Born in Havana Cuba in 1895 Ernesto Lecuona is arguably Cuba's greatest serious composer. He was a gifted pianist who wrote hundreds of songs and piano works before he died in 1963. Most of his music is composed in a rich authentic Cuban style. The most famous of his works is Malagueña the sixth movement of his Suite Andalucia for solo piano which was first published in 1928. Malagueña has been recorded as a popular song (with added lyrics) as a serious piano work (even by Lecuona himself in the 1950's) and also as a jazz standard (Bill Holman's arrangement for the Stan Kenton Orchestra in the early 1960's.) Over the years it has been arranged many times for variousother mediums ranging from symphony orchestra to field arrangements for drum and bugle corps.In 1976 James Barnes arranged Malagueña for the University of Kansas Marching Band. A few years later with permission from the publisher he expanded this original arrangement into a full work for symphonic band called Prelude Fantasy and Fandango on Lecuona's Malagueña. After several performances in the spring of 1978 (most notably at the MENC Convention in Colorado Springs) this work along with over 200 other Barnes manuscripts lay fallow in the KU Band Library. While packing up his office belongings when he retired from The University of Kansas in 2015 Barnes came across this long languishing Prelude Fantasy and Fandango which remained in condensed score. In the fall of 2016 he completely re-composed the opening portion of the work reduced the number of required percussion and disposed of the two harps in his 1978 version. This new setting features evocative thinly scored extended solo passages for clarinet bassoon and flute before the full wind band concludes the work with a powerful dramatic setting of the main themes of Lecuona's masterful Malagueña.

This dramatic work for young players is intended to portray a noble mystical pursuit of some great conquest or accomplishment. Full of driving percussion resolving tone clusters dramatic brass writing and spectacular tutti musical statements it also features easy passages for solo oboe bassoon and piccolo. This piece is a great choice for excellent middle school or smaller high school bands. It is generously cross cued to be performed with limited instrumentation.

Score-Silvestre Revueltas' ‘Sensemaya’ was written in 1937 for chamber orchestra; one year later the composer transcribed it for a huge orchestra of twenty-seven wind instruments fourteen percussion instruments and strings. The rhythms are laid out precisely and have considerable visceral impact very much in a manner that recalls Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. However Revueltas' masterful orchestration and ability to evoke the ancient Maya civilization with decidedly modern music are uniquely his own. It is a unique orchestral spectacle something only Revueltas could have written and in its way it is one of the most brutal works of its time. The workbegins with a low note in the bassoon as the percussion plays the sinuous syncopated rhythm that drives the work. Soon a solo horn enters playing the first of this work's two major themes a muscular ominous motif. Other horns join the first one to play the theme growing louder and more emphatic but rigorously yoked to the underlying rhythm. Eventually the horns blast as loudly as they can with obsessive trills on the bassoon far underneath and the violins enter with the slashing second theme. The horns take up this new theme and bring it to a climax after which the music returns to its opening texture. This recapitulation brings with it a mood of foreboding. The rhythm becomes even more obsessive and finally the music reaches a massive climax during which both themes are played overlapping sometimes in part and sometimes in whole by woodwinds brass and violins in what sounds like a musical riot. The coda feels like the final dropping of a knife.

From the composer of Festival of Carols and The Winter Rose comes a cantata that celebrates the legacy of early American carols and hymnody. Composed in the spirit of folk music the cantata combines traditionalsounds with more rustic elements creating a blend that is fresh and pleasing. Popular American carols like Away In a Manger and O Little Town of Bethlehem dance with traditional spirituals such as Children GoWhere I Send Thee and Go Tell It on the Mountain. Sacred Harp tunes are re-tooled for Advent and stand alongside new versions of Shaker hymns and Appalachian melodies. Thoughtful narration weaves the movements togetherin a meaningful tapestry of song and Scripture. Two orchestral options are available allowing maximum flexibility in performance. A full line of support products is also available. Available separately: SATB CD-ROM FullOrchestration (Score and Parts for Flute 1 and 2 alto recorder Oboe/English Horn Clarinet 1 and 2 Bassoon Horn 1 and 2 Trumpet 1-3 Trombone 1 and 2 Bass Trombone/Tuba Timpani Percussion Acoustic Guitar Banjo Harp Piano Synth Solo fiddle Violin 1 and 2 Viola Cello Double Bass) Printed Full Orchestration Appalachian Consort Orchestration (Score and parts for Flute Violin Cello Mandolin Guitar Percussion and Piano) StudioTrax CD (accompanimentonly) SplitTrax CD Listening CD 10-Pack Listening CDs Preview Pack (Book/CD combo) RehearsalTrax CDs (part predominant reproducible) Digital Resource Kit (PowerPoint Choir Devotionals Poster Program Flyers Children'sProgram PDFs). Duration: approx. 40 min.

Symphony No. 9 in D minor Op. 125 Facsimile Score. With his ninth symphony, Beethoven ventured into new musical dimensions. In the final movement, soloists and choir join forces with the orchestra and Schiller?s ?Ode to Joy? becomes a global aspiration, a declaration: ?Alle Menschen werden Brüder ! / All mankind becomes brothers.? In his commentary the great Beethoven scholar Lewis Lockwood describes the plea which Beethoven wanted to deliver at that time with this work and how views of this have changed over the centuries. Jonathan Del Mar, a renowned editor of Beethoven?s works, comments on noteworthy passages in the autograph manuscript and allows the reader to share in the composer?s working process.,br>Already the large-format paper which Beethoven used for some passages makes the large forces clear. Cuts, sometimes reversed later, show how he wrestled with the final version of the musical text and refined it right down to the last detail. The history of the autograph manuscript reflects an episode in German history: after storage in various places because of the war, the major parts were returned to Berlin but were initially divided by the Berlin Wall and only reunited in 1990. Martina Rebmann who is the Director of the Music Department at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin traces this story. In 1972 the main theme of the last movement was chosen by the Council of Europe as the European anthem and in 1985 it was adopted by the European Community as its official anthem. In 2001 the manuscript was listed in UNESCO?s Memory of the World Register. For the first time the facsimile presents all the parts of the manuscript including pages preserved in Bonn and Paris as well as the trombone and contrabassoon parts. The first edition (2010) was awarded with the German Music Edition Prize ?Best Edition? 2011.