Through the Tunnel

SKU: PR.114414450

ISBN 9781598064087. UPC: 680160597635. 9x12 inches.

Inspired by the tale of a legendary folk hero, Adolphus Hailstork’s tour-de-force for trombone and piano is a riveting portrayal of the steely strength and stamina of John Henry, a former slave who helped build the American railroads and ultimately outperformed a steam engine. This composition uses quotes from the spiritual Every Time I Feel the Spirit and the folk song The Ballad of John Henry. For advanced players. Duration: 13’__________________________________________Text on the scanned back cover:JOHN HENRY'S BIG(MAN vs. MACHINE)FOR TROMBONE AND PIANOInspired by the tale of the legendary hero, Adolphus Hailstork’s tour-de-force for trombone and piano is a riveting portrayal of the steely strength and stamina of John Henry, a former slave who helped build the American railroads and ultimately outperformed a steam engine.
PROGRAM NOTES by the ComposerJohn Henry was born a slave in the 1840’s or 1850’s. It is important to remember that no one knows for sure if John Henry existed or is a tall tale created by writers. That is one of the things that makes the legend so intriguing.According to the legend, he grew to stand 6 feet tall, 200 pounds – a giant in that day.Though the story of John Henry sounds like the quintessential tall tale, it is certainly based, at least in part, on historical circumstance. There are disputes as to where the legend originates. Some place John Henry in West Virginia, while recent research suggests Alabama. Still, all share a similar back-story.In order to construct the railroads, companies hired thousands of men to smooth out terrain and cut through obstacles that stood in the way of the proposed tracks. One such chore that figures heavily into some of the earliest John Henry ballads is the blasting of the Big Bend Tunnel, more than a mile straight through a mountain in West Virginia.Steel-drivin’ men like John Henry used large hammers and stakes to pound holes into the rock, which were were then filled with explosives that would blast a cavity deeper and deeper into the mountain. In the folk ballads, the central event took place under such conditions. Eager to reduce costs and speed up progress, some tunnel engineers were using steam drills to power their way into the rock. According to the great American tall tales, on hearing of the machine, John Henry challenged the steam drill to a contest. He won, but died of exhaustion, his life cut short by his own superhuman effort.This composition uses quotes from the spiritual Every Time I Feel the Spirit and the folk song The Ballad of John Henry.JOHN HENRY’S BIG was composed for trombonist David Jackson.

SKU: PR.16400248S

UPC: 680160038244.

This work is my second for a solo woodwind and a solo percussionist, following Firewing: The Flame and the Moth for oboe and percussion by nine years. The earlier piece followed a specific story line, and pitted the oboe against the percussionist as both adversary and lover. In Spirit Realms, my aim was not only to juxtapose the very different sounds of flute (plus alto flute and piccolo) against a large array of percussion, but also to attempt three different meditative spaces, each named for a different type of spiritual practice. The musical means of expression is very different for each of the three movements (as is the instrumentation), although they share a common scale-source: the looped pentatonic scale I have been developing over the last several years.   The first movement is called Prayer Tunnel, and is named for the Eskimo practice of solo meditation within a tunnel of ice blocks. This is said to be a means of overcoming demons within, and in my musical rendering it takes the form of an unaccompanied alto flute solo. The flute begins rather angrily, full of tension, but in the course of the solo passage manages to slowly unwind. The percussionist then plays the exact same music the alto flute had played....on seven tuned cymbals. Toward the end, the alto flute re-enters, its original meditation having fused with its mirror.   Kiva represents the circular, subterranean pit in which the Anasazi practiced their religion, a form of which still can be found in the Hopi tribes of the American southwest. These are not spaces for solo meditation, but rather a group meeting place in which only the sanctified are permitted. After an introductory invocation (dove call), the music begins. At first, it is flowing, in a repetitive double-five meter. It then traces several sections, with metric shifts forcing the pulse to race faster and faster, until it halves itself in the coda and returns to the exact pulse of the beginning. The flutist here uses the C flute, and the percussionist plays on both pitched (marimba) and unpitched instruments (various drums and struck sources).   Zendo is the meditation room used by Zen Buddhists. My music begins with another invocation (wind chimes, temple cup gongs, and temple blocks), then moves on to a slow subject stated by the flute. The subject is taken up by the vibraphone, and after several modulations and tempo changes, the flutist takes up the piccolo. The music continues higher and higher, and faster and faster (Zen meditation is NOT all about becoming lost!) until it breaks free at the very end. The percussionist is put through his paces in this movement, having to reach a staggering number of instruments in a short time.   Spirit Realms was commissioned by, and is dedicated to, the Armstrong Duo. -- Dan Welcher.

SKU: CL.RWS-2039-01

A thrilling musical adventure for your young band musicians, Race Against Time is a fast and furious journey with an educational focus on the time signature. Driving in 4/4 time, your students will like the intensity and strength of the musical race. However, they will love their journey through the time tunnel with simple yet effective meter changes. Master educator Robert W. Smith has provided a perfect vehicle to teach and reinforce the time signature in a musically relevant setting.

SKU: HL.50601848

UPC: 888680937089. English.

Cheryl Frances-Hoad's Commuterland for Solo Piano.

'Commuterland was written directly after I had had to do a long commute every day for a week for a project I was working on.

The frustration of rush hour, and being caught behind crowds walking slowly through underground tunnels is expressed in this piece!

At the same time I was listening to a lot of Bartok, and the repetitive motivic cells and harmonies are in part a hommage to this composer, who is one of my idols.' - Cheryl Frances-Hoad