Play Gershwin for Violin

SKU: HL.348319

ISBN 9781540097354. UPC: 840126930016. 9.0x12.0x0.201 inches.

Classical Themes for Violin Duet is designed for violinists familar with first position and comfortable reading basic rhythms. In each two-page arrangement, violin 1 and violin 2 take a turn playing the melody for a fun and challenging ensemble experience. It includes 30 well-loved melodies by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Gershwin, Grieg, Liszt, Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Wagner, and more.

SKU: HL.49044196

ISBN 9790001190886. UPC: 888680784737. 9.25x12.0x0.06 inches.

The melodies from George Gershwin's (1898-1937) musicals, from 'Porgy and Bess', from orchestral pieces like 'Rhapsody in Blue' or 'An American in Paris', we all know them! But the career of the young musician started as a pianist in a music publishing house where he was to encourage customers to buy music by playing it. Soon he began to compose music himself and caught the attention of the Broadway, which paved the way to his international career. Inspired by Frederic Chopin's 24 Preludes, he began to write his own 'Preludes' for the piano in the mid-1920s: Of the five preludes composed by him, he used two for the violin composition 'Short Story' and presented the other three at a concert on 4 December 1926. These 'Preludes' combine classical moments and jazz elements into an effective whole and can be played individually or as a little jazz sonata (fast - slow - fast). Thanks to the present arrangement, the charming miniatures are now available in a version for solo instrument and piano accompaniment.

SKU: BO.B.3429

English comments: In 2003, I wrote Introspeccion for solo clarinet and, although I had already used the clarinet many years ago (in 1963 with a Duo for clarinet and piano), I felt the need to return to that instrument again: malleable, dynamic, with a considerable tessitura and an expressive and effective timbre both in pianissimo and fortissimo.

Apart from the Piano concerto I wrote in 2003, over the last four years I have preferred to work with chamber music. In 2005 I used the clarinet again, this time alongside the classic string quartet, a combination that has always caught my attention. So this is how the Quinteto de la Sala de Llevant arose, as a work designed in a single tempo that I think follows along the same lines marked by my compositions in recent years, in the sense that all superfluous elements are removed to leave a strict musical discourse that I hope can be considered markedly expressive.

The Quinteto de la Sala de Llevant was first performed on 29 June 2005 at the Sala de Llevant in the Library of Catalonia, when I loaned my musical archives to this institution. It was played by Josep Fuster (to whom the work is dedicated) on the clarinet and the Glinka Quartet (Ala Voronkova, Guerassim Voronkov, violins, Bernat Bofarull, viola, Nabi Cabestany).
--The author

Comentarios del Espanol: En el ano 2003, escribo Introspeccion para clarinete solo y, si bien ya habia usado el clarinete hace muchos anos (en 1963 con un Duo para clarinete y piano) senti la necesidad de volver al mismo instrumento: ductil, agil, de una tesitura considerable y de un timbre expresivo y eficaz tanto en el pianissimo como en el fortisimo.

Exceptuando el Concierto para piano del 2003, en estos ultimos cuatro anos he trabajado preferentemente la musica de camara. En el 2005 vuelvo a usar el clarinete, ahora junto al clasico cuarteto de cuerda, conjuncion que siempre me habia llamado la atencion. Nace, pues, el Quinteto de la Sala de Llevant, obra concebida en un solo tiempo y que creo que continua con la linea marcada por el autor durante estos ultimos anos, en el sentido de eliminar todo elemento superfluo para seguir un discurso musical riguroso y que querria marcadamente expresivo.

El estreno del Quinteto de la Sala de Llevant tuvo lugar el 29 de junio del 2005 en la Sala de Llevant de la Biblioteca de Catalunya, en ocasion de la cesion de mi archivo musical a esta misma institucion. Josep Fuster (a quien la obra esta dedicada), clarinete, y el Cuarteto Glinka (Ala Voronkova, Guerassim Voronkov, violines, Bernat Bofarull, viola, Nabi Cabestany) fueron sus interpretes.
--El autor