SKU: HL.14048306

UPC: 888680687762. 9.0x12.0x0.234 inches. English.

Nico Muhly's Fast Dances (2014) for two Harps. Score and parts.

SKU: UT.HS-231

ISBN 9790215324558. 9 x 12 inches.

Tarascone; Tarantella Capuanese; Valzer; Polka di Vittorio; Tarantella Stiglianese

The history of the Viggianesi, strolling musicians, winds over a period of about four centuries and esprimeun ‘unicum’ musically and anthropologically. Heirs of a travelling musical tradition that from the late Middle Ages inhabited more than just the streets of the Kingdom of Sicily and Naples, the harpists of this extraordinary story made their first appearances as early as the end of the 1600s engaged in musical practices at shrines.
Armed with an urgent need to make a living together with a strong musical inclination, adaptability and versatility, the groups of musicians, almost always belonging to the same family circle, became the promoters of the great Italian musical tradition (Southern in particular), and with their harps on their shoulders they became the identification symbol of a well-defined and limited area of Italy: the Agri Valley, in Basilicata.
From the many documents examined, a very wide and varied musical repertoire emerges mixing the pastoral tradition with classical tradition (mainly opera, devotional music with songs from the cities (from the Neapolitan tradition to international production). The pastoral repertoire, the subject of this publication, consists of a strongly characterized native repertoire which the Viggianesi had consolidated in both public and private ritual occasions in their native land, even if performing in distant lands.

This collection is included among the compulsory pieces of The 7th International Harp Contest in Italy Suoni D’Arpa, 2017, Category A – Associazione Italiana dell’Arpa – www.associazioneitalianarpa.it

SKU: MB.95472

ISBN 9780786604951. UPC: 796279025461. 8.75 x 11.75 inches.

The book, musician, entertainer, teacher, and recording artist Carol Stober provides melody lines, lyrics, chord symbols, and melody tablature for 35 tunes she learned in Appalachia. The stories woven through the music portray a mixture of life situations that were ever-present in the difficult struggle for survival of our ancestors. The lyrics of many of these songs, although sometimes harsh, give insight into the values of the Appalachian people. The autoharp tablature provides detailed indications for different types of thumb and finger strokes, plucking, and string pinching.

SKU: HL.48180979

UPC: 888680878399. 9x12 inches.

French harpist and composer, Henriette Renié (1875-1956) lived in poverty for much of her life. However, this did not stop her from composing significant works for the harp, including Grandmother Tells a Story, an easy piece for beginners of the instrument. Despite being a talented composer, Renié lived at a time where fame and success was socially unacceptable for women. In 1940, Grandmother Tells a Story was published. As a easy piece, this Renié work is suitable for beginners of the instrument, including detailed performance directions and fingerings. For all beginner harpists, Renié's Grandmother Tells a Story is an exciting and varied addition to the repertoire.

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 Stream
2. Luonnonjumalan lähde | The Spring of God of Nature
3. Metsässä tuulee |The Wind Blows through the Forest

Tauno 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.720640

ISBN 9780960299089. UPC: 073999206401. 8.75x11 inches.

Arranged for beginning and advanced harpers, this book contains 40 of the best tunes by O'Carolan, the most famous of the Irish harpers and composers who lived from 1670-1738. Each of the 40 tunes has two arrangements: an easy play version and a more difficult version. Each tune includes chord indications that can be used by harpers or other instrumentalists.