Ray Charles: The Genius of Ray Charles: Concert Band: Score & Parts

SKU: BT.1267-05-010-MS

9x12 inches. English-German-French-Dutch.

Ray Charles (1930-2004) was a multitalented and pioneering American pianist and soul singer who became very popular in the late fifties, and remained respected for his music in the decades that followed. By incorporating gospel, jazz, blues, and big band elements, he helped shape the sound of rhythm and blues, and brought a soulful sound to everything from country music to pop standards. Ray Charles embodied the American dream, starting out a poor, blind boy from the southern United States and becoming an international music phenomenon; his nickname was “the Genius” for a good reasonIn this arrangement for concert band, Peter Kleine Schaars presents five of the songs thatcontributed to Ray Charles’ fame: I Can’t Stop Loving You, Hit the Road Jack, Georgia on My Mind, Hallelujah I Love Her So, and Unchain My Heart.

Ray Charles (1930-2004) was een vernieuwend Amerikaans pianist en soulzanger die populair werd in de jaren vijftig en geliefd bleef in de decennia die volgden. Hij gaf mede vorm aan de sound van de rhythm & blues en hij gaf een soulachtigeklank aan alle muziek van country tot aan popstandards - waarin hij gospel, jazz, blues en bigband-elementen verwerkte. Dit arrangement bevat vijf van de songs die bijdroegen aan de roem van Ray Charles: I Can’t StopLoving You, Hit the Road Jack, Georgia on My Mind, Hallelujah I Love Her So en Unchain My Heart.

In den fünfziger Jahren erlangte der Pianist und Soulsänger Ray Charles große, bis heute ungebrochene Popularität. In dieser Bearbeitung für Blasorchester präsentiert Peter Kleine Schaars fünf der Lieder, die wesentlich zu Ray Charles’ Ruhm beitrugen und auch heute noch ein hoch ansteckendes Soul-Fieber unter Musikern und Zuhörern auslösen können.

Ray Charles (1930-2004) était un pianiste et un chanteur de soul américain l’esprit novateur et aux multiples talents. Il connut le succès dès la fin des années 1950 et son immense notoriété ne le quittera plus. En intégrant dans son jeu des éléments venus du gospel, du jazz, du blues et du big band, il a contribué la naissance et au développement du rhythm and blues et apporté une sonorité pleine de sensibilité tous les styles musicaux, de la musique country aux grands classiques de la musique pop. Ray Charles incarnait le rêve américain : musicien noir, aveugle, issu du milieu défavorisé du Sud des États-Unis, il accède au statut de phénomène musical dans le mondeentier. On ne l’a pas surnommé “the Genius” par hasard. Dans cet arrangement pour Orchestre d’Harmonie, Peter Kleine Schaars a rassemblé cinq titres emblématiques de Ray Charles : I Can’t Stop Loving You, Hit the Road Jack, Georgia on My Mind, Hallelujah I Love Her So et Unchain My Heart.

Ray Charles è un vero mito: cinque decenni di successi, una carriera eccezionale ricca di decine di successi che hanno fatto il giro del mondo diventando fonte di ispirazione per intere generazioni di giovani artisti. Soprannominato “The Genius”, questo pioniere del R&B e della soul music, cieco dall’et di sette anni, ha composto alcune delle canzoni memorabili della musica nera americana tra cui I Can’t Stop Loving You, Hit the Road Jack, Georgia on My Mind, Hallelujah I Love Her so e Unchain My Heart.

SKU: PR.110418370

ISBN 9781491135075. UPC: 680160686247.

Composed as an organ solo by the 17-year-old Ives for his own performance purposes, the beloved Variations on America is a treat for any occasion, whether a holiday concert, a serious recital, or other special event. Danny Holt’s transcription for Piano, Four Hands adds a dazzling new option to play at home or on stage, taking best advantage of Ives’ tremendous contrasts in color, dynamics, and texture.
Composed when Charles Ives was a teenager, Variations on “America” is both a convenient introduction to Ives’ body of work, and an early example of his iconoclastic musical voice and creative genius. Just a few years after composing this piece, Ives would leave home to study music at Yale. But until then he had been taught by his father, George (who had been a bandmaster in the Civil War). George subjected the young Ives to experiments such as singing a song in one key while being accompanied in another, or arranging for two marching bands to converge on a town center, with the resulting cacophony that ensued.The Variations exemplifies an early period of experimentation in Ives’ work, spurred on by the unusual pedagogy of his father. The piece is particularly notable for its use of bitonality in the two interludes, subtly foreshadowing more well-known examples by Stravinsky, Bartók, and others by approximately two decades.The bitonal interludes were so ahead of their time, in fact, they were omitted from the first copy that was submitted to a publisher in 1892. (Alas, the piece was rejected even despite these “shocking” elements having been left out, and it wasn’t published until more than five decades later.) There is some ambiguity about when exactly Ives added the interludes into his manuscript copy, though ample evidence suggests he had performed the piece with the interludes around the time he notated the piece in 1891-92. In any case, in light of this piece and his other polytonal explorations from the last decade of the 19th century, it seems fair to give Ives credit for being a pioneer in this area!This arrangement for Piano, Four Hands, closely follows Ives’ original version for organ, setting aside William Schuman’s popular adaptation for symphony orchestra and William Rhoads’ band transcription of the Schuman orchestration. Pianists will find that the piece translates well to the instrument. Ideally, the choreography and logistics of elbow-to-elbow four-hands playing approximates the wild joy one gets from watching an organist play the piece (e.g., the elaborate pedal part in the final variation).In preparing this publication, attention was paid to details in the dual Critical Editions (Presser 443-41003) of both Ives’ manuscript edition and the 1949 publication edited by organist E. Power Biggs (who is credited with discovering what had been a long-lost, forgotten work.) But as with much of Ives’ output, attempting to create a true ‘urtext’ score is a futile endeavor, and especially with a piece such as this one – in which Ives incorporated improvisation in live performance – seems unnecessary anyhow. True die-hards are of course encouraged to consult the critical editions and even find inspiration in the orchestrated version. Generally, performers are advised to be wild, have fun, and not to be too rigid in their interpretive choices.Dynamics in this arrangement mostly follow the organ score closely. Pianists will use good judgment about pedaling throughout, which should be straightforward and intuitive. Courtesy accidentals have been provided frequently – without parentheses – balancing the need for extra clarity in the context of Ives’ murky musical language, and a desire to avoid unnecessary clutter.A few notes that might inform interpretive decisions:mm. 15-16: There are inconsistencies here between Ives’ original manuscript and the 1949 Biggs edition, regarding the top voice in m. 15, beat 3 (C# vs. Cn) and m. 16 (D Major vs. D Minor).mm. 76-84 & 143-146: In both Interludes, Ives emphatically notates extreme dynamic contrast, in order to highlight the bitonality. Although it may seem counterintuitive (or even a misprint, as has apparently been misconstrued by some), performers are urged to follow the composer’s marking!m. 109: Two-note slurs have been added here for clarity and consistency with other similar passages, though they do not appear in either the original manuscript or Biggs.m. 112: The last two eighth notes of Primo appear as 16ths in the original manuscript.mm. 183-186: The original manuscript has a slightly different bass line.mm. 184 & 186: Primo gestures have been re-written to be slightly more idiomatic for Piano, Four Hands.m. 186: The breath mark at the end of this bar does not appear in either the manuscript or Biggs, but is an editorial suggestion – aside from being appropriately dramatic, it will indeed be necessary in a reverberant hall!I would like to thank Steven Vanhauwaert, the other half of my piano duo, 4handsLA, for his input on early drafts of this arrangement.— Danny Holt, April 2022.