SKU: PR.110406720
UPC: 680160001316.
I have always been fond of writing works for specific people or organizations. It has been my good fortune during most of my creative career to be asked to compose for many extraordinary performers. The Sonata for Harpsichord Solo is such a case in point: it was written in 1982 for Barbara Harbach, a superb performer, close friend, and collaborator on many musical projects. The Sonata was premiered on March 2, 1984, in a recital given by Dr. Harbach at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York. During my formative years as a composer, one seldom heard of the harpsichord as a modern instrument, though while I attended undergraduate school at Boston University, some of us banded together to construct a small harpsichord from one of the first do-it-yourself kits which began to appear in the late '40s. It was also during this time that I heard the Sonatina for Violin and Harpsichord by my teacher Walter Piston and consequently specified that the accompanying instrument for my second violin sonata could either be a piano or a harpsichord. It was not until recently, however, that my interest in the harpsichord as a solo instrument for new music was aroused. This was because of the emergence of so many young virtuosi, such as Barbara Harbach, who are interested in the performance of new music besides the great harpsichord music of the Classical, Baroque, and pre-Baroque eras. The keyboard music of Domenico Scarlatti has always intrigued and fascinated me. The brevity, excitement, and clarity of this sparkling music is charming as well as exhilarating. It is this type of Baroque sonata that inspired the conception and form of my harpsichord sonata. The entire work is loosely based on the musical translation of Barabara Harbach's name, especially the conflict of the B (B-flat) and H (B-natural in German notation). This secondo rub or dissonance especially pervades the first movement, which is in a modified sonata form, pitting jagged and tense melodic elements against most lyrical and smooth lines. This second movement is a song-like melody accompanied by rolled chords which may be played on the lute stop of the instrument if this sonata is performed on a two-manual harpsichord. The final movement is an ever-driving joyous toccata which brings the work to an exciting close with a coda made up of accelerating repeated chords. --Samuel Adler.
SKU: FG.55011-912-3
ISBN 9790550119123.
Luonnonjumala (God of Nature) is Tauno Marttinen’s adaption for harp of his piano suite Taara op. 34. The manuscript for harp was found in January 2024 by Rauno Marttinen, composer’s son.Duration: c. 15’Movements:1. Virran ääniä | The Voices of the Stream2. Luonnonjumalan lähde | The Spring of God of Nature3. Metsässä tuulee |The Wind Blows through the ForestTauno Marttinen (1912–2008) studied in Viipuri and later in Helsinki at the Helsinki Conservatoire. His piano teachers were Ilmari Hannikainen and Selim Palmgren, but he soon became increasingly interested in composing. Marttinen was also the conductor of the Hämeenlinna City Orchestra in 1949−1958 and the founder and principal of the Hämeenlinna Music Institute.Marttinen started his composing career in late Romantic vein. However, his first concerts in the 1940s met with criticism since the winds of Modernism had already landed in Finland. He then became interested in Dodecaphony and studied under Vladimir Vogel in Ascona but later abandoned strict dodecaphony and found his own, personal style incorporating elements from Neo-classicism and free-tonality with a hint of mysticism – he was called the Shaman of Hämeenlinna (his hometown).Tauno Marttinen was an incredibly productive composer; he wrote around four hundred works with opus numbers as well as a wealth of other pieces. His oeuvre includes 10 symphonies, concertos for various solo instruments, operas as well as vocal, chamber and instrumental works. Many of Marttinen’s pieces have become popular standard repertoire, such as the piano piece Kimalluksia (Gleams).
SKU: HL.48181739
UPC: 888680862275. 9x12 inches.
“Born in 1929, French composer, Pierick Houdy was a student of Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire. He led a successful career as director of many institutions and choirs, and his compositions remain known to this day, Sonata for Harp being no exception. Composed in 1983, Sonata for Harp contributes to a substantial catalogue of works by Houdy. The Sonata comprises three movements and a typical performance lasts about twelve minutes. The work is modern in style and addresses a range of technical features. Suitable for advanced harpists, Houdy's Sonata for Harp is an exciting addition to the contemporary Harp repertoire and makes for a evocative performance.&rdquo.
SKU: UT.LB-4
ISBN 9788881094479. 6.5 x 9.5 inches.
â??During my career spanning half a century, like all my fellow harpists I constantly had to grapple with the commonly held view that the harp has neither music nor history of its own.Fortunately, over the years I have been able to give the lie to this myth and have tried to bring to light some of the vast repertoire, both early and modern, expressly composed for this instrument which has been treated somewhat as an outsider in the musical world.The research work for my books on Italian and Swiss harp music was plain sailing because source materials were specific titles and title pages. Were I to write books on French, German, Austrian, British, Bohemian, Spanish, Portuguese or Scandinavian harp music, the work involved would be equally smooth and straightforward.However, where Dutch music is concerned, the approach is rather different, because here it is the painters, treatise-writers and historians who provide the evidence and guidance necessary to discover the musical customs and traditions where the harp played a significant part.Performers looking for pieces of music may use this book as follows: chapter II deals with treatises, chapter III with paintings, chapter IV with history and research accounts. Chapters V and VI are concerned with confusions in terminology. Chapter VII describes recent developments and chapters VIII and IX cover composers and pieces of music. Libraries and publishers are listed with their addresses in chapters X and XI, and finally chapter XII consists of the index based on the various groups of performers.In this last chapter harpists will find the composers most suited to their programme, and can then turn to chapters VIII and IX for details. The actual pieces can be obtained by consulting chapters X and XI. I wish you every success in your search, in your rehearsals and in your concerts !In order to define what is Dutch or non-Dutch in early music, I have followed the current approach, i.e. all art and history prior to the separation of the â??Seven ProvinÂces in the 16th century is the common heritage of the Low Countries, whereas everything pertaining to those courageous lands from then onwards is specifically Dutch..
SKU: UT.LB-3
ISBN 9788881094462. 6.5 x 9.5 inches.
«Sono stata un?arpista attiva per mezzo secolo. Come tutti i miei colleghi, ho dovuto affrontare le difficoltà create dalla leggenda che l?arpa non abbia né musica, né storia. Fortunatamente, nel corso della mia carriera, ho potuto constatare che questa diceria è infondata e ho cercato di mettere in risalto almeno una piccola parte dell?immenso repertorio antico e moderno di questo strumento considerato un Paria della musica.Il lavoro è stato piano e diretto per i libri che ho scritto sulla musica d?arpa italiana e svizzera, perché basato su precisi titoli e frontespizi; la ricerca sarebbe stata ugualmente scorrevole per i libri che non scriverò sulla musica d?arpa francese, tedesca, austriaca, britannica, boema, spagnola, portoghese e scandinava.Per la musica olandese il cammino è un po? diverso: i pittori, i trattatisti e gli storici sono i testimoni e le guide che aiutano a ritrovare gli usi e i costumi musicali nei quali l?arpa aveva una parte importante.Il concertista in cerca di pezzi potrà utilizzare così questo libro: dopo i trattati (capitolo II), i dipinti (capitolo III), la storia e la cronaca (capitoli IV-VII), autori e musiche (capitoli VIII e IX), biblioteche ed editori (capitoli X e XI), arriverà all?indice secondo le formazioni strumentali (capitolo XII).Potrà cominciare dal cercare, in quest?ultimo capitolo, gli Autori adatti al suo gruppo e al suo programma; ritroverà i relativi dettagli nei capitoli VIII e IX; otterrà i pezzi seguendo le indicazioni dei capitoli X, XI e XII; e buona caccia, buono studio, buone prove!Nel cercare di stabilire che cosa sia olandese o non-olandese nella musica antica è stata seguita l?abitudine corrente di considerare patrimonio comune dei Paesi Bassi l?arte e la storia anteriori alla separazione delle "Sette Province" nel secolo XVI; e specificamente olandese tutto ciò che accadde in quei coraggiosi territori da allora in poi.»
SKU: UT.MAG-265
ISBN 9790215326422. 9 x 12 inches.
Posse’s compositions for harp are rich and varied, and range from the easy pieces dedicated to his students to the virtuoso concert pieces; we must also remember his didactic works, in particular the ‘Six Small Studies’ and the universally known ‘Eight Great Concert Studies’.It is not easy to draw a balance of his legacy in the harp world. On one hand his technical vision of virtuosity combined with a great stability of the hand and rigor of the fingerings certainly contributed to the development of the 20th Century harp technique; on the other hand, his use of the pedals, often driven by two together with the same foot (a very old French technique), has gradually become more and more difficult on modern harps. From the point of view of his contribution to the harp repertoire, the constant run-up to the piano has heavily influenced his compositional production, making him often completely miss the idiomatic effects of 19th Century harp music (except for the use of harmonic sounds), which were so loved by his friend Liszt in the compositions of Parish Alvars.
SKU: UT.MAG-266
ISBN 9790215326439. 9 x 12 inches.
