Standard Of Excellence: First Performance Plus - French Horn

George Nicholson's Salut for String Quartet. The death of Peter Cropper in May 2015 was an immeasurable blow to the musical community especially to those of us who knew him not only as a wonderful wise musician but also as a warm colleague and friend. His unceasing devotion to the cause of music and to the promotion of excellent standards in performance was in my experience beyond compare. The finest tribute we can pay him is to continue to make music to the best of our ability and to go on reaching out to continue to explore and learn. I always felt that I would need to commemorate Peter in a piece for StringQuartet the medium he was most obviously associated with and in Salut it is understandably the first Violin part that has pride of place. The piece develops contrasting textures and registers and above all it is concerned with the influence of the extremely high Violin writing at the beginning on the rest of the ensemble. - George Nicholson Salut was first performed by the Ligeti Quartet Firth Hall University of Sheffield 17 May 2016.

Op. 109-This standard work of the cello literature has been extracted from volume II of the Complete Works for Violoncello and Pianoforte (BA 9096 and BA 9097) which was published in 2016. Mendelssohn scholar R. Larry Todd edited the scholarly-critical edition of “Song without Words”.This work is not based on the surviving autograph manuscript which could not have been the basis for the posthumous first edition but rather on the only plausible source: the German first edition itself. This was published in 1868 as op. 109 and is unquestionably based on an untraceable complete final manuscript perhaps once previously owned by the dedicatee French cellist LisaBarbier Cristiani.The publication is free from editorial amendments and modern performance instructions and provides an excellent basis for musical interpretation.

Tudor and Stuart monarchs reigned during a period of political and ecclesiastical turmoil out of which occurred profound developments in musical style.Tudor Anthems (the term loosely applied to cover the years 1520 to 1640) anthologises some of the finest English musical works of that era. It includes sacred works of various lengths and standards of difficulty for mixed voice choir accompanied and unaccompanied by an array of composers including Byrd Dering Gibbons Morley Mundy Parsons Philips Smith Taverner and Tomkins.A comprehensive collection and indispensable resource for any choir's library prepared in an easilyunderstood performing edition by Lionel Pike.'This is an excellent book. It offers variety the familiar and the less so all levels of difficulty and excellent value. Choirs who invest in a set could cover this aspect of their repertoire for years to come.'Andrew Gant (Choir & Organ - March/April 2011) 'A new Tudor anthem anthology will inevitably invite comparison with the popular Oxford Book of Tudor Anthems but Lionel Pike's collection largely avoids overlap with the OUP book and its contents certainly do not disappoint.' Matthew O'Donovan (Early Music Today - March/May 2011)'For many choirs and choral societies the Oxford Book of Tudor Anthems has been a standard source for this wonderful repertoire since it was first published in 1978. This new edition from Novello is now a serious competitor (why have we had to wait so long!). At almost the same price as the OUP volume and with 50 anthems (OUP had 34) this anthology is remarkable value for money. Before considering the contents it is worth mentioning its weight. My choir complains at holding the New Church Anthem Book and this is the same weight as the NCAB paperback (i.e. over a kilogram) and almost A4 in size. Lionel Pike

Piano Sonata C major K. 309 (284b) Editor: Ernst Herttrich Fingering: Hans-Martin Theopold I wish to do it to reflect the character of Mad:selle Rose, Mozart replied when asked how he intended to set out the Andante of his Sonata in C major. In autumn 1777 he had got to know Rosina Cannabich in Mannheim and during her lessons immediately introduced her to the Sonata K. 309 that he had composed for her. Indeed, in December 1777 according to her teacher she was already able to perform it excellently. So that a great many other pupils might follow in her footsteps, we are now publishing this small gem that shows Mozart‘s great skill in composing for the piano as a single edition with a new preface by the editor; it was previously only available in the complete volumes (HN 1 and 3). FIRST MOVEMENT The first movement of the C major Sonata K 309 is a model teaching sonata form structure. With sonata forms, as with Bach fugues, no formal dogmas underlie the process of composition, but each sonata varies anew a basic principle. For Mozart, this entailed strict adherence to certain fundamental patterns without his creative freedom. In his sonata movements in major keys, for example he favoured a distinct second subject in the dominant as most contemporary composers did. Haydn, on the other hand, reveled in experiment at this point. A brief analysis may help to demonstrate Mozart's standard sonata allegro form and the first movement of it is an ideal example for such an investigation. The first subject is a distinctive, marcato opening followed by a five-bar response. The falling fourth and rising sixth of the opening is one of Mozart's favourite motifs, his common melodic device. He often uses it in the minor as well as the major, and many of his themes start with this motif (e.g. the second movement of the A major Sonata K 331, the Adagio in B minor K 540, and subjects in the Symphonies K 114, 124, 319/II and 551/II). The seven measures of the main theme are repeated, slightly varied. Measures 15 to 21 conclude the first subject group with an answering phrase (3+3 bars). The transition consists of new material and then, in measure 35 (after two measures of preparation comes a second cantabile theme, in the dominant (G major) comprising 2x4 bars, which is also repeated and proceeds to a spirited closing theme (concluding group) using passage-work (m. 43) and incorporating a delightful diminuation of measures 35 36 in measure 45. The exposition ends with a codetta of five bars. The development presents the opening motif first in g minor, and then the various ideas of the first subject are worked out. With this procedure Mozart is keeping much more closely to textbook principles than he usually does. Two further statements of the opening motif lead back to the recapitulation in measure 94. The second subject, now in the tonic, has surprisingly changed place with its accompaniment. The opening is recalled again in an effectively assertive coda. SECOND MOVEMENT The second movement of this sonata is an introspective Andante un poco adagio. In a letter Mozart stated his desire to make this Andante match the character of the young pianist Rosa Cannabich for whom he wrote it: ...she is a sweet, pretty girl, just like the andante. For her age she is sensible and level-headed; she is serious, and doesn't talk too much, though what she says is pleasing and sympathetic. THIRD MOVEMENT An elegant and smoothly flowing Rondo of unusually large proportions concludes this Sonata. Paul and Eva Badura-Skoda