Astronomica

SKU: AP.49170S

UPC: 038081563749. English.

This version of Astronomica by Michael Story is part of our Belwin FLEX offerings and is designed with maximum flexibility for use by any mix of instruments---wind, strings, and percussion, including like- or mixed-ensembles with as few as 5 players. The suggested instrumentation and a customizable Teacher Map will help you plan out how to best assign parts to suit your ensemble's needs. It also comes with supplemental parts for maximum flexibility. With the purchase of this piece, permission is granted to photocopy the parts as needed for your ensemble. A percussion accompaniment track is also available as a free download. String parts have been carefully edited with extra fingerings and appropriate bowings to support students in mixed ensembles playing in less familiar keys.

Musically depicting the earliest recorded writings on astrology, Story's original composition begins with a hauntingly beautiful introduction transitioning to a forceful exploration with a dynamic conclusion. Enjoy this astrological journey that reinforces fermatas, caesuras, and contrasting articulations. (2:30)

Percussion Accompaniment Track Downloads:
with click.
without click. This title available in MakeMusic Cloud.

SKU: AP.48180

ISBN 9781470663346. UPC: 038081555911. English.

Musically depicting the earliest recorded writings on astrology, this original composition begins with a hauntingly beautiful introduction transitioning to a forceful exploration with a dynamic conclusion. Enjoy this astrological journey that reinforces fermatas, caesuras, and contrasting articulations. (2:30) This title is available in MakeMusic Cloud.

SKU: ST.C501

ISBN 9790570815012.

Close Encounters for Clarinet in B flat & Piano draws on historic themes connected to the medieval closes (also know as wynds or vennels) of the Scottish burgh town of Lanark, situated in the rural Clyde Valley. Often named after prominent resident business owners, these otherwise unremarkable narrow lanes are given life by the records of their occupiers or through local tales.

Aside from the more self explanatory titles, ‘Luminare’ describes the astronomical interests of electrical pioneer David Hunter; ‘Jumbo Jive’ relates to the legend of an inebriated circus elephant escapee who became stuck in the arch of Wide Close; ‘Amber Sky’ connects the India Ale trade of Brewery Close with an occasional, evocative dusk light that cloaks the town before sunset.

Close Encounters comprises five fascinating and contrasted short movements each set within its own very vivid sound world. The colourful harmonic language is drawn from a number of musical influences including flavours of Jazz, the silver screen and the French impressionists, all adding up to music that is both engaging to play and to listen to. The five movements are set at a comfortable technical level for the intermediate to advanced clarinettist, cover the entire range of the instrument, and the set would make for an intriguing addition to any clarinet recital.

- Paul Harris (composer & clarinettist)

SKU: HL.14028038

ISBN 9788759854730. 12.0x16.5x0.3 inches. English.

The word GONG is saturated with associations: the splendour of the Orient, mysticism, drama, loud metallic clangour, violent impact, etc. The present piece draws upon all those connotations, but it is primarily a symphonic drama about the life and behaviour of the sun, our closest star and prime source of life on Earth. Describing the sun in music is not a new idea, of course; during a visit to Greece, Carl Nielsen was inspired by the orbit of the sun and its very un-Danish ferocity and thus wrote the Helios Overture. GONG is a Helios Overture too, of sorts, albeit more abstract. Recent astronomical research shows, that the surface of the sun reverberates like a gong, in four different, simultaneous tempi (not directly depicted in the score, though); the sun looks like a GONG, - the O in the written work looks like the sun; there is even a solar research group called GONG (Global Oscillation Network Group). Formally the composition follows the life and fate of the sun, from the initial explotional birth through the hyper-activity as energy source as we know it today to the final, predicted flaring up and collapse into a so-called white dwarf. But - being a musical composition, not an astrophysical thesis - GONG is brought to its compositional conclusion by a real concert-ending, a chord taken from the middle of the piece and sustained over several bars, from virtual nothingness to full force.

SKU: BT.GOB-000589-010

Prague, also named ‘The Golden City’, has been the cultural and administrative capital city of the Czech Republic for thousands of years.
The city is beautifully situated on the river Moldau.
Every year millions of tourists visit Prague. It is one of the most popular cities of Eastern Europe. With it's mysterious little squares, dark alley ways and cobblestone streets, the ‘City of the 100 Towers’ is a unique mixture of architecture, dominated by monumental buildings, numerous churches and the oldest castle of Europe.
The Bohemian capital city remains timeless. Visit the fort and be amazed at the lovely views over the Charles Bridge. Spend your time carefully browsing through the little stalls filled with paintings, photos, jewelery and hand-decorated products, accompanied by the sounds of the street musicians in the background.
Notice the famous 15 th century astronomical clock that indicates the time every hour with a parade of the twelve apostles.
When composing this piece, it was Jan Bosveld’s intention to depict the atmosphere of this metropolitan city with over one million inhabitants, rather than to create a fairly literal musical portrait.
One of the many other names of Prague is ‘The City of the Clocks’. This can be heard throughout the piece depicted by the tubular bells.
The piece consists of three movements (slow-fast-slow) and was written in a rhapsodic format.

Jan Bosveld was commissioned to write ‘The Golden City’ by the Dutch Music Lend and Information Centre (MUI), a department of the library for the province of Gelderland in Arnhem, the Netherlands.

Praag is één van de oudste metropolen van Europa. De bijnaam “de Gouden Stad” heeft het te danken aan de goudkleurige koepels op de honderden torens die de stad rijk is.
Vanaf de hooggelegen, majestueuze burcht “Hradcany” heeftmen een prachtig uitzicht op het oude stadsgedeelte. Men ziet de brede, traag stromende Moldau met de vele bruggen waaronder de Karelsbrug met zijn gotische bogen. In het centrum is het een wirwar van kleine straatjes. De tram ishier het ideale vervoermiddel waarbij men steeds schijnt uit te komen op het grote Wenceslasplein.
Hier is de invloed van het westen en de val van het ijzeren gordijn overduidelijk aanwezig in de vorm van schreeuwende lichtreclamesen trendy winkels.
Ondanks deze invloeden en het massatoerisme heeft Praag haar authentieke sfeer voor het grootste deel weten te behouden.
Een van de vele andere namen van Praag is 'De Stad van de Klokken'. Dit kanworden gehoord in heel het stuk, uitgebeeld door de buisklokken.
Het stuk bestaat uit drie bewegingen (langzaam-snel-langzaam) en werd geschreven in een rhapsodisch formaat.

In deze compositie geeft de componistde indrukken van een tweetal bezoeken aan Praag weer.
Het is meer een sfeerbeeld van de stad en zijn bewoners dan een beschrijving van de belangrijkste bezienswaardigheden.

Verplicht werk minirepertorium 2e divisieharmonie.

SKU: HL.14027979

ISBN 9788759888780. English.

Corona - The Solar Trilogy No. 3 for Orchestra was composed by Poul Ruders in 1995. Programme note: CORONA makes the final part of the SOLAR-TRILOGY, a huge symphonic triptych about the life and behavior of the Sun. The first'panel' GONG depicts the birth, life and final collapse of our nearest star, the second ZENITH describes in its ultra-slow tempo the patient rise of the Sun toward midday ferocity and its subsequent setting. CORONA, then, is a symphonic 'portrait' of the phenomenally hot whispy brim encircling and radiating from the Sun, a sizzling halo of electrons and photons visible only during a total eclipse. Formally CORONA follows the process of such totalityin progress:the gradual eclipsing by the Moon - total darkness with thefierce, sparkling outer corona - the gradual 'rebirth' of the light toward the full gl.ory and warmth of the Sun.Besides the obvious astronomical narrative of the SOLAR-TRILOGY there's a metaphysical angle too, underlying each of the three compositions: GONG, in spite of its apparent energy, may be the most pessimistic of them all, epitomizing the death and ultimate annihilation of the prime source of Life itself. ZENITH is a hommage to human aspiration and spiritual endurance and CORONA ends with Hope and Glory after a journey from depression throughtotal despair. Super-structurally, the zenith of ZENITH makes the zenith of the entire trilogy, i.e. when the E- flat of the unisone horns in ZENITH is heard, we are exactly halfway through the collected work. Poul Ruders.

SKU: P2.80120

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union clarified the definition of a planet, creating a new class of objects known as dwarf planets. They are defined as a celestial body orbiting the Sun that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity but has not cleared its neighboring region of planetesimals and is not a moon. As of the end of 2008, there are five known dwarf planets - Eris, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Ceres - and these are the subject of Songs of Distant Earth. Songs of Distant Earth was the third prize winner of the 2011 International Trombone Festival Composition Contest sponsored by Bone Therapy.