Chamber Music Volume 2 Full Score

SKU: BO.B.3687

In recent years one of the guiding principals of my work as a composer has been the creation of a repertoire of chamber music in which the guitar is treated as a concert instrument and also provides the harmonic basis for the music.

Firstly, it is my belief that the special polyphonic capabilities of the guitar can lead to the creation of a unique chamber music repertoire in which the limitations of the instrument are surpassed by the musical dialogue being shared among the various instruments. Secondly, bringing the guitar together with other instruments historically used in chamber music not only benefits the guitar but also allows the guitar to bring to the music different harmonic qualities, distinctive melodies and rhythms and gives the music a unique expressive richness not found in traditional chamber music.

The trio Clover was inspired by the small and beautiful plant of the same name. The three movements of the work (the characteristic three clover leaves) are structured according to the classic form: lively-tranquil-lively. The first movement is full of robust determination, the second alludes to the subtle rhythm of a siciliana and the third movement is a scherzo. The work was premiered by Paganini Trio (Joseph Gold, Debbie Dare and myself) during a tour of California (USA) using a Stradivarius violin made in 1690.

Lastly, I would like to insist-yet again--on the importance of the fact that guitar technique must be geared to fully utilize the level of volume of which the instrument is capable. With an adequate technique (see Estudio y sistematizacion del conjunto de recursos que posibilitan el desarrollo de una buena tecnica guitarristica [Systematic Study of the Various Resources That Contribute to the Development of a Good Guitar Technique] by J. Torrent -Ed. Boileau), a guitarist is capable of controlling the volume of which the instrument if capable without renouncing the level of volume that is required. Thus, a guitarist may use a wide range of dynamics, giving the player greater expressive possibilities and is thus able to integrate easily within chamber music groups without forcing the other instruments to lower their normal level of volume.

SKU: CF.H84

ISBN 9781491165539. UPC: 680160924530.

Marcel Tournier (1879–1951) was one of the most important harpist/composers in the history of the harp. Over his long career, he added a significant catalogue of very beautiful works to the harp repertoire. Many of his solo works, almost one hundred, have been consistently in print since they were first published. But in recent years harpist Carl Swanson has discovered a treasure trove of pieces by Tournier heretofore unknown and unpublished. These include the Déchiffrages in this edition, as well as songs set for voice, harp, and string quartet, and ensemble arrangements of some of his most beloved works.All of the works that Carl Swanson found were in manuscript only. With the help of the great harpist Catherine Michel, he has put these pieces into playable form, and they are being published for the very first time. He and Catherine often had to re-notate passages to show clearly how they could be played, adding fingerings and musical nuances, tempos, pedals, and pedal diagrams.Tournier wrote these pieces when he was in his 20s, and before he became the impressionistic composer those familiar with his work know so well. They are written in the late nineteenth-century romantic style that was being taught at that time at the Paris Conservatory. They are beautiful short, intermediate level pieces by a first rate composer, and add much needed repertoire to that level of playing.
Marcel Tournier (1879–1951) was one of the most important harpist/composers in the history of the harp. He graduated from the Paris Conservatory with a first prize in harp in 1899. He also studied composition there and won a second prize in the prestigious Prix de Rome competition, as well as a first prize in the Rossini competition, another major composition competition of the day. From 1912 to 1948 he taught the harp class at the Paris Conservatory. But composition, and almost entirely, composition for the harp, was the main focus of his life. His published works, including many works for solo harp, a few for harp and other instruments, and several songs, number around one hundred pieces.In 2019, while researching Tournier for my edition MARCEL TOURNIER: 10 Pieces for Solo Harp, I discovered that there was a significant list of pieces by this composer that had never been published and were not included on any inventory of his music. Principal on this list were his déchiffrages (pronounced day-she-frahge, like the second syllable in the word garage).The word déchiffrage means sight-reading exercise, and that was their original purpose. Tournier numbered and dated these pieces, with dates ranging from 1900 to 1910, indicating that they were in all likelihood written for Alphonse Hasselmans’ class at the Paris Conservatory. Tournier was probably told how long to make each one, and how difficult. They range in length from two to four pages, with only one in the whole series extending to five, and from thirty to fifty-five measures, with only one extending to eight-five. The level of difficulty for the whole series is intermediate, with some at the easier end, and others at the middle or upper end.We don’t know if they were intended to test students trying to enter the harp class, or if they were used to test students in the class as they played their exams. The fact that they were never published means that students had to not only sight read them, but sight read them in manuscript form!I worked from digital images of the original manuscripts, which are in the private music library of a harpist in France. She had twenty-seven of these pieces, and this edition is the second in a series of three that will publish, for the first time, all of the ones that I have found thus far. The manuscripts themselves consist of little more than notes on the page: no pedals written in, no fingerings, few if any musical nuances and tempo markings, and no clear indication as to which hand plays which notes. These would have been difficult to sight read indeed! My collaborator Catherine Michel and I added musical nuances, fingerings, pedals and pedal diagrams, and tempo indications to put them into their current condition.At the time these were written, Tournier would have been in his twenties, having just graduated from the harp class himself (1899), and might still have been in the composition class. These are the earliest known pieces that he wrote, and they were written at the very beginning of a cultural revolution and upheaval in Paris that was to completely and profoundly alter musical composition. Tournier himself would eventually be caught up in this new way of composing. But not yet.All of the déchiffrages are written in the late romantic style that was being taught at that time at the Paris Conservatory. Each one is built on a clear musical idea, and the variety over the whole series makes them wonderful to listen to as well as to learn. They are also great technical lessons for intermediate level players.The obvious question is: Why didn’t Tournier publish these pieces, and why didn’t he list them on his own inventory of his music? Actually, four of them were published, with small changes, as his collection Four Preludes, Op. 16. These came from the ones that will be in volume three of this series from Carl Fischer. His first large piece, Theme and Variations, was published in 1908, and his two best known and frequently played pieces, Féerie and Au Matin, followed in 1912 and 1913 respectively. We can only speculate because there is so much still unknown about Tournier and about these unpublished pieces. He may have looked at them, fresh out of school as he was, as simply a way to make some quick money. The first several pieces that he did publish are much longer than any of the déchiffrages. So it could be that, because of their shorter length, as well as the earlier musical style that he was moving away from, he chose not to publish any more of them. We may never know the full story. But all these years later, more than a century after they were composed, we can listen to them for their own merits, and not measured against whatever else was going on at the time. The numbers on these pieces are the ones that Tournier assigned to them, and the gaps between some of the numbers suggest that there are perhaps thirty or more of these pieces still to be found, if they still exist. They will, in all likelihood, be found, as these were, in private collections of harp music, not in institutional libraries. We can only hope that more of them will be located in years to come.—Carl SwansonGlossary of French Musical TermsTournier was very precise about how he wanted his pieces played, and carefully communicated this with many musical indications. He used standard Italian words, but also used French words and phrases, and occasionally mixed both together. It is extremely important to observe and understand everything that he put on the page.Here is a list of the French words and phrases found in the pieces in this edition, with their translation.bien chanté well sung, melodiousdécidé firm, resolutediminu peu à peu becoming softer little by littleen diminuant becoming softeren riten. slowing downen se perdant dying awayGaiement gayly, lightlygracieusement gracefully, elegantlyLéger light, quickLent slowmarquez le chant emphasize the melodyModéré at a moderate tempopeu à peu animé more lively, little by littleplus lent slowerRetenu held backsans lenteur without slownesssans retinir without slowing downsec drily, abruptlysoutenu sustained, heldtrès arpegé very arpeggiatedTrès Modéré Very moderate tempoTrès peu retenu slightly held backTrès soutenu very sustainedun peu retenu slightly held back.

SKU: HL.49019756

ISBN 9783795794712. 11.0x15.0x0.982 inches.

The work of Paul Hindemith is encyclopedic in nature. From the outset, he worked in all musical genres and devised several of his musical ideas and projects not as individual, self-contained works but as work cycles with different functional relationships. These contrasting pieces complement each other if experienced as part of the overall structure. Hindemith himself not only wanted a complete edition of his collected works but had begun planning it; at his death he left a detailed list of ‚Unpublished pieces for an eventual complete edition‘.The Complete Works contain all finished works in all extant versions, newly engraved for the edition. Sketches and fragments are published in appendices of the relevant volume, and are evaluated in the Introduction and Critical Commentary by the respective volume editor.Each volume contains a preface by the editorial directors and an introduction by the volume editor, delineating the genesis and performance history of the work, with authentic performance instructions, an evaluation of extant recordings by Paul Hindemith himself and a Critical Commentary.The Complete Works of Paul Hindemith are thus presented in a critical, scholarly edition which is equally appropriate for study and performance. Hindemith researchers will welcome the numerous first publications of works by the composer, and practical musicians will appreciate the newly prepared, philologically ordered performance material.

SKU: HL.48180095

UPC: 888680831950. 9.5x12.25 inches.

Méthode complète de Cornet à Pistons for the Cornet, Trumpet or Saxhorn, composed by Guillaume Balay is a method for beginners in two volumes and one of the most complete for these instruments. This first volume focuses on the establishment of the music and on the quality of the sonority obtained. The first two chapters will therefore focus on the establishment of the rhythms. They are followed by some studies of scales and liaisons. The last three chapters concentrate on learning how to play certain nuances of melody, arpeggios and syncopation. All techniques acquired while studying this volume would not be fully effective if not followed by the study of Méthode complète de Cornet à Pistons Volume 2. Guillaume Balay (1871-1943) is a French soloist and composer. As a member of the military, he was the Head of Music for the Republican Guard and composed many chamber music and solo music pieces, for cornets and other wind instruments. He was also a respected music teacher.

SKU: PR.510053730

ISBN 9790080300480. UPC: 680160590728.

Volume 6 of the Supplement Series presents alternative and earlier editions of several Liszt classics, chief among them the Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses. With full critical commentary, this handsome volume also includes Compositions in the Tasso Sketchbook, Priere d'un enfant a son reveil, several pages of facsimiles, and more. For advanced pianists.