Planchant for Trombone

SKU: CY.CC3095

ISBN 9790530110720. 8.5 x 11 in inches.

Bruckner's Ave Maria (WAB 7) written in 1882 for solo alto voice and organ is lush and contains a plainchant section in the middle of the A-B-A form work. Jeff Reynolds' arrangement has added an optional Contrabass part to the bottom of this splendid 4-part work for Trombone ensemble and also added tuning marks to guide performers towards perfect just ensemble tuning. This 3 minute work is appropriate for moderately advanced performers (tenor clef in part 1 and top note is a high B-flat).

SKU: PR.11641139S

UPC: 680160682119.

Barcarolles for a Sinking City was inspired by the city of Venice, a place that has long held the fascination of artists, writers and composers, and which I have been lucky enough to visit on several occasions. Sadly it seems that future generations may not be so lucky: in addition to the city's slow sinking and recently discovered tilting, studies predict that if global warming and the resultant rise of ocean levels is unabated, the entire city (as well as many other coastal cities around the globe) will be under water by 2100.   I. Funeral Gondola The late, cryptic piano works of Franz Liszt made a profound impression on me as a young composer, among them two works he entitled La Lugubre Gondola (usually translated as The Funeral Gondola ) which were said to be a premonition of Wagner's death in Venice, his coffin transported through the canals in a black gondola. These late pieces of Liszt acquired even greater significance to me after I spent two summers in Bayreuth under the patronage of Friedelind Wagner, the granddaughter of Wagner and great-granddaughter of Liszt. This movement is a meditation on Wagner, Liszt, Venice and its own evanescence. II. Barcarolle/Quodlibet The Quodlibet (Latin for what pleases) is a musical form dating back to the 15th century where many disparate melodies are juxtaposed. Popular in the Renaissance, sacred and secular melodies were combined, often to comical effect due to the resultant incongruity of the words. The form was considered the ultimate test of a composer's mastery of counterpoint. The most famous Quodlibet is without doubt the final Variation of Bach's Goldberg Variations. As a form the Quodlibet is less common in more recent music, although examples can be found in the works of Kurt Weill and David Del Tredici.   My own Barcarolle/Quodlibet was inspired by the (perhaps apocryphal) story of the funeral where musicians were asked to play a Bach Choral, but due to miscommunication played instead the Bacarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann. Here, the Bach Choral Allen Menschen mussen sterben (All Men Must Die) is heard in the strings pizzicato, with a tempo indication In slow motion. The alto line of the Bach suggests a phrase from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (Alle Menchen werden Bruder) heard in the muted trombone. Before long, the famous tune from Offenbach's opera is heard, followed by quotations from iconic Barcarolles by Chopin, Mendelssohn and Faure, as well as two Venetian popular songs and more Beethoven.   III. Barcarola/Ostinato/Carillon An ostinato is a repeated musical figure, and carillon is Italian for music box. This movement references the obsolete genre of salon pieces that imitated music boxes: such works by composers like Liadov and Gretchaninov used to be a mainstay of pianists' encore repertoire. This movement is however much darker in conception than those pleasant trifles. Utilizing the full battery of percussion, the carefully notated temporal slowing of the ostinato becomes overwhelmed by a poignant chorale melody before this box is snapped shut.   IV. Barcarolle Oubliee (Forgotten Barcarolle) Marked limpido (still) the final movement begins with the sound of rain produced by a percussion instrument called (appropriately) a rain stick. Halting phrases in the harp coalesce into the accompaniment for a plangent melody heard in the clarinet. The central Adagio of this movement leads to a shattering climax, before the opening phrases return and dissipate into nothingness.

SKU: CY.CC3040

ISBN 9790530110157. 8.5 x 11 in inches.

Ecce Sacerdos Magnus (Behold the Great Priest) comes from the early European tradition of plainchant. Bruckner's setting of the responsory, originally scored for eight-part mixed choir, organ and three trombones, brings certain medieval qualities to an otherwise Romantic-era composition. This transcription for 10-part brass choir is appropriate for intermediate level and above and attempts to retain the majesty, power, and beauty of the original piece. It should be approached as a choral piece: connected and fluid. The harmonic language is essentially triadic; great care should be taken in the tuning of each chord throughout the piece. Instrumentation is for: 3 Trumpets in B-flat, 2 Horns, 3 Trombones, Euphonium and Tuba. Listen to the live performance by a young group of musicians conducted by Dr. Paul Stevens, Professor of Horn at KU.