from the opera The Midsummer Marriage-Tippett's decision to extract the four Ritual Dances from his opera 'The Midsummer Marriage' as a self-contained concert suite reflects the fact that the medium of dance was always present in his conception of the opera. From the start there was to be an interaction within the opera between the real world and the world of mythology partly Greek partly Celtic. This mythological element culminates in the finished opera in the 'Ritual Dances' of Acts 2 and 3. Tippett himself described his opera as a kind of elaborate 'L'après midi d'un faune; in which the 'Ritual Dances' display a powerful sexual energy though of a very different kind from Debussy's voluptuouslangour. Composition of The Midsummer Marriage occupied Tippett for six years from 1946 to 1952. The first performance of the Ritual Dances as a concert suite was given in Basel on 13 February 1953 by the Basel Kammerorchester conducted by Paul Sacher and preceded the premiere of the complete opera by two years. Today the Ritual Dances rival the Concerto for Double String Orchestra (ETP 1331) as Tippett's most widely-performed orchestral work.

Piano Quartet No. 1. Par JOST CHRISTIAN. Christian Jost spent the summer of 1987 in an Indian reservation in Arizona. Impressed by the foreign culture and deeply moved by the visit of a Native American burial site, he composed - apart from other works - the piano quartet 'Ritual Returning' in which Indian influences can be heard. Like many of his works, this vibrant work resembles a journey in which he assimilates impressions and thoughts. 'Ritual Returning' is an extraordinary addition to the common repertoire for piano quartet. This piece will also elate listeners who are reticent about contemporary music./ Répertoire / Quatuor avec Piano

Masterpieces of the 20th century arranged for piano solo, including 'Nimrod' from Elgar's Enigma Variations and Falla's 'Ritual Fire Dance'. / Piano

Manuel De Falla 's The Ritual Fire Dance from 'El Amor Brujo'. Transcribed by Bram Wiggins for Symphonic Wind Band. Score and parts. / Ensemble A Vent

Par BUCKNELL PETER. Peter Bucknell The skill of the designer, the wide knowledge of the historian of drama and the practical experience of the director come together in this book, in which the author draws the story of early dramatic presentation from the early Middle Ages to the Elizabethan theatre, tracing its origins in entertainment and ritual, sacred and secular. A book for students of all ages. . . and anyone with a love of the theatre. ISBN 0 85249 444 0/ Livre / Livre

Regarded as the greatest Spanish composer of the 20th century, Manuel De Falla (1876-1946) had a distinctively nationalistic style. His Andalusian influences are clearly seen in his 1915 ballet El Amor Brujo , which is often praised for its originality, while at the same time preserving the beauty of the Andalusian folk themes. The most famous movement of the ballet is Danza Rituel Del Fuego (The Ritual Fire Dance), inspired by the traditional ceremony where people would worship the Fire-God by dancing around and leaping through a fire. Renowned for its exciting trills and ornaments, it has been arranged here for Violin and Piano. / Violon

Score-Henry Cowell's Seven Rituals Of Man uses music to explore the journey of Man from Birth to Death similar to the All the world’s a stage monologue from Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Symphony No.11 reflects the work and struggle love dance and play mystical imagination and lament for death all the stages of a man's life. The seven rituals are all very different and alternate between relatively conventional scoring for strings and winds and some really unusual writing for full orchestra with extensive percussion.