String Orchestra Series SOB 68-Stringin' The Blues is a piece cast in the traditional blues written for a string orchestra. This brilliantly fluid work is intended for intermediate level string orchestra students. It is dedicated to the composer's wife Rachel.

Oh Christmas Tree. Par DOBBINS BILL. This spirited traditional carol is taken on a musical voyage through several different tempos, keys and moods, including a Latin section with an optional shaker accompaniment. The chromatic harmonies and changes in tempo and meter provide challenging material through which to develop the skills of basic musicianship and interpretation. The music is not technically difficult, and should be well within the grasp of intermediate to advanced ensembles from high school to professional levels. Each instrument is featured in both solo and ensemble roles./ Répertoire / Sextuor à Cordes

This thoroughly entertaining set of arrangements from Mike Cornick is a must have for piano duettists. Perfect as encore items as the title suggests these pieces could of course be suitably placed anywhere in the concert programme. John Philip Sousa's The Liberty Bell will be happily recognised as the Monty Python theme music by many members of the audience and Abe Holzman's Blaze Away will set everyone's feet tapping. The rousing traditional Hebrew song Hava Nagila and the popular Billy Boy will have the audience's full attention as will the Radetzky March which is now a traditional encore for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's New Year's Day concerts. The CDincludes the complete performance of each duet and if a duet partner is unavailable - or for simply rehearsing separately recorded primo and secondo tracks are provided. Suitable for intermediate-level players and beyond.

Concerto No.2 'Haydn' A series of works based on the surviving two bars of Haydn's 'lost' Double Bass Concerto. Based on the two surviving bars of Haydn's 'lost' Double Bass Concerto and dedicated to David Heyes, this magnificent new concerto is a tour-de-force from a respected and leading Czech bassist-composer. In a tonal and accessible style, there are musical and technical challenges for the advanced bassist and this edition is only available in solo tuning. Influenced by the late 18th-century style, but imbued with Czech lyricism and influences, this new three-movement concerto is a major addition to the repertoire and utilises the entire range of the double bass. The concerto has been performed throughout Europe many times, most recently in Macedonia and Serbia by the composer. Miloslav Gajdos has composed and transcribed many works for double bass in a 40 year career and is Professor of Double Bass at the Vejvenovsky Conservatoire in Kromeriz (Czech Republic) alongside many international recitals and masterclasses. Concerto No.2 'Haydn' is available in three orchestrations alongside the published edition with piano. Please contact the publishers for more information about the various orchestrations. Performance Level: Advanced Miloslav Gajdos is one of Europe's most active and inventive bassist-composers. He was born in northern Moravia in 1948 and initially learned violin before transferring to the double bass, studying with Alois Kriz, Jiri Bortlicek and Ludwig Streicher. He has been Professor of Double Bass at the Vejvenovsky Conseravtoire in Kromeriz (Czech Republic) since 1971, and was a member of the Olomouc Symphony Orchestra for a number of years. He is Director of the Gregora International Double Bass Competition, founded in 1979 and held every two years in Kromeriz, and has been a juror at many competitions in Hungary, Germany and the Czech Republic. Miloslav Gajdos is a prolific composer and arranger and, for almost 40 years, has produced a vast body of original works and transcriptions for double bass which are performed worldwide. His original works combine Czech lyricism and melody with brilliant technical demands, and music from one to sixteen double basses. He writes in a traditional and accessible style, producing music for every level of performer, particularly for the advanced bassist, and his many works for unaccompanied double bass are frequently chosen as international competition repertoire. Miloslav Gajdos was Recital Music's Featured Composer in 2007 and has recently revised a number of earlier works for the intermediate bassist which will be published by Recital Music.

Par LAURO ANTONIO. Antonio Lauro is one of the most famous composers to come from Venezuela. He has written many works for orchestra, piano, choir, harpsichord, and guitar. He is most well-known for his guitar works, this being his main instrument. In the early 1980s he gave concerts in London and Paris at the request of John Williams and Paco Pena. The pieces represented in these guitar works are for players at a beginner-intermediate level, and in standard notation only. Continuing the 19th Century tradition of other composers of Venezuelan waltzes, Lauro named many of his pieces after people or places. 'El Marabino' is the name given to someone who comes from the city of Maracaibo. 'Angostura' is the original Spanish name of the city where Lauro was born. 'Carora' is the colonial city near Lauro's birthplace. The Venezuelan waltz differs from the European waltz in its rhythm which may alternate between 3/4 and 6/8 time and in its more syncopated style. The melodies are highly sentimental and romantic. / Niveau : Facile à Intermédiaire / Répertoire / Guitare