SKU: AP.55-9165A
ISBN 9781843280064. English.
This instrumental series provides beginners of all ages with fun, alternative material that will increase their repertoire, and overall enhance the enjoyment of their instrument. The books contain simplified arrangements of well-known tunes designed to help players develop reading and playing skills, while increasing confidence in solo playing. The professionally recorded CDs feature full backing and demonstration tracks.
SKU: AP.36-52703617
UPC: 735816385521. English.
This humorous little vignette for string quartet was composed in 1979 and was originally intended to be published by Piedmont Music, the ASCAP division of EB Marks Classical. For reasons unknown, however, it remained in manuscript form until 2021, when a copy of the composer's autograph parts was discovered in the archives of a completely different Alan Shulman piece. This newly engraved Latham Music edition therefore represents the first publication of Shulman's delightful work, as well as the first full score. As the title suggests, this is a medium-slow rag, or cakewalk in a loose AABA form. The bluesy and graceful main melody is introduced by the first violin in a call and response exchange with the rest of the ensemble. The restatement of the primary theme is led by the second violin, with the entire ensemble playing pizzicato, having the effect of playful mockery. In the B section, the first violin earnestly reasserts the stately grace from the opening however, the cello is clearly becoming restless and decides to take over the lead just before the final reprise. The lighthearted ending again has the first violin doing its best to bring the tune to a refined conclusion, but the rest of the group still has mischief in mind. After a couple moments of seeming confusion, the ensemble regroups at last and plays the final riff with resolute emphasis. If you're looking to add a light moment to a recital program, or looking for a short, medium level contest piece that players and audiences alike will enjoy, this little miniature is an ideal choice!
These products are currently being prepared by a new publisher. While many items are ready and will ship on time, some others may see delays of several months.
SKU: PE.EP72822
ISBN 9790577011769. 232 x 303mm inches. English.
I have only visited Damascus once, twenty years ago, on the way to Palmyra. I had a purpose (I was writing music for a play about Palmyra’s Queen Zenobia) but essentially I was a tourist. Like any visitor, I was thrilled to step out of the noisy modern city into the magical ancient world of the walled Old City, its vibrant souk leading to the magnificent mosque, and a labyrinth of winding, narrow streets filled with the smell of unleavened bread.
In Palmyra, I was met with extraordinary kindness everywhere. On one occasion, a little Bedouin boy noticed that I was risking sunstroke wandering bare-headed among the spectacular ruins: he showed me how to tie a turban, then took me to have tea with his family in their tent.
Since then, I have watched helplessly as these places of wonder have been devastated and their inhabitants scattered and killed. When the Sacconi Quartet suggested that I might choose a Syrian poet for our collaboration, I welcomed the idea.
I searched for a long time to find a contemporary poet whose work might gain from any music I could imagine. I felt it was important to find first-hand accounts of the Syrian experience – but, of course, I was always reading them in translation. In an anthology called Syria Speaks, I was astonished to read something that looked like prose, but was full of poetry. It was Anne-Marie McManus’s fine translation of Ali Safar’s A Black Cloud in a Leaden White Sky – an eloquent, thoughtful, contained yet vivid account of life in a war-torn country, all the more moving for its restraint.
In setting these words, I have not attempted to imitate Syrian music. However, there is what might be called a linguistic accommodation in my choice of scale, or mode. Several movements are in a mode that I first discovered while writing a cantata commemorating the First World War: it has a tuning that I associate with war, its violence and desolation. This eight-note mode is similar to scales found in Syrian music. I did not choose it in the abstract: it emerged from the harmonies I was exploring in the earlier work, and emerged again as I was looking for the right musical colours to set Ali Safar’s words. In this work, its Arabic aspect is more prominent. - Jonathan Dove
SKU: HL.49033269
ISBN 9790001136853. UPC: 884088567088. 9.0x12.0x0.092 inches.
My 2nd string quartet is one single slow movement. The piece does not directly reflect Joseph Haydn's Seven Last Words but I would not have been able to write it without knowing that work. The movements in Haydn's quartets (except the final earthquake) are slow movements of shocking forcefulness. What makes the work even more unsettling for me is the relaxed and cheerful acceptance of death (the 'smile' of the A major pizzicato thirds!). When I made myself familiar with the subject matter of crucifixion I discovered that terms like 'walking' and 'the last walk' were most important to me. My piece starts at the final stage of this experience. It contains a number of lost sounds, phrases of futility which come from nowhere and lead to nowhere. The horrifying rubbing and sanding of skin and wood become the 'theme' of the piece which is combined with tonal, choral-like melodies. I am interested in how to make noises no longer symbolize desolation and tonal phrases no longer represent confidence.- Jorg Widmann.