Solo for Voice 2 (1960)

SKU: BA.BA04121

ISBN 9790006443925.

Prin t on demand (POD).

SKU: SU.50031030

Copyright 1960. Published by: Seesaw Music.

SKU: CA.3119605

ISBN 9790007210434. Language: German/English.

Esp ecially due to the early date of its composition, from the pen of the just turned 22-year-old Johann Sebastian Bach, the cantata The Lord careth for us BWV 196 has its charm, and through its conciseness, as well as its simple scoring, it is quite accessible for performance by ensembles with only modest means. The cantata was composed on the occasion of a wedding in the 1797/08, the details of which cannot be exactly ascertained. The text of the libretto contains no freely written poetry, rather is drawn solely from the Bible (Psalm 115:12-13), there are no recitatives, and the arias are kept very short. The scoring is also of modest propoportions: In addtion to the solo voices soprano, tenor and bass, as well as a four-voice choir, only strings and basso continuo are requried. The cantata begins, as is typical early Bach cantatas, with a short instrumental sinfonia and ends, not with a chorale, but with a choral movement. Score available separately - see item CA.3119600.

SKU: CA.3119619

ISBN 9790007210496. Text language: German/English.

Esp ecially due to the early date of its composition, from the pen of the just turned 22-year-old Johann Sebastian Bach, the cantata The Lord careth for us BWV 196 has its charm, and through its conciseness, as well as its simple scoring, it is quite accessible for performance by ensembles with only modest means. The cantata was composed on the occasion of a wedding in the 1797/08, the details of which cannot be exactly ascertained. The text of the libretto contains no freely written poetry, rather is drawn solely from the Bible (Psalm 115:12-13), there are no recitatives, and the arias are kept very short. The scoring is also of modest propoportions: In addtion to the solo voices soprano, tenor and bass, as well as a four-voice choir, only strings and basso continuo are requried. The cantata begins, as is typical early Bach cantatas, with a short instrumental sinfonia and ends, not with a chorale, but with a choral movement. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.3119600.

SKU: HL.234744

9.0x12.0x0.035 inches.

Composer's Note: The Lullaby from The Unicorns arose from an opera libretto I commissioned from John Heath-Stubbs (1918-2006) in the late 1960s. In his story two unicorns are discovered in a remote part of Africa. Both the East and West want to obtain them for research so they send out rival expeditions. The Western technique is to lure the unicorn with a young girl singing a lullaby. Both East and West capture unicorns but the mythical animals escape in the end. I never completed the opera but I made a six-movement suite from it called The Unicorns. There are three songs and three instrumental numbers and the first performance was given with Elisabeth Soderstrom and Solna Brass under Lars-Gunnar Bjorklund at Ekensbergskyrkan, Solna, Sweden on 31 October 1982. This version was recorded and my arrangement of the three songs for voice and piano was recorded by Marilyn Hill Smith. The career of the Lullaby continued with a version for clarinet and piano, which I premiered with Jack Brymer aboard the Sea Princess in the Mediterranean on 29 September 1986. The oboe version was for Sarah Francis, and Duke Dobing and I have recorded it for flute an piano. Lullaby can be played with a variety of solo instruments and is also available for piano left hand and piano solo.

SKU: HL.14001357

Alapa-Tarana Op.41 for Mezzo-Soprano and Percussion was composed by Poul Rovsing Olsen in 1959. Programme note: I was encouraged by the singer Jolanda Rodio to write a piece for mezzo-soprano and percussion. In my mind the idea immediately awoke associations of Indian or Arab music, in which the combination of drums together with either an instrument or voice is very common. In a solo performance (as opposed to choral and ensemble performances) the piece is called a raga or a macam. A raga or macam is a scale and at the same time a number of melodic formulas. Further more, it is a spiritual concept, a specific raga or macam expressing a specific emotion. My piece isnot based on any traditional Indian raga or Arab macam. The raga in my piece is entirely my own invention. The title is derived from Indian music, an ''Alapa being the first, unaccompanied part of a raga. Traditionally, in the Alapa the characteristics of the raga are first presented improvisationally, without strict metre, followed by a section in which the drums set in. The latter can have various forms. I have chosen a variation form called Tarana. (Poul Rovsing Olsen 1960) Alapa-Tarana Op.41 for Mezzo-Soprano and Percussion was composed by Poul Rovsing Olsen in 1959.

Programme note: I was encouraged by the singer Jolanda Rodio to write a piece for mezzo-soprano and percussion. In my mind the idea immediately awoke associations of Indian or Arab music, in which the combination of drums together with either an instrument or voice is very common. In a solo performance (as opposed to choral and ensemble performances) the piece is called a 'raga' or a 'macam'.

A 'raga' or 'macam' is a scale and at the same time a number of melodic formulas. Further more, it is a spiritual concept, a specific'raga' or 'macam' expressing a specific emotion. My piece is not based on any traditional Indian 'raga' or Arab 'macam'. The 'raga' in my piece is entirely my own invention. The title is derived from Indian music, an ''Alapa' being the first, unaccompanied part of a 'raga'. Traditionally, in the 'Alapa' the characteristics of the 'raga' are first presented improvisationally, without strict metre, followed by a section in which the drums set in. The latter can have various forms. I have chosen a variation form called 'Tarana'.
(Poul Rovsing Olsen 1960).

SKU: PR.14140089S

UPC: 680160625437. 9 x 12 inches. Text: Czeslaw Milosz. Text by Czeslaw Milosz.

When commissioned by UC Berkeley to compose a major work, Steven Stucky turned to the poetry of Lithuanian-Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz. One of Stucky's favorite writers, Milosz fled to the US in 1960, and joined the Berkeley faculty in 1961. He was still at Berkeley, his poems still banned back home in Poland, when he won the Nobel Prize in 1980. Many of his poems are dark, and some deal with the Holocaust. The Stars and the Roses sets three lighter, more lyrical poems for tenor and orchestra: Happiness, The Sun, and The Bird Kingdom, texts positively aglow with joy and tenderness. Comissioned by Berkeley Symphony, Joana Carneiro, Music Director, with funding from Music Alive, a national residency program of the League of American Orchestras and Meet the Composer.