SKU: KU.GM-1911
ISBN 9790206202384. 9 x 12 inches.
Monumentum, Music for String Sextet, was written in 2014 to a commission from the Moritzburg Festival, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center New York and the Kathe Kollwitz House in Moritzburg. It is dedicated to the cellist Jan Vogler. The world premiere took place on 19 August 2014 at the Moritzburg Festival, performed by Timothy Chooi & Mira Wang (violins), Roberto Diaz & Hartmut Rohde (violas), Jan Vogler & Harriet Krijgh (cellos). The American premiere took place on 7 May 2015 in the Lincoln Center with the Amphion String Quartet, the violist Yura Lee and the cellist Jan Vogler.The String Sextet Momentum commemorates the outbreak of the First World War, the death of Peter Kollwitz – who died as a volunteer, aged just 18, in the early weeks of the war – and the manner in which his mother, the artist Kathe Kollwitz, mourned the loss of her son. The artist worked through her pain by creating her most famous sculpture, The Mourning Parents. It stands today at the German soldiers’ cemetery at Vladslo in western Flanders, where her son Peter also lies buried. During the 18 years that she worked on the Parents, Kathe Kollwitz attended several concerts at the Volksbuhne in Berlin, where from January to February 1927 she heard Arthur Schnabel’s cycle of all the Beethoven piano sonatas. Schnabel performed the Sonata op. 111 in c minor on 26 February 1927, and this work touched her in particular, as we can read in her diary: “The strange flickering notes turned into flames – a moment of rapture, taking one into a different sphere, and the heavens opened almost as in the Ninth (Symphony). Then one found one’s way back – but it was a return after having been assured that there is a heaven. These notes are serene – confident – and good. Thank you, Schnabel!” This encounter with Beethoven’s last sonata inspired the artist to take up work again on her sculpture after a long interruption and to consider different possibilities for arranging the two figures. For this reason, the first minutes ofMomentum are derived from this sonata by Beethoven – though without it being quoted in an audible manner – and they leave their mark on the form of the Sextet. The number 18 and the date of Peter Kollwitz’s death (23 October 1914) also have a direct impact on the work’s dramaturgy. This music is mostly calm in nature, but is time and again interrupted unexpectedly, being disturbed by unruly sounds and vehement eruptions until time itself seems to dissolve in an aleatoric passage. The work ends with an extended lament on “seed corn should not be ground”, a line from Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Journeyman Years. Kathe Kollwitz often quoted this phrase to argue for peace, and also took it as the title for a lithograph that she made in 1942. - David Philip Hefti
SKU: CF.CAS66F
ISBN 9780825889486. UPC: 798408089481. 8.5 x 11 inches.
Yosemite Falls depicts the wide open spaces of this magnificent western treasure, exploring new sounds and harmonies in a fresh approach from Sean O'Loughlin. However, this work retains his signature flourishes, such as angular rhythm, drive, and punctuated harmonies. A very strong choice for your more advanced ensembles in contest or festival performance.The grandeur and spectacle of Yosemite National Park is the inspiration for the music of Yosemite Falls. Located in the northwest corner of California, this park continues to be a natural wonder to all who visit it each year. The falls are particularly beautiful in the spring when all the snow from winter is melting away.The piece begins with a pulsing rhythmic figure that will return periodically throughout the piece. Bring out the dynamic contrast in the section that follows at m. 9. The main melody appears at m. 17 and should have a light and airy feel to it. The secondary melody comes in at m. 30 and has a much more legato and lyrical quality. This melody continues to grow and expand until m. 44 when the opening rhythmic idea returns. This rhythm gets developed further throughout the nextfew sections until the main and secondary melodies collide at m. 67. Bring out the inner lines to create a lush accompaniment. This culminates in a unison statement of the melody at m. 83. The silence on the downbeat of m. 84 creates space and anticipation for the pulsing rhythms that gain momentum to the exciting conclusion.
About Carl Fischer Concert String Orchestra Series
This series of pieces (Grade 3 and higher) is designed for advancing ensembles. The pieces in this series are characterized by:
SKU: MH.1-59913-070-X
ISBN 9781599130705.
Program Notes: Stylistically diverse -- tranquil, spirited pastoral, sensitive, energetic -- exhibiting a remarkable palette, the five movements of SINFONIA IX form a unique symphonic statement. Movement I, Prelude, is about contrasts: A lazy, smooth, motive in brasses alternates with, and then joins, an active and detached motive in woodwinds. The spirited Movement II, Morley's Ghost, is an intricate canonic collage and homage to that venerable theoretician & composer, Thomas Morley. By contrast, movement III, Dialog, speaks in a relaxed, lyrical, and pastoral language as it develops its gently rising and falling motives. Movement IV, Waltz, innocently celebrates the joys of childhood with a lilting melody and rondo form. For the rousing Finale, Movement V begins with a martial call of repeated-notes, heralding a headstrong journey of power and excitement. Like a number of the composer's other works, SINFONIA IX is based on earlier material: A brass sextet, written in 1966 when the composer was nineteen years old, forms the raw material for the first, third and fifth movements, while a later work, Martin's Waltz (a children's piece for flutes and clarinets composed in 1975) is the basis of the fourth movement. The second movement, however, is a fanciful contrapuntal commentary on Thomas Morley's 16th-century canzonet, Fire and Lightning. SINFONIA IX is dedicated to John Raforth, a distinguished band director and music educator at West High School in Madison, Wisconsin. The work was commissioned by his friends and former students, and was completed in 1977. Its first publication some twenty years later is a result of the increasing attention paid by university band directors to the earlier Sinfonias, particularly Sinfonia III (Hymns and Dances); Sinfonia V (Sinfonia Sacra et Profana); and now, Sinfonia IX. Whereas the first two works are wind ensemble compositions that have been championed equally by the concert band, Sinfonia IX is the composer's first college-level Sinfonia written especially for concert band. Ensemble instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 8 Flute 1-2, 2 Oboe, 1 Eb Clarinet, 4 Bb Clarinet 1, 4 Bb Clarinet 2, 4 Bb Clarinet 3, 3 Bb Bass Clarinet, 2 Bassoon, 4 Eb Alto Saxophone, 2 Bb Tenor Saxophone, 1 Eb Baritone Saxophone, 3 Bb Trumpet 1, 3 Bb Trumpet 2, 3 Bb Trumpet 3, 2 F Horn 1-2, 2 F Horn 3-4, 3 Trombone 1, 3 Trombone 2, 3 Baritone B.C., 2 Baritone T.C., 4 Tuba, 3 String Bass, 2 Timpani, 5 Percussion.
SKU: MH.1-59913-071-8
ISBN 9781599130712.