SKU: GI.G-003085
In the same style as his popular Just A Minute! collection, Ed Eicker once again offers a group of brief and accessible pieces useful at liturgy for preludes, offertory, or postludes. Organists will defintely want to have this rewarding gathering of appealing miniatures handy throughout the year. Short in duration, long on enjoyment!
SKU: ST.C463
ISBN 9790570814633.
This volume contains contrasting works by Federico Ruiz spanning quite a large and rich period of his compositional output that goes from his early Micro-Suite (1971), to lilting, sweet and rhythmic Venezuelan waltzes passing by the mysterious, intimate, and intense Nocturno (1994) plus pieces originally composed for film, and theatre. Real eclecticism in styles, moods and atmospheres that show Ruizâ??s talents and scope.The Nocturno is a deep, intriguing, substantial piece presenting a satisfying length which moves from different paths of the mind and the heart written in an abstract, chromatic idiom, that does not dissociate itself from the Venezuelan waltz and the joropo. One could perhaps say that there is a deconstruction of the latter. For the interpretation, the composer has suggested to me that it is allowed to have some flexibility in the tempo. Ruiz kindly dedicated it to me, and I have had the pleasure of performing it in many concerts.Although all highly expressive, the Three Venezuelan Waltzes present in this collection as well as the piece titled Aliseo, are works that are close to the colourful Venezuelan folk tradition. Federico Ruiz had given me two of them when we first met: â??Tu Presenciaâ?? (1981) and â??EloÃsaâ?? (1989) and then I attended a performance of the play â??Office Number Oneâ?? by Miguel Otero Silva with a fantastic actor, Elba Escobar in the role of Carmen Rosa and, I just fell in love and was very moved by the incidental music that I later discovered, by reading the programme, had been written by Federico Ruiz. Later that evening, I called him and asked to please make a piano score of the composition, so I could have the desired piece in my hands. That is how â??Carmen Rosaâ? waltz (1987) came to exist in a piano version.â??Eloisaâ?? is another Venezuelan waltz with more jazzy harmonies where precision in the rhythm and elegant playing is also essential, as it is in most of his pieces.â??Tu Presenciaâ?? was dedicated to his mother, Margarita. It is written with the structure of the Venezuelan waltz, which consists of a nostalgic subject that leads to a faster, happier middle section where the typical graceful rhythm is given by the left-hand accompaniment figure of a dotted crotchet followed by a quaver and a crotchet.The craft and magic found in the five movements of the Micro-Suite is based on a dodecaphonic row by Ernst Krenek. They remind us of the idiom of the Second Viennese School. These real miniatures seem to tell short stories. The â??Preludioâ?? is full of humour. I imagine dancing figures given by the jumps all over the keyboard and extreme dynamics; the phrases give the impression of a conversation with many questions and answers. The â??Invenciónâ?? is a kaleidoscopic piece where the hands mirror each other. The â??Passacagliaâ?? is the longest movement, at just over a minute where the prime motif is repeated three times on the bass line. For its construction Federico Ruiz uses as well the retrograde and the retrograde inversion of the twelve-tone series. It must be played expressively with dynamic contrasts between pianissimo and louder events. The â??Scherzoâ?? has repetitive motifs of a minor third in both hands and the â??Finalâ?? displays virtuosic passages for the pianist.Aliseo was originally written for the film â??Aire libreâ? (1995), by Luis Armando Roche. It contains elements of diverse types of Venezuelan joropo. In the film, the character of Aliseo Carvallo is played by the composer himself who performs this piece on a harpsichord to welcome scientists Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland one day at the turn of the 1800â??s, as a sample of the new music from the South American land. It presents the refinement of the late European classical era in fusion with Venezuelan folk music.
SKU: PR.114423720
ISBN 9781491129487. UPC: 680160690404.
POSTCARDS FROM UKRAINE is a charming-yet-fiery suite of six character pieces reflecting the culture and music of Didorenkoâ??s homeland. The work was composed in early 2022 following the invasion. Movements 2 and 3 are inspired by folk music with the piano imitating sounds of the bandura, and the other four movements are free settings of authentic folk melodies.More and more in recent times, I turn to the musical heritage of my native Ukraine for inspiration. Shortly after the start of the war in Spring 2022, my friend and New York pianist Evelyne Luest approached me with a suggestion to compose a piece based on Ukrainian folk music. As I began to research authentic song and dance styles, I was immediately drawn to their soulful melodies and stirring rhythms. Postcards from Ukraine came into being in just under a month.The second of these six pieces is written in the style of duma, a sung epic poem recited by itinerant bards, accompanied on a bandura; strumming on the high piano strings imitates the banduraâ??s sound. In the third piece, an ostinato bass is another impression of bandura playing, while the cello references Carpathian dance tunes. The other four pieces are my interpretations of true Ukrainian folk songs, typically sung a cappella by a womenâ??s choir, from small villages that keep their vocal traditions alive.