Bits and Pieces

Toy Box - Very First Pieces For Piano contains 26 simple yet impressive Piano songs composed by experienced teacher June Armstrong. This book is ideal for a beginner to put theory into practice with a wide variety of pieces in a number of styles.Each title in this songbook is evocative of the way the piece is meant to be played, with songs like Ballerina, Hula Hoop and Kaleidoscope suiting the instructions that Armstrong has provided like ?Daintily? and ?Steadily?. Unique touches like this make Toy Box perfect for a young child who is working their way towards grade one standard, as the composer has skilfully attempted to represent the nature of various toys through the medium of music. This will help a young musician to learn the basic concepts of musical theory in a fun and familiar context, with songs like Jumbo and Slinky sure to entertain all who are within earshot through humour and musicality. If you would like to listen to audio recordings of all the songs included in Toy Box, they are all available to download free of charge from the author's website.What sets this songbook apart from other beginner books is the personality and dedication that June Armstrong brings to her compositions, noting that her pieces are all inspired by her own Piano students and giving detailed and informative notes for each song at the beginning of the book. For the song Dinosaur, Armstrong writes that ?You will want to create a very scary atmosphere?The right hand note heads are strange bird calls in the forest. The left hand Ds, Es and Fs are the dinosaur??. The care that has been put into creating this sheet music shows that Armstrong is acutely aware of the best way for students to learn, and that she truly wants students to learn effectively, but in a fun and light-hearted way.Each song in Toy Box occupies a single page making it easy for a player to track their progress and learning, while there are additional helpful bits of information peppered throughout to clarify anything that may be unfamiliar to the student. Armstrong is keen on developing a student's ear for tone and atmosphere, so these extra notes not only reinforce how to play the piece physically, but also how to include emotion and feeling in music, for example how to conjure imagery like that of Blowing Bubbles. The songbook will be perfect for a child who already understands basic musical terms, will be able to play in a few keys other than C Major and is able to play in simple time signatures. As a first step into new compositions, Toy Box will introduce new concepts as well as reinforce what a student is already accustomed to, nevertheless, Armstrong's message is clear - ?Have fun!?. / Piano

Six contrasting pieces by the respected composer Derek Bourgeois. This volume is sure to be enjoyed by any intermediate level pianist.

Born in Toulouse Marcel Bitsch (1921-2011) went on to study at the Paris Conservatoire before becoming a professor of counterpoint at the institution. As an exceptionally versatile composer Bitsch has composed orchestral works chamber works and numerous pieces and studies for wind instruments. 12 Rhythmical Studies comprises unique studies covering all technical aspects asked of Clarinet players. Suited to advanced-level clarinetists Bitsch's 12 Rhythmical Studies for Clarinet covers a variety of musical aspects including articulation complex rhythms range scales and dynamics. The varietyof musical elements included in this Marcel Bitsch study book is outstanding creating a necessary addition to the Clarinet player's progression.

Born in Toulouse Marcel Bitsch (1921-2011) went on to study at the Paris Conservatoire before becoming a professor of counterpoint at the institution. As an exceptionally versatile musician Bitsch has composed orchestral works chamber works and numerous popular pieces for wind instruments French Suite On Themes From The 17th Century for Oboe being no exception. suitable for advanced oboists Bitsch's French Suite On Themes From The 17th Centurywas published in 1964. With a typical performance lasting around 7 minutes and 45 seconds the Suite is made up of four movements;Pavane Gaillarde Gigue and Riguadon. Bitsch's French Suite On Themes From The 17th Century addresses many musical aspects from the 17th century and is an outstanding and necessary addition to the Oboe repertoire.

Born in Toulouse Marcel Bitsch (1921-2011) went on to study at the Paris Conservatoire before becoming a professor of counterpoint at the institution. As an exceptionally versitile composer Bitsch has composed orchestral works chamber works and numerous pieces and studies for wind instruments. Vingt Études comprises unique studies covering all technical aspects asked of Trumpet players. Suited to advanced level trumpeters Bitsch's Vingt Études for Trumpet can be played on both the C and B? Trumpet. From articulation and complex rhythms to range and dynamics the variety ofmusical elements included in this Marcel Bitsch study book is outstanding creating a necessary addition to the Trumpet player's progression.

Born in Toulouse Marcel Bitsch (1921-2011) went on to study at the Paris Conservatoire before becoming a professor of counterpoint at the institution. As an exceptionally versatile composer Bitsch has composed orchestral works chamber works and numerous pieces and studies for wind instruments. Villageoise is a sublime addition to the Alto Saxophone repertoire. Suited to intermediate level saxophonists Bitsch's Villageoise published in 1953 contains a range of exciting musical aspects including varied articulation modulation changes in time signature and much variation indynamics tempo and performance directions. The diversity of musical elements included in this Marcel Bitsch work for Alto Saxophone and Piano is outstanding creating a necessary addition to the intermediate saxophonist's repertoire.

Three Pieces For Violin And Piano Op.11 were the first works to be written by composer Ian Venables after he moved to Worcestershire in 1986. The pieces Pastorale Romance and Dance have been called some of the most beautiful pieces for Violin and Piano ever composed.   Brimming with melodic invention and radiant lyricism the music of Three Pieces For Violin And Piano is both rich and varied. Pastorale begins the interplay between the Violin and the Piano with a beautifully relaxing melodic accord with an Elgarian influence firmly on its sleeve.Romance exhibits the best kind of artistic simplicity a musical love-letter featuring an achingly heartbreaking conversation between the two instruments often ambiguous in its outlook. Dance concludes the Three Pieces with a rhythmically upbeat melody laden with staccato that unfolds into a lovely harmonic concordance a fitting end to this series of dialogue between the Violin and Piano.   Ian Venables' Three Pieces For Violin And Piano Op.11 is a beautifully composed work that is guaranteed to have audiences craving more of such a lovely interplay of these two instruments.

Vingt Études by Marcel Bitsch is a set of works for Bassoon. Rated as difficult (7° 8°) this volume was written to maintain the skills already acquired by the players and to help them to master all the techniques that could still need improvement such as breathing flexibility nuances and scores in different keys among others. Each study has a different mode and / or key and lasts between one and two pages. This set is a must-have for Bassoon players who want to maintain their level. Marcel Bitsch is a French musician who specialised in teaching the counterpoint and the fugue. He composedmany orchestral pieces and some chamber music. He also wrote the analysis of some works by J. S. Bach.

Kongen Af Himmeby-Demo/Utopiaville-Demofor Symphony Orchestra (2009). The Utopiaville-Demo is commissioned by Finn Schumacker for The Odense Symphony Orchestra. Repertoire operas occationally have orchestral suites: Bits and pieces of overture interlude etc. tied up in a bouquet of 'schönste Tränen'. Contemporary opera usually wither after the first season so the focus is on getting people to come and have a sniff before it's too late. Consequently it seemed obvious to me to start making orchestral excerpts from my operas that are meant to be played before the premiere (and after please); I call them 'operatrailers' when they're substantial enough to be considered independent works and 'opera demos' when they're relatively short and more appetizer-ish. The Utopiaville-Demo is a fast-and-furious cinemascope 3D THX-demo for my chamber opera 'The King ofUtopiaville' which is sort of a mix between a reversed revolutionary opera (reversed because it's about a revolutionthat flops) and a rhythm'n blues theatre concert. The opera takes place on the remote tropical island of Honga-Tonga where a mayor form Europe is taking a much needed holiday as far away as possible from his home town Utopiaville. The mayor desperately needs to get away:He has overstepped his authority blatantly and broken every rule of law he felt like in order to create a modern liberalistic society where sanitation medicare hospitals schools the police and all other public institutions are sold to private investors and then leased back by the public - that way noone will ever have to pay taxes because everything finances itself the mayor says and in order to keep reality at a safe distance he drinks massive amounts of insanely expensive french claret all in the best interest of the inhabitants of Utopiaville of course.Honga Tonga can't get any further away from Waikiki Beach: It looks something like the 1933 version of

Composer's Program Note Repertoire operas occationally have orchestral suites: Bits and pieces of overture interlude etc. tied upin a bouquet of 'schönste Tränen'. Contemporary opera usually wither after the first season so the focusis on getting people to come and have a sniff before it's too late. Consequently it seemed obvious to meto start making orchestral excerpts from my operas that are meant to be played before the premiere (andafter please); I call them 'opera trailers' when they're substantial enough to be considered independent works and 'opera demos' when they're relatively short and moreappetizer-ish. SNOW WHITE'S MIRROR is a full scale two act dramatic opera written for the Danish National Opera. The opera is a modern re-telling for grown-ups of the brothers Grimm's fairy tale: Snow White is a self-centered teenage narcissist and the villain of the opera; she ends up loosing everyone but herself either because she kills them or because they decide they can't stand being around her anymore. But apparently she's o.k. with that...The music is intended for a large audience: it's basically pop music done with all the craftmanship of aclassical composer who's equally at home with large scale symphonic form avantgarde technique opera singing - and modern pop. The Trailer is in three movements. It contains three sections of the opera; the prelude an interlude close to the beginning of the second act and the final scene but one. It's a gloomy sort of trailer starting out in grand title sequence style moving on to a decidedly odd piece where Snow White find her way to the dwarfs (who're creepy junkies doing pornography to get money to buy dope) and ending in kind of an eerie rejection mood: Everyone still alive walks out on Snow White singing 'skin as white as snow hands red with blood soul as black as ivory'.(NM 2010)