Sinfonia VII in D minor / D major MWV N 7

SKU: HH.HH447-FSP

ISBN 9790708146544.

Sonata 5, in A major, is the only work in the set to feature the ‘classic’ three-movement design in its symmetrical Fast–Slow–Fast configuration. Its opening Vivace makes considerable demands on the flautist’s technique, and the accompanist, too, has some lively interventions. A short Andante, in A minor, recaptures the style of the slow movement of an operatic sinfonia. High spirits return in the concluding Allegro comodo, which manages to be frothy and substantial at the same time. Sonata 6 is in G minor, traditionally a key for serious utterances. Its muscular opening Largo packs in a wealth of interesting rhythmic designs and articulations for the flautist. The influence of violinistic style is clearly seen in the Allegro that follows. The finale is composite: its ‘frame’ is an Affettuoso in minuet rhythm, but its ‘core’ is a Poco Allegro in G major with the character of a second minuet. Despite its outward charm, this movement retains much of the heft of the first two movements.

SKU: MH.1-59913-072-6

ISBN 9781599130729.

Program Notes: It was a happy coincidence that the commission for SINFONIA XVI: TRANSCENDENTAL VIENNA came from the Henry David Thoreau School located in Vienna, Virginia. Thoreau is one of the magic names in American culture: Henry David Thoreau, one of the leading figures of the Transcendentalist movement, centered in 19th-century New England, left us a body of unique philosophical and poetical writings. To utter the words, Walden Pond, is to invoke an America long past in physical actuality, but still present in the minds and hearts of many American citizens. The name, Vienna, of course, summons thoughts of the Old World: culture, fine food, wine, civilized cities. While contemplating the form that SINFONIA XVI should take, I found myself thinking of two pillars of Viennese culture: expressionism and the waltz. Musically speaking, expressionism reached a zenith in the works of Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg. It was Berg, in particular, that I wanted to invoke in the outer movements of my composition. I knew I would also have to include a waltz, and an invocation of the mysterious forces that are contained in both expressionism and transcendentalism. Thus was the structure of the work generated. The outer movements with their vision of the night sky and the stars, Aldebaran and Sirius, frame the central movements, which are essentially two versions of the same material, and are quieter and less dramatic. The outer movements are symmetrical, and share both pitch and rhythmic materials. Accordingly, I see the work as a ternary form, with the central movements forming a unit within the outer frame: A (Movement 1) B (Movements 2 & 3) A' (Movement 4). Harmonically, the work can be summarized by the two pitch-series which occur in the opening bars of Movement 1: the initial 12-note row, with a tonal center on F-sharp (measures 1-6), and the subsequent D-minor Dorian 7-note row (beginning in measure 14). Aspects of these materials occur in all four movements, but they are most strongly present in Movements 1 and 4. Note that the 12-note row is not subjected to the usual serial procedures, but instead is treated as a signifier and is left unchanged. Since the fourth movement takes up where the first movement leaves off, I can conceive of one interpretation of SINFONIA XVI as an evocation of Thoreau himself contemplating two of the brightest stars on a clear, cold night. Aldebaran is an orange, first-magnitude star, located in the constellation Taurus; Sirius, the Dog Star, is the brightest star in the sky, and is located in the constellation Canis Major. Thoreau interrupts his star-gazing to entertain some inward thoughts, waking dreams, as it were, then returns his gaze to the splendid night sky and all its treasures. Although many other interpretations of the material are possible, it is important to remember that the abstract materials of the piece -- pitch, rhythm, structure -- are what count the most. Ensemble instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 4 Flute 1, 4 Flute 2, 3 Oboe, 1 Eb Clarinet (opt.), 4 Bb Clarinet 1, 4 Bb Clarinet 2, 4 Bb Clarinet 3, 3 Bass Clarinet, 3 Bassoon, 3 Eb Alto Saxophone 1, 3 Eb Alto Saxophone 2, 2 Bb Tenor Saxophone, 2 Eb Baritone Saxophone, 3 Bb Trumpet 1, 3 Bb Trumpet 2, 3 Bb Trumpet 3, 2 Horn 1, 2 Horn 2, 3 Trombone 1, 3 Trombone 2, 3 Euphonium B.C., 2 Euphonium T.C., 5 Tuba, 2 Timpani, 3 Percussion 1, 3 Percussion 2, 3 Percussion 3, 3 Percussion 4.

SKU: TM.08995SC

Ed. by Wolff. Also called Sinfonia No. IX in C Major. Music begins in c minor, then modulates to C major.

SKU: HH.HH445-FSP

ISBN 9790708146520.

Sonata 1 in D major opens with a Larghetto full of the rhetorical kind of expression one associates with Handel. It is followed by a busy Allegro and a concise Tempo di Minuetto movement that celebrates the extreme popularity of this dance, which, in contrast to its role in the Classical symphony, most often serves as a finale in works written around the middle of the century. | Sonata 2 in G major is in a traditional pastoral key. This association is confirmed immediately in a charming siciliana marked Andante. The Allegro assai that follows is dominated by its three-hammer-blow opening motive, which Balicourt treats with great insistence and some ingenuity. The concluding pair of movements illustrates Balicourt’s Janus-like cultivation of both galant and baroque musical languages. The Andante in E minor takes us into the world of a slow movement in a mid-eighteenth-century operatic sinfonia, while the Allegro has all the characteristics of a Corellian giga written fifty years earlier.

SKU: HL.14022878

8.25x11.75x0.1 inches. English.

Throughout the years there have been many misprints, minor and major, found in Carl Nielsen's work. They range from missing staccato dots, accents, tempo markings and dynamic markings to missing notes and wrong notes. It has been the editor's desire to collect as many of these misprints as possible in these excerpts for trombone and tuba. Editorial corrections have been referred to in the text as well as having been written out or corrected in brackets.