SKU: PR.114410840
UPC: 680160015689.
See the biography of Michael Karmon on the back cover.WHEN THE SHEEP WON'T COME: A SLEEPLESS NOCTURNE FOR GUITAR was composed for Joseph Hagedorn, winner of the 1990 GFA solo competition, and premiered by him in November 1999. My original idea was to write a serene and moody nocturne in several movements. However, as I began researching and listening to new guitar pieces, I came across Toru Takemitsu's All in Twilight, and it immediately made a profound impression. At the time I found it beautiful, moving, and inspiring, but I also felt I didn't have anything to add to what Takemitsu already did, and that I needed to find a new concept for my piece. So, I decided to view night as a potentially restless time, rather than a serene time, and portray states of mind one might go through during a sleepless night. The names of the movements evoke, at least in my mind, the moods I am to depict, and the piece becomes progressively more convoluted as it goes on. By the end, the music is a surreal and weary shadow of the opening.
SKU: HL.49005472
ISBN 9790001031523. 9.0x12.0x0.186 inches. Schott Piano Collection.
SKU: PR.140401210
ISBN 9781491114438. UPC: 680160642106. 9 x 12 inches.
Written in honor of the Béla Bartók centennial, MUSIQUE NOCTURNES is inspired by one of his most characteristic and original works, the fourth piece (by the same title), from the suite Out of Doors. Both pieces feature overlapping “night musics†– atmospheric cluster figures, sharply contrasting motifs suggesting nocturnal bird, frog, or insect sounds, and an element of human, folksong-like melody as Levinson alludes to the authentic Hungarian folksong, “Tiszán innen, Dunán túl.â€.This simple piece was written in 2015 as a birthday present for the composer’s wife, poet and fellow bird lover Nanine Valen, and is a distant sequel to Canons and Chorale, which he wrote for her in 1969. The ornithological character is an affectionate tribute as well to his teacher Olivier Messiaen. The titular birds are a highly stylized chickadee and two song sparrows.First public performance: Swarthmore College, November 13, 2016, by Marcantonio Barone, whose editorial assistance in the preparation of this edition is gratefully acknowledged. Recorded by Marcantonio Barone on Innova 948.
