Sounds of Celebration - Violin

SKU: HL.49045822

ISBN 9781540024749. UPC: 888680737764. 9.25x12.0x0.29 inches.

The Kreutzer Sonata was originally dedicated not to Rudolphe Kreutzer (who never performed it) but to George Bridgetower, a famed 18th-century Afro-European concert violinist. In an early draft, Beethoven jokingly labeled the piece in starkly racialized terms: Sonata Mulattica composed for the mulatto Brischdauer, big wild mulatto composer.Beethoven and Bridgetower performed the premiere, which was by all accounts a success, and even featuring some improvised embellishment by the violinist. While celebrating afterwards, the two quarreled about what Beethoven construed as Bridgetower's insult of a female acquaintance; the composer then revoked the original dedication, adding Kreutzer's name instead. The work gained acclaim, while Bridgetower's career languished; he eventually died in poverty.Bridgetower has been the subject of considerable research and speculation, most notably in poet Rita Dove's book, Sonata Mulattica. From our 21st-century vantage, considering Bridgetower's unique circumstance, we can only see him as an ambiguous figure who, in embodying difference, provoked inspiration, fantasy, desire, anger and, finally, erasure.My piece is a collection of imaginings about George Bridgetower. It is not programmatic, but it takes on an episodic character, assembled from contrasting fragments. The dance rhythms, recurring figures and gestural contours are intended to feature the embodied expertise and expressivity of the performers, who at times must access liminal sounds and execute complex synchronies. I am grateful to Jenny Koh and Shai Wosner for involving me in their beautiful, virtuosic music-making.

SKU: SU.29110060

1. Sidestep Reel - In 19th Century America, the Afro-Celtic fiddle style was the centerpiece of many a dance. Reels and hornpipes were very popular forms. Their repetitive, even-metered rhythms were easy and fun to dance to, and their infectious singable melodies stayed in the mind and on the tongue. More adventurous fiddlers were given to syncopating on these forms by accenting off beats and by embellishing melodies with oddmetered note groupings. Syncopation is a fundamental rhythmic attitude of jazz and this movement is a celebration of that art. The melodic language is a home-grown concoction of commonality between traditional reels and hornpipes and the Baroque, Ragtime and the quartal concepts of Modern Jazz. 2. As the Wind Goes - the wistful late night song of a lullabye, a campfire song, a ballad...a spiritual. It is sung as if on the wind, yearning to experience once again that which will only ever again live as memory. 3. Jones’ Jig - the Irish Jig, the African 6/8 bell pattern, the shuffle rhythm of jazz and the drum style of Elvin Jones all play around with the relationship of 3 in the time-space of 2. The juxtaposition, negotiation and reconciliation of these opposing rhythmic perspectives create interesting musical relationships all over the globe. 4. Nicola’s Strathspey - In the traditional Strathspey, improvised embellishments, syncopated dotted rhythms and the use of space between notes create expectation, momentum and surprise. These same elements and their effect on the listener are the same in the blues. It seems like a natural marriage. 5. Bye Bye Breakdown - This is good ol’, Saturday night barn dance, hoedown fiddling. It revels in the whining cry of open double stops, in all types of musical onomatopoeia from train sounds to animal calls to country whistling, and in the steady 2/4 rhythm that is as basic as walking. The harmonic framework of several popular fiddle and folk tunes provide a practical grid for the cutting of challenging melodic and rhythmic figures. It is designed to tire fiddler and dancers out. Then we stomp our way home in varying states of delight and disrepair.Solo Violin Duration: 24' Composed: 2018 Published by: Wynton Marsalis (administered by Skayne's Music).

SKU: CA.3911911

ISBN 9790007055561. Key: B flat major. Language: German/English.

In his Christmas cantata Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr (To God, on high alone be praise), Telemann celebrates the birth of Jesus as a symbol of the reconciliation with God and as a message of salvation for a sinful humanity. The cantata makes provision for a competent baritone soloist who sings two challenging arias, as well as a four-part choir which provides the framework for the composition with two unadorned chorale verses and, as a climax, intones the Christmas paean from Luke 2:14 Ehre sei Gott in der Hohe (Praise to God in his high heaven). In the first aria, the muted sounds of the optional high trumpet accompany the words O Freudengetone, wie lieblich, wie schone (O music of blessing! How lovely, how pleasing), evoking a gentle Christmas luster. Score and part available separately - see item CA.3911900.

SKU: CA.3911900

ISBN 9790007055547. Key: B flat major. Language: German/English.

In his Christmas cantata Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr (To God, on high alone be praise), Telemann celebrates the birth of Jesus as a symbol of the reconciliation with God and as a message of salvation for a sinful humanity. The cantata makes provision for a competent baritone soloist who sings two challenging arias, as well as a four-part choir which provides the framework for the composition with two unadorned chorale verses and, as a climax, intones the Christmas paean from Luke 2:14 Ehre sei Gott in der Hohe (Praise to God in his high heaven). In the first aria, the muted sounds of the optional high trumpet accompany the words O Freudengetone, wie lieblich, wie schone (O music of blessing! How lovely, how pleasing), evoking a gentle Christmas luster.

SKU: CA.3911919

ISBN 9790007139292. Key: B flat major. Language: German/English.

In his Christmas cantata Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr (To God, on high alone be praise), Telemann celebrates the birth of Jesus as a symbol of the reconciliation with God and as a message of salvation for a sinful humanity. The cantata makes provision for a competent baritone soloist who sings two challenging arias, as well as a four-part choir which provides the framework for the composition with two unadorned chorale verses and, as a climax, intones the Christmas paean from Luke 2:14 Ehre sei Gott in der Hohe (Praise to God in his high heaven). In the first aria, the muted sounds of the optional high trumpet accompany the words O Freudengetone, wie lieblich, wie schone (O music of blessing! How lovely, how pleasing), evoking a gentle Christmas luster. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.3911900.