SKU: PR.14440218S
UPC: 680160027170. 9.5 x 13 inches.
The concerts and exhibits of the Cleveland Museum of Art were an important formative influence for me during my student days. So when the invitation came to create a new work celebrating this institution on its seventy-fifth anniversary, I was not only happy to accept, but knew immediately that I wanted to write a piece that would somehow relate specifically to the museum. I decided to make the work a reflection on a painting in the museum's collection: Zurbaran's The Holy House of Nazareth. My quartet is not program music in a narrative sense, but rather a kind of meditation that takes its tone from this painting's remarkable integration of intense affect, mysterious repose and secret geometry. Besides Zurbaran's painting, the piece is occupied with a purely musical object of contemplation: the hymn tune Picardy, best known with the text Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence. This tune permeates the harmonic and melodic life of the quartet, sometimes appearing in a very simple, straightforward fashion, but often hidden amidst more complex structures. I was attracted to the melody for its musical qualities, but later realized that the hymn's text also resonates with the mood of the painting; the words speak of a reverent awe, of cherubim with sleepless eye, and of the mystery of the Incarnate Word who must suffer: King of kings, yet born of Mary...
SKU: PR.11642055L
UPC: 680160690770.
Written in 2020 and dedicated to the memory my mother, RuthAnn Richwine Ruehr, this Requiem is also written in memory of all who passed in 2020. The text is an English translation of a standard Latin Mass, but it is secular: all religious words were either removed or replaced. It became a kind of outline of the five stages of grief: bargaining, sorrow, denial, anger and acceptance.
SKU: PR.14440739S
UPC: 680160684755. 9 x 12 inches.
SKU: PR.11642066L
UPC: 680160690909.
The title, Shadow Light, is based on the initial chord that serves as the basis of all the material in the piece — a minor triad with a second and raised fourth. This harmony evokes both a darkness (the minor triad) and something brighter (the raised fourth), and the music moves expressively through these worlds. The piece can be played in an orchestral version, with string orchestra, or in a chamber version, with string quartet and bass.
SKU: PR.446413400
UPC: 680160667406. 9 x 12 inches.
Tightrope Walker is my first piece for full orchestra. Given the large forces available to me, I wanted to write something exciting, colorful and visceral. I remembered back to when I was a kid going to see the Cirque du Soleil. That trip made a big impression on me, especially the high wire performers. These were artists performing super-human feats high in the air, where even the slightest mistake guaranteed a fatal ending. This idea of danger, of risking one's life to entertain an audience has stayed with me, and Tightrope Walker is my attempt at recreating that special childhood experience. The opening of the piece hints at what's to come - a steady, walking pulse interrupted by missteps in the woodwinds. These missteps increase until the entire orchestra comes crashing down - not a good sign for our Tightrope Walker. The tempo slows and the atmosphere becomes tense. The primary themes of the piece are presented in fragments, most notably the Tightrope Walker's theme in the horns. The orchestra gradually recovers from the previous fall, becoming more lively and coherent until the original, faster tempo is restored. We are now at the circus, excited and expectant, and the fragmentary themes heard previously are now presented in their full forms. The anticipation builds until we hear a solo drum roll - the main act is about to begin. The second half of the piece depicts the Tightrope Walker performing for his audience. But from the outset, as in the beginning of the piece, we hear there are problems. The pressure mounts, the audience clamoring for more, until Tightrope Walker comes to a decisive and potentially fatal end.Tightrope Walker is my first piece for full orchestra. Given the large forces available to me, I wanted to write something exciting, colorful and visceral. I remembered back to when I was a kid going to see the Cirque du Soleil. That trip made a big impression on me, especially the high wire performers. These were artists performing super-human feats high in the air, where even the slightest mistake guaranteed a fatal ending. This idea of danger, of risking one’s life to entertain an audience has stayed with me, and Tightrope Walker is my attempt at recreating that special childhood experience.The opening of the piece hints at what's to come - a steady, walking pulse interrupted by missteps in the woodwinds. These missteps increase until the entire orchestra comes crashing down - not a good sign for our Tightrope Walker. The tempo slows and the atmosphere becomes tense. The primary themes of the piece are presented in fragments, most notably the Tightrope Walker's theme in the horns. The orchestra gradually recovers from the previous fall, becoming more lively and coherent until the original, faster tempo is restored.We are now at the circus, excited and expectant, and the fragmentary themes heard previously are now presented in their full forms.  The anticipation builds until we hear a solo drum roll - the main act is about to begin. The second half of the piece depicts the Tightrope Walker performing for his audience. But from the outset, as in the beginning of the piece, we hear there are problems. The pressure mounts, the audience clamoring for more, until Tightrope Walker comes to a decisive and potentially fatal end.
SKU: PR.144402180
UPC: 680160027156. 9.5 x 13 inches.
SKU: PR.11640534S
UPC: 680160681853.
SKU: PR.11642056L
UPC: 680160690794.
Dedicated to the memory of my mother, Ruthann Richwine Ruehr, who was both an environmentalist and a film maker, this piece channels the things she loved: the beauty of the natural world and the glorious sound of great film music. Although a complex comment on our relationship to the natural world, it begins with a simple tenet: that to preserve the earth we must first love and appreciate it.
SKU: PR.144407350
UPC: 680160682911. 9 x 12 inches.
SKU: PR.11640642L
UPC: 680160690657.
SKU: PR.114420590
UPC: 680160691180.
SKU: PR.11640772L
UPC: 680160691203.
SKU: PR.446413410
UPC: 680160667420. 9 x 12 inches.
I wrote this piece with a darker sonority and an emphasis on lyricism, qualities that I associate with the viola. In the first movement, titled Fantasia, the viola begins with a quiet and free cadenza, becoming more passionate until the woodwinds join in dialogue with the soloist. Gradually the rest of the orchestra enters, exploring ideas from the solo cadenza while introducing a new theme that reappears in the last movement. The second movement is a scherzo, mischievous in mood with the orchestra and viola trading barbed jokes. The antics are interrupted by a brass chorale with embellishment from the viola. The scherzo then resumes with prominent contributions from the bassoons. The last movement, titled Nocturne, plays with different kinds of music associated with the night. A sensual and romantic atmosphere gives way to something more menacing and ultimately violent. After a climax from the full orchestra, soft strings and solo viola lead us into the coda, taking an ambiguous idea from the first movement and transforming it into a lyrical and heartfelt prayer. The concerto ends with the solo viola ascending on the crest of an orchestral wave of sound.
SKU: PR.144407280
ISBN 9781491136607. UPC: 680160680047.
Faced with the same instrumentation as Messiaen’s iconic Quartet for the End of Time, composed in a POW camp during World War II, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich was moved to give voice to those less fortunate prisoners who would never return home. Zwilich’s chilling memorial quotes music created in concentration camps, drawing on two short excerpts to create an artistic view of a death march and song of grieving.The German word “Abgang†has an innocent meaning of “exit,†but the Nazis used it as a signal that concentration camp prisoners were there to be sent off and murdered.My first movement, Abgang, is based on two musical fragments. It begins with a quote of a Hebraic melody that Viktor Ullmann used as a basis for variations in his Piano Sonata No. 7 that he was working on while in Theresienstadt. Next is a short quote of a fox trot that was arranged by a composer (only identified by his prisoner-number) for performance in Auschwitz. What follows is a purely musical, but deeply personal exploration.After finishing the movement, I felt it necessary to add a second movement, Kaddish, which is a prayer recited in mourning, without a single mention of death, but celebrating God, peace, and life. The Kaddish appears in the score and parts in an English translation (along with some Aramaic). It is not meant to be spoken or sung, but to guide the performers in giving meaning to the musical phrases.
SKU: PR.144407540
UPC: 680160687800.
TWO LATIN DANCES is a beautifully evocative and sizzling work based on Bossa Nova and Tango rhythms, now available in a new arrangement for contrabass tuba* and piano by the composer. While at first sounding as two distinct movements, the characteristic dances gradually intertwine to create a uniquely integrated and ever-building whole. Celebrated trombonist Natalie Mannix commissioned the original work for trombone and piano, and introduced TWO LATIN DANCES at the 2016 International Trombone Festival. Mannix has recorded the work on her CD Breaking Ground: A Celebration of Women Composers. For advanced performers.*A version for bass tuba and piano is also available (144-40741).
SKU: PR.144407510
ISBN 9781491136010. UPC: 680160685752.
TWO LATIN DANCES is a beautifully evocative and sizzling work based on Bossa Nova and Tango rhythms. While at first sounding as two distinct movements, the characteristic dances gradually intertwine to create a uniquely integrated whole. By popular demand, Lauren Bernofsky has transcribed the work, already a staple of the trombone repertoire, for trumpet so that more musicians may join in the excitement!
SKU: PR.144407440
ISBN 9781491134948. UPC: 680160684861.
Irresistibly charming, Lauren Bernofsky’s SPRING SONG bubbles with innocent optimism, graceful syncopations, and a singably catchy tune. The piece is easily playable by intermediate performers and is equally delightful for more experienced players.
SKU: PR.11641599L
UPC: 680160680085.
SKU: PR.11642054S
UPC: 680160690749.
SKU: PR.11642160S
UPC: 680160690954.
In March 2023 I heard a concert by the Boston Symphony Orchestra of Gorecki’s Sorrowful Songs, and it reminded me of Barber’s famous Adagio for Strings. At the time I was writing a string quartet, and it moved me to write a string orchestra piece inspired by these two emotional and lyrical works. Entitled Long Night because the pandemic felt like it was finally coming to an end, I was also thinking forward to the many challenges that still lie ahead of us.
SKU: PR.11640311S
UPC: 680160683086.
SKU: PR.144407550
UPC: 680160688692.
SKU: PR.44641297L
UPC: 680160615414.
Flute (doubling Piccolo), Oboe, Clarinet in Bb, Bassoon, Horn in F, Trumpet in Bb, Trombone, Bass Trombone, Percussion (1 player), Strings.
SKU: PR.144407380
ISBN 9781491133903. UPC: 680160683475. 9 x 12 inches.
In her powerful Foreword to the music, violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins has written: “There are great works which give voice to important moments for generations, and this is one of them.†The tragedy of Elijah McClain’s murder has moved us all, and for many musicians the image of this gentle young man playing his violin for kittens at an animal shelter has added a poignant extra layer. Zwilich was a professional violinist before turning exclusively to composing, and A LITTLE VIOLIN MUSIC is a memorial from the heart of one violinist to another.[THESE NOTES MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED OUTSIDE OF THE PUBLICATION; OK TO QUOTE A BIT AND GIVE AUTHOR CREDIT]We often research important pieces of music to gain some glimpse into the mind of the composer by understanding the times in which a piece was written. The times that brought this piece into being, 2020, has been a year like no other in our lifetimes.With the suffering of a once in a century pandemic raging in ever higher waves, and millions of people around the world confined to their homes with a shared attention span for the first time in generations, we watched in horror the 8 minute 46 second killing of George Floyd, a man previously unknown to us, but now unwillingly joining a long list of names of unarmed African Americans killed by police. The anguished backlash of citizens around the world, from Japan to New Zealand to Germany to the United States, of every age, color, and creed, has rallied for weeks and months on end to demand enough and that “Black Lives Matter.â€And yet, in the midst of it all is an America starkly divided against itself with some defiantly pushing back, emboldened by authoritarian-style government actions against its own citizens occurring all over the country. It is against this backdrop that we ever had a chance to know of Elijah McClain. Here in quarantine I sometimes practice my scales in front of the news. And one day the mirror image looking back at me from the screen was a slight young man, warm, affable brown eyes, and also a violin under his chin. The newsreel-style camera pan so familiar now, I knew the only reason we were gazing upon his unfamous face was that he too had been killed by police nearly a year before. But the revelation of it in the broadcast hit me particularly hard.Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, who is not only one of the great composers of our time, is also a dear friend, and called me the next day, also deeply saddened by the news. It was from Ellen that I learned that Elijah used to play for the kittens at the local animal shelter so they wouldn’t be lonely. This kind, gentle soul was aggressively taken into police custody while saying, “I am an introvert. Please respect the boundaries that I am speaking... I’m going home.†He was never seen alive again.Ellen and I spoke of the sadness and the injustice of this several times. She felt a powerful calling to contribute something in a statement and the result is the piece you now hold in your hands. I am deeply honored to be the dedicatee of the piece, to have worked together with Ellen on some of the final details, and to pen this score note. As an invited alumna of the Eastman School of Music, I premiered the work for their virtual event on Diversity and Inclusion. Each time I play it, there is a persistent lump in my throat because Ellen has captured something poignant and powerful here.There are great works which give voice to important moments for generations, and this is one of them. We humbly offer this piece in memory of Elijah McClain.Foreword © 2021 by Kelly Hall-Tompkins. Used by permission.
SKU: PR.446412970
UPC: 680160615407.
SKU: PR.144407530
ISBN 9781491136614. UPC: 680160687992.
A violinist herself, Lauren Bernofsky has described SONATA FOR SOLO VIOLIN as drawn from autobiographical inspiration, including gestures from Bachâ??s beloved Partita in E Major. Bernofsky opens with a Preludio movement whose references to Bach may be disguised, but they are surely lurking. The second movement is lusciously contrapuntal with the idiomatic finesse of a violinist composing for her own instrument, while musically journaling the emotional pain of living through 2020. The third and final movement is aptly marked â??white-hot,â? and the music certainly is.My SONATA FOR SOLO VIOLIN was commissioned by violinist Megan Healy as part of The Maud Powell Project, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The project included the creation of five new works for solo violin inspired by and dedicated to the memory of pioneering American violinist Maud Powell (1867-1920). Healy premiered the sonata on May 8, 2021 at PianoForte Studios in Chicago.Among the works Powell most frequently performed in her recitals was the â??Preludioâ? movement from Bachâ??s E major Partita, and I decided to refer to that music in my own first movement, also titled â??Preludio.â? The beginning subtly reflects Bachâ??s opening three-note motive, wherein the music dips down a semitone and then comes back up. This melodic material returns throughout the movement in various forms. I also refer to Bachâ??s sixteenth-note dominated texture, and the gesture in the third measure, which outlines a perfect fifth and then fills it in with notes that alternate between a scale and a pedal tone. The corresponding passage in my piece occurs in the same place, measure 3. Apart from these references to Bach, my sonata is much more modern sounding, especially in its chromatic character.I was still thinking of Bachâ??s solo violin writing while composing the second movement, particularly the polyphonic nature of the slow movements, where the melodic interest moves around between the voices. Emotionally, I wanted my movement to reflect the acute sadness I had been experiencing over the political and social situation in the United States as I wrote the piece. I realized that this is a historically noteworthy time in U.S. history, marked not only by political unrest, but also by a challenge to the very values that I consider essential to what makes a person fundamentally human. I wanted to create a record of that pain in my music.The final movement is marked â??White-hot.â? It is imbued with a relentless, passionate intensity. Wanting again to reflect aspects of our own time, I included glissandi that refer to rock music, specifically the â??fall-offsâ? I frequently hear played by electric guitarists. I borrowed from another (completely different) musical tradition as well, one that is near-and-dear to my heart: Klezmer. Klezmer (Eastern European Jewish folk music) is characterized in part by scales colored by augmented seconds, and is often performed by solo instrumentalists who improvise embellishments like quick grace notes. The second, more lyrical theme in this movement is my nod to Klezmer style.While this piece is an homage to Maud Powell, I also think of it as my own musical autobiography, as it combines some of my favorite aspects of music, and is played on my own instrument.
SKU: PR.144407320
ISBN 9781491135006. UPC: 680160685998.
From the pen of Lauren Bernofsky comes a truly unique contribution to the trombone repertoire – music expressing the joys and challenges of parenthood, through a mother’s eyes. FROM A MOTHER’S JOURNAL is a suite of five movements, Love Letter, A World of Worry, Bedtime Battle, Contentment, and Little Imp, which bubble with warmth, irony, frustration, tenderness, humor … as complex a cocktail of emotions as parenthood itself. The music explores a broad range of trombone techniques, making the 10-minute suite an exciting tour de force for any recital.The idea for FROM A MOTHER’S JOURNAL originated during car ride from an IWBC conference back to New York City – Nikki Abissi and I were sharing our experiences of the challenges and joys of motherhood, and she said, “Wouldn’t it be cool to have a trombone piece written about all the emotions of motherhood?†There certainly wasn’t one that I knew about! Not long after, she contacted me about writing her exactly that piece.I thought that this was definitely a concept for a piece whose time had come, and I was immediately on board with the project. She sent me some short descriptions of some of her experiences, from the frustration of getting a rambunctious baby to go to sleep at bedtime to the boundless love she felt for not just her baby but her husband, as a father, as well. I wrote each anecdote into a short movement, and the result was a collection of musical vignettes covering a range of moods and textures as well as trombone techniques. Since I, too, am a mother, I filtered her anecdotes through my own lens, and I consider this piece to be not just a biography of Nikki but also my own autobiography.
SKU: PR.144407330
ISBN 9781491134290. UPC: 680160684663. 9 x 12 inches.
Zyman’s first major work for flute, CONCERTO NO. 1 is scored for a chamber orchestra of 5 winds, timpani, and strings. With this publication, the concerto is now available in print with a performance-ready piano reduction. Maria Canales premiered the work in 1991 with the Conjunto de Cámara de la Ciudad de México, which commissioned the 18-minute work.
SKU: PR.11641600S
ISBN 9781491134689. UPC: 680160685271. English. Text: Ryan Carson.
Among the most intriguing of this pioneering American composer’s works, Three Songs on poems of Carl Sandburg is scored for Contralto with Oboe, Percussion, and Piano, plus an optional orchestra. The study score includes an essay introducing Crawford’s unique work in historical contexts as she sought a new musical language accessible to the many, while remaining uncompromisingly avant-garde.