Lyrical Songs

SKU: HL.254192

UPC: 196288020622. 9.5x12.25 inches.

The songs of Mieczyslaw Karlowicz appeared in the history of Polish song as a rather unusual phenomenon. In the output of this outstanding symphonist - as youthful works - they formed an anacrusis, albeit a significant one, to his fully mature and masterful output. Nearly all of them were written over the course of a single year. Composed on the margins of his academic course in composition, they appear to represent a document of deeply personal feelings and thoughts, seismographically recording his current states of mind. Of the twenty-nine songs known to have existed, twenty-two have come down to us; the seven unpublished works, some merely sketched, were lost during the Second World War. Overlooking a couple of them, of a separate character, they form a remarkably coherent body of work. On closer inspection, it turns out that this cohesion of a distinctive character marks the whole of Karlowicz's oeuvre. Thesymphonic poems of the composer of Eternal songs are set within the same space of ideas and meanings as the songs; they are marked by analogous categories of expression. And it is a space which the composers main biographer, Adolf Chybinski, described as teeming with tragedy and boundless woe, resignation and a longing for another world'. In terms of the style of utterance, Mieczyslaw Karlowiczs songs - although deeply rooted in late Romantic style - have often been described as output standing on the threshold of a modernist phase. Zdzislaw Jachimecki wrote in 1930:A warm lyrical note in many of them, a genuine inspiration manifested in the very natural way inwhich the melodies are drawn, unsophisticated forms of accompaniment, which are nevertheless suited to the mood of the poetry in question and organically linked to the song, and the accomplished declamation and construction of these works have earned Karlowicz's songs deserved popularity in Polish singing circles.

SKU: BR.CHB-5364-00

Sephardic Folk Songs, also suitable for non-professional choirs.

ISBN 9790004412947. 7.5 x 10.5 inches.

The Sephardic culture originates from the Jewish population of Spain that was banished at the end of the 15th century and afterwards spread to the whole of the Mediterranean area, the Balkan and North Africa. Its unique Spanish dialect Ladino was preserved, finding musical expression in ballads, lyrical and paraliturgical songs for the most part. The choir conductor and composer Ohad Stolarz took eight of these Sephardic Folk Songs and arranged them as a cappella settings for four-part mixed choir. These arrangements may be performed both as a cycle and individually, being also suitable for non-professional choirs due to their lack of difficulty. The musically and harmonically colorful, partly also exotic pieces therefore present an enrichment for the program of every interculturally interested choir. The informative preface and the translations of the lyrics into German and English enable the content-related engagement with Sephardic culture, too. Further choral literature on this topic can be found in the volumes Sepharad and Aschkenaz by Alon Wallach.Audio samples: RIAS Kammerchor, dir. Justin Doyle, recording by Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Sephardic Folk Songs, also suitable for non-professional choirs.

SKU: AP.39611S

UPC: 038081454740. English. Traditional.

This exceptional arrangement features three traditional Welsh folksongs: the lyrical A Gentle Maid in Secret Sigh'd, and the joyous St. David's Day, which is then intertwined with one of the most famous Welsh songs, The Ash Grove. (2:35).