Camden-Music

Gary Ryan's Dreams Rest And Motion for Guitar duo.Part of The Camden Music Guitar Series - a range of fabulous educational and concert Guitar music by the UK's top Guitar composers educators and performers.A dynamic and exciting work for two Guitars full of arresting rhythm and engaging melody.

Two beautiful pieces of Irish influence. Recorded by Gary Ryan on his CD 'Visions and Vistas'.The composer writes:'Out of Clonmel' - Over the past few years I have explored different tunings on the guitar. The instrument sounds fresh with a new tuning and harmonies or patterns that have become stale or are difficult to play with the traditional tuning can suddenly become reinvigorated idiomatic and resonant in different ways. You are also forced as a player to explore the fingerboard differently and the different tension of the strings produces a subtly different timbre.Out of Clonmel is tuned so that all of the open strings form a D major chord (D A D F# A D). This can be confusing at first but you get used to it pretty quickly and tablature helps when notating the score. Both of these pieces were originally commissioned by Rebecca Baulch a very fine player who I used to teach at the Royal College of Music. She was very good at reading tablature hence the idea to retune the guitar.Clonmel was the place my grandfather came from in Co. Tipperary Ireland and the piece has an energetic Irish flavour which reflects Irish folk music something I have always loved. The melody is decorated with ornaments which imitate those often played on the pipe or whistle. I dedicated this piece to my second daughter Caitlin so full of life who has of course in part come out of Clonmel.'Lough Caragh (Glenbeigh)' - Lough Caragh is influenced by the traditional Irish ballad and expresses for me something of the incredible beauty of the South West of Ireland. When my eldest daughter Jenny was only one year old in the summer of 2004 we stayed on the shores of Lough Caragh a beautifully tranquil lake west of Killarney visiting Glenbeigh where Jenny first played in the sea. I was trying to convey through the music the memory of those early magical childhood days which can never be recaptured. I had the melody going round in my head for a very long time before writing it down. When I compose I like to think that if what I have written is good I will remember it several weeks or months later in my head. My aural memory therefore acts as a filter retaining the best ideas before I put pen to paper. Lough Caragh uses a

Through the Seasons was written out of necessity to provide simple playable and hopefully enjoyable music for four guitars. The parts can be doubled or tripled. The pieces make useful guitar ensemble and concert music and indeed have been used as such to great effect. The four movements follow the path of the seasons and are sutiable for players of around Grade One standard and upwards.Grade: upto 1

Twelve Astrological Preludes were written over a period of roughly two years and several were broadcast on BBC Radio 2's Friday Night is Music Night as well as in other concerts. Aquarius was written in 1994 as a filler to a popular BBC solo piano series of the time called At the Piano. It was named Aquarius for programming purposes and as Elms left the studio the producer called after him 'Only eleven to go' and so Twelve Astrological Preludes came into being.The preludes which run in the usual cycle are based upon two melodic strands and there is one piece in each of the twelve major keys. The character and style of each prelude alludes to certaincharacter traits of its particular birth sign and each piece bears the initials of a friend born under that particular sign. Each prelude is prefaced by a printed description of some of the general characteristics deemed to be associated with that sign. These are of course generalisations! Some preludes show a little deference to some of my favourite 'masters'.Elms has recorded Twelve Astrological Preludes for the Herald label and they are available on the CD Moody Moves together with other pieces of his chamber music including the piano sextet from which the CD takes its name. More information is available at masterkeyboards.co.uk.

Generator was written for Mark Eden and Chris Stell. It was partly inspired by H.R.Giger's paintings of 'bio-mechanoids' hybrids between man and machine which exist in bleak visions of the future. These surreal and often disturbing images were the inspiration for Ridley Scott's movie 'Alien' which earned Giger an Oscar in1980 for 'Best Achievement for Visual Effects'.The piece depicts the birth life and death of one of these bio-mechanoids combining 'human' tonal elements with machine-like percussive sounds and extended techniques. It opens with a mysterious and spacious slow section in which sounds emerge tentatively from silence. A series of mosaiclike ideas partly ordered by the performers accompanies a rising melodic progression with 'electrical sparks' symbolising the machine's creation. Eventually an engine-like rhythm ignites and the music comes to life with vigorous rhythmic energy passing through a series of contrasting musical episodes until the symmetry of malfunction death and decay finally brings the piece to extinction.Along the way Generator showcases the extraordinary array of sounds possible on the guitar and blends them with musical influences both ancient and modern. There are many sources of inspiration which through a kind of musical osmosis have been absorbed into the piece. These include techniques used in electronic dance music urban free running obsessive thoughts cloning the harmonic series and its relationship to the blues scale ritualistic chanting and electric guitar techniques. Both guitars are also re-tuned to B B D F# B and E incorporating elements of renaissance lute tuning and ideas in electric guitar playing. The paintings of Max Escher also influenced Generator via what the artist described as 'rhythmic repetitions'. These can be seen in many of his works where patterns and mathematical tricks and illusions like those used in his famous painting 'The Eternal Staircase' create images and structures that are only possible in two dimensions. The evolution of the piece was also shaped to a lesser extent by the films of the Oscar winning British director Mike Leigh whose scripts are strongly based around improvisation by the

Welcome to the magical world of scales a fantastic resource for the creation of music. This book provides a wealth of material to inspire the musical imagination and will help you to move away from scales as technical exercises and towards scales as the starting point for creative musical activities. Inside you will find information on different types of scales ideas on how to practise them suggestions for group activities and a variety of approaches to composition and improvisation. You will see ideas in the Scales Wizard suitable for musicians of all levels of ability and experience from beginners upwards. A CD of accompanying material is also available. (CM195)

Latin Suite comprises three simple South American dances each contrasting in mood and tempo.All three pieces originated in Argentina. The Bailecito is danced mainly in the provinces of the northwest. The Milonga has its roots in European music and is derived from an earlier style of singing known as the payada de contrapunto. The Tango originated from the poorer areas of Buenos Aires and remains ever popular to this day.

Jazz Routes is a collection of 8 progressive jazz pieces for flute and piano covering a wide range of rhythmic and harmonic styles. Careful consideration has been given to the technical demands but without compromising the musical aims. To help you get to grips with the music demonstration performances can be found on the accompanying CD together with recordings of the piano accompaniments. Guildhall Exams Grades 1-8.

Following in the footsteps of the hugely popular Jazz Routes for Flute this set of graded pieces for Saxophone and Piano will delight players of all ages. The music can be performed exactly as written or there is scope for improvisation should you wish to do so. CM237 & CM236 share a CD.

Almirena's aria from the opera Rinaldo. Almirena has been abducted by the sorceress Armida and imprisoned. In a beautiful garden in Armida’s enchanted palace Almirena laments her captivity. This edition was prepared specially for Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and the Academy of Ancient Music for their film The Sorceress as seen on BBC2 Christmas 1993. Each copy comprises a score and a copy of each instrumental part.

Welcome to the magical world of scales a fantastic resource for the creation of music. This is the CD to accompany the book Scales Wizard (CM187). The book provides a wealth of material to inspire the musical imagination and will help to move away from scales as technical exercises and towards scales as the starting point for creative musical activities. This CD is a collection of accompaniments and vamps for use with scale exercises described in Scales Wizard.

Soprano saxophone and piano. A blend of minimalism and Irish folk music makes this an interesting and appealing concert work. Recorded by Gerard McChrystal CMC CD01.

Of Game and Music-Jazz version for the Lincolnshire Poacher poaching tunes left right and centre! 3 + contra.

Erik Satie the king of French salon music wrote this short work inspired by London's street Piccadilly. 3 + contra.