Format : Octavo
SKU: HL.14010823
ISBN 9781844494026. 7.75x11.0x0.718 inches.
Purcell Society Edition No.12. The Fairy Queen In Full Score. The drama adapted from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The work may be perfomed with a minimum of five soloists: Soprano I, Soprano II, Alto or countertenor, or Tenor, Tenor, Bass. The orchestral scoring consists of two recorders, two oboes, two trumpets, timpani, strings and continuo. Orchestral parts are available for hire from the publisher. Vocal Score available for sale.
SKU: SU.80300157
1. Lullaby for Titania (You spotted snakes); 2. Oberon's Blessing (Now until the break of day). These deceptively simple pieces are perfect for use as teaching pieces, and as incidental music for a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare's comedy of the fairies' enchantment of two pairs of noble lovers and of Bottom the weaver. As teaching pieces, their pentatonic melodies, limited range, and use of repetition and canon make them ideally suited to Kodaly techniques. Their rhythmic clarity makes them a good vehicle for simple choreography, and the recorder parts can be played by onstage musicians. SA, mezzo solo, and two recorders; 10 pages; duration: 2:00 min. each; range: e' to e (chorus); c' to c (solo); difficulty: easy. SA, 2 recorders Published by: Treble Clef Music Minimum order quantity: 8 copies.
SKU: PR.164002950
ISBN 9781491114568. UPC: 680160633449. 9 x 12 inches.
Dan Welcher’s fascinating work for soprano sax is both a refraction of Mendelssohn’s music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and his own incidental music to Shakespeare’s comedy. The work’s title, AS LIGHT AS BIRD FROM BRIER, quotes from Oberon (King of the Fairies) invoking revelry at the play’s climactic wedding scene. Welcher’s fantasy skips among the most beloved themes of Mendelssohn’s Midsummer – giving the saxophonist quite a workout, and the listener a midsummer delight.AS LIGHT AS BIRD FROM BRIER is loosely based on Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which has haunted me since I was nine years old. My parents subscribed me to The Children’s Record Guild, and every month a new 78rpm vinyl record would arrive in the mail. They were mostly fairy tales and “kids lit,†but in this case it was a very condensed performance of the actual play, with Mendelssohn’s music. I loved it immediately, and still do – I saw a performance in 2014 at the Stratford Festival that literally stalks my dreams.When I was commissioned by saxophonist Stephen Page to compose a work for soprano saxophone and piano two years later, I channeled Mendelssohn as an inspiration: specifically, the Overture, the Scherzo, the Intermezzo, the fairy’s song “You spotted snakes with double tongue,†and the Rustics’ Dance. But it’s not a pastiche – most of the music is completely my own, though attentive listeners will detect snatches of Mendelssohn’s haunting score throughout.This piece joins MILL SONGS and FLORESTAN’S FALCON among works honoring my favorite 19th-century composers (in those cases, Schubert and Schumann) without ripping them off. As Stravinsky did in his ballet Pulcinella, I have borrowed fragments of melody from a much-loved composer, and made a fabric of harmonies and scales that are genetically related to Mendelssohn, but unmistakably Welcher.In this work, the saxophonist is Puck – skittish, dazzlingly fast, and brilliant in the outer parts, and a mischievous Cupid in the long, central Love Song. (Remember how Puck anoints Titania’s eyes with the juice from a magic flower, which causes her to fall in love with Bottom the weaver, who has been bewitched and wears a donkey’s head?) The music traces Puck’s magic flight, the finding of the flower, Titania’s love-scene with Bottom and her fairies, and the rustic players – whose rehearsal of the funniest play-within-the-play in literature is interrupted by Puck’s dirty tricks.I greatly enjoyed the process of writing this piece, and often found myself quite moved even as I was writing it... which rarely happens. Stephen Page, who commissioned the work, is a consummate artist (and a bit of a Puck himself). The title comes from Oberon’s final speech in the play:Through the house, give glimmering light,By the dead and drowsy fire.Every elf and fairy spriteHop as light as bird from brier,And this ditty, after me,Sing, and dance it trippingly.
SKU: HL.49043971
ISBN 9790001196307. English.
With his three songs for mixed a-cappella choir (SSAATB) which were published under the speaking title of 'Fairy Land' in 2013, Hermann Grosse-Schware takes us to the wonderful land of fairy tales. All three six-part works are based on English-language poems by William Shakespeare. The first piece 'Over hill, over dale' from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is characterized by melodic sequences and a distinctive rhythm which portrays the content of the piece headed 'Swift and Easy' as does the swaying 3/4 rhythm of No. 2 'Philomel, with melody'. In the lively 'Come unto these yellow sands' (No. 3) one seems to be experiencing the barking of the dog and the crowing of the cock at first hand.
SKU: ST.PE12
ISBN 9790220222474.
Presented in a highly praised new production by Glyndebourne Opera in 2009, this edition of Purcell's third semi-opera, The Fairy Queen, offers a new and definitive version of words and music prepared by two leading scholars in the field. The playtext, anonymously adapted from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, is printed in full, and the role of the various sources, and the relationship of the manuscript theatre score to the printed word-books of 1692 and 1693, are thoroughly reappraised. The other sources include music manuscripts which have not previously been examined, and which prove to have a significant bearing on the musical text. Full account is taken of the varied instrumental resources and conventions accessible to the Restoration composer, reflected in the multi-purpose performing material for the edition which is available for rental (HL390).
SKU: OU.9780193413047
ISBN 9780193413047. 10 x 7 inches.
For SA and piano Ramsey's characterization of the fairy's monologue from A Midsummer Night's Dream is both fun and imaginative, with rhythmic fluidity, a driving piano part, and clever accentuation perfectly complementing Shakespeare's metre and rhyme scheme. The piece was originally published in the collection Hark, hark, the lark.
About Songbird
Songbird presents new and exciting original material for upper voices. Showcasing the work of today's most innovative names in choral writing, the series includes songs in a variety of scorings, from SA voices with piano to SSAA and percussion. With a range of distinctive musical styles - and warmth, flair, and character in abundance - this is upper-voice choral music at its very best.
SKU: TM.14060SET
Over Hill and Over Dale #2.
SKU: TM.14060SC