I Have Felt the Hand of God

SKU: CF.BF131

ISBN 9781491153765. UPC: 680160911264. 9 x 12 inches.

Inspired by Clarence Cameron White’s book The Violinist’s Daily Dozen, The Violinist’s Daily Sixteen is a collection of daily exercises compiled by Roland Vamos. Intended for student and professional violinists, the collection provides the performer with a variety of exercises for daily warm-ups. Mr. Vamos also focuses on developing dexterity and flexibility in the fingers and joints, the first and fourth fingers in particular. Each of the sixteen exercises is notated for each of the four strings, and Vamos recommends that the exercises be practiced as warm-ups, choosing a different string for each day of practice.Also included with the Daily Sixteen is a comprehensive set of studies for developing fluency with scales and arpeggios. Mr. Vamos’ unique methodology is to begin with major scales and arpeggios, followed by minor scales and arpeggios, all of which are notated in two, three and four octaves. Alternate fingers are provided, as well as a variety of slurred and mixed bowings using the three parts of the bow whenever feasible. It is a remarkably systematic approach to performing scales and arpeggios on the violin and will surely benefit students and professionals alike.
ForewordThis short hand-setting set of exercises was inspired by a book entitled The Violinist’s Daily Dozen, conceived by Clarence Cameron White, a prominent African-American violinist, composer and arranger who enjoyed the bulk of his career in the first half of the twentieth century.I have practiced this set of exercises since I was twelve years old. It has served me as a superb warm-up and hand setting tool. Over the years, I have found that there are some aspects of this warm-up routine that were not given sufficient attention or not addressed at all. Consequently, I have expanded the Daily Dozen to create a new work entitled The Violinist’s Daily Sixteen.I have also paid particular attention in this work as to how these exercises are to be practiced. In exercises one and two, I have indicated some notes to be played before the actual written exercises. This is to ensure that the fourth finger will be over the string in a position ready to strike even though it is not being used. Before playing exercises three, four, nine, ten, eleven and twelve, I have indicated silent fingers to be placed on the notes they would be playing if they were being used.I have replaced Mr. White’s grace notes with notes of specific value and have slowed down the exercises so that the first joint (the joint nearest the string) of each finger can move with flexibility and strength. At no time should the first joint buckle.In Mr. White’s version, the last exercise gave the first finger some very valuable backward extensions. In this exercise (number 14 in this book), I caution the student not to move the hand along with the first finger. The hand should remain in position while the first finger independently moves back and forth.It became obvious to me that if the first finger were given the opportunity to develop the dexterity that Mr. White’s twelfth exercise emphasizes, the fourth finger could benefit from an exercise that gives it a forward extension. Consequently, I added another exercise to create a Baker’s Dozen (thirteen).Several years later, I felt that the second and third fingers should also have an exercise to further develop their dexterity…hence exercise fourteen was added to create a “Vamos Dozen.”Because the first finger did not have sufficient practice in the development of the first joint in the original version, I have added two exercises to precede White’s fifth exercise. After re-working and re-numbering these exercises, I have come up with a total of sixteen exercises. It is my suggestion that these be practiced as a warm-up, choosing a different string each day.—Roland VamosEvanston, Illinois 2017 PrefaceScales are a means of teaching a person the fingerboard on his or her instrument. The fingers move across the strings and are required to make shifts, all in highly organized patterns. Scales and arpeggios are the foundation upon which our repertoire is built. Many scale books have been written; each one being organized in its own specific way. The Flesch Scale System has been a standard for many decades. It is very comprehensive and systematic. From the point of view of establishing similar patterns, it has one drawback: it is organized by starting with a major key, followed by its relative minor, going through the circle of fifths. I believe that it is more profitable to do only major scales with their arpeggios first, going up chromatically, and then follow them in a similar way with the minor scales. In using this approach, the similarities in fingerings between the various scales are more apparent. It is also profitable to have alternate fingerings whenever possible. My approach to scales and arpeggios includes a variety of slurred and mixed bowings using the three parts of the bow whenever feasible. These bowings are not all-inclusive. Whenever a particularly awkward bowing pattern is encountered in the repertoire, it can be practiced as an additional bowing variation in the scales and arpeggios.    I have chosen to introduce the three and four octave scales by teaching two octave scales across the strings in one position going up chromatically through seven positions; starting on the first, second, third, and finally fourth fingers in major and melodic minor.—Roland VamosEvanston, Illinois 2017.

SKU: WD.080689705120

UPC: 080689705120.

In the past twenty years, worship styles in many churches have transformed, emphasizing a personal worship that strives for intimacy with the Father. This renewal led some ministries, perhaps unintentionally, to abandon the great hymns of our faith in favor of newly composed worship songs. Other ministries, in an effort to create a balanced worship style, mixed the new with the old, sometimes with results that only amplified the differences between the two. Hymns for Praise & Worship bridges the stylistic gap between modern-day worship songs and the hymns of our Christian heritage. A select advisory board of active music ministers, Word Music staff and key choral arrangers were assembled to pinpoint fifty-six hymns from the vast array of hymnody, not only for their musical quality, but for the messages that they bring to worshippers today. Veteran choral arrangers John E. Coates and Travis Cottrell have been creating new settings of hymns for their own congregations for years. Their experience as worship leaders brought not only musicality, but also congregational and choral pragmatism to each new arrangement in Hymns for Praise & Worship. With all of the same editions and features as the Songs for Praise & Worship series, this collection is designed to work hand-in-hand with existing resources for worship. Various stylistic changes make these settings flow easily, appeal to the modern ear, and correlate with the styles of contemporary praise & worship songs. Throughout this book you will encounter variations from traditional time signatures, intuitive syncopated rhythms, and substituted chords and harmonies. Even the few hymns with more traditional settings are treated in a manner that takes the congregation on a journey through the verses, sometimes in a more through-composed manner, and usually culminating in a climactic conclusion. Each of the changes was not implemented arbitrarily, but with the goal of making the timeless messages of each hymn leap from the page in new and exciting ways. Two added features of Hymns for Praise & Worship are the demonstration and accompaniment recordings. While the songs in the collection are well known, the new arrangements are not. The staff of Word Music felt that it was vital to provide audible resources to teach and lead worship to best communicate the desires of the arrangers. All of the core editions (Choir/Worship Team, Worship Planner, Keyboard Edition, Guitar Edition) reflect the verses and voicings used on the recordings.

SKU: WD.080689419874

UPC: 080689419874.

In the past twenty years, worship styles in many churches have transformed, emphasizing a personal worship that strives for intimacy with the Father. This renewal led some ministries, perhaps unintentionally, to abandon the great hymns of our faith in favor of newly composed worship songs. Other ministries, in an effort to create a balanced worship style, mixed the new with the old, sometimes with results that only amplified the differences between the two. Hymns for Praise & Worship bridges the stylistic gap between modern-day worship songs and the hymns of our Christian heritage. A select advisory board of active music ministers, Word Music staff and key choral arrangers were assembled to pinpoint fifty-six hymns from the vast array of hymnody, not only for their musical quality, but for the messages that they bring to worshippers today. Veteran choral arrangers John E. Coates and Travis Cottrell have been creating new settings of hymns for their own congregations for years. Their experience as worship leaders brought not only musicality, but also congregational and choral pragmatism to each new arrangement in Hymns for Praise & Worship. With all of the same editions and features as the Songs for Praise & Worship series, this collection is designed to work hand-in-hand with existing resources for worship. Various stylistic changes make these settings flow easily, appeal to the modern ear, and correlate with the styles of contemporary praise & worship songs. Throughout this book you will encounter variations from traditional time signatures, intuitive syncopated rhythms, and substituted chords and harmonies. Even the few hymns with more traditional settings are treated in a manner that takes the congregation on a journey through the verses, sometimes in a more through-composed manner, and usually culminating in a climactic conclusion. Each of the changes was not implemented arbitrarily, but with the goal of making the timeless messages of each hymn leap from the page in new and exciting ways. Two added features of Hymns for Praise & Worship are the demonstration and accompaniment recordings. While the songs in the collection are well known, the new arrangements are not. The staff of Word Music felt that it was vital to provide audible resources to teach and lead worship to best communicate the desires of the arrangers. All of the core editions (Choir/Worship Team, Worship Planner, Keyboard Edition, Guitar Edition) reflect the verses and voicings used on the recordings.

SKU: WD.080689434877

UPC: 080689434877.

In the past twenty years, worship styles in many churches have transformed, emphasizing a personal worship that strives for intimacy with the Father. This renewal led some ministries, perhaps unintentionally, to abandon the great hymns of our faith in favor of newly composed worship songs. Other ministries, in an effort to create a balanced worship style, mixed the new with the old, sometimes with results that only amplified the differences between the two. Hymns for Praise & Worship bridges the stylistic gap between modern-day worship songs and the hymns of our Christian heritage. A select advisory board of active music ministers, Word Music staff and key choral arrangers were assembled to pinpoint fifty-six hymns from the vast array of hymnody, not only for their musical quality, but for the messages that they bring to worshippers today. Veteran choral arrangers John E. Coates and Travis Cottrell have been creating new settings of hymns for their own congregations for years. Their experience as worship leaders brought not only musicality, but also congregational and choral pragmatism to each new arrangement in Hymns for Praise & Worship. With all of the same editions and features as the Songs for Praise & Worship series, this collection is designed to work hand-in-hand with existing resources for worship. Various stylistic changes make these settings flow easily, appeal to the modern ear, and correlate with the styles of contemporary praise & worship songs. Throughout this book you will encounter variations from traditional time signatures, intuitive syncopated rhythms, and substituted chords and harmonies. Even the few hymns with more traditional settings are treated in a manner that takes the congregation on a journey through the verses, sometimes in a more through-composed manner, and usually culminating in a climactic conclusion. Each of the changes was not implemented arbitrarily, but with the goal of making the timeless messages of each hymn leap from the page in new and exciting ways. Two added features of Hymns for Praise & Worship are the demonstration and accompaniment recordings. While the songs in the collection are well known, the new arrangements are not. The staff of Word Music felt that it was vital to provide audible resources to teach and lead worship to best communicate the desires of the arrangers. All of the core editions (Choir/Worship Team, Worship Planner, Keyboard Edition, Guitar Edition) reflect the verses and voicings used on the recordings.

SKU: WD.080689418877

UPC: 080689418877.

In the past twenty years, worship styles in many churches have transformed, emphasizing a personal worship that strives for intimacy with the Father. This renewal led some ministries, perhaps unintentionally, to abandon the great hymns of our faith in favor of newly composed worship songs. Other ministries, in an effort to create a balanced worship style, mixed the new with the old, sometimes with results that only amplified the differences between the two. Hymns for Praise & Worship bridges the stylistic gap between modern-day worship songs and the hymns of our Christian heritage. A select advisory board of active music ministers, Word Music staff and key choral arrangers were assembled to pinpoint fifty-six hymns from the vast array of hymnody, not only for their musical quality, but for the messages that they bring to worshippers today. Veteran choral arrangers John E. Coates and Travis Cottrell have been creating new settings of hymns for their own congregations for years. Their experience as worship leaders brought not only musicality, but also congregational and choral pragmatism to each new arrangement in Hymns for Praise & Worship. With all of the same editions and features as the Songs for Praise & Worship series, this collection is designed to work hand-in-hand with existing resources for worship. Various stylistic changes make these settings flow easily, appeal to the modern ear, and correlate with the styles of contemporary praise & worship songs. Throughout this book you will encounter variations from traditional time signatures, intuitive syncopated rhythms, and substituted chords and harmonies. Even the few hymns with more traditional settings are treated in a manner that takes the congregation on a journey through the verses, sometimes in a more through-composed manner, and usually culminating in a climactic conclusion. Each of the changes was not implemented arbitrarily, but with the goal of making the timeless messages of each hymn leap from the page in new and exciting ways. Two added features of Hymns for Praise & Worship are the demonstration and accompaniment recordings. While the songs in the collection are well known, the new arrangements are not. The staff of Word Music felt that it was vital to provide audible resources to teach and lead worship to best communicate the desires of the arrangers. All of the core editions (Choir/Worship Team, Worship Planner, Keyboard Edition, Guitar Edition) reflect the verses and voicings used on the recordings.

SKU: WD.080689424878

UPC: 080689424878.

In the past twenty years, worship styles in many churches have transformed, emphasizing a personal worship that strives for intimacy with the Father. This renewal led some ministries, perhaps unintentionally, to abandon the great hymns of our faith in favor of newly composed worship songs. Other ministries, in an effort to create a balanced worship style, mixed the new with the old, sometimes with results that only amplified the differences between the two. Hymns for Praise & Worship bridges the stylistic gap between modern-day worship songs and the hymns of our Christian heritage. A select advisory board of active music ministers, Word Music staff and key choral arrangers were assembled to pinpoint fifty-six hymns from the vast array of hymnody, not only for their musical quality, but for the messages that they bring to worshippers today. Veteran choral arrangers John E. Coates and Travis Cottrell have been creating new settings of hymns for their own congregations for years. Their experience as worship leaders brought not only musicality, but also congregational and choral pragmatism to each new arrangement in Hymns for Praise & Worship. With all of the same editions and features as the Songs for Praise & Worship series, this collection is designed to work hand-in-hand with existing resources for worship. Various stylistic changes make these settings flow easily, appeal to the modern ear, and correlate with the styles of contemporary praise & worship songs. Throughout this book you will encounter variations from traditional time signatures, intuitive syncopated rhythms, and substituted chords and harmonies. Even the few hymns with more traditional settings are treated in a manner that takes the congregation on a journey through the verses, sometimes in a more through-composed manner, and usually culminating in a climactic conclusion. Each of the changes was not implemented arbitrarily, but with the goal of making the timeless messages of each hymn leap from the page in new and exciting ways. Two added features of Hymns for Praise & Worship are the demonstration and accompaniment recordings. While the songs in the collection are well known, the new arrangements are not. The staff of Word Music felt that it was vital to provide audible resources to teach and lead worship to best communicate the desires of the arrangers. All of the core editions (Choir/Worship Team, Worship Planner, Keyboard Edition, Guitar Edition) reflect the verses and voicings used on the recordings.

SKU: PE.EP72822

ISBN 9790577011769. 232 x 303mm inches. English.

I have only visited Damascus once, twenty years ago, on the way to Palmyra.  I had a purpose (I was writing music for a play about Palmyra’s Queen Zenobia) but essentially I was a tourist.  Like any visitor, I was thrilled to step out of the noisy modern city into the magical ancient world of the walled Old City, its vibrant souk leading to the magnificent mosque, and a labyrinth of winding, narrow streets filled with the smell of unleavened bread.

In Palmyra, I was met with extraordinary kindness everywhere.  On one occasion, a little Bedouin boy noticed that I was risking sunstroke wandering bare-headed among the spectacular ruins: he showed me how to tie a turban, then took me to have tea with his family in their tent.

Since then, I have watched helplessly as these places of wonder have been devastated and their inhabitants scattered and killed.  When the Sacconi Quartet suggested that I might choose a Syrian poet for our collaboration, I welcomed the idea.

I searched for a long time to find a contemporary poet whose work might gain from any music I could imagine.  I felt it was important to find first-hand accounts of the Syrian experience – but, of course, I was always reading them in translation.  In an anthology called Syria Speaks, I was astonished to read something that looked like prose, but was full of poetry.  It was Anne-Marie McManus’s fine translation of Ali Safar’s A Black Cloud in a Leaden White Sky – an eloquent, thoughtful, contained yet vivid account of life in a war-torn country, all the more moving for its restraint.

In setting these words, I have not attempted to imitate Syrian music.  However, there is what might be called a linguistic accommodation in my choice of scale, or mode.  Several movements are in a mode that I first discovered while writing a cantata commemorating the First World War: it has a tuning that I associate with war, its violence and desolation.  This eight-note mode is similar to scales found in Syrian music.  I did not choose it in the abstract: it emerged from the harmonies I was exploring in the earlier work, and emerged again as I was looking for the right musical colours to set Ali Safar’s words.  In this work, its Arabic aspect is more prominent. - Jonathan Dove

SKU: GI.G-10368

ISBN 9781622776276.

This is a fascinating and important book for everybody even remotely interested in the history of American bands. Bryan Proksch has done some painstakingly thorough research in putting together an amazing assemblage of documents… This is a must-have book! —Jon Ceander Mitchell     The Wind Music Research Quarterly: Mitteilungsblatt der IGEB     (March 2022), 14–15 For the scholar, each entry presents an opportunity for expansion. For the teacher, this work provides source readings for courses on wind band history or for complementing Strunk or Weiss-Taruskin in university music history courses. That said, these documents stand as an enriching and entertaining read in their own right for anyone interested in the subject. —Michael O’Connor     Historic Brass Today 1/2 (Spring 2022), 32 The Golden Age of American Bands is ideally suited for courses on the history and literature of bands in America. Indeed, this volume could suffice as a textbook for adventuresome teachers in that it touches on the major musicians, instruments, ensembles, and functions expected of such a course. . . . Both private and classroom band instructors will find compelling glimpses into the history of their craft. [It is] bursting with opportunities to inspire curiosity in their students while effectively supporting their own curricular goals. —Benjamin D. Lawson and James A. Davis     The Journal of Music History Pedagogy Proksch’s new collection of documents is a most welcome step in the direction of getting [the story of bands] under control. The juxtaposition of documents from so many levels and types of ensembles proves to have a cumulative effect: one begins to see the subtle and long-lasting connections among them despite the big differences. It is easy to envision it as a supplemental text in a course on band history and literature, but the book is also just an absorbing read. There is much to learn here, and much to enjoy. —Ken Kreitner     Notes 79/2 (December 2022): 217-218 This is the story of the American wind band, told chronologically by those who experienced it in real time from 1835 to 1935. How did bands become bands? How did they rise in popularity? Which figures had insights and specific impacts on the development of the genre? Through source documents and articles, Bryan Proksch takes us on an extraordinary journey from the time of the first brass bands in the 1830s, through the Civil War and the golden ages of Gilmore and Sousa, to the cusp of the wind ensemble just before World War II. Hear from a young Frederick Fennell about his efforts to create the first band at Eastman. Read the outline of Allessandro Liberati’s unpublished trumpet method book. Eavesdrop on Karl L. King as he muses on the fate of bands after the death of Sousa. See Patrick Conway’s first undergraduate music education curriculum. Gawk as trombonist Fredrick Neil Innes embarrasses “world’s greatest cornetist” Jules Levy at Coney Island. Explore as Alan Dodworth revolutionizes bands. Retreat with a military band in the middle of a Civil War battle. Find out what it felt like to sit in a Sousa Band rehearsal. Ask Herbert L. Clarke why he thinks you should be playing a cornet instead of a trumpet. Find out how P. S. Gilmore managed to pull off the biggest concert events in American history. The book includes numerous rare and unknown illustrations to show you the places where band history happened. The documents include rare periodical excerpts, handwritten letters, and other writings taken from archives throughout the United States. These first-person accounts are certain to further refine and deepen our understanding and appreciation of American band history on a grand scale. Contents: Beginnings (1835–1859) The Civil War (1860–1865) The Jubilees (1866–1879) The Gilded Age (1880–1896) The Band Age (1897–1914) World War I (1915–1919) Transition and Decline (1920–1935)   Click here to download a FREE addenda. Bryan Proksch is a distinguished faculty lecturer and associate professor of music history and literature at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. This is his third book. His A Sousa Reader: Essays, Interviews, and Clippings (GIA Publications, 2016) explores the documents relating to the life and career of John Philip Sousa.

SKU: PR.144407380

ISBN 9781491133903. UPC: 680160683475. 9 x 12 inches.

In her powerful Foreword to the music, violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins has written: “There are great works which give voice to important moments for generations, and this is one of them.” The tragedy of Elijah McClain’s murder has moved us all, and for many musicians the image of this gentle young man playing his violin for kittens at an animal shelter has added a poignant extra layer. Zwilich was a professional violinist before turning exclusively to composing, and A LITTLE VIOLIN MUSIC is a memorial from the heart of one violinist to another.
[THESE NOTES MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED OUTSIDE OF THE PUBLICATION; OK TO QUOTE A BIT AND GIVE AUTHOR CREDIT]We often research important pieces of music to gain some glimpse into the mind of the composer by understanding the times in which a piece was written. The times that brought this piece into being, 2020, has been a year like no other in our lifetimes.With the suffering of a once in a century pandemic raging in ever higher waves, and millions of people around the world confined to their homes with a shared attention span for the first time in generations, we watched in horror the 8 minute 46 second killing of George Floyd, a man previously unknown to us, but now unwillingly joining a long list of names of unarmed African Americans killed by police. The anguished backlash of citizens around the world, from Japan to New Zealand to Germany to the United States, of every age, color, and creed, has rallied for weeks and months on end to demand enough and that “Black Lives Matter.”And yet, in the midst of it all is an America starkly divided against itself with some defiantly pushing back, emboldened by authoritarian-style government actions against its own citizens occurring all over the country. It is against this backdrop that we ever had a chance to know of Elijah McClain. Here in quarantine I sometimes practice my scales in front of the news. And one day the mirror image looking back at me from the screen was a slight young man, warm, affable brown eyes, and also a violin under his chin. The newsreel-style camera pan so familiar now, I knew the only reason we were gazing upon his unfamous face was that he too had been killed by police nearly a year before. But the revelation of it in the broadcast hit me particularly hard.Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, who is not only one of the great composers of our time, is also a dear friend, and called me the next day, also deeply saddened by the news. It was from Ellen that I learned that Elijah used to play for the kittens at the local animal shelter so they wouldn’t be lonely. This kind, gentle soul was aggressively taken into police custody while saying, “I am an introvert. Please respect the boundaries that I am speaking... I’m going home.” He was never seen alive again.Ellen and I spoke of the sadness and the injustice of this several times. She felt a powerful calling to contribute something in a statement and the result is the piece you now hold in your hands. I am deeply honored to be the dedicatee of the piece, to have worked together with Ellen on some of the final details, and to pen this score note. As an invited alumna of the Eastman School of Music, I premiered the work for their virtual event on Diversity and Inclusion. Each time I play it, there is a persistent lump in my throat because Ellen has captured something poignant and powerful here.There are great works which give voice to important moments for generations, and this is one of them. We humbly offer this piece in memory of Elijah McClain.Foreword © 2021 by Kelly Hall-Tompkins. Used by permission.