Tone Poems

SKU: MB.95696

ISBN 9780786616572. UPC: 796279028691. 8.75 x 11.75 inches. By David Grisman and Tony Rice, transcribed by John Carlini.

In 1994, Acoustic Disc issued a landmark CD by David Grisman and Tony Rice. The central idea behind the album called for the artists to play a different vintage mandolin or guitar on each cut. On this remarkable recording, David and Tony perform 17 original compositions on a wide range of vintage instruments. Mel Bay Publications, Inc., is proud to present this guitar edition and a separate mandolin edition of Tone Poems, both transcribed by noted guitarist/arranger John Carlini. All 17 solos in each book are written in notation and tablature.

SKU: PR.144407050

UPC: 680160655519. 9 x 12 inches.

Celebrating 30 years, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society commissioned a work of 20-25 minutes for violin and piano from James Primosch, University of Pennsylvania professor of music. Primosch had originally thought to create a new sonata, but what developed is more appropriately a set of five character pieces, two of which were directly inspired by poems. Five Poems was premiered in May, 2016, and Primosch's thoughts are recorded at his website: https://jamesprimosch.com /2016/05/10/five-poems-pr emiere/.
Upon receiving a commission from the Philadelphia Chamber MusicSociety for a violin and piano piece in honor of its 30th anniversary, myplan was to write a sonata, a term suggesting a relatively abstractdiscourse. But as the piece developed, the movements struck me ascharacter pieces rather than music employing a more “symphonic”ap proach. When specific poems started to attach themselves in my mindwith two of the movements, the overall title Five Poems became clear.The title of the second movement is a line from Susan Stewart’s“De scent”, which deals with Aeneas’s visit to the underworld. The musicis alternately fiercely driving and quite still, though tense. RobertFrost’s Nothing Gold Can Stay summons fleet scale passages framinglyrical counterpoint. The remaining movements do not refer to specificpoems, but have titles reflecting their expressive tone. Dreamscape ismusing with an improvisatory violin line over shifting pairs of pianochords. Nightsong is a bluesy lullaby that turns highly dramatic.Vision begins with a closely argued struggle but breaks through tosomething spacious and clear.

SKU: PR.416414390

UPC: 680160606917. 8.5 x 11 inches.

2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in Bb, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns in F, Percussion, Strings.
The work Tone Poem is composed for chamber orchestra, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 B-flat clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 French horns, 1 percussion and strings. The length is about 8 minutes. It is inspired by two poems by Su Dong-po (1036-1101) about southern Chinese landscape paintings. The imagination of the two beautiful ancient Chinese poems became the sonic landscape pictures, to share with my musicians and audience. The brimming waves, the sunny day, The dimming hills, the rainy haze. The West Lake as the Beauty Xizi, Whether she is adorned richly or plainly. Like spilt ink dark clouds spread o'er the hills as a pall; Like bouncing pearls the raindrops in the boat run riot. A sudden rolling gale comes and dispels them all, Below Lake View Pavilion sky-mirrored water's quiet.
The work Tone Poem is composed for chamber orchestra, 2 flutes, 2oboes, 2 B-flat clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 French horns, 1 percussion andstrings. The length is about 8 minutes. It is inspired by two poems by SuDong-po (1036-1101) about southern Chinese landscape paintings.The imagination of the two beautiful ancient Chinese poems became thesonic landscape pictures, to share with my musicians and audience.The brimming waves, the sunny day,The dimming hills, the rainy haze.The West Lake as the Beauty Xizi,Whether she is adorned richly or plainly.Like spilt ink dark clouds spread o'er the hills as a pall;Like bouncing pearls the raindrops in the boat run riot.A sudden rolling gale comes and dispels them all,Below Lake View Pavilion sky-mirrored water's quiet.

SKU: PR.41641439L

UPC: 680160606924. 11 x 14 inches.

2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in Bb, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns in F, Percussion, Strings.
The work Tone Poem is composed for chamber orchestra, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 B-flat clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 French horns, 1 percussion and strings. The length is about 8 minutes. It is inspired by two poems by Su Dong-po (1036-1101) about southern Chinese landscape paintings. The imagination of the two beautiful ancient Chinese poems became the sonic landscape pictures, to share with my musicians and audience. The brimming waves, the sunny day, The dimming hills, the rainy haze. The West Lake as the Beauty Xizi, Whether she is adorned richly or plainly. Like spilt ink dark clouds spread o'er the hills as a pall; Like bouncing pearls the raindrops in the boat run riot. A sudden rolling gale comes and dispels them all, Below Lake View Pavilion sky-mirrored water's quiet.
The work Tone Poem is composed for chamber orchestra, 2 flutes, 2oboes, 2 B-flat clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 French horns, 1 percussion andstrings. The length is about 8 minutes. It is inspired by two poems by SuDong-po (1036-1101) about southern Chinese landscape paintings.The imagination of the two beautiful ancient Chinese poems became thesonic landscape pictures, to share with my musicians and audience.The brimming waves, the sunny day,The dimming hills, the rainy haze.The West Lake as the Beauty Xizi,Whether she is adorned richly or plainly.Like spilt ink dark clouds spread o'er the hills as a pall;Like bouncing pearls the raindrops in the boat run riot.A sudden rolling gale comes and dispels them all,Below Lake View Pavilion sky-mirrored water's quiet.

SKU: BR.PB-5514

ISBN 9790004211618. 6.5 x 9 inches.

Luonnotar was planned especially for the tessitura and for the type and for the color of the voice of Aino Ackte (1876-1944). The score thus tells a great deal about this singers abilities. The total range needed for the vocal part is two full octaves, and the pianissimo high c-flat is a well-known trial for sopranos. Luonnotar is the last of the tone poems based directly on the Kalevala. Sibelius himself chose the text. It does not form any clear and unified whole nor does it outline a plot. Rather than telling a story, the text gives a series of impressions, a kind of Finnish version of the creation of the world.The music text of the study score is based on Volume VIII/1 of the Complete Edition Jean Sibelius Works. This volume also contains a detailed introduction of the work, as well as a Critical Commentary in English.

The first performance of Luonnotar took place on September 10, 1913, in Shire Hall, Gloucester. It is one of the cornerstones of his entire production.

SKU: BR.SON-620

The American tone poems

ISBN 9790004803226. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Jean Sibelius wrote his last two tone poems Aallottaret op. 73 and Tapiola op. 112 as commissions for the United States. Aallottaret is the original Finnish title of op. 73, as is found on the autograph. Discreetly concealed behind this title, however, is the title The Oceanides, which also stems from Sibelius, and which Breitkopf & Hartel gladly placed in first position for the first edition of 1915, thus facilitating the diffusion of the work. The previously unpublished early version of Aallottaret is also presented in the volume of the Complete Edition; it had been hastily rejected shortly before the world premiere. Compared with this genesis, the origin of Tapiola , Sibelius last great symphonic poem, is relatively unspectacular: though he was under pressure to write and publish the work, Sibelius produced no different versions. There was only one printed edition from Breitkopf and no further revisions. Thanks are given to Professor Nors S. Josephson for his valuable work on this volume, the editing of which he began.

SKU: PR.466411770

UPC: 680160640850. 9 x 12 inches.

Mississippi I. Father of Waters: born of the Highlands and the Lakes; the Glaciers, the Mountains, and the Prairies. The picture of your birth is clounded in the ice and mists of ancient ages but your spirit remains our life stream. II. The Red Man knew your bountiful gifts and gave thanks to the Great Spirit on your banks. -- The Spanish and French Fathers brought the glory of Christianity to America on Mississippi. But all men, white and dark; -- Indian, Spaniard, and Negro; Bourbon and Yankee, combined to make Mississippi the heart of America. Saga of the Mississippi Harl McDonald Born near Boulder, Colorado, July 27, 1899 Now living in Philadelphia The original suggestion for a symphonic work on the subject of the Mississippi came indirectly from the late Booth Tarkington who saw in it color and movement and atmosphere translatable into the terms of music. In the course of time, by the mysterious processes of composers' chemistry, it took shape as a tone-poem of two sections, one representing the rise of the great stream from its primeval geologic sources, the other the human history of the river. Mr. McDonald devised the following verbal outline of the general scheme of his diptych: I. Father of Waters: born of the Highlands and the Lakes; the Glaciers, the Mountains, and the Prairies. The picture of your birth is clounded in the ice and mists of ancient ages but your spirit remains our life stream. II. The Red Man knew your bountiful gifts and gave thanks to the Great Spirit on your banks. -- The Spanish and French Fathers brought the glory of Christianity to America on Mississippi. But all men, white and dark; -- Indian, Spaniard, and Negro; Bourbon and Yankee, combined to make Mississippi the heart of America. The first of the two movements, beginning molto andante, is vaguel modal to hint at antiquity. It is built upon the conventional two themes, with an episode, poco piu mosso, misterioso, for prehistoric murk and muck. There are various changes of pace and mood. The second, Allegro ma vigorosamente, prefigures an Indian ceremony. A theme presented by flute, clarinet and bassoon is a Canadian Indian fishing call collected by the late J.B. Beck. A later passage of quasi-Gregorian chant identifies the French and Spanish priests who made the great river their highway. The fishing-call is altered in rhythm and harmony to represent Negro field hands and roustabous. A turbulent close brings all these elemts together in the muddy swirling currents of the Mississippi. The work was begun in the summer of 1945, and was revised and completed in the summer of 1947. Harl McDonald, who is the manager of The Philadelphia Orchestra, has concerned himself with music as an art, as a science and as a business in course of his career. He was born on a cattle ranch in the Rockies, but since his was a musical family, his up-bringing combined piano lessons with ranch life. Years of study and professional experience followed in Los Angeles and in Germany. In 1927 he was appointed lecuter in composition at the University of Pennsylvania and he has since then made is home in Philadelphia. In 1933 under a grant of the Rockefeller FOundation he collaborated with physicists in research dealing with the measurement of instrumental and vocal tone, new scale divisions and the resultant harmonies. In that same year he was named head of the University's music faculty and conductor of its choral organizations. In 1939, having been a member of the Board of Directors for five years, he was appointed manager of The Philadelphia Orchestra. He continus to write, but otherwise his entire attention is now devoted to managerial duties. Chief items in the catalogue of his compositions are four symphonies, three orchestra suites, a half-dozen tone-poems, three concertos and considerable quantity of choral music.

SKU: PR.465000130

ISBN 9781598064070. UPC: 680160600144. 9x12 inches.

Following a celebrated series of wind ensemble tone poems about national parks in the American West, Dan Welcher’s Upriver celebrates the Lewis & Clark Expedition from the Missouri River to Oregon’s Columbia Gorge, following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Welcher’s imaginative textures and inventiveness are freshly modern, evoking our American heritage, including references to Shenandoah and other folk songs known to have been sung on the expedition. For advanced players. Duration: 14’.
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s Corps of Discovery to find a water route to the Pacific and explore the uncharted West. He believed woolly mammoths, erupting volcanoes, and mountains of pure salt awaited them. What they found was no less mind-boggling: some 300 species unknown to science, nearly 50 Indian tribes, and the Rockies.Ihave been a student of the Lewis and Clark expedition, which Thomas Jefferson called the “Voyage of Discovery,” for as long as I can remember. This astonishing journey, lasting more than two-and-a-half years, began and ended in St. Louis, Missouri — and took the travelers up more than a few rivers in their quest to find the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean. In an age without speedy communication, this was akin to space travel out of radio range in our own time: no one knew if, indeed, the party had even survived the voyage for more than a year. Most of them were soldiers. A few were French-Canadian voyageurs — hired trappers and explorers, who were fluent in French (spoken extensively in the region, due to earlier explorers from France) and in some of the Indian languages they might encounter. One of the voyageurs, a man named Pierre Cruzatte, also happened to be a better-than-average fiddle player. In many respects, the travelers were completely on their own for supplies and survival, yet, incredibly, only one of them died during the voyage. Jefferson had outfitted them with food, weapons, medicine, and clothing — and along with other trinkets, a box of 200 jaw harps to be used in trading with the Indians. Their trip was long, perilous to the point of near catastrophe, and arduous. The dream of a Northwest Passage proved ephemeral, but the northwestern quarter of the continent had finally been explored, mapped, and described to an anxious world. When the party returned to St. Louis in 1806, and with the Louisiana Purchase now part of the United States, they were greeted as national heroes.Ihave written a sizeable number of works for wind ensemble that draw their inspiration from the monumental spaces found in the American West. Four of them (Arches, The Yellowstone Fires, Glacier, and Zion) take their names, and in large part their being, from actual national parks in Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. But Upriver, although it found its voice (and its finale) in the magnificent Columbia Gorge in Oregon, is about a much larger region. This piece, like its brother works about the national parks, doesn’t try to tell a story. Instead, it captures the flavor of a certain time, and of a grand adventure. Cast in one continuous movement and lasting close to fourteen minutes, the piece falls into several subsections, each with its own heading: The Dream (in which Jefferson’s vision of a vast expanse of western land is opened); The Promise, a chorale that re-appears several times in the course of the piece and represents the seriousness of the presidential mission; The River; The Voyageurs; The River II ; Death and Disappointment; Return to the Voyage; and The River III .The music includes several quoted melodies, one of which is familiar to everyone as the ultimate “river song,” and which becomes the through-stream of the work. All of the quoted tunes were either sung by the men on the voyage, or played by Cruzatte’s fiddle. From various journals and diaries, we know the men found enjoyment and solace in music, and almost every night encampment had at least a bit of music in it. In addition to Cruzatte, there were two other members of the party who played the fiddle, and others made do with singing, or playing upon sticks, bones, the ever-present jaw harps, and boat horns. From Lewis’ journals, I found all the tunes used in Upriver: Shenandoah (still popular after more than 200 years), V’la bon vent, Soldier’s Joy, Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier, Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy (a hymn sung to the tune “Beech Spring”) and Fisher’s Hornpipe. The work follows an emotional journey: not necessarily step-by-step with the Voyage of Discovery heroes, but a kind of grand arch. Beginning in the mists of history and myth, traversing peaks and valleys both real and emotional (and a solemn funeral scene), finding help from native people, and recalling their zeal upon finding the one great river that will, in fact, take them to the Pacific. When the men finally roar through the Columbia Gorge in their boats (a feat that even the Indians had not attempted), the magnificent river combines its theme with the chorale of Jefferson’s Promise. The Dream is fulfilled: not quite the one Jefferson had imagined (there is no navigable water passage from the Missouri to the Pacific), but the dream of a continental destiny.

SKU: CF.WF228

ISBN 9781491153529. 9 x 12 inches.

Compiled and edited by Amy Porter, Treasures for Flute and Piano is acollection of Philippe Gaubert’s shorter works for flute and piano. Gaubertwas a multi-talented musician, a marvelous flutist as well as a composer,teacher, and master conductor. Over his lifetime, he became one of the mostimportant musical figures in France between the World Wars in the first halfof the 20th century. Trained in theory and harmony at the Paris Conservatory,Gaubert was also deeply influenced by other composers at the time, includingDebussy, Fauré, and Dukas. Editor Amy Porter is a distinguished Professorat The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and hasbeen praised by critics for her exceptional musical talent and her passion forscholarship. This edition represents eleven of the sixteen works from AmyPorter and Dr. Penelope Fischer’s video study guide, “The Gaubert Cycle: TheComplete Works for Flute and Piano by Philippe Gaubert”.
Philip pe Gaubert (1879–1941) was a very important teacher and flutist in our classical flute playing lineage. In this edition we have gathered his beautiful, shorter compositions for flute and piano all in one place, to be cherished as “Gaubert’s Treasures.”Philippe Gaubert personified the modern French school of flute playing as introduced by his teacher Paul Taffanel (1844–1908) at the Paris Conservatory. Gaubert was a multitalented musician, a marvelous flutist as well as a gifted composer, teacher and master conductor. Over his lifetime he became one of the most important musical figures in France between the World Wars in the first half of the twentieth century. Gaubert’s musical andpedagogical gifts to us are passed along through generations of students and continue to touch the hearts of many who listen to his fine, and refined, music.Philippe Gaubert studied composition at the Paris Conservatory with Raoul Pugno, Xavier Leroux, and then for a brief time with Charles Lenepvu. It was after this study that he won the famous Prix de Rome second prize in composition. Even with his schooling of theory and harmony in Paris, he was deeply influenced by other composers of the time, namely Debussy, Fauré and Dukas. Between the years of 1905–1914 Gaubert’s early workswere arrangements and short pieces written for the year-end final exam pieces at the Conservatory.Between 1914–1918 Gaubert served in the French Army during World War I, most notably in the battle of Verdun in 1916. This was considered one of the largest battles against the Germans in WWI. He was wounded but his creativity level was not dampened. He was rewarded for his service and awarded medals for his bravery. It was during this time that he found the energy to compose his Deux Esquisses or 2 Scenes, and sketched out his first flute sonata.Gaubert composed his remaining five flute and piano works after 1922 in Paris, and clearly his poetic soul was transformed from the earlier years. He took in new forms and styles of compositions such as a Suite, a Ballade and a Sonatine. He also completed his Second and Third Sonatas for Flute and Piano, all of them dramatic works in terms of compositional techniques and grandeur of tone.Gaubert composed music easily throughout his lifetime, especially during summer breaks when the orchestra and Paris Opera seasons were on hiatus and he was not conducting. He loved literature and poetry which inspired over thirty vocal works from 1903 through 1938.He also wrote twenty-six instrumental chamber works for other instruments: oboe, cornet, clarinet, trombone, violin, viola, cello, harp and combinations of these instruments with piano. Some of these were commissioned jury pieces, but many were for his musician friends.Six full-length stage works, both ballets and operas for the stage, several tone poems and symphonies were written throughout his lifetime.This edition represents eleven out of the sixteen works from our video study guide “The Gaubert Cycle: The Complete Works for Flute and Piano by Philippe Gaubert” with guest pianist Tim Carey. Omitted in this edition are Sonatas Nos. 1–3, Ballade, and Sonatine.

SKU: BR.PB-5654

ISBN 9790004215517. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Farewell Tod und Verklarung marks a turning point in Richard Strauss's corpus of tone poems: Even before the November 1889 premiere of his previous work Don Juan, Strauss had finished his third work in this genre. He leads the listener with great clarity through the dying hour of a person who had pursued the highest ideals. The present Urtext edition evaluates for the first time all the corrections that Strauss made in the galley proofs of the work's full score and parts, correlating these to the music text. The preface provides insight into the genesis and reception history, while the detailed Critical Report systematically documents all of the editorial decisions.

SKU: BR.OB-5654-16

ISBN 9790004348437. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Farewell Tod und Verklarung marks a turning point in Richard Strauss's corpus of tone poems: Even before the November 1889 premiere of his previous work Don Juan, Strauss had finished his third work in this genre. He leads the listener with great clarity through the dying hour of a person who had pursued the highest ideals. The present Urtext edition evaluates for the first time all the corrections that Strauss made in the galley proofs of the work's full score and parts, correlating these to the music text. The preface provides insight into the genesis and reception history, while the detailed Critical Report systematically documents all of the editorial decisions.

SKU: BR.OB-5654-19

ISBN 9790004348444. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Farewell Tod und Verklarung marks a turning point in Richard Strauss's corpus of tone poems: Even before the November 1889 premiere of his previous work Don Juan, Strauss had finished his third work in this genre. He leads the listener with great clarity through the dying hour of a person who had pursued the highest ideals. The present Urtext edition evaluates for the first time all the corrections that Strauss made in the galley proofs of the work's full score and parts, correlating these to the music text. The preface provides insight into the genesis and reception history, while the detailed Critical Report systematically documents all of the editorial decisions.

SKU: BR.OB-5654-15

ISBN 9790004348420. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Farewell Tod und Verklarung marks a turning point in Richard Strauss's corpus of tone poems: Even before the November 1889 premiere of his previous work Don Juan, Strauss had finished his third work in this genre. He leads the listener with great clarity through the dying hour of a person who had pursued the highest ideals. The present Urtext edition evaluates for the first time all the corrections that Strauss made in the galley proofs of the work's full score and parts, correlating these to the music text. The preface provides insight into the genesis and reception history, while the detailed Critical Report systematically documents all of the editorial decisions.

SKU: HL.14027165

Danish.

REVEILLE RETRAITE for solo trumpetA joint commission between Hakan Hardenberger and Danmarks RadioDedicated to Hakan HardenbergerProgramme note:Everybody knows or has at least heard of the time honoured military bugle calls: Reveille Retraite, the awakening at sunrise the turning in at sunset. In a way it's the UR concept of the nature of the trumpet, an instrument capable of glorious panache as well as sublime, inward looking finesse. My piece is, as indicated in the title, a two fold composition in the form of two contrasting tone poems, each mirroring a fragment of original text, what one could call spiritual appetizers. At the end of chapter 8 of his high spirited Memoirs Hector Berlioz laments the murder of a man he admired, Prince Lichnowsky, who was stabbed to death in Frankfurt in September 1848 by German peasants: Oh, I must get out, walk, run, shout under the open sky! Now, there's a juicy bit of high strung romantic Sturm und Drang for you and the perfect motto for any awakening... Then night fall, Retraite, in which I've drawn upon the early, melancholy poem ALONE by Edgar Allan Poe and taken out one single line as 'subtitle' for this very hushed and withdrawn movement: And all I lov'd, I lov'd alone. I guess it won't hurt to quote the poem in its entirety:From childhood's hour I have not beenAs others were I have not seenAs others saw I could not bringMy passions from a common spring.From the same source I have not takenMy sorrow; I could not awakenMy heart to joy at the same tone;And all1 lov'd, I lov'd alone.THEN in my childhood in the dawnOf a most stormy life was drawnFrom ev'ry depth of good and illThe mystery which binds me still:From the torrent, or the fountain,From the red cliff of the mountain,From the sun that 'round me roll`dIn its autumn tint of gold From the lightning in the skyAs it pass'd me flying by From the thunder and the storm,And the cloud that took the form(When the rest of Beaven was blue)Of a demon in my view.Edgar Allan PoeProgramme note by Poul Ruders, January 2004.