Violin Project

SKU: PR.144407530

ISBN 9781491136614. UPC: 680160687992.

A violinist herself, Lauren Bernofsky has described SONATA FOR SOLO VIOLIN as drawn from autobiographical inspiration, including gestures from Bach�??s beloved Partita in E Major. Bernofsky opens with a Preludio movement whose references to Bach may be disguised, but they are surely lurking. The second movement is lusciously contrapuntal with the idiomatic finesse of a violinist composing for her own instrument, while musically journaling the emotional pain of living through 2020. The third and final movement is aptly marked �??white-hot,�?� and the music certainly is.
My SONATA FOR SOLO VIOLIN was commissioned by violinist Megan Healy as part of The Maud Powell Project, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The project included the creation of five new works for solo violin inspired by and dedicated to the memory of pioneering American violinist Maud Powell (1867-1920). Healy premiered the sonata on May 8, 2021 at PianoForte Studios in Chicago.Among the works Powell most frequently performed in her recitals was the �??Preludio�?� movement from Bach�??s E major Partita, and I decided to refer to that music in my own first movement, also titled �??Preludio.�?� The beginning subtly reflects Bach�??s opening three-note motive, wherein the music dips down a semitone and then comes back up. This melodic material returns throughout the movement in various forms. I also refer to Bach�??s sixteenth-note dominated texture, and the gesture in the third measure, which outlines a perfect fifth and then fills it in with notes that alternate between a scale and a pedal tone. The corresponding passage in my piece occurs in the same place, measure 3. Apart from these references to Bach, my sonata is much more modern sounding, especially in its chromatic character.I was still thinking of Bach�??s solo violin writing while composing the second movement, particularly the polyphonic nature of the slow movements, where the melodic interest moves around between the voices. Emotionally, I wanted my movement to reflect the acute sadness I had been experiencing over the political and social situation in the United States as I wrote the piece. I realized that this is a historically noteworthy time in U.S. history, marked not only by political unrest, but also by a challenge to the very values that I consider essential to what makes a person fundamentally human. I wanted to create a record of that pain in my music.The final movement is marked �??White-hot.�?� It is imbued with a relentless, passionate intensity. Wanting again to reflect aspects of our own time, I included glissandi that refer to rock music, specifically the �??fall-offs�?� I frequently hear played by electric guitarists. I borrowed from another (completely different) musical tradition as well, one that is near-and-dear to my heart: Klezmer. Klezmer (Eastern European Jewish folk music) is characterized in part by scales colored by augmented seconds, and is often performed by solo instrumentalists who improvise embellishments like quick grace notes. The second, more lyrical theme in this movement is my nod to Klezmer style.While this piece is an homage to Maud Powell, I also think of it as my own musical autobiography, as it combines some of my favorite aspects of music, and is played on my own instrument.

SKU: HL.48019978

9.0x12.0x0.098 inches.

Zigmund Schul, who was born in Chemnitz in 1916 and died in the Theresienstadt ghetto in 1944, is one of the artists neglected in efforts to explore the music of the so-called 'Theresienstadt composers'. In collaboration with the Terezín Music Memorial Project in Tel Aviv and the memorial site Yad Vashem, Bote & Bock is publishing, in no particular order, amongst the works of other composers, the complete works of Schul, who was a pupil of Hindemith and Hába. These works include chamber music for strings, vocal and choir works as well as a fugue for piano. The 'Duo', written in 1943, is one of Schul's most extensive surviving works and is one of the most important works ever written for this duo formation – it is an invaluable addition to the repertoire.

SKU: PR.114422690

UPC: 680160684809. 9 x 12 inches.

In 2014, I enjoyed a wonderful residence at the Ucross Foundation in Clearmont,
Wyoming. Ucross is an artist colony that gives writers, composers, and visual artists the
gift of time, space, and support to follow their artistic pursuits; we are provided with
studio space, housing, and meals so that we can work continuously on our projects. I have
been in residence at numerous artist colonies; however, nothing in my previous
experiences prepared me for living in such isolated, wild country. Ucross is situated on a
20,000-acre cattle ranch at nearly 4,000 feet in elevation with fewer than 150 people
living within the town. But what Clearmont lacks in population, it makes up for
abundantly and spectacularly in wilderness and wildlife. I composed the sextet Postcards
from Wyoming to offer three glimpses of what I found to be the most striking aspects of
my residence. The Solitude of Stars, the third and final movement of the original sextet,
was inspired by the stunning nightly display of the heavens above. Without city lights
dimming the night sky, countless stars shone brightly over the vast expanse of the prairie.
This edition is part of The Solitude of Stars Project that I undertook during the 2020
COVID-19 pandemic, which consists of a series of arrangements that I made for
colleagues and friends.
In 2014, I enjoyed a wonderful residence at the Ucross Foundation in Clearmont, Wyoming. Ucross is an artist colony that gives writers, composers, and visual artists the gift of time, space, and support to follow their artistic pursuits; we are provided with studio space, housing, and meals so that we can work continuously on our projects. I have been in residence at numerous artist colonies; however, nothing in my previous experiences prepared me for living in such isolated, wild country. Ucross is situated on a 20,000-acre cattle ranch at nearly 4,000 feet in elevation with fewer than 150 people living within the town. But what Clearmont lacks in population, it makes up for abundantly and spectacularly in wilderness and wildlife. I composed the sextet Postcards from Wyoming to offer three glimpses of what I found to be the most striking aspects of my residence. The Solitude of Stars, the third and final movement of the original sextet, was inspired by the stunning nightly display of the heavens above. Without city lights dimming the night sky, countless stars shone brightly over the vast expanse of the prairie. This edition is part of The Solitude of Stars Project that I undertook during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, which consists of a series of arrangements that I made for colleagues and friends.
In 2014, I enjoyed a wonderful residence at the Ucross Foundation in Clearmont,Wyoming. Ucross is an artist colony that gives writers, composers, and visual artists thegift of time, space, and support to follow their artistic pursuits; we are provided withstudio space, housing, and meals so that we can work continuously on our projects. I havebeen in residence at numerous artist colonies; however, nothing in my previousexperiences prepared me for living in such isolated, wild country. Ucross is situated on a20,000-acre cattle ranch at nearly 4,000 feet in elevation with fewer than 150 peopleliving within the town. But what Clearmont lacks in population, it makes up forabundantly and spectacularly in wilderness and wildlife. I composed the sextet Postcardsfrom Wyoming to offer three glimpses of what I found to be the most striking aspects ofmy residence. The Solitude of Stars, the third and final movement of the original sextet,was inspired by the stunning nightly display of the heavens above. Without city lightsdimming the night sky, countless stars shone brightly over the vast expanse of the prairie.This edition is part of The Solitude of Stars Project that I undertook during the 2020COVID-19 pandemic, which consists of a series of arrangements that I made forcolleagues and friends.

SKU: PR.141401040

ISBN 9781491136379. UPC: 680160688913. English. Comments by guests of Soup Kitchen.

This theatrical miniature has carved a unique place in music literature, thanks to many warm hearts and minds. In 2005 the distinguished violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins started a project called Music Kitchen where the homeless and needy, after a meal provided by a soup kitchen, were treated to a concert performed by some of the best musicians in New York. After these concerts, Hall-Tompkins asked the listeners for comments. This became inspiration for Zwilich�??s MUSIC KITCHEN INTERPLAY, which includes vocal settings of listeners�?? comments in musical counterpoint with reworked fragments of her Fantasy for Solo Violin.
In 2005 the wonderful violinist, Kelly Hall-Tompkins, started a project called Music Kitchen where needy (often homeless) people, after a meal provided by a Soup Kitchen, were treated to a concert performed by some of the best musicians in New York. After the concerts, Kelly asked the listeners if they had any comments, and she saved these.To celebrate of 10 years of the project, in 2015 Kelly asked a number of composers to write a composition for Music Kitchen. I loved the idea, and I was particularly inspired by the comments that the listeners had made.The premiere of Music Kitchen Interplay featured Kelly�??s performance, based on my Fantasy for Solo Violin, with audience comments (like �??never been so close to a violin�?�) given voice by the outstanding Bass, Mark Risinger. The music is meant to celebrate the receptiveness and understanding of our fellow humans who, like me, need music to enrich our lives.

SKU: HL.50603675

ISBN 9781705128138. UPC: 840126952919.

The original music Walk for one dancer and violinist was commissioned by Compagnie Trans. The four pieces that compose this sonata are from the performance piece Laurence Marthouret choreographed for a dancer and a violinist, entitled Walk, and interpreted by Sona Khochafian in 2001. The project originated from a shared conception of the two art forms, an equal collaboration between choreographic and musical composition. Its central idea was to utilize Laban's choreographic notation system, which accompanies and parallels the musical notation, allowing for an extreme precision in the playing out of the dance-music relationship. Largely cut and recomposed to arrive at this concert version, Walk-Sonata still maintains its four discreet parts, the four sides of a square of the choreographic composition and is therefore strongly linked to the original choreography. This is discernible not only in the formal four movement structure, but also in the music's multiple rhythms, dynamics and phrasing, which are consistently, if not tightly, joined to the dance gesture. Walk-Sonata is dedicated to Sona Khochafian and Laurence Marthouret.