Aquarium (score and parts)

SKU: CF.CAS129

ISBN 9781491157657. UPC: 680160916238. 9 x 12 inches.

Maelstrom is a term synonymous with a whirlpool: a swirling, tumultuous vortex that engulfs everything around it. This exciting piece starts with a treacherous storm motif that acts as the undercurrent as quotes from famous water-themed compositions are heard. Some shifting is required in first violin, cello, and bass, and all parts include accidentals and dramatic dynamic changes. Students will learn the flowing theme from Smetana's Die Moldau, explore the haunting Aquarium movement from Saint-Saens's Carnival of the Animals, and bow along to a traditional Irish Sea Chanty, as melodies overlap in this musical storm. Developing players will refine articulation skills, explore a variety of rhythms in 6/8, and expand their chromatic and dynamic horizons in the familiar key of E minor.
Maelstrom is a term synonymous with a whirlpool: a swirling, tumultuous vortex that engulfs everything around it. This exciting piece starts with a treacherous storm motif that acts as the undercurrent as quotes from famous water-themed compositions are heard. Some shifting is required in first violin, cello, and bass, and all parts include accidentals and dramatic dynamic changes. Students will learn the flowing theme from Smetana’s “Die Moldau,” explore the haunting “Aquarium” movement from Saint-Saëns’s “Carnival of the Animals,” and bow along to a traditional Irish Sea Chanty, as melodies overlap in this musical storm. Developing players will refine articulation skills, explore a variety of rhythms in 6/8, and expand their chromatic and dynamic horizons in the familiar key of E minor.

SKU: BT.AMP-143-020

9x12 inches. English-German.

The idea behind this work was to create an opening piece, something to start a concert in an unusual way. The title is a portmanteau word derived from madrigal. The work indeed begins in Renaissance mood however gradually tries to shake of its modal start and, by contrasting different instrumental families,the work changes into modern clothes.Why not add a little Renaissance splendor to any concert with this unique new work?

De titel Madrigalum is afgeleid van de term madrigaal - en dit openingswerk begint inderdaad in een renaissancistische sfeer, aanvankelijk met slagwerk. Een fanfareachtig motief, ingezet door een solotrompet, is gebaseerd ophet ritmische motief dat de aanvang van veel zestiende-eeuwse madrigalen kenmerkt (een lange toon en twee korte tonen). Maar het werk schudt zijn modale start van zich af: met contrasten tussen verschillende instrumentgroepen veranderthet van richting en hult zich in een modern jasje. Een legato gedeelte vestigt de aandacht op de zachter klinkende instrumenten in afwisseling met het madrigaalritme - tot een complete omschakeling naar een sneller coda leidt,waarmee het werk besluit.

Dem Titel entsprechend, beginnt dieses Eröffnungswerk im Renaissance-Stil in den Schlaginstrumenten mit einer fanfareartigen Figur in einer Solotrompete. Dann entwickelt sich die Musik jedoch hin zu moderneren Klängen. Dann wechselt sich ein Legato mit dem schnelleren Madrigalrhythmus ab, bevor das Stück noch einmal die Richtung ändert und in einer schnellen Coda endet. Ein ungewöhnlicher, viel versprechender Auftakt für Ihr Konzert!

Questo brano di apertura è insolito e originale. Il titolo è un acronimo derivato dal termine madrigale, una forma musicale apparsa nel XVI secolo. Madrigalum apre al suono delle percussioni, in uno stile rinascimentale. La tromba espone un motivo di fanfara ispirato da una figura ritmica caratteristica di numerosi madrigali dell’epoca. La struttura abbandona progressivamente la sua forma modale per sviluppare un dialogo strumentale contrastante e contrastato che d al brano una forma più moderna. Un passaggio legato evidenzia gli strumenti dalle sonorit più calde e si alterna con motivi ritmici del madrigale, prima di imporre un cambiamento assoluto del carattere cheaccompagna il brano ad un finale eclatante.

SKU: PR.31241902A

UPC: 680160690510. English.

Commissioned by the San Francisco Choral Society and the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, Terra Nostra is a 70-minute oratorio on the relationship between our planet and humankind, how this relationship has shifted over time, and how we can re-establish a harmonious balance. Part I: Creation of the World explores various creation myths from different cultures, culminating in a joyous celebration of the beauty of our planet. Part II: The Rise of Humanity examines human achievements, particularly since the dawn of our Industrial Age, and how these achievements have impacted the planet. Part III: Searching for Balance questions how to create more awareness for our planet’s plight, re-establish a deeper connection to it, and find a balance for living within our planet’s resources. In addition to the complete oratorio, stand-alone movements for mixed chorus, and for solo voice with piano, are also available separately.
Terra Nostra focuses on the relationship between our planet and mankind, how this relationship has shifted over time, and how we can re-establish a harmonious balance. The oratorio is divided into three parts:Part I: Creation of the World celebrates the birth and beauty of our planet. The oratorio begins with creation myths from India, North America, and Egypt that are integrated into the opening lines of Genesis from the Old Testament. The music surges forth from these creation stories into “God’s World” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, which describes the world in exuberant and vivid detail. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “On thine own child” praises Mother Earth for her role bringing forth all life, while Walt Whitman sings a love song to the planet in “Smile O voluptuous cool-breathed earth!” Part I ends with “A Blade of Grass” in which Whitman muses how our planet has been spinning in the heavens for a very long time.Part II: The Rise of Humanity examines the achievements of mankind, particularly since the dawn of the Industrial Age. Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Locksley Hall” sets an auspicious tone that mankind is on the verge of great discoveries. This is followed in short order by Charles Mackay’s “Railways 1846,” William Ernest Henley’s “A Song of Speed,” and John Gillespie Magee, Jr.’s “High Flight,” each of which celebrates a new milestone in technological achievement. In “Binsey Poplars,” Gerard Manley Hopkins takes note of the effect that these advances are having on the planet, with trees being brought down and landscapes forever changed. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “A Dirge” concludes Part II with a warning that the planet is beginning to sound a grave alarm.Part III: Searching for Balance questions how we can create more awareness for our planet’s plight, re-establish a deeper connection to it, and find a balance for living within our planet’s resources. Three texts continue the earth’s plea that ended the previous section: Lord Byron’s “Darkness” speaks of a natural disaster (a volcano) that has blotted out the sun from humanity and the panic that ensues; contemporary poet Esther Iverem’s “Earth Screaming” gives voice to the modern issues of our changing climate; and William Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much With Us” warns us that we are almost out of time to change our course. Contemporary/agrarian poet Wendell Berry’s “The Want of Peace” speaks to us at the climax of the oratorio, reminding us that we can find harmony with the planet if we choose to live more simply, and to recall that we ourselves came from the earth. Two Walt Whitman texts (“A Child said, What is the grass?” and “There was a child went forth every day”) echo Berry’s thoughts, reminding us that we are of the earth, as is everything that we see on our planet. The oratorio concludes with a reprise of Whitman’s “A Blade of Grass” from Part I, this time interspersed with an additional Whitman text that sublimely states, “I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love…”My hope in writing this oratorio is to invite audience members to consider how we interact with our planet, and what we can each personally do to keep the planet going for future generations. We are the only stewards Earth has; what can we each do to leave her in better shape than we found her?

SKU: PR.312419020

ISBN 9781491131862. UPC: 680160680474. 6.875 x 10.5 inches. English.

Commissioned by the San Francisco Choral Society and the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, Terra Nostra is a 70-minute oratorio on the relationship between our planet and humankind, how this relationship has shifted over time, and how we can re-establish a harmonious balance. Part I: Creation of the World explores various creation myths from different cultures, culminating in a joyous celebration of the beauty of our planet. Part II: The Rise of Humanity examines human achievements, particularly since the dawn of our Industrial Age, and how these achievements have impacted the planet. Part III: Searching for Balance questions how to create more awareness for our planet’s plight, re-establish a deeper connection to it, and find a balance for living within our planet’s resources. In addition to the complete oratorio, stand-alone movements for mixed chorus, and for solo voice with piano, are also available separately.
Terra Nostra focuses on the relationship between our planet and mankind, how this relationship has shifted over time, and how we can re-establish a harmonious balance. The oratorio is divided into three parts:Part I: Creation of the World celebrates the birth and beauty of our planet. The oratorio begins with creation myths from India, North America, and Egypt that are integrated into the opening lines of Genesis from the Old Testament. The music surges forth from these creation stories into “God’s World” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, which describes the world in exuberant and vivid detail. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “On thine own child” praises Mother Earth for her role bringing forth all life, while Walt Whitman sings a love song to the planet in “Smile O voluptuous cool-breathed earth!” Part I ends with “A Blade of Grass” in which Whitman muses how our planet has been spinning in the heavens for a very long time.Part II: The Rise of Humanity examines the achievements of mankind, particularly since the dawn of the Industrial Age. Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Locksley Hall” sets an auspicious tone that mankind is on the verge of great discoveries. This is followed in short order by Charles Mackay’s “Railways 1846,” William Ernest Henley’s “A Song of Speed,” and John Gillespie Magee, Jr.’s “High Flight,” each of which celebrates a new milestone in technological achievement. In “Binsey Poplars,” Gerard Manley Hopkins takes note of the effect that these advances are having on the planet, with trees being brought down and landscapes forever changed. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “A Dirge” concludes Part II with a warning that the planet is beginning to sound a grave alarm.Part III: Searching for Balance questions how we can create more awareness for our planet’s plight, re-establish a deeper connection to it, and find a balance for living within our planet’s resources. Three texts continue the earth’s plea that ended the previous section: Lord Byron’s “Darkness” speaks of a natural disaster (a volcano) that has blotted out the sun from humanity and the panic that ensues; contemporary poet Esther Iverem’s “Earth Screaming” gives voice to the modern issues of our changing climate; and William Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much With Us” warns us that we are almost out of time to change our course. Contemporary/agrarian poet Wendell Berry’s “The Want of Peace” speaks to us at the climax of the oratorio, reminding us that we can find harmony with the planet if we choose to live more simply, and to recall that we ourselves came from the earth. Two Walt Whitman texts (“A Child said, What is the grass?” and “There was a child went forth every day”) echo Berry’s thoughts, reminding us that we are of the earth, as is everything that we see on our planet. The oratorio concludes with a reprise of Whitman’s “A Blade of Grass” from Part I, this time interspersed with an additional Whitman text that sublimely states, “I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love…”My hope in writing this oratorio is to invite audience members to consider how we interact with our planet, and what we can each personally do to keep the planet going for future generations. We are the only stewards Earth has; what can we each do to leave her in better shape than we found her?