Carry the Light of Love

SKU: HL.232108

ISBN 9781783052738. UPC: 888680677329. 4.5x7.5x0.899 inches.

Complete lyrics and chords to 195 Beatles songs, including: Across the Universe • All My Loving • All You Need Is Love • And I Love Her • Back in the U.S.S.R. • The Ballad of John and Yoko • Birthday • Blackbird • A Day in the Life • Day Tripper • Dear Prudence • Drive My Car • Eight Days a Week • Eleanor Rigby • Good Day Sunshine • Got to Get You into My Life • A Hard Day's Night • Help! • Helter Skelter • Here Comes the Sun • Hey Jude • I Saw Her Standing There • I Want to Hold Your Hand • In My Life • Let It Be • The Long and Winding Road • Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds • Penny Lane • Revolution • Something • Ticket to Ride • Twist and Shout • When I'm Sixty-Four • While My Guitar Gently Weeps • Yellow Submarine • Yesterday • and more. 4-1/2 inches x 7-1/2 inches.

SKU: PE.EP73479

ISBN 9790577019888. 297 x 210mm inches. English.

At First Light was commissioned by Eric Bruskin, a resident of Philadelphia, USA, in memory of his mother. Eric had a longstanding enthusiasm for my work, and I was touched to be the person he approached for a task which is both a privilege and a daunting responsibility. In a sense, no music can ever measure up to the weight of love or the hope of consolation vested in it under such circumstances - but in memory I carry the deaths of both my own parents, and I was able to draw upon that. Eric's fondness for my Cello Sonata (itself written in memoriam) led him to ask that I include a solo 'cello part in the new work - but his attachment also to my polyphonic sacred choral writing meant that he wanted a centrepiece which would be both a showcase of that approach and the celebration of a life well lived. Therefore, the seven movements of At First Light arrange themselves as a series of slow meditations surrounding an exuberant 9-minute motet in which the lamenting cello falls temporarily silent.

Eric's Jewish faith meant that approaching an agnostic humanist brought up within the Anglican tradition was hardly free of problems! Gradually, though, I was able to win his approval for a collated mosaic of texts. This embraces some liturgical Latin (necessary for the motet) as the shared preserve of broad western culture in general, but balances it with a secular approach to loss, celebration, remembrance and the many shades of our mourning those whom we see no longer. Eric was adamant that he did not want the title Requiem; but what has emerged is still a form of semi-secular Requiem in all but name, taking its title instead from a phrase in the poem by Thomas Blackburn set as the third movement. This seemed to suggest succinctly how the loss of one very close to us is an awakening into an unfamiliar world where everything is changed. Following the exuberant central movement, the texts by the Lebanese-born Kahlil Gibran and the US, Kentuckian poet Wendell Berry first address the departed loved one directly, then place us within an imaginary funeral cortege, where the perennial and universal in human experience become personal without subscribing explicitly to any particular faith (or lack of it). The final text of all is a translation of a Hebraic prayer, requested and provided by Eric Bruskin, which serves to mirror its Latin counterpart heard at the outset.

Throughout, the lamenting cello represents a commentary on the experience articulated in the text. It evokes and, in a sense, tries to embrace and sanctify the individual existential journeys of the bereft, as they in turn seek to make their own sense of what the short-lived Second World War poet Alun Lewis called 'the unbearable beauty of the dead' (movement 5).

In a modern world hostage to ever greater menace, displacement, bloodshed and anguish, I hope fervently that this music not only brings a measure of solace to the person who commissioned it, but also makes its own small contribution to bailing out the sinking ship of humanity.

SKU: BT.CMP-1101-07-043

9x12 inches. English.

A modern twist to this beautiful antique French carol makes it a delightful contrast for your winter concert. Interesting rhythms and melodic surprises carry this lovely old tune to new places. Articulation and dynamic concerns are important factors when interpreting the piece, so there is plenty to teach in your endless quest to make your group a better ensemble.Different!

Mike Hannickel nahm sich des schönen alten, ursprünglich französischen Weihnachtsliedes Un flambeau, Jeanette, Isabelle an und verlieh ihm in seiner gelungenen Bearbeitung einen modernen Touch. Interessante Rhythmen und melodische Überraschungen machen das Stück zu einer interessanten Abwechslung für Ihr Konzertprogramm. Artikulation und Dynamik sind die wichtigsten Stichwörter für die Interpretation, so dass Ihre Musiker an dieser schönen Aufgabe noch wachsen können.

Un flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle est un chant de Noël provençal du XVIe siècle. Ce chant a été publié pour la première fois en 1553 en France sous la forme d’un air de danse. Mike Hannickel en a réalisé un arrangement aux accents de la modernité. Les rythmes sont intéressants, les mélodies pleines de surprises. L’articulation et les nuances adéquates contribuent une interprétation réussie de cette mélodie, qui inspira églement le célèbre peintre français Georges de la Tour.

SKU: HL.14030555

9.0x11.75x0.126 inches. English.

This Nativity, with its eight delightful new songs, will captivate the hearts of family and friends. It is suitable for school or church, and for mixed ages and abilities. As the Biblical story unfods, Roman soldiers are dutifully carrying out their tasks, many miles from their homeland. Why is everyone so interested in the stable? By the end of the story, the Roman soldiers have also entered the stable and praise the Baby King. If you need to license a school/youth theatre performance of this product, please use the online application form.