SKU: HL.48025288
ISBN 9783793144106. UPC: 196288172123. 9.0x12.0x0.088 inches.
Grand Rag is part of a project in which 67 composers each composed a piece for solo musicians of ANAM (Australian National Academy of Music) in 2021. Elena Kats-Chernin wrote her piece in close collaboration with clarinettist Oliver Crofts for his creative and virtuoso skills. As in many of her ragtimes, the composer is interested in powerful expression and working with a limited tonal material. The clarinet part alternates between low and high registers in various sections. The piano is an equal partner, with clusters and clashing rhythms, pedal points as well as an unusual trill fantasy.
SKU: FG.55011-334-3
ISBN 9790550113343.
Composer, pianist and conductor Kirmo Lintinen is equally at home in jazz as in the world of classical music. Since the turn of the millennium, his main job has specifically been composing concert music. Stylistically, he has found his biggest inspiration in the Baroque and in early 20th-century Neoclassicism. He composed Rieha (Frolic) as a commission from the Crusell Music Festival in Uusikaupunki, Finland, as the obligatory piece for its international clarinet competition, and it was premiered by the semi-finalists in July 2009. The first part of Rieha is dominated by spurting arpeggios, trills and changing tempos. Following this impulsive opening is a brief respite, after which the piano and clarinet begin competing, tossing each other quick, accented semiquaver figures. The rhythm soon becomes syncopated and the piece enters the longest section, a sort of hypertuned, lurching ragtime. The closing section recalls all the work's motifs before burning itself out and vanishing like smoke. Rieha is a consummate virtuoso piece demanding nimble fingers, sharp articulation and a command of tone in all the clarinet's registers. The piano is more than just an accompanying instrument; it is an equal partner. The biggest challenge for the players is synchronising their parts: the changing tempos and metres, and the alternation of quick figures keep the performers on their toes and the audience alert.
SKU: HL.49044896
ISBN 9790001192217. UPC: 841886019942. 9.25x12.0x0.026 inches.
The famous Golliwogg's Cakewalk is the final piece from Debussy's cycle Children's Corner which consists of 6 miniatures for piano, written for his daughter in the years 1906-1908. The style corresponds to that of ragtime, a dance which was in vogue around the turn of the century. In the middle section, he parodies several times the beginning of the opera Tristan and Isolde by Richard Wagner with whom Debussy had a rather ambiguous relationship. The present arrangement now allows musicians to play the popular movement in a version for melodic instrument with accompaniment.
SKU: HL.48181113
UPC: 888680862053. 9x12 inches.
The Little Negro was originally composed by Claude Debussy (1862-1918) for piano in 1909. The purpose was to write a great work that could also played by children. Eugène Bozza made the piece even more accessible in 1984 by arranging it for wind quintet. The Little Negro is marked Allegro and begins with a theme modelled on ragtime music, a style which was very popular at the time of composition. Jazz influences, the C major key signature, 2/4 meter and upbeat features make for an exciting and accessible piece for all the ensemble. Bozza's arrangement of Debussy's The Little Negro for a wind quintet made up of flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon and horn is a thrilling addition to the repertoire.
SKU: HL.48025291
ISBN 9783793144342. UPC: 196288172154. 9.0x12.0x0.062 inches.
“When I came to Sydney from Russia in 1975 with my sister and parents, we took only a few belongings with us, including beautiful hand-embroidered bed linen. It was so valuable that we never used it. One day I wanted to take a look at these treasures but found that they had moth holes. To ease the pain of losing the family heirloom, I decided to write this piece,” says Elena Kats-Chernin. The result was a ragtime (the English word “rag” also means “shred”), interspersed with pauses symbolising the holes. Staccato notes, especially in the clarinet part, represent the biting moths.
SKU: MH.1-59913-064-5
ISBN 9781599130644.
I wrote Galloping Ghosts (A Ragtime March) to conclude a concert of my chamber music in New York City on October 28, 1986. It is the final part of a work called Rags for Divers Players. This work was written to show the variety possible within the standard rag form. I used all the players available for the finale -- two violins, viola, cello, bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, and piano. Since this is a rather unusual instrumental combination and not easy to reassemble, I decided to rescore the work for concert band. Galloping Ghosts is written in a standard march form but incorporates many of the syncopations found in ragtime. The uniquely American music called ragtime traces its history to African rhythms brought over by slaves. Over the years this music became welded to European musical forms such as the quadrille and the march. Drums and banjos and the minstrel tradition lent a special flavor, and from all these elements ragtime slowly evolved within the largely unknown black subculture of the late 19th century. In the late 1890's it emerged as a fully developed form in the classic piano solos of Scott Joplin (1869-1917). Joplin's 1899 hit, Maple Leaf Rag, was an overnight sensation and brought ragtime worldwide fame. Ensemble instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 8 Flute 1 & 2, 2 Oboe, 1 Eb Clarinet, 4 Bb Clarinet 1, 4 Bb Clarinet 2, 4 Bb Clarinet 3, 2 Eb Alto Clarinet, 3 Bb Bass & Bb Contrabass Clarinet, 2 Bassoon 1 & 2, 2 Eb Alto Saxophone 1, 2 Eb Alto Saxophone 2, 2 Bb Tenor Saxophone, 1 Eb Baritone Saxophone, 3 Bb Cornet 1, 3 Bb Cornet 2, 3 Bb Cornet 3, 2 Horn 1 & 2 in F, 2 Horn 3 & 4 in F, 4 Trombone 1 & 2, 4 Bass Trombone, 2 Baritone (B.C.), 2 Baritone (T.C.), 4 Tuba, 1 String Bass, 1 Timpani, 1 Xylophone, 3 Percussion 1, 3 Percussion 2.
SKU: HL.48025393
UPC: 196288195450.
Elena Kats-Chernin composed this piece in its original form for solo piano in 1996 when staying on a scholarship at the former home of the Australian composer Peggy Glanville-Hicks (1912 - 1990), as a tribute to the well-known colleague. Kats-Chernin later arranged Peggy's Minute Rag for bassoon or clarinet or violin with piano, solo clarinet, violin duo as well as string trio. The version for piano trio was written in 2012 for the Streeton Trio, which also recorded the snappy ragtime number on CD.
