Quicksilver

SKU: PR.114419850

ISBN 9781491135808. UPC: 680160681044. 9 x 12 inches.

Both a spectacular concerto for saxophone, and a dramatic tone poem on Roman mythology, QUICKSILVER is a 23-minute concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble by one of the sax literature’s most commissioned and admired composers.Through worded captions as well as gorgeously expressive tone painting, Movement 1 depicts the birth and childhood pranks of Mercury, Movement 2 shows him escorting souls to the gates of the Underworld, and Movement 3 is a phantasmagoric finale portraying Mercury as messenger amid the conflicts of other mythological figures. There are many YouTube performances available, both in the original version with Wind Ensemble, and with Piano.
In addition to being another name for the element mercury, “quicksilver” is used to describe something that changes quickly or is difficult to contain. My concerto of the same name was inspired by the Roman god Mercury, as well as the mercurial nature of the saxophone: unpredictable, very lively, and volatile. Mercury (known as Hermes in Greek mythology) is best known for his winged shoes, which allowed him to fly swiftly as the messenger of his fellow Olympians. Mercury had other duties too, including serving as the god of merchants, travelers, and tricksters; he also ushered souls of the departed to the Underworld.Quicksilver tells three tales of the Roman god. The first movement (Antics of a Newborn God) opens with the birth of Mercury; after he takes his first steps, he toddles around, gleefully looking for mischief. He stumbles across a herd of cows that belong to his brother Apollo; Mercury slyly lets the cows out of their pen before toddling onward with his mischief-making.In the second movement (Guiding Souls to the Underworld), Pluto, god of the Underworld, bids Mercury to bring him fresh souls. The movement begins with death-knells tolling for humans who are about to die; Mercury picks up these souls and leads them down to the gates of the Underworld.The third and final movement (Messenger of Olympus) depicts Mercury as he is busily running errands for various gods and goddesses. We first encounter him mid-flight as he dashes to earth to find Aeneas, a Trojan lieutenant who had been run out of Troy by the invading Greeks. Aeneas is on a quest to find land on which to establish a new city that would eventually become Rome. While traveling, he is distracted from his quest when he meets the beautiful queen Dido. They live together for many years before Mercury intervenes; he chastises Aeneas for giving up on his quest and persuades him to pick it up again. As Aeneas mournfully resumes his journey, we hear Dido perish of a broken heart. Mercury then takes to the skies to seek out Perseus, who is preparing to kill Medusa, the hideous gorgon who has snakes for hair and a gaze that turns those who catch her glance into stone. Mercury advises Perseus on how to slay Medusa and lends Perseus his sword to do the deed. We hear Perseus victorious in the beheading of Medusa, after which Mercury takes to the skies once more to fly home to Olympus.

SKU: FJ.B1749

UPC: 241444391372. English.

This rollicking, whimsical circus-style galop promises to deliver thrills again and again! With sweeping technical passages and a highly infectious melody, Quicksilver will delight the listener and your musicians will welcome the challenge! Play it on the slower or faster side - either way, it will be a lot of fun for all!

SKU: FP.FCJ01

ISBN 979-0-57050-026-0.

A wonderful set of 10 pieces inspired by the adventures of the Greek and Roman Gods, with stories and illustrations. Suggested grade 1-2.

SKU: HL.295068

ISBN 9781540055200. UPC: 888680945091. 8.5x11.0x0.592 inches.

Your new official bebop bible! Over 200 classics arranged for Bb instruments in Real Book style. Titles include: Anthropology * Au Privave * Be-Bop * Boneology * Boplicity (Be Bop Lives) * Byrd Like * Cherokee (Indian Love Song) * Confirmation * Donna Lee * Doxy * Epistrophy * 52nd Street Theme * Four * Goin' to Minton's * Good Bait * Groovin' High * Hi-Fly * Hot House * In Walked Bud * Jay Bird * Lady Bird * Lennie's Pennies * Moose the Mooche * Move * Oblivion * Oleo * Parisian Thoroughfare * Rosetta * Salt Peanuts * Solar * Teaneck * Tin Tin Deo * Tour De Force * Tricrotism * Wail * Woodyn' You * Yardbird Suite * and more! Comb bound.

SKU: ST.Y244

ISBN 9790220222214.

Comm issioned by Mobius for its tenth anniversary project, and first performed by them at the Wigmore Hall on 22 March 2008, Emerging (lightly) is a showcase for solo viola, flute, clarinet, harp, two violins and cello. The music is fleet and light, concerned with the developing relationship between two contrasting ideas that is mediated by the solo instrument. Writing in The Times, Richard Morrison praised Emerging (lightly) for its musical argument: 'Here the viola was the still centre of a quicksilver polyphonic whirl, before intoning a haunting folk-like tune over an oasis of calm G major. The impression was of a serene character quelling fractious colleagues. Intriguing and stimulating ...'.

SKU: CL.038-0195-00

SKU: FG.55011-372-5

ISBN 9790550113725.

Imag es of the sea figure prominently throughout my life and memories: from holidays on the Atlantic coast during my Canadian childhood to my current Baltic home, and the imagined, only later experienced Mediterranean of my ancestral heritage. As an immigrant (son of an immigrant) bound to two northern countries, the sea is emblematic of my twin homelands, from the expanses of water surrounding them to those separating them. A Mari usque ad Mare. The sea is also an enduring image of the unknown, of expanses unexplored, of the raw power of nature and, for too many currently, of terror holding a hope of refuge - or the pain of loss.
Such disparate ideas were captured for me in the seascapes of the New York painter MaryBeth Thielhelm, whom I met in 2008 during a residency on the Gulf of Mexico. Her vast, abstract, nearly monochromatic depictions of imaginary seas in wildly varying moods were the catalyst for a concerto where the piano is frequently far from a hero battling a collective, but rather acts as a channel for elemental forces surging up from the orchestra, floating - sometimes barely so - on its constantly shifting surface. There are few themes to speak of, beyond a handful of iconic ideas that periodically cycle upward. Rather, the piano's material is largely an ornamentation of the more primal rhythmic and harmonic impulses from the orchestra below - a poetic interpretation, if you will, of the more immediate experience of facing the vastness of some unknown body of water.
The title Nameless Seas is borrowed from one of Thielhelm's exhibitions, as are those of the four movements, which are bridged together into two halves of roughly equal weight - one rhapsodic and free, the other more single-minded and direct, separated only by a short breath. The opening movement, Nocturne, is predominantly calm, if brooding, darkness and light alternating throughout. Lyrical arabesques sparkle over gently lapping cross-currents in the strings and mirrored timpani, the piano's full power only rarely deployed. The waves gradually build, drawing in the full orchestra for a meeting of forces in Land and Sea, a brighter, more warmly lyrical scene that unfolds in series of dreamlike, sometimes even nostalgic visions, which for me carry strong memories of sitting on rocks above surging Atlantic waves. The third movement, Wake, is a fast, perpetual-motion texture of glinting, darting rhythms and sudden shafts of light, with a prominent part for the steel drums, limning the piano's quicksilver figurations. An ecstatic climax crashes into a solo cadenza that grows progressively calmer and more introspective rather than virtuosic. Much of the tension finally releases into Unclaimed Waters, a drifting, meditative seascape in which the piano is progressively engulfed by a series of ever-taller waves, ultimately dissolving into a tolling, rippling continuum of sound.
It has been a great privilege to realize such a long-held dream as this piece, and to write it for not one, but two great pianists. Risto-Matti Marin and Angela Hewitt, both of whose friendship and support have been unfailing and humbling, share the dedication. Nameless Seas was commissioned by the PianoEspoo festival and Canada's National Arts Centre, with the premieres in Ottawa and Helsinki led by Hannu Lintu and Olari Elts. Thanks are due also to the Jenny and Antti Wihuri fund, whose generous grant provided me with much-needed time, and Escape to Create in Seaside, Florida, the source to which I returned to do a large part of the work.

SKU: AP.39616S

UPC: 038081454825. English.

Written in the traditional march style, this piece is designed to give very young players experience with the marcato style of playing. Technical and range requirements are held to a minimum in this exciting march for beginning level bands. (1:30) This title is available in MakeMusic Cloud.

SKU: CL.038-0195-01