SKU: MB.30091
ISBN 9781513466378. 8.75 x 11.75 inches.
Appalachian fiddle music, based on the musical traditions of the people who settled in the mountainous regions of the southeastern United States, is widely-known and played throughout North America and parts of Europe because of its complex rhythms, its catchy melodies, and its often-ancient-sounding stylistic qualities. The authors explore the lives and music of 43 of the classic Appalachian fiddlers who were active during the first half of the 20th century. Some of them were recorded commercially in the 1920s, such as Gid Tanner, Fiddlin? John Carson, and Charlie Bowman. Some were recorded by folklorists from the Library of Congress, such as William Stepp, Emmett Lundy, and Marion Reece. Others were recorded informally by family members and visitors, such as John Salyer, Emma Lee Dickerson, and Manco Sneed. All of them played throughout most of their lives and influenced the growth and stylistic elements of fiddle music in their regions. Each fiddler has been given a chapter with a biography, several tune transcriptions, and tune histories. To show the richness of the music, the authors make a special effort to show the musical elements in detail, but also acknowledge that nothing can take the place of listening. Many of the classic recordings used in this book can be found on the web, allowing you to hear and read the music together.
SKU: IS.CM6073EM
ISBN 9790365060733.
Charles Camilleri (1931 - 2009) was a Maltese composer. As a teenager, he composed a number of works based on folk music and legends of his native Malta. He moved from his early influences by Maltese folk music to a musical form in which nothing is fixed and his compositions evolve from themselves with a sense of fluency and inevitability. He composed over 100 works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, voice and solo instruments. Camilleri's work has been performed throughout the world and his research of folk music and improvisation, the influences of the sounds of Africa and Asia, together with the academic study of European music, helped him create a universal style. Camilleri is recognized in Malta as one of the major composers of his generation. He died on 3 January 2009 at the age of 77. His funeral took place two days later at Naxxar, his long-time town of residence. Flags across Malta were flown at half-mast in tribute to him.
SKU: BO.B.3542
Staeliana was commissioned by the Fundacio Caixa de Catalunya in 2007 for the inauguration of an exposition of the work of Nicolas Staël at La Pedrera, Barcelona. In this work I wanted to compose homage to a painter who knew how to join together in his unique works both the traditions of the past along with the vanguard of his time. Beginning with figurative works which lead toward abstraction, his body of work can be defined as a contrast between these two concepts which, with extreme simplicity, define his entire artistic conception. Staeliana, an expressive chorale, at times both luminous and dramatic, dissolves into the most minimal expression. From the first joining together of the voices it concludes with utter simplicity of expression. The suicide of the artist in 1955 is representative of the dissolution of his existence as well as of his artistic works. This contrast between figurative and abstraction is reflected in the music by the contrast between stability and tension. I believe that this duality may be found both in his work and in his life, always oscillating between living a creative life or opting for death, which may be seen as a fusion in nothingness with the plenitude of purest simplicity.
SKU: PR.14440538S
UPC: 680160589456.
Leisner ponders life from nothingness, its force of presence, and its return to nothingness, using sustained strings and increasing/decreasing intensity as a basis upon which to build his impressions. The quartet progresses from near-silence to full-on life-force, before slowly dying away. For advanced performers. Duration: 9'.
SKU: BR.EB-9243
ISBN 9790004185438. 9 x 12 inches.
It was the practice of Khoomii (throat singing) - following several workshops with Michael Ormiston - that first attracted me to Tuvan music. Composing this Songbook, the first in a series commissioned by the Ligeti Quartet, I took the chance to reflect on compositional questions around transcription and arrangement of existing music, and frequently found myself asking: where is the boundary between the source material and the new substance? Of course the relationship varies from piece to piece, and moment to moment: sometimes we seem to glimpse the pure source, but most of the time there are differing degrees of distance, working towards or away from it. This new version for string orchestra corresponds closely to the original quartet version, with an additional part for double basses.The traditional Tuvan songs that I have transcribed and recomposed are all known to me from the Ay Kherel CD The Music of Tuva: Throat Singing and Instruments from Central Asia (2004, Arc Music). According to the notes from that CD, this is what the songs are about:1. Dyngylday: If you have come on a horse in blue, it doesn't mean that you are the best. My heart tells me something else: my sweetheart doesn't have such a beautiful horse, but he is my darling.An alternative interpretation from Alash Ensemble (alashensemble.com): The word dyngylday is a nonsense term with no translation. The song makes good-humored fun of somebody for being a good-for-nothing.2. Eki Attar (The Best Steeds): The horse is the basis of our life. It is a magic creature. Even its step is full of music and rhythm. You may not be a horse rider, but when you hear this song you will always remember horses.3. Kuda Yry: This wedding song glorifies the strength of the groom and the beauty of his Horse.4. Ezir-Kara ('Black Eagle'): This was the name of a horse, who became a legend through his remarkable strength and speed.It is not just overtones that abound here: there are galloping rhythms aplenty, and though I am no horse rider I tried to keep the horses galloping in my imagination while composing these pieces.Christian Mason (with quotes from Ay Kherel and Alash Ensemble)World premiere of the original version: London/UK, May 10, 2016, World premiere of the string orchestra version: Clermont-Ferrand/France, October 8, 2020.
SKU: BR.EB-9244
ISBN 9790004185445. 9 x 12 inches.
SKU: PR.144407050
UPC: 680160655519. 9 x 12 inches.
Celebrating 30 years, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society commissioned a work of 20-25 minutes for violin and piano from James Primosch, University of Pennsylvania professor of music. Primosch had originally thought to create a new sonata, but what developed is more appropriately a set of five character pieces, two of which were directly inspired by poems. Five Poems was premiered in May, 2016, and Primosch's thoughts are recorded at his website: https://jamesprimosch.com/2016/05/10/five-poems-premiere/.Upon receiving a commission from the Philadelphia Chamber MusicSociety for a violin and piano piece in honor of its 30th anniversary, myplan was to write a sonata, a term suggesting a relatively abstractdiscourse. But as the piece developed, the movements struck me ascharacter pieces rather than music employing a more “symphonicâ€approach. When specific poems started to attach themselves in my mindwith two of the movements, the overall title Five Poems became clear.The title of the second movement is a line from Susan Stewart’s“Descentâ€, which deals with Aeneas’s visit to the underworld. The musicis alternately fiercely driving and quite still, though tense. RobertFrost’s Nothing Gold Can Stay summons fleet scale passages framinglyrical counterpoint. The remaining movements do not refer to specificpoems, but have titles reflecting their expressive tone. Dreamscape ismusing with an improvisatory violin line over shifting pairs of pianochords. Nightsong is a bluesy lullaby that turns highly dramatic.Vision begins with a closely argued struggle but breaks through tosomething spacious and clear.
SKU: BR.EB-10708
In Cooperation with G. Henle Verlag
ISBN 9790201807089. 9.5 x 12 inches.
Bruch's evergreen for the first time in Urtext Thanks to the premiere performance by Joseph Joachim and to the release of the printed edition in 1868, Max Bruch's Violin Concerto no. 1 zipped onto the road to success and has never left it since. Yet from the preface of the BreitkopfUrtext edition,one can infer how things looked like behind the dazzling facade. After the world premiere, the composer struggled for the definitive form. He wrote 3, 4 development sections in the finale, and sought the advice of celebrated virtuosi such as Joseph Joachim and Ferdinand David to revise the solo part. And after all this was done (see above), Bruch suffered under the work's popularity: Have I written nothing but this one concerto? The new Urtext edition is based primarily on the first edition. Next to the main source and the autograph, what is supremely interesting is a solo part with entries by Joachim and Bruch. It confirms how intensively the two men collaborated on honing the final form of the work.In Cooperation with G. Henle Verlag.
