SKU: HL.292925
UPC: 888680932879. 6.75x10.5x0.029 inches. Abraham Lincoln/Daniel McDavitt.
Daniel McDavitt has composed an exquisite trilogy using texts from three American greats: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Abraham Lincoln, and William Wordsworth. Although they can be performed individually, they are most powerful as a set, each with flute obbligato. The first “memory†from Emerson is about music, and is joyful and buoyant. The second “memory†is from Lincoln, and is more reflective about childhood. The final “memory†by Wordsworth combines the thoughts of the previous two in a mature understanding. A delightful trilogy for high school choirs.
SKU: GI.G-9660
ISBN 9781622773572.
To learn from Alice is to come under a peculiar kind of enchantment . . . To hear her is to be spellbound by a melodic voice. — John Wykoff, from the Prelude The Melodic Voice presents a series of interviews with preeminent composer, conductor, and teacher Alice Parker that offers a fuller and more intimate view of her life and music than ever before. The conversations Cameron LaBarr and John Wykoff document in these pages perfectly capture the essence of Alice’s core philosophies on melody, arranging, singing, music teaching, conducting, and many other topics. During the course of the interviews, Alice discusses a wide range of topics: her childhood, her time as a student at Smith College and Juilliard, the death of her husband, her work with Robert Shaw, living in New York City, experiences with teaching, her compositional process, the importance of folk song, advice for students and teachers, and much more. In the accompanying video component, Alice speaks candidly and directly about many of her most popular and well-loved arrangements, including Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal, Saints Bound for Heaven, What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor?, and John Saw Duh Numbuh, among others. Too few have had the privilege of attending one of Alice’s workshops or engaging with her in long conversations and round-the-table singing. But the conversational nature of this book gives everyone the chance to engage with her in a deeper way. Musicians and non-musicians alike are sure to be inspired by Alice’s words. Cameron LaBarr is Director of Choral Studies at Missouri State University. His choirs have performed extensively both at home and abroad, and he has worked as a guest conductor and clinician across the United States, Europe, South Africa, and Asia. John Wykoff is Associate Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Lee University. As an active composer, he writes for choir, orchestra, and chamber groups, and his music has been performed internationally by leading ensembles. Check out this clip below of Alice Parker discussing her beloved arrangement Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal. This is just a small part of the over three hours of video interviews included in the purchase of this resource.
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.
