SKU: BR.EB-6705
ISBN 9790004169063. 9 x 12 inches. German.
Though a piano can always be included, it is not an essential requirement for the performance of these settings: in some of the carols, two violins or two flutes are quite sufficient, especially if voices are used as well. The following combinations are particularly suitable for domestic music-making, whether or not voices are included as well:one violin and piano,two violins and piano,two or three violins,violins and recorders,two concert (C) flutes (and an alto flute) and - as the ideal combination for shepherds' songs - flutes, violins, cello and piano.Performing groups and music schools have the advantage of a wider choice of forces and the possibility of varying the instrumentation within the individual carols and verses. Thus large and small combinations can alternate, strings and flutes can play in turn, and finally the piano can be used by itself or to reinforce other instrumental combinations, in which case the cello can be added, too.The pieces are graded in increasing order of difficulty; the first carols are chosen so that they can be mastered by violinists after as little as 4 to 6 months of learning their instrument. The choise and sequence of the carols in this book, and also their keys, were determined, amongst other factors, by their suitability for the start of violin tuition, both in first and in third position, so that these carols make an especially good supplement of Christmas music to the violin method of Fritz and Gottfried Scharlach (with its principle of starting with the third position). The progressively increasing difficulty of the carols has resulted, for example, in the three Advent carols (nos. 23-25) being placed later in the collection.The editor hopes that these carols will be much played and sung, and thus help to fill the Christmas season with joy and splendour.Fritz Scharlach, Salzburg, December 1972Our beautiful Christmas carols, old and new, are presented here in settings, ranging from the easy to the more difficult, for various combinations of voices and instruments that may be available in domestic music-making or for a Christmas concert.
SKU: FG.55011-878-2
Lasting 27 minutes, Kalevi Aho’s String quartet no. 4 (2021) is in four movements. The first, Nocturne, begins with a hazily muted melody dominated by the interval of a minor third on the second violin. Though the first movement begins in nocturnal mood, there is also some more forceful music around the middle. The second movement, Allegro capriccioso, is quick with quirky rhythms. At times tempestuous, it faces the players with the biggest technical and virtuoso challenges. The following Largo is slow. A couple of times in the first half it is dominated by soft, mysterious harmonies. The tempo marking of the virtuosic closing movement is Presto, leggiore. The movement begins with quick, flickering, will-o’-the-wisp-like music. It later builds up to an extremely violent climax dominated by tremolo figures on the second violin and thick chords on the other instruments. The flickering music of the beginning returns at the end, before dissolving into silence.This product includes the full score (A4) and the parts (B4).
SKU: FG.042-08869-2
ISBN 979-0-042-08869-2.
String Quartet (1985) - In memoriam Urmas Kibuspuu. This impressive two-movement string quartet by the popular young Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tuur (b. 1959) displays minimalist influences. The most pronounced ostinato tendencies are in the first violin, which repeats the same motif for several bars while the other instruments accompany it with their own recurring motifs. Released on the BIS label, the quartet is dedicated to the memory of a friend of Tuur's, the Estonian actor Urmas Kibuspuu.
SKU: ST.Y262
ISBN 9790220222665.
Written in 2009 for an event to celebrate the Bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin, The Last Dance is a musical reflection on contemporary questions about the survival of our planet. It begins with energetic, even frenetic, material exchanged between the instruments. This is interspersed with moments of respose that are gradually extended, until the piece concludes with a quiet final section with solo first violin playing high above the other instruments, an ending open to many different interpretations.
SKU: FG.042-09087-9
ISBN 979-0-042-09087-9.
