2 Songs (1951)

SKU: HL.14042883

ISBN 9781783054336.

Witold Lutoslawski: Strawchain & Other Songs was written in 1951 for Polish Radio, Strawchain & Other Songs presents a series of contrasting songs about nature andpeople. Strawchain itself is a set of variations where the Piano weaves around the unchanging melody.

Lutoslawski's idiom is carefully crafted with short, memorable motifs and imaginativeresponses to the mixture of Polish traditional poems and contemporary writers. Arranged and translated into English by Marie Pooler.

The full score of the original orchestration is available for sale, order number:SOS03307.

SKU: HL.49047207

UPC: 196288159506.

The books contain 31 very easy arrangements for piano, which can be played from the first year of lessons. In the audio download edition, each song is recorded in two versions: both with and without piano. In both versions, the children can play along themselves.

SKU: CF.H84

ISBN 9781491165539. UPC: 680160924530.

Marcel Tournier (1879–1951) was one of the most important harpist/composers in the history of the harp. Over his long career, he added a significant catalogue of very beautiful works to the harp repertoire. Many of his solo works, almost one hundred, have been consistently in print since they were first published. But in recent years harpist Carl Swanson has discovered a treasure trove of pieces by Tournier heretofore unknown and unpublished. These include the Déchiffrages in this edition, as well as songs set for voice, harp, and string quartet, and ensemble arrangements of some of his most beloved works.All of the works that Carl Swanson found were in manuscript only. With the help of the great harpist Catherine Michel, he has put these pieces into playable form, and they are being published for the very first time. He and Catherine often had to re-notate passages to show clearly how they could be played, adding fingerings and musical nuances, tempos, pedals, and pedal diagrams.Tournier wrote these pieces when he was in his 20s, and before he became the impressionistic composer those familiar with his work know so well. They are written in the late nineteenth-century romantic style that was being taught at that time at the Paris Conservatory. They are beautiful short, intermediate level pieces by a first rate composer, and add much needed repertoire to that level of playing.
Marcel Tournier (1879–1951) was one of the most important harpist/composers in the history of the harp. He graduated from the Paris Conservatory with a first prize in harp in 1899. He also studied composition there and won a second prize in the prestigious Prix de Rome competition, as well as a first prize in the Rossini competition, another major composition competition of the day. From 1912 to 1948 he taught the harp class at the Paris Conservatory. But composition, and almost entirely, composition for the harp, was the main focus of his life. His published works, including many works for solo harp, a few for harp and other instruments, and several songs, number around one hundred pieces.In 2019, while researching Tournier for my edition MARCEL TOURNIER: 10 Pieces for Solo Harp, I discovered that there was a significant list of pieces by this composer that had never been published and were not included on any inventory of his music. Principal on this list were his déchiffrages (pronounced day-she-frahge, like the second syllable in the word garage).The word déchiffrage means sight-reading exercise, and that was their original purpose. Tournier numbered and dated these pieces, with dates ranging from 1900 to 1910, indicating that they were in all likelihood written for Alphonse Hasselmans’ class at the Paris Conservatory. Tournier was probably told how long to make each one, and how difficult. They range in length from two to four pages, with only one in the whole series extending to five, and from thirty to fifty-five measures, with only one extending to eight-five. The level of difficulty for the whole series is intermediate, with some at the easier end, and others at the middle or upper end.We don’t know if they were intended to test students trying to enter the harp class, or if they were used to test students in the class as they played their exams. The fact that they were never published means that students had to not only sight read them, but sight read them in manuscript form!I worked from digital images of the original manuscripts, which are in the private music library of a harpist in France. She had twenty-seven of these pieces, and this edition is the second in a series of three that will publish, for the first time, all of the ones that I have found thus far. The manuscripts themselves consist of little more than notes on the page: no pedals written in, no fingerings, few if any musical nuances and tempo markings, and no clear indication as to which hand plays which notes. These would have been difficult to sight read indeed! My collaborator Catherine Michel and I added musical nuances, fingerings, pedals and pedal diagrams, and tempo indications to put them into their current condition.At the time these were written, Tournier would have been in his twenties, having just graduated from the harp class himself (1899), and might still have been in the composition class. These are the earliest known pieces that he wrote, and they were written at the very beginning of a cultural revolution and upheaval in Paris that was to completely and profoundly alter musical composition. Tournier himself would eventually be caught up in this new way of composing. But not yet.All of the déchiffrages are written in the late romantic style that was being taught at that time at the Paris Conservatory. Each one is built on a clear musical idea, and the variety over the whole series makes them wonderful to listen to as well as to learn. They are also great technical lessons for intermediate level players.The obvious question is: Why didn’t Tournier publish these pieces, and why didn’t he list them on his own inventory of his music? Actually, four of them were published, with small changes, as his collection Four Preludes, Op. 16. These came from the ones that will be in volume three of this series from Carl Fischer. His first large piece, Theme and Variations, was published in 1908, and his two best known and frequently played pieces, Féerie and Au Matin, followed in 1912 and 1913 respectively. We can only speculate because there is so much still unknown about Tournier and about these unpublished pieces. He may have looked at them, fresh out of school as he was, as simply a way to make some quick money. The first several pieces that he did publish are much longer than any of the déchiffrages. So it could be that, because of their shorter length, as well as the earlier musical style that he was moving away from, he chose not to publish any more of them. We may never know the full story. But all these years later, more than a century after they were composed, we can listen to them for their own merits, and not measured against whatever else was going on at the time. The numbers on these pieces are the ones that Tournier assigned to them, and the gaps between some of the numbers suggest that there are perhaps thirty or more of these pieces still to be found, if they still exist. They will, in all likelihood, be found, as these were, in private collections of harp music, not in institutional libraries. We can only hope that more of them will be located in years to come.—Carl SwansonGlossary of French Musical TermsTournier was very precise about how he wanted his pieces played, and carefully communicated this with many musical indications. He used standard Italian words, but also used French words and phrases, and occasionally mixed both together. It is extremely important to observe and understand everything that he put on the page.Here is a list of the French words and phrases found in the pieces in this edition, with their translation.bien chanté well sung, melodiousdécidé firm, resolutediminu peu à peu becoming softer little by littleen diminuant becoming softeren riten. slowing downen se perdant dying awayGaiement gayly, lightlygracieusement gracefully, elegantlyLéger light, quickLent slowmarquez le chant emphasize the melodyModéré at a moderate tempopeu à peu animé more lively, little by littleplus lent slowerRetenu held backsans lenteur without slownesssans retinir without slowing downsec drily, abruptlysoutenu sustained, heldtrès arpegé very arpeggiatedTrès Modéré Very moderate tempoTrès peu retenu slightly held backTrès soutenu very sustainedun peu retenu slightly held back.

SKU: BT.DHP-1074203-010

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

The phenomenal success of the singer Nat King Cole, eclipsed the talent of the jazz pianist to a legacy that remains a jazz master and model. For all of us, there remains his own unique interpretations of such classic songs as Sweet Lorraine, Mona Lisa, Embraceable You, Besame Mucho and, of course, Unforgettable, which was re-released many years after his death by his daughter, Natalie Cole. With more than 60 million discs sold, Nat King Cole was one of the first black American artists to attain such international notoriety. His clear and distinguished voice allowed for him to become a renowed crooner to his legions of loyal fans.

Unforgettable van Irving Gordon, die talloze hits schreef voor grote artiesten als Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday en Duke Ellington, werd in 1951 opgenomen door de Amerikaanse jazzpianist en zanger Nat King Cole. In 1992 scoordeNatalie Cole, zijn dochter, een hit met dezelfde song. De stem van haar in 1956 overleden vader was eveneens te horen in deze bijzondere versie. Toshio Mashima arrangeerde dit onvergetelijke nummer voor harmonieorkest.

Unforgettable von Irving Gordon, der zahlreiche Hits für große Künstler wie Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington u.v.m. schrieb, gesungen von Nat King Cole im Jahr 1951. Dessen Tochter Natalie Cole wurde mit einer Neuaufnahme, auf der ihre Stimme und die ihres Vaters zu hören sind, im Jahr 1992 einen Grammy für die Single des Jahres verliehen. Toshio Mashima arrangierte das wahrlich unvergessliche“ Lied für Blasorchester.

Le succès phénoménal du chanteur Nat King Cole, a éclipsé le talent du pianiste qui reste pour le monde du jazz un maître et un modèle. Pour tous, il reste aussi l’interprète inoubliable de Sweet Lorraine, Mona Lisa, Embraceable You, Besame Mucho ou encore Unforgettable, repris des années plus tard par sa fille Natalie Cole. Avec plus de 60 millions de disques vendus, Nat King Cole est un des premiers artistes noir-américains atteindre une telle notoriété internationale. Sa voix claire et distinguée lui a permis de devenir un crooner de renom au physique de dandy élégant.

SKU: HL.14021630

ISBN 9788759857076. Lyrics by Borge Muller.

7 popular songs by Kai Normann Andersen from the musical film Mod Mig Pa Cassiopei a (1951 ). Text: Borge Muller.