Light Sonatina

SKU: CF.YAS13F

ISBN 9780825848339. UPC: 798408048334. 8.5 X 11 inches. Key: G major.

IApart from some of his Sonatinas, Opus 36, Clementi's life and music are hardly known to the piano teachers and students of today. For example, in addition to the above mentioned Sonatinas, Clementi wrote sixty sonatas for the piano, many of them unjustly neglected, although his friend Beethoven regarded some of them very highly. Clementi also wrote symphonies (some of which he arranged as piano sonatas), a substantial number of waltzes and other dances for the piano as well as sonatas and sonatinas for piano four-hands.In addition to composing, Clementi was a much sought after piano teacher, and included among his students John Field (Father of the 'Nocturne'), and Meyerbeer.In his later years, Clementi became a very successful music publisher, publishing among other works the first English edition of Beethoven's Violin Concerto, in the great composer's own arrangement for the piano, as well as some of his string quartets. Clementi was also one of the first English piano manufacturers to make pianos with a metal frame and string them with wire.The Sonatina in C, Opus 36, No. 1 was one of six such works Clementi wrote in 1797. He must have been partial to these little pieces (for which he also provided the fingerings), since they were reissued (without the fingering) by the composer shortly after 1801. About 1820, he issued ''the sixth edition, with considerable improvements by the author;· with fingerings added and several minor changes, among which were that many of them were written an octave higher.IIIt has often been said, generally by those unhampered by the facts, that composers of the past (and, dare we add, the present?), usually handled their financial affairs with their public and publishers with a poor sense of business acumen or common sense. As a result they frequently found themselves in financial straits.Contrary to popular opinion, this was the exception rather than the rule. With the exception of Mozart and perhaps a few other composers, the majority of composers then, as now, were quite successful in their dealings with the public and their publishers, as the following examples will show.It was not unusual for 18th- and 19th-century composers to arrange some of their more popular compositions for different combinations of instruments in order to increase their availability to a larger music-playing public. Telemann, in the introduction to his seventy-two cantatas for solo voice and one melody instrument (flute, oboe or violin, with the usual continua) Der Harmonische Gottesdienst, tor example, suggests that if a singer is not available to perform a cantata the voice part could be played by another instrument. And in the introduction to his Six Concertos and Six Suites for flute, violin and continua, he named four different instrumental combinations that could perform these pieces, and actually wrote out the notes for the different possibilities. Bach arranged his violin concertos for keyboard, and Beethoven not only arranged his Piano Sonata in E Major, Opus 14, No. 1 for string quartet, he also transposed it to the key of F. Brahm's well-known Quintet in F Minor for piano and strings was his own arrangement of his earlier sonata for two pianos, also in F Minor.IIIWe come now to Clementi. It is well known that some of his sixty piano sonatas were his own arrangements of some of his lost symphonies, and that some of his rondos for piano four-hands were originally the last movements of his solo sonatas or piano trios.In order to make the first movement of his delightful Sonatina in C, Opus 36, No. 1 accessible to young string players, I have followed the example established by the composer himself by arranging and transposing one of his piano compositions from one medium (the piano) to another. (string instruments). In order to simplify the work for young string players, in the process of adapting it to the new medium it was necessary to transpose it from the original key of C to G, thereby doing away with some of the difficulties they would have encountered in the original key. The first violin and cello parts are similar to the right- and left-hand parts of the original piano version. The few changes I have made in these parts have been for the convenience of the string players, but in no way do they change the nature of the music.Since the original implied a harmonic framework in many places, I have added a second violin and viola part in such a way that they not only have interesting music to play, but also fill in some of the implied harmony without in any way detracting from the composition's musical value. Occasionally, it has been necessary to raise or lower a few passages an octave or to modify others slightly to make them more accessible for young players.It is hoped that the musical value of the composition has not been too compromised, and that students and teachers will come to enjoy this little piece in its new setting as much as pianists have in the original one. This arrangement may also be performed by a solo string quartet. When performed by a string orchestra, the double bass part may be omitted.- Douglas TownsendString editing by Amy Rosen.

About Carl Fischer Young String Orchestra Series

This series of Grade 2/Grade 2.5 pieces is designed for second and third year ensembles. The pieces in this series are characterized by:
--Occasionally extending to third position
--Keys carefully considered for appropriate difficulty
--Addition of separate 2nd violin and viola parts
--Viola T.C. part included
--Increase in independence of parts over beginning levels

SKU: HL.48182140

UPC: 888680835033. 9.0x12.0x0.1 inches.

Successful French composer, Pierre Gabaye (1930-2000) studied at the Paris Conservatoire where he won the 1956 Prix de Rome. His competence is proved by his Sonatina for Flute and Bassoon. Gabaye's compositional style has been described as following the French neo-classical tradition, such as the music of Poulenc. Sonatina for Flute and Bassoon exemplifies the composer's light-hearted music. A typical performance of the duet lasts about 10 minutes and 40 seconds and comprises three movements. For all advanced flautists and bassoonists seeking alternative ensemble performance repertoire, Gabaye's Sonatina for Flute and Bassoon is ideal..

SKU: HL.14005667

ISBN 9780853604105.

The Sonatina Folkloristica for Clarinet Solo explores both native music forms - Tarantella and Cantilena - and the 'atomisation of the beat' in the untimed beginning of the Cantilena. This short three-movement work is demanding with playful moments.Charles Camilleri was one of the very few Maltese composers to gain international recognition. He was largely self-taught and was fascinated with the traditional music of his own country. Years spend in Australia and London led him to a successful career in light music and he later created a celebrated music programme for the Canadian Broadcasting System. Later in life he studied music of Africa and Asia and developed a systemhe termed 'atomisation of the beat' to accommodate the shifting rhythms and accents of more folkloric music.

SKU: CF.YAS74

ISBN 9780825869587. UPC: 798408069582. 8.5 X 11 inches. Key: D major.

Sonatina is based on a simple piano piece by James Hook, a composer from the Classical period. Carl Strommen has set and expanded this delightful piano piece to showcase the full resources of the string orchestra. It also contains a nice B section that shifts to a minor key for added interest.
A contemporary, as well as friend, of Clementi and Haydn, James Hook (1746–1827) was born in Norwich, England. Among his notable works are oratorios (The Ascension, being the most well known), a series of serious and comic operas, chamber and keyboard music. Originally one of Hook’s piano pieces, Sonatina is transcribed here for strings.Sonatina should be played as marked on the original keyboard version: “Giocoso” ( lightly, humorously). The minor section at m. 25 may be played a bit “darker” but should return to “Giocoso” at m. 41. An optional violin 1 solo is offered at m. 34.

About Carl Fischer Young String Orchestra Series

This series of Grade 2/Grade 2.5 pieces is designed for second and third year ensembles. The pieces in this series are characterized by:
--Occasionally extending to third position
--Keys carefully considered for appropriate difficulty
--Addition of separate 2nd violin and viola parts
--Viola T.C. part included
--Increase in independence of parts over beginning levels

SKU: PR.114424360

ISBN 9781491137765. UPC: 680160691548.

The title SONATINA D’AMORE tells it all. This brief 3-movement suite resembles a classical sonatina in form and lightness, while d’amore expresses the music’s gentle warmth, often resembling an operatic love scene. SONATINA D’AMORE is equally suitable for social duet playing as well as for recitals.
Sonatina d’Amore began as a simpler set of short duets for recorders, which later was developed for a commission from Susan Nigro and Burl Lane (The Two Contras) for their Crystal CD of contrabassoon duets, and I gave the piece an Italian title in Sue’s honor.There’s a play on words as some low instruments have amore in their names, like Oboe d’Amore. My love for the sound quality of low winds was also part of the amore, and this transcription for bass clarinet (my “native instrument”) makes the title even more fitting. The music itself is a further amore, as the relationship between the instruments is often like an operatic love duet with flirtatious counterpoint and resolved parallel thirds.This adaptation for deep clarinets was created for the Morii Duo (Lindsey Hutchinson and Rick Ferrarelli) as extra repertoire while I was composing Cosmic Menagerie.

SKU: IS.WE6180EM

ISBN 9790365061808.

English composer Malcolm Arnold wrote this compact sonatina in 1951 and it has since become one of his most popular instrumental works. As always with Arnold, it is impeccably crafted: the first movement, with it's wide leaps, the occasional incursion of a six-eight bar into the prevailing four-four, and the lightest of jazzy touches, lives up to its marking of Allegro con brio; while the second demonstates Arnold's love at this period of a gentle cantabile style where no shadows yet lurk. The finale is a wild dance in three-four time marked Furioso, and it is a distant cousin of the Czech Furiant. With its vigorous rhythms and cascading semiquavers, it has something of the open-air quality of Dvorak at his most buccolic - not a frequent influence on Malcolm Arnold, but a highly appropriate one in this charming (and challenging) little work. This version for clarinet solo with wind band has been arranged by saxophone player Alex Steurs.

SKU: HL.48024887

UPC: 840126919752.

As a teaching and lecture piece, Bertold Hummel's Sonatine op. 35, created in 1969, accompanied many young musicians on their way. Sold a thousand times all over the world, it is one of the composer's best-known works and has been included in the repertoire list for the 'Jugend musiziert' competition by the German Music Council. Warmth and sparkling rhythm characterize the three movements: inthe powerful maestoso, the sonority of the main theme is contrasted with a lyrical side theme; the recapitulation ends with an impulsive fugato. The second movement Elegie consists of a single soulful melody about spherical harmonies of the piano. As the highlight in the Finale vivace, playful lightness, marching rhythms and dramatic increases replace each other in quick succession; wild arpeggios lead to the end. Originally composed for violin, versions for viola and cello were already familiar. For the 50th birthday, Simrock / Boosey & Hawkespresents the work in a revised, revised edition. A repertoire enrichment for beginning instrumentalists are the versions for alto and tenor saxophone available for the first time, which the composer himself produced in the 1990s.