Full Score Anthology

SKU: HL.50600693

ISBN 9788875929862. UPC: 888680661830. 8.25x10.75 inches.

The six Concerts op. VI for violin, strings and continuo by Antonio Vivaldi were published in Amsterdam by Roger in 1719. Although the contribution of Vivaldi was most likely modest - even to assume that the publishing occurred without his authorization - these six compositions mark a decisive step towards the definition of the classic Vivaldi Concerto, consisting of three movements and with the participation of a single Soloist. This critical edition - mainly based on the first printed edition and its following reprints - takes into consideration also all the printed sources related to each single concert of op. VI found in anthologies and the manuscript ones kept at the Wiesentheid and Dresda libraries.

SKU: PE.EP72822

ISBN 9790577011769. 232 x 303mm inches. English.

I have only visited Damascus once, twenty years ago, on the way to Palmyra.  I had a purpose (I was writing music for a play about Palmyra’s Queen Zenobia) but essentially I was a tourist.  Like any visitor, I was thrilled to step out of the noisy modern city into the magical ancient world of the walled Old City, its vibrant souk leading to the magnificent mosque, and a labyrinth of winding, narrow streets filled with the smell of unleavened bread.

In Palmyra, I was met with extraordinary kindness everywhere.  On one occasion, a little Bedouin boy noticed that I was risking sunstroke wandering bare-headed among the spectacular ruins: he showed me how to tie a turban, then took me to have tea with his family in their tent.

Since then, I have watched helplessly as these places of wonder have been devastated and their inhabitants scattered and killed.  When the Sacconi Quartet suggested that I might choose a Syrian poet for our collaboration, I welcomed the idea.

I searched for a long time to find a contemporary poet whose work might gain from any music I could imagine.  I felt it was important to find first-hand accounts of the Syrian experience – but, of course, I was always reading them in translation.  In an anthology called Syria Speaks, I was astonished to read something that looked like prose, but was full of poetry.  It was Anne-Marie McManus’s fine translation of Ali Safar’s A Black Cloud in a Leaden White Sky – an eloquent, thoughtful, contained yet vivid account of life in a war-torn country, all the more moving for its restraint.

In setting these words, I have not attempted to imitate Syrian music.  However, there is what might be called a linguistic accommodation in my choice of scale, or mode.  Several movements are in a mode that I first discovered while writing a cantata commemorating the First World War: it has a tuning that I associate with war, its violence and desolation.  This eight-note mode is similar to scales found in Syrian music.  I did not choose it in the abstract: it emerged from the harmonies I was exploring in the earlier work, and emerged again as I was looking for the right musical colours to set Ali Safar’s words.  In this work, its Arabic aspect is more prominent. - Jonathan Dove

SKU: CL.012-2228-01

Catch the vital spirit of Americana with this contemporary setting of early American Folk Songs. Contained in this creative arrangement are The Streets of Laredo,’’ She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain,’’ Aura Lee,’’ and The Battle Hymn of the Republic.’’ Ideal for all performances!

About C.L. Barnhouse Classics Series

Under the editorial supervision of Dr. Alfred Reed, these classics from master composers have been adapted and arranged for concert band. A perfect way to acquaint concert band performers and audiences with some of the greatest classical music of all time!