Concerto for Clarinets, First Movement -- Fantasia

SKU: HL.14020993

ISBN 9780711952010. 5.5x8.5x0.222 inches.

The solo group consists of a sextet of the woodwind instruments which are normally doubled with more regular members of the orchestra: these six strangers, now brought to the fore, are piccolo and alto flute, cor anglais, Eb and bass clarinets and contrabassoon. They make a motley group, diverse in colour as in register, and one of the tasks of the piece sets itself is to have them blend and cohere, both together as an ensemble and in partnership with the string orchestra (which itself is used with unusual variety and subtlety). Another evident task of the work is to provide fine solos for each member of the woodwind sextet: bright dances for the piccolo, recitatives for the alto flute, a stoical song from the contrabassoon in the extreme bass. The work is cast as a single movement, which begins in the composer's first-movement style of rapid regeneration. This is interrupted by slow interventions, including one for divided strings which gives rise to a sextuple cadenza for the soloists. Out of this comes a slow movement, or sequence of short slow movements, followed by a dancing finale with its own slow episodes. Altogether this is music of songs and dances, heavily tinged with Scottish rhythms and tonalities: one might think of a magic bagpipe, having six chanters and a drone of variegated string texture. This work for woodwind instruments and string orchestra was commissioned by the Strathclyde Regional Council and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. It is the ninth of ten concerti to be written for principal players of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. The first performance was given in February 1995 by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, conducted by the composer.

SKU: BO.B.3340

ISBN 9788480207591.

Engl ish comments:
My dedication to the string instruments has been a constant throughout my compositional career and I knew that sooner or later the time would come to compose a concerto for violin and orchestra. That moment came in the autumn of 2002 and after ten months of uninterrupted work I finished it in August of 2003. It is a work structured similarly to the traditional concertos. An important impetus for the elaboration of my concerto was due to the ill-fated violinist Ginette Neveu. Her version of Sibelius' Concerto has always stayed with me. For this reason the first movement, Moderato-Allegro, begins with a contemplative atmosphere similar to that of Sibelius' Concerto in which the principal thematic ideas appear tentatively. These ideas, two rhythmic and two melodic, are reaffirmed through a broad development that culminates in an orchestral fullness. A calm, mysterious passage recalls the introduction and after becoming blurred, three bars burst in leading to the rapid section of the movement. Soloist and orchestra engage in a dialectic struggle of a dramatic nature. The agitation subsides leaving only a tranquil and suggestive clarinet phrase. This will be taken up by the soloist who leads up to the movement's most dramatic moment playing an accelerating triplet figure supported by an orchestral pedal in crescendo. From here the soloist's cadenza emerges beginning with soft double notes. It finishes with an ascending progression and the soloist settles into the high register to elicit the orchestra's intervention in a soft and transfigured atmosphere. Once internalised the second movement, Adagio poco sostenuto e leggero begins. It has a solemn character and opens with two trumpet calls answered by the violoncellos and the contrabasses. The violin soloist introduces and plays two nostalgic themes, the first in the low register and the second, more extensive, in the middle register. The soft and delicate Misterioso e leggero begins with the violin singing on high. The rhythm of the constant quaver figures gradually accelerates until the soloist provokes a dramatic full orchestra as in a cadenza. Once again, the Calmo, in which the soloist with less and less orchestral attire serenely bids farewell. A rising series of double stops by the soloist serves to initiate the Finale-Scherzo. In 6/8 rhythm and with the character of a rondo it carries us along in a carefree, virtuosic ambiance. The principal motives, brief and concise, emerge from the happy, playful theme presented by the soloist. With an intricate progression of rapid sixths in double stops it reaches a tense and somewhat combative moment. However this resolves itself in a diminuendo that the soloist peacefully takes up with the notes re-la to commence the cadenza. This culminates in a series of tied notes to reintroduce the principal theme. A moment of melodic suspension serves as a farewell before the brief and jovial final coda. --The author

Comentari os del Espanol:
A lo largo de mi carrera compositiva mi dedicacion a los instrumentos de cuerda ha sido constante y sabia que, tarde o temprano, llegaria el momento de componer un concierto para violin y orquesta. Este llego en otono de 2002 y, tras diez meses de trabajo ininterrumpido, lo termine en agosto de 2003. Se trata de una obra estructurada de manera similar a los conciertos tradicionales. Un importante impulso a la elaboracion de mi concierto lo debo al recuerdo de la malograda violinista Ginette Neveu. Su version del concierto de Sibelius ha permanecido siempre dentro de mi. Por ese motivo, el primer movimiento Moderato-Allegro se inicia con una atmosfera contemplativa cercana a la del mencionado Concierto, en la que aparecen cautamente las principales ideas tematicas. Con un amplio desarrollo se llega a un lleno orquestal en el que estas ideas -dos ritmicas y dos melodicas- quedan reafirmadas. Un pasaje calmo y misterioso rememora la introduccion. Tras desdibujarse, irrumpen tres compases que nos llevan a la parte rapida del movimiento. Solista y orquesta establecen un combate dialectico de caracter dramatico. La inquietud desaparece hasta una tranquila e insinuante frase del clarinete. Esta sera recogida por el solista, quien, a base de una figuracion de tresillos cada vez mas rapidos apoyada por un pedal de la orquesta in crescendo, conduce hacia el momento mas dramatico del movimiento. De aqui nace la cadenza del solista, que se incia con suaves notas dobles. Finaliza con una progresion ascendente y el solista se coloca en el registro agudo para llamar la intervencion de la orquesta dentro de una atmosfera suave y transfigurada. Interiorizado es el segundo movimiento Adagio poco sostenuto e leggero. Con dos llamadas de las trompas respondidas por los violonchelos y contrabajos inicia el Adagio de caracter grave. El violin solista introduce y canta dos temas nostalgicos. El primero en el registro grave y el segundo, mas amplio, en el medio. Inicia el Misterioso e leggero, de caracter suave y delicado. Con el violin cantando en agudo. La constante figuracion de corcheas acelerara poco a poco el ritmo hasta que el solista a modo de cadenza provocara un dramatico lleno orquestal. De nuevo el Calmo, donde el solista, cada vez con menos ropaje orquestal, se despide serenamente. Una subida de dobles cuerdas a cargo del solista sirve para iniciar el Finale-Scherzo. Este, en ritmo de 6/8 y con caracter de rondo, nos transporta en un clima virtuosistico y despreocupado. Del tema alegre y jugueton presentado por el solista nacen los principales motivos, breves y concisos. Con una intrincada sucesion de rapidas sextas en doble cuerda se llega a un momento crispado y algo combativo que, sin embargo, se resolvera en un diminuendo que el solista recoge apaciblemente con las notas re-la para inciar la cadenza. Esta culmina con un suave rosario de notas en ligado para introducir de nuevo el tema principal. Un momento de suspension melodica sirve como despido antes de la breve y jovial coda final. La obra fue estrenada el 23 de septiembre de 2005 en el Teatre Monumental de Madrid por la Orquesta Sinfonica de RTVE con Markus Placci de solista y Uwe Mund de director. Gravacion: RNE y Canal Clasico de TVE. --El Autor.

SKU: FG.55011-904-8

ISBN 9790550119048.

Publ ished for the first time in 2024! Einojuhani Rautavaara's Concerto grottesco was composed in 1950 and is among his first orchestral works. With overall duration of six minutes, the work includes four movements.

This product includes the full score and the set of parts:
Flutes 1–2 (2nd flute also piccolo)
Oboes 1–2
Clarinets 1–2 in Bb & A
Bassoons 1–2
Horns 1–2 in F
Trumpets 1–2 in Bb
Trombone
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion (1 performer): Tamburo rullante, piatto sospeso, triangolo, Wood block
Double basses 1–2

Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928−2016) was one of Finland's internationally most successful composers. He made his major breakthrough with the Seventh Symphony, Angel of Light, in the 1990s, but his output includes numerous classic operas, concertos, chamber music works and choral works. Over his extensive career, he progressed from Neo-Classicism to strict dodecaphony to free-tonal Neo-Romanticism.

SKU: PR.466411770

UPC: 680160640850. 9 x 12 inches.

Mississippi I. Father of Waters: born of the Highlands and the Lakes; the Glaciers, the Mountains, and the Prairies. The picture of your birth is clounded in the ice and mists of ancient ages but your spirit remains our life stream. II. The Red Man knew your bountiful gifts and gave thanks to the Great Spirit on your banks. -- The Spanish and French Fathers brought the glory of Christianity to America on Mississippi. But all men, white and dark; -- Indian, Spaniard, and Negro; Bourbon and Yankee, combined to make Mississippi the heart of America. Saga of the Mississippi Harl McDonald Born near Boulder, Colorado, July 27, 1899 Now living in Philadelphia The original suggestion for a symphonic work on the subject of the Mississippi came indirectly from the late Booth Tarkington who saw in it color and movement and atmosphere translatable into the terms of music. In the course of time, by the mysterious processes of composers' chemistry, it took shape as a tone-poem of two sections, one representing the rise of the great stream from its primeval geologic sources, the other the human history of the river. Mr. McDonald devised the following verbal outline of the general scheme of his diptych: I. Father of Waters: born of the Highlands and the Lakes; the Glaciers, the Mountains, and the Prairies. The picture of your birth is clounded in the ice and mists of ancient ages but your spirit remains our life stream. II. The Red Man knew your bountiful gifts and gave thanks to the Great Spirit on your banks. -- The Spanish and French Fathers brought the glory of Christianity to America on Mississippi. But all men, white and dark; -- Indian, Spaniard, and Negro; Bourbon and Yankee, combined to make Mississippi the heart of America. The first of the two movements, beginning molto andante, is vaguel modal to hint at antiquity. It is built upon the conventional two themes, with an episode, poco piu mosso, misterioso, for prehistoric murk and muck. There are various changes of pace and mood. The second, Allegro ma vigorosamente, prefigures an Indian ceremony. A theme presented by flute, clarinet and bassoon is a Canadian Indian fishing call collected by the late J.B. Beck. A later passage of quasi-Gregorian chant identifies the French and Spanish priests who made the great river their highway. The fishing-call is altered in rhythm and harmony to represent Negro field hands and roustabous. A turbulent close brings all these elemts together in the muddy swirling currents of the Mississippi. The work was begun in the summer of 1945, and was revised and completed in the summer of 1947. Harl McDonald, who is the manager of The Philadelphia Orchestra, has concerned himself with music as an art, as a science and as a business in course of his career. He was born on a cattle ranch in the Rockies, but since his was a musical family, his up-bringing combined piano lessons with ranch life. Years of study and professional experience followed in Los Angeles and in Germany. In 1927 he was appointed lecuter in composition at the University of Pennsylvania and he has since then made is home in Philadelphia. In 1933 under a grant of the Rockefeller FOundation he collaborated with physicists in research dealing with the measurement of instrumental and vocal tone, new scale divisions and the resultant harmonies. In that same year he was named head of the University's music faculty and conductor of its choral organizations. In 1939, having been a member of the Board of Directors for five years, he was appointed manager of The Philadelphia Orchestra. He continus to write, but otherwise his entire attention is now devoted to managerial duties. Chief items in the catalogue of his compositions are four symphonies, three orchestra suites, a half-dozen tone-poems, three concertos and considerable quantity of choral music.

SKU: FG.55011-885-0

Whizzing, growling and rattling – you can produce all kinds of sounds with the harp, not just the fairy-tale shimmer and glissandos that you first think of. Lotta Wennäkoski composed Sigla for harp and orchestra (2021-2022) in close collaboration with the harpist Sivan Magen, to whom the concerto is dedicated. The title of the concerto, Sigla, has different meanings in different languages. In Italian, it means a jingle; in Icelandic, it means sailing; and in Tagalog, spoken in the Philippines, it means vivaciousness or enthusiasm. Wennäkoski has not specifically referenced these in the movements of the concerto as such, but she does allow that the various meanings of the word may be identified with the music according to the listener’s perception.

The recording of the work (Ondine ODE1420-2) was premiered with the Gramophone award as the the best release in the contemporary category in October 2023.

This product is the solo part.

The orchestral material is available for hire from the publisher.

Duratio n: 19'
Instrumentation:Harp solo – equipped with paint brush, tuning key and a plastic hair clip
2 Flutes (2nd doubling piccolo)
2 Oboes
2 Clarinets in Bb
2 Bassoons
2 Horns in F
2 Trumpets in C – trumpets and trombone doubling an egg slicer
Bass trombone attached to a piece of wood or a flat cardboard box
Percussion (2 players)
Percussion I: crotales, vibraphone, 5 gongs (a#, bn, c’, e’, f’), bass drum, cymbal, guiro, bell tree, shell chimes, whip, lion’s roar and different beaters including a bow, superball stck and wire brushes
Percussion II: tam-tam, cymbal, snare drum, 2 cowbells, 2 temple blocks (med/lg), triangle (small/med), vibraslap and different beaters including a bow, wire brushes and superball stick
Piano – equipped with a plectrum, wire brushes and 2 soft percussion beaters
Strings.