, Requiem and The Peacemakers. His vision for One World takes inspiration from diverse texts including the Bible, the Hindu Gayatri Mantra, the poetry of the English Romantic Percy Bysshe Shelley, African-American abolitionist Frances Harper (c1850) and Lebanese-American writer Kahlil Gibran. As in many of Jenkins's works, Carol Barratt contributes impactful text and adaptations. Recorded on Decca by Lucy Crowe soprano, Kathryn Rudge mezzo-soprano, Roderick Williams baritone, the World Choir for Peace, The Stay At Home Choir and the World Orchestra for Peace, conducted by Karl Jenkins.
SKU: HL.288345
UPC: 888680910921. 6.75x10.5 inches.
This 5-movement, multi-media choral drama honors one of the great heroes of the emancipation era. The journey of those who sacrificed becomes a story we can relive and honor. Dr. Kean's goal was to compose and arrange original music and traditional spirituals in a style that is evocative of the enslaved Africans' frame of mind. The spirituals are accompanied with kalimba (thumb piano) to honor the sub-Saharan African musical tradition of connecting with ancestors and with the marimba to sound like the west African balafon. This is a work that will move an audience to tears. Medium to Advanced.The Journey of Harriet Tubman has generated a much needed discussion of African American enslavement and and cultural appropriation. The composer has dedicated half of his royalties from this work to âThe Equal Justice Initiative,â a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society. Please visit https://eji.org/about for more info.
SKU: HL.382140
UPC: 196288020516. 9.0x11.0x0.274 inches.
Commissioned by Eddie Jones and the University of Arkansas Concert Choir, this work by Rosephanye Powell features the words of Langston Hughes that inspired Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This is an anthem for all those who believe in human rights, in peace and hope for a better tomorrow. Powerful, now fully orchestrated for concert band by Johnnie Vinson!
SKU: HL.48024424
UPC: 888680931292. 6.75x10.5 inches.
This is an SATB a cappella setting of this perennially favorite religious text (John 14: 15-17, King James Version). Commissioned by The Elders (independent global leaders working together for peace and human rights) as a parting gift to Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Although the presentation took place in 2013 the work did not receive its first performance until 2018, by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir, conducted by Paul Spicer. Composed in predominantly homophonic style, and harmonically chromatic yet without extreme dissonance, this offering from a leading composer will be seized upon by choirs of intermediate standard and above.
SKU: HL.1437400
UPC: 196288204602. 6.75x10.5x0.019 inches.
This new arrangement of the beloved civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome” infuses the traditional melody with close harmonies, subtle elements of jazz, and effective movement in a powerful musical portrayal of people walking “hand in hand” as they work together to become one voice united in solidarity, honoring the productive struggle of the past and remembering the continued fight for peace and justice for all humanity.