Cult Classics for Alto Saxophone

SKU: HL.14047664

ISBN 9788850728992. Italian.

This book enables Saxophone players to practice some of the greatest classical works on the alto Eb Saxophone. It has three main objectives: to enrich your musical culture, to improve your technique and to allow you to have fun while playing well known tunes.

Pieces by all the great composers are included. You will learn symphonies, sonatas, lieder, arias, Renaissance dances, orchestral pieces, ballet pieces and waltzes, as well as instrumental pieces such as preludes, nocturnes, studies, marches etc.

In addition, to make learning and playing fun, each score is accompanied by two audio recordings (MP3) on the included CD which features more than six hours ofmusic.

SKU: PR.701073570

UPC: 888680073848.

Written in 1998, Pacific Serenade is a “peaceful serenade:” serenade as in: romantic, quasi improvised music which should be sung at night under the stars. The main “singer” here is the clarinet. In general the music is extremely quiet, delicate, sensuous and sentimental. The sensuousness is created by Latin song elements especially the nostalgic Brazilian folk song, which is at times combined with Blues style melody and harmony. The string quartet has a technically expressively challenging part which is not merely the accompaniment to the clarinet, but rather it is responsible for setting the mood in which the clarinet sings. This is Aguila’s opus 59 and it was commissioned by Pacific Serenades Ensemble of California who premiered the work in 1998. Of course the ensemble's name inspired the name of this work as well as its mood. In an age of boom boxes, media bombardment of information and pop culture becoming increasingly aggressive, boisterous and violent, I felt the need to write just the opposite… to show once more that less is more. -- Miguel del Aguila.

SKU: MH.1-59913-064-5

ISBN 9781599130644.

I wrote Galloping Ghosts (A Ragtime March) to conclude a concert of my chamber music in New York City on October 28, 1986. It is the final part of a work called Rags for Divers Players. This work was written to show the variety possible within the standard rag form. I used all the players available for the finale -- two violins, viola, cello, bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, and piano. Since this is a rather unusual instrumental combination and not easy to reassemble, I decided to rescore the work for concert band. Galloping Ghosts is written in a standard march form but incorporates many of the syncopations found in ragtime. The uniquely American music called ragtime traces its history to African rhythms brought over by slaves. Over the years this music became welded to European musical forms such as the quadrille and the march. Drums and banjos and the minstrel tradition lent a special flavor, and from all these elements ragtime slowly evolved within the largely unknown black subculture of the late 19th century. In the late 1890's it emerged as a fully developed form in the classic piano solos of Scott Joplin (1869-1917). Joplin's 1899 hit, Maple Leaf Rag, was an overnight sensation and brought ragtime worldwide fame. Ensemble instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 8 Flute 1 and 2, 2 Oboe, 1 Eb Clarinet, 4 Bb Clarinet 1, 4 Bb Clarinet 2, 4 Bb Clarinet 3, 2 Eb Alto Clarinet, 3 Bb Bass and Bb Contrabass Clarinet, 2 Bassoon 1 and 2, 2 Eb Alto Saxophone 1, 2 Eb Alto Saxophone 2, 2 Bb Tenor Saxophone, 1 Eb Baritone Saxophone, 3 Bb Cornet 1, 3 Bb Cornet 2, 3 Bb Cornet 3, 2 Horn 1 and 2 in F, 2 Horn 3 and 4 in F, 4 Trombone 1 and 2, 4 Bass Trombone, 2 Baritone (B.C.), 2 Baritone (T.C.), 4 Tuba, 1 String Bass, 1 Timpani, 1 Xylophone, 3 Percussion 1, 3 Percussion 2.