Format : Score
SKU: HL.48025388
UPC: 196288195405. 9.0x12.0x0.227 inches.
Leokadiya Kashperova (1872–1940), hitherto consigned to a footnote in musical history as Stravinsky's piano teacher, is undergoing rediscovery. A double graduate of the St Petersburg Conservatoire, she emerged as a virtuoso pianist and composer in the romantic tradition. She was associated with some of the great musicians of her day, including Balakirev and Auer. She performed in both Germany and the UK in the 1900s, but her career petered out after 1920. Following her graduation from the St Petersburg Conservatoire Kashperova became personally acquainted with the poet Yakov Polonsky and often attended his literary gatherings. When he died in 1898 Kashperova responded by setting his enchanting and mystical 'legend' To a Child in Answer to the Question: Where Do the Stars Come From? The baritone soloist takes the role of the father or grandfather who endeavours to answer the riddle posed in the title. He decides to relate 'a tale of old, an Eastern legend' which recounts how, long ago, the flowers would weep, so afraid were they of the dark. In response an archangel (soprano solo) descends to Earth and is so moved by the flowers anguished appeal, she gathers 'all their tears in chalice gold / And bears them up to God in Heav'n above'. The baritone narrates the final scene as the Almighty casts the tears across the firmament, thus creating the constellations. The childs question is answered, and the peaceful domesticity of the opening scene returns.
SKU: CA.927200
ISBN 9790007302030. English.
A short and accessible work that nevertheless captures an entire cosmos of ideas and elements of contemporary vocal music!The internationally renowned Swedish composer and conductor Karin Rehnqvist undertook some research before beginning work on her composition Universe. Wanting to know how many stars and galaxies are in our universe, she came across estimates by renowned astronomers: 200 billion trillion stars and 2 trillion galaxies. Such dizzying numbers are simply beyond our human comprehension. Universe begins with a swelling opening chord, which directs our gaze into the sky. Then Rehnqvist portrays this dizzy sense of awe by means of tumbling glissandi, rhythmic off-beats that disrupt the meter, secondary clusters stacked on top of each other, and babbling speech. Eschewing major/minor tonality, she instead makes use of pentatonic series and different tonal centers. This work is ideal for ambitious amateur choirs, as the pentatonic series are easy to memorize while the skillful voice leading makes it easy to correctly pitch the clusters. A great piece for anyone wanting an accessible and realizable introduction to contemporary vocal music and advanced performance techniques!For budding astronomers, Karin Rehnqvist recommends the following website:https://theconversation.com/how-many-stars-are-there-in-space-165370
