Six Country Dances is an anthology of tunes from Playford’s ‘The English Dancing Master’ selected and arranged by Richard Rodney Bennett. Playford’s collection was first published in 1651 and contained 535 popular tunes for country dancing. Richard Rodney Bennett’s skilful and inspired arrangements are perfect for intermediate standard players adding as they do a contemporary slant to these classics of the English folk repertoire. This edition is for Viola and Piano.

After Ariadne was commissioned by the violist Paul Silverthorne who premièred it with Richard Rodney Bennett himself in 1987 at the Cheltenham Festival. This is based on the famous Monteverdi madrigal Lasciate Mi Morire.

for Viola and Piano-Brahms had already announced his 'retirement' from composition when in the spring of 1894 he played chamber music with the cellist Robert Hausmann and the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld. This encounter apparently renewed his enthusiasm for Mühlfeld?s much admired playing and inspired him to write two Clarinet sonatas in the summer of the same year. It remains unclear when exactly Brahms drafted Viola parts to his two sonatas. In any case the Viola and Clarinet versions of the works were first published by Simrock at the same time in 1895. Today there is no doubt about Brahms? authorship of the Viola parts. They include important differences fromthe Clarinet original in order to do justice to this string instrument.An important part of this edition is the extensive preface. Firstly it informs about the sonatas? origins their compositional process pre-publication performances their publication history as well as early reception. Truly remarkable is the unique Performance Practice Commentary. Here the editors start from the premise that already a few decades after Brahms' death a widening gulf developed between the composer's expectations and the performance practices of the early 20th century. On the basis of manifold sources which include memoirs by pupils and chamber music partners treatises and essays early instructive editions and historical recordings the editors deal with key issues in understanding Brahms' notation. By a section-by-section analysis of rhythm and timing dynamics and accentuation dots and strokes slurring and non legato Piano pedalling and overholding Piano arpeggiation and dislocation string instrument fingering string instrument harmonics and vibrato the editors provide an indispensable assistance for a historically informed interpretation of the works.At the same time the edition offers an exciting and often surprising insight into musical interpretation of the German Romantic Era in general.A pioneering Urtext editionWith an unmarked Urtext partWith a second part including fingering and bowing based on the practices of contemporaries of BrahmsWith an extensive Performance Practice

Instrumental Solos-Since its opening in 1957 the musical West Side Story has been a hit on Broadway. Made into a successful film starring Rita Moreno Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer in 1961 this tale of star-crossed lovers caught between feuding New York gangs has been gripping audiences for decades. The arrangements in the West Side Story: Instrumental Solos series remain faithful to Bernstein's original score. In this edition the pieces have been idiomatically adapted for the solo Viola. This book features 10 of the best-known songs from the musical including Maria Tonight America I Feel Pretty and more. West Side Story:Instrumental Solos - Viola comes with an enhanced CD featuring Piano accompaniments for all tracks. Playable on both CD player and computer tempo adjustment software is also included for CD-Rom computer use only.