The Contemporary Virtuoso

In these extraordinary studio performances Dobro virtuoso Rob Ickes (Blue Highway Three Ring Circle) is joined by bluegrass prodigy Andy Leftwich (Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder Three Ring Circle) on Mandolin andthen by jazz pianist Michael Alvey. These powerful sets of richly improvisational instrumental duets are followed by two signature solo works that showcase Ickes' tradition-steeped but highly contemporary musicalvision.Tunes include Angeline the Baker Monrobro Stanford and Son Wheel Hoss Lullaby of Birdland Stars Fell on Alabama Made in France The Old Rugged Cross and more. Bonuses include an interview and photogallery. DVD length: 67 minutes.Also included with this DVD is a bonus audio CD of all 17 tunes. Listen to your favourite tunes from the DVD anywhere and anytime.

Andre Laporte (b.1931) is a contemporary Belgian composer whose eclectic musical style draws on a wide range of neoclassical avant garde and postmodern techniques. His Reflections for Solo Clarinet wascomposed in 1970 for the Belgian conductor and Clarinet virtuoso Walter Boeykens (1938-2013). Subtitled Inner-space Music it was written shortly after the composer arrived at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels as alecturer in modern compositional techniques. It requires a delicate but precise treatment with microtonal slides and multiphonic chords. A challenging piece it is ideally suited to any advanced clarinettist looking to developtheir contemporary repertoire.

Baritone Voice-Four Traditional Songs is a setting of four heartbreaking and poignant folk songs by virtuoso contemporary composer Nico Muhly. Composed in 2011 the songs deal with themes of death murder and unimaginable events that are emotively arranged for Baritone Voice and Piano. Commissioned by Carnegie Hall in New York City and Wigmore Hall in London this work was first performed at those renowned venues in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Muhly states that he drew inspiration from old English folksongs and would spend time imagining stylised yet subtle musical settings with accompaniments. The result of this intensive periodof listening is Four Traditional Songs which lasts around 15 minutes and carries that incredible sense of sad balladry that counters the occasionally jaunty melodies. This edition is for Baritone Voice. Please click  here to purchase the Countertenor version .

Contemporary marimba virtuoso William Moersch has consistently commissioned the best musicians possible to create works for his instrument. In 1984 Bennett wrote his first work for Moersch After Syrinx II based on Debussyâ??s Syrinx for Flute solo and written. Then in 1988 Richard Rodney Bennett agreed to create an â??Americanâ?? concerto and so composed this concerto in two movements I con moto and II con brio that display the versatility of the instrument. Both movements feature blazing cadenzas by the marimba but it is in the cadenza in the second movement that the marimba essentially becomes the entire Orchestra in the Orchestraâ??s dominant 6/8 time signature andleads the piece on to a brilliant ending. Composer performer and arranger Richard Rodney Bennett was internationally respected for his serious music and many award-winning film scores (Murder on the Orient Express Nicholas and Alexandra) as well as his works for children and his religious pieces. In addition this markedly versatile musician frequently performed as a jazz pianist. On his move to the United States the two sponsors for his green card (work permit) were Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.

For his six characteristic pieces ?Rêves? (Dreams), composed in 1875, Smetana returned to his favourite instrument, the piano. It was the first time he had written for the instrument in almost ten years. His compositions reflect two forms: the character piece and the virtuoso piece, the latter being a form that occupied Smetana particularly during his time in Sweden. Importantly, Smetana was also working on the first tone poem of ?Má vlast? while composing these six pieces.

The six pieces of ?Rêves? were written for and dedicated to Smetana?s former pupils. The dedication was a means of thanking them for the benefit concert they had organised in the spring of 1875 for their teacher, who had recently lost his hearing.

This significant work by Bedrich Smetana, who was the founder of Czech Nationalism in music, has not been included in the Complete Edition of Works for Piano. This new edition by Jarmila Gabrielová is based on the first printed edition of 1879 by Emilián Starýs. It is the first critical edition ever produced of this masterpiece.

- First critical edition
- Includes foreword and critical commentary (Czech/Eng/Ger)
- With the historical fingering by Smetana?s contemporary, Jindrich Kàan z Albestu / [Rêves : Six Pièces Caractéristiques pour Piano] / Classique / Partition / Agrafé /

Konzert für Violoncello und Orchester-For Violoncello Solo Oboe (2) Horn (2) Strings.Carl Stamitz (1746 - 1801) a contemporary of Mozart and Haydn and the son of Johann Stamitz a violinist and composer worked at the Mannheim court before travelling around Europe as a virtuoso violinist and composer. He wrote 3 wonderful cello concertos - charming wonderfully crafted works full of beautiful tunes.Here we present the Cello Concerto No.3 In C dedicated to Frederick William II of Prussia a gifted amateur musician.Full score parts and a Cello and Piano reduction available.

Published in early 1806 Kreutzer?s ?40 Études ou Caprices? for Violin there are 42 today are the product of his years-long employment at the Conservatoire de Paris and are the most comprehensive collection of studies from his quill. Their systematic and complete reappraisal of essential Violin technique make them an indispensable tool of the trade for every serious student of the Violin (conservatory level). In the intervening two centuries numerous reprints by various publishers followed the Parisian first edition frequently adapted by famous soloists and teachers. Just a few years after the first edition Kreutzer published a completerevision of this standard work in which he exchanged or heavily altered etudes. This second version of the collection forms the basis for our Urtext edition which nevertheless presents the variants from the early edition as well. The virtuoso and sought-after Violin pedagogue Ingolf Turban acted as a consultant for this edition and furnished it with modern markings so that it provides an ideal foundation for contemporary Violin instruction.

A terrific collection of technical and dynamic studies to aid the development of Violin polyophonics and ornamentation. Ernst was a talented and virtuoso Violinst and a contemporary of Paganini and these studies demonstrate his great ability despite the lack of a distinct artistic personality. This collection udies for Violin also includes a transcription of Franz Schuberts Erlkonig Op. 26

Comprehensive instruction for the serious mandolinist. One of America's leading schools for contemporary music-The National Guitar Workshop-teaches you the concepts, techniques and theory you need to become a virtuoso performer. 96 pages each.

With its impressive range of gentle shades and hues, this composition plays with memories of Franz Liszt's late piano pieces 'La lugubre gondola' I and II. Manfred Trojahn likewise presents subdued melodies floating above an undulating accompaniment. These are the fantasies of a contemporary composer who creates something new from an historic texture by subtly recasting it. Suddenly the otherwise tranquil flow is broken by a scurrying interloper - a reminiscence of the great virtuoso pianist Franz Liszt? / Piano

Description These studies are designed to explore beyond the present limits of Horn technique and are meant to form a contemporary extension to the older studies of Kopprasch, Gallay, Maxime-Aphonse etc. They are therefore written to be very challenging - each Etude concentrates on an immediately identifiable problem of technique and presents it at an almost virtuoso level. This should not put the book 'out of reach' - it is clearly set out and good players can start to become excellent players by practicing these Studies perhaps just a passage at a time at first, hence this book's difficulty rating. The complete pieces should then become a standard part of the advanced player's practice. Although French (F) Horn is stipulated, a further challenge is provided by transposing studies once they have been learned! Songlist 48 Etudes For French Horn

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) is known for his unique composition style. Incorporating complex rhythms harmony and melodies  Livre Du Saint Sacrement for Organ is no exception to the composer's popular distinctive style. Composed in 1984  Livre Du Saint Sacrement is a major collection of Organ pieces by the composer. Messiaen began to compose the cycle of compositions in 1928 and it comprises 18 parts. The work was first performed in 1986 by organist Almut Roessler with a typical performance lasting about 100 minutes. Messiaen's Livre Du SaintSacrement is essential to all advanced virtuoso and contemporary organists seeking to expand and vary their repertoire.

Par KILLMAYER WILHELM. ‘Humour plays a role, and my pieces are also an attempt to entertain people.’ Words not often associated with contemporary music, but Wilhelm Killmayer wants to place fun and seriousness side by side. Different tonal spheres are found in the “Impromptu” and the jaunty “Scherzo lento” which uses tap tones for example. The “Chorale” that follows allows the music to drift seamlessly into atonality. In the fourth romance ‘Im Schumannschen Ton’ (‘The Schumann Sound’), a diatonic melody is complicated so much that the ending distorts to the beginning, ‘just like man combines many different qualities’. In the concluding “Capriccio”, shifting time signatures and dynamic ?uctuations are combined in a virtuoso manner. A humourous piece which demands the purest concentration from the players./ Répertoire / Violoncelle et Piano

2me Polonaise brillante pour violon avec acompagnement de piano op.21Henryk Wieniawski wrote only two polonaises. The first one, op. 4 in D minor, is one of his youthful works; the other, op. 21 in A major, is one of the last works he composed. Moreover, H. Wieniawski is the co-author of another polonaise, op. 8, for violin and piano, which he wrote with his brother Józef Wieniawski, a pianist. The latter polonaise, like the Polonaise in D minor op. 4, is also a youthful composition (1852). The polonaise as a genre, therefore, does not occupy much space in Wieniawskis heritage. Nonetheless, both polonaises, in D minor and A major, constitute an essential part of his artistic inheritance. Likewise, both polonaises had been composed in two versions: for violin and orchestra, and for violin and piano. The Polonaise in A major was completed in 1870. It is not known precisely which of the versions, the one with the piano, or the one with the orchestra first came into being. It was the version with orchestra that the composer performed for the first time on 17 March 1870, in the Grand Theatre in St. Petersburg. But merely two months later he performed the Polonaise in Warsaw, accompanied by his brother Józef at the piano. It is quite possible that Wieniawski had already performed this version of the Polonaise. It is certain, nonetheless, that both versions either appeared simultaneously, or one was composed shortly after the other. From its first public performance until the end of his concert career, Wieniawski often included this Polonaise in his concert repertoire, playing one version or another, the choice depending on the needs and circumstances. Just to mention one occasion, he played the orchestral version during a concert tour of Sweden in 1870, when he dedicated and presented a manuscript of this piece to King Charles XV of Sweden. The dedication, however, was changed in print, and both versions were eventually dedicated to François van Hal. Both versions were published simultaneously, by Schott Publishers in Mainz, with the same plate number, though the orchestral version appeared only in parts, which was a common practice in those days. The piece was most probably not published earlier than 18751. The Polonaise was praised by the critics. The reviews reported that it was a magnificent piece2, and this opinion was shared by later critical reviews, both Russian and West European. The Polonaise remained popular after the composer had died, which is evident from the number of later editions of the piece (more than ten) issued by different publishers, mostly German, and prepared by different editors. In Poland, the Polonaise was published twice after the Second World War. All the editions introduced some more or less significant changes into the text, mostly concerning performance indications, but in a sense blurring the composers intentions. All those changes were pertinent to the violin and piano version, and it was mostly in this form that the piece appeared in concert and teaching repertoires. The performances with an orchestra were much more seldom which was, among other factors, due to limited availability of the orchestral version, as it had never been published again after the first edition, until now. The Polonaise in A major was composed approximately at the same time as the Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor3. This convergence in time had influenced a certain similarity with regard to both composition and technical means, and also to the themes. In particular, the similarity becomes quite obvious in the second theme of the Allegro in the Concerto, and in the theme of the Polonaise. The Polonaise in A major is also in a certain way similar to the first Polonaise (in D minor), the motifs of the themes in both polonaises are alike. However, both pieces differ in style. The Polonaise in D minor shows the composers fascination with technical writing. Wieniawski makes the most of double-stops, chords, and all other sophisticated virtuoso techniques. The Polonaise in A major, written 18 years later, is much more mature. Although it is a virtuosic piece as well, the techniques used are somewhat more limited and subordinated to the expression. The virtuoso character of this piece is more fragile, much closer to the brillant style. At the same time, the Polonaise is typical of Wieniawskis violin playing technique. Here the composer uses the means regarded by his contemporaries to be typical of him, e.g., long staccato fragments played with one bow. The Polonaise is a concert piece in one movement extended form with a considerably abbreviated return of the first section at the end. The middle section is contrasting in character, due to the modulation to F major, change of tempo (meno mosso) and the reduction in the number of instruments (in the orchestral version). All the sections show thematic similarity. The first section, too, consists of three subsections, including a contrasting middle subsection (in E major). Zofia Chechli?ska Footnotes 1. See The Critical Commentary, p. ' and onward. 2. See V. Grigoriev, Henryk Wieniawski. ?ycie i twórczo??. [Life and Work] Warszawa - Pozna? 1986, p. 184. 3. The first version of the Concerto No. 2 in D minor was completed in 1862, but in 1870, i.e., not until the Polonaise in A major was completed, Wieniawski had been working on the Concerto and implemented quite a few changes.Publisher: PWM/Towarzystwo Muzyczne im. Henryka Wieniawskiego w PoznaniuSeries: Henryk Wieniawski - Complete WorksCover: softbackNr ISMN: 979-0-2740-0753-9Number of pages: 34 8Format: N4 stoj. 235x305Language version of text: pol., Eng.