SKU: AP.31614S
UPC: 038081355184. English.
A musical postcard to the world! Your audiences will be thrilled with this early piece of Americana, and your musicians will love the colors and energy of this uniquely American music as imagined by the great Czech master following his visit to America in the 1890s. This work contains music inspired by African-American, Native-American and Scottish music and features three movements (I, IV and V) of AntonÃn Dvorák's original five-movement suite.
SKU: HL.244904
8.25x12.0x0.508 inches.
Quilting, co-commissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is my first stand alone work for orchestraand is loosely inspired by the American tradition of quilt making. I composed Quilting while living most of last year in Paris.During my time there, I thought a lot about what it means to compose symphonic music as a young American in the 21st century, when so many of the many masterworks which are programmed year in and out by orchestras across the country are European. I considered which artistic traditions defined the American 19th-century. I began to think of the American crafts-tradition of quilting as a foilto the high-art tradition of European orchestral composition. As the score for my new work began to take shape, I started thinking about the manuscript itself as an object, its vertical and horizontal planes create a kind of patterned geometry of their own. Visually the way a musical score is woven together like patchwork brought to mind quilts and the great American tradition of quilting. I imagined about how conducting an orchestra can feellike stitching a piece together, or sewing together a large number of musical ideas and musicians into a coherent and transcendent whole. Quilting was an integral part of American vernacular in the 18th and 19th centuries, the African-American quilting tradition is especially fascinating, and the quilts tell the stories of the women and communities who made them. The names of the quilt patterns themselves can have their own sense of narrative: 'jacobs ladder', 'drunkards path', 'solomon's puzzle', and (my favorite for its relevance to this piece) 'the road to California. - Bryce Dessner.
SKU: AP.49898
ISBN 9781470657314. UPC: 038081575469. English.
Originally composed for piano as the final movement of African Suite, Danse begins with two introductory chords followed by energetic swinging rhythms and repeated angular melodies. Students will love the moods in this festive overture, evocative of later Broadway musicals. The artistic turning point of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's career happened in his twenties when he met the African-American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. Dunbar influenced the young composer to concentrate on his African heritage. Born in suburban London to Alice Martin, an Englishwoman and the daughter of a blacksmith, his father, Dr. Daniel Peter Hughes Taylor, was a Creole of Sierra Leone who qualified as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) and returned to Africa before his son's birth. Called Coleridge by his family, he was raised in Croydon, Surrey, by his mother and her father, Benjamin Holmans, who taught him the violin. (3:00).
SKU: AP.44827S
UPC: 038081518176. English. James Weldon Johnson.
The poem and original hymn-like music of Lift Every Voice and Sing, by James and J. Rosamond Johnson, reverberate through the decades of the civil rights movement. Originally performed for Booker T. Washington in 1900, it is sometimes called the African-American National Anthem. This setting, by Bob Phillips, teaches 6/8 and uses chromatic alterations in first position. A vocal lead sheet is included in the reproducible educational packets. The cross-curricular programming possibilities are vast. (2:40).
SKU: AP.49068S
ISBN 9781470647834. UPC: 038081567051. English.
This multi-level piece includes a full set of parts for grade 2 as well as a full set for grade 3 ensembles. Mix and match the parts as you need---perfect for mixed-ability ensembles! String Thang by Mark Wood is based on the twelve-bar blues. The blues has deep roots in American history, developed out of the work songs and chants of African-American slaves. The Great Migration of the first half of the 20th century saw freed slaves and their descendants move to northern and eastern parts of the U.S., taking their music with them. The blues took on different forms; in turn it helped to create rock, jazz, hip-hop, and other popular genres. A twelve-bar blues uses a repeating chord progression which allows musicians to express themselves creatively with each recurrence. If anything defines the blues, it is the use of blue notes---pitches that don't usually belong in a given key---and elements of improvisation. String Thang uses both blue notes in the main tune and the solo violin's part, as well as improvisational principles in the solo. For string orchestra with optional rock rhythm section parts. (2:45)Download Play-Along Track
SKU: AP.49068
ISBN 9781470647827. UPC: 038081567044. English.
SKU: HL.4491051
UPC: 884088551018. 9.0x12.0x0.009 inches.
Dvorák was extremely interested in Native American and African American melody, and his Symphony No. 9 (From the New World) included influences of both. This easy arrangement wonderfully includes the two best-known melodies from his famous symphony.
SKU: HL.114464
UPC: 884088872670. 8.5x11.0x0.525 inches.
Quotes of the beloved spiritual “Hold On†are combined with excerpts from “Freedom's Plow†by Langston Hughes in this powerful and dramatic work commissioned by the St. Louis Symphony. Themes of the struggle for liberty and justice throughout America and the world make this a magnificent concert closer for festival and community performances with keyboard, bass and drums or the optional orchestral accompaniment! Available separately: SATB divisi, Orchestra score and parts (fl, ob, cl, bn, hn, tpt 1-3, tbn 1-2 [btbn], bells, perc 1-2, vn 1-2, va, vc, db). Duration: ca. 5:00.
SKU: AP.45887S
UPC: 038081529660. English. Traditional African-American Spiritual.
Beginning string players will delight in playing this energetic rendition of the well-known Christmastime spiritual, Go Tell It on the Mountain. Paired with the equally familiar Children Go Where I Send Thee, this arrangement by Andrew H. Dabczynski shares interesting melodies among all sections. An upbeat bass line, along with plenty of finger-snapping rhythms will make this a Christmas concert favorite for students and audiences alike.
SKU: AP.44836S
UPC: 038081518312. English.
This original piece is in a style reminiscent of the music of the rich cultural heritage of the Appalachian Mountain area. Music is an important part of the Appalachian way of life. In fact, Appalachian music is one of the best-known manifestations of the culture. Traditional Appalachian music is derived primarily from the English and Scottish ballad tradition and Irish and Scottish fiddle music. African-American blues musicians played a significant role in developing the instrumental aspects of Appalachian music as well. (2:15).
SKU: AP.35996S
UPC: 038081410418. English. Traditional.
This arrangement of the beloved African-American spiritual offers students the opportunity to experience chromaticism within beautiful moving lines and harmonies. A simple hymn-like texture at the beginning gradually leads to an expedition in bi-tonality, giving this arrangement a contemporary but accessible sound.
