SKU: HL.49018386

ISBN 9790001153508. UPC: 841886011977. 7.5x10.75x0.096 inches. Latin.

Herrmann Schroeder (1904-1984), one of the most important church music composers of the 20th century, wrote this Latin mass in 1961, i.e. at the beginning of the Second Vatican Council. The Council marked a turning point in the field of church music: Masses in the respective native languages gained more and more acceptance, Gregorian chant faded into the background, stylistic features of popular music were also taken up in church music. Today, about 50 years after the beginning of the Council, one can see a return to Gregorian chant and polyphonic vocal music, and this is why even works such as Schroeder's Latin Missa melismatica arouse great interest again. The work takes the free intonation of the Gregorian chant as a starting-point and is enriched with wide-spun melodic arcs in elaborate polyphony, according to Schroeder's opinion that Gregorian chant and polyphony are particularly suitable for giving expression to the mysticism and irrationality of religious faith in the liturgy. A demanding work for good choirs, duration ca. 16 minutes.

SKU: HL.48182310

UPC: 888680839703. 9.0x12.0x0.086 inches.

“French composer and conductor, Henri Tomasi (1901-1971) published Gregorian Variations on a Salve Ragina 1964. As with his other wind compositions, Gregorian Variations for Trumpet and String Orchestra and Organ reduction was well-received by audiences. Tomasi was born in Marseille, but his Father and Mother were originally from La Casinca in Corsica. Despite being pressured in to musical studies by his parents, Tomasi dreamed of becoming a sailor, and during the summer, he stayed with his Grandmother in Corsica where he learnt traditional Corsican songs. However, in 1921, he began his studies at the Paris Conservatoire and went on to become a high profile composer and conductor. Tomasi did not forget his Corsican routes, often incorporating themes of the songs he had learnt during the summers with his Grandmother into his compositions. Gregorian Variations on a Salve Regina is a highly unusual and modern work based on an old Marian Hymn (a song for the Virgin Mary). The variations exploit tonality, rhythm and structure amongst other aspects. This Tomasi piece is suitable for advanced trumpeters, providing an exciting, alternative addition to the instrument's repertoire.”.

SKU: HL.49045437

ISBN 9790001162715. UPC: 841886029088. 9.0x12.0x0.168 inches.

On the occasion of the quincentenary of Reformation Day in 2017, the composer Enjott Schneider thoroughly studied Martin Luther the individual and all his contradictions. The result is a brilliant, demanding organ symphony which is perfect for concerts on the subject of Reformation and Martin Luther.The composer describes the five movements of the symphony as follows:'1st movement:Wir glauben all an einen Gott with its quintuplet-like beginning is very Gregorian in style, outlining the range of Lutheran emotionalism between the Middle Ages and the modern era. The irrationality of faith ultimately has priority over any thought and evidence. At the beginning of the movement, sounds of knocking on wood remind of the nailing of the Ninety-Five Theses to the doors of churches in Wittenberg. The chorale melody sometimes hides with an almost rough medieval saltarello, referring to Luther's robustness and vitality with which he knew to carry away even common people.2nd movement:In 1530, the electoral prince of Saxony presented to Luther at Coburg Castle the golden signet ring with the Luther rose which became the symbol of his theology of grace. A white heart with black cross is fixed on a five-petalled rose. To him, white is the colour of angels and ghosts, black stands for the pain of crucification: The just shall live by faith, but by faith in the Crucified. But the fact that the rose and the heart are the dominating symbols shows how Catholic Marian piety remained an ingredient of Luther's spirituality throughout his life. In line with the dominant five-petal structure of the rose, this movement was composed, to a large extent, in accordance with the floating, lyrical rhythm in 5/8 time.3rd movement:The omnipresence of death and dying - from the plague and war to the never-ending dangers of daily life - was an essential part of the world view of that time. Fears ensued that might heighten into the grotesque, e.g. in the pictures of Hieronymus Bosch. The Danse macabre was a popular motif in those years. Luther's chorale Mitten wir im Leben sind / mit dem Tod umfangen from 1524 (Enchiridion from Erfurt) is based on the Gregorian chant Media vita in morte sumus created in France around 750 and, with its idea of transience, inspired a simplistic air.4th movement:The famous confession delivered at the Diet of Worms in 1521, I stand here and can say no more. God help me. Amen, are not Luther's words but the version later used as text for a pamphlet. However, it represents quite plainly the straightforwardness and inevitability of his mission. Musically, it was made into a perpetuum mobile, i.e. a dogged, ostinato and never-ending musical air.5th movement:The Mighty Fortress, on the other hand, is one of the great symbols of Martin Luther which, with its shining C major key, embodies the Protestant ideology and willful nature of the Reformation unlike any other song. Heinrich Heine called it the Marseille anthem of the Reformation, Friedrich Engels the Marseillaise of the Peasants' Wars. This disputability is not thought through to the end but rather interrupted: With a jubilant birdcall version of the melody, the finale shows a rather chamber-music-like side of the ideals of freedom of Christians.'.

SKU: HL.49016185

ISBN 9790001145411. UPC: 884088202507. 9.0x12.0x0.141 inches.

As a counterpart to theOrgan Symphony No. 1 Pater Noster (ED 9937), the Organ Symphony No. 2 offers softer and more mysterious (Marian) sound worlds, sketching stages of Mary's life: an adoring Salve Regina grows from the mystic source, followed by Berceuse pour Marie as a lullaby of the Christmas events. The third movement Mater Dolorosa falls back on the well-known Gregorian sequence Stabat Mater, taking Mary's pain at the cross as its central theme. The finale treats the Ave Maris Stella in a crescendo from pp to ff in a positive and solemn manner, in memory of Mary's assumption. It is advisable to use an organ with at least three manuals.

SKU: HL.49018423

ISBN 9790001171632. UPC: 884088615178. 9.0x12.0x0.079 inches.

As professor at the Munich Academy of Music, the German organist and composer Harald Feller (*1951) not only takes care of the young generation of musicians and is in the limelight as a soloist, but also adds to the organ repertoire by writing major new works. 'Te Deum' is based on the beginning of the Gregorian melody of the Ambrosian hymn. Using polyrhythmic structures, canonic elements and ostinato rhythms, Feller turns a small cell into ecstatic music in the praise of God - 'Te Deum': a powerful symphonic organ work!

SKU: HL.49019642

ISBN 9790001192842. German - Latin.

This work with its calmly pleading character lives on the contrast between the freely metric, virtually Gregorian passages and the strict time-beating sections. It is especially in the 'Da pacem' call written in triplets that pressing, accelerating crescendos arise which can also be led into the forte excessively. The concluding Latin 'Da pacem' should then be sung in a deliberately introverted manner.