Format : Score
SKU: KU.GM-1911
ISBN 9790206202384. 9 x 12 inches.
Monumentum, Music for String Sextet, was written in 2014 to a commission from the Moritzburg Festival, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center New York and the Kathe Kollwitz House in Moritzburg. It is dedicated to the cellist Jan Vogler. The world premiere took place on 19 August 2014 at the Moritzburg Festival, performed by Timothy Chooi & Mira Wang (violins), Roberto Diaz & Hartmut Rohde (violas), Jan Vogler & Harriet Krijgh (cellos). The American premiere took place on 7 May 2015 in the Lincoln Center with the Amphion String Quartet, the violist Yura Lee and the cellist Jan Vogler.The String Sextet Momentum commemorates the outbreak of the First World War, the death of Peter Kollwitz – who died as a volunteer, aged just 18, in the early weeks of the war – and the manner in which his mother, the artist Kathe Kollwitz, mourned the loss of her son. The artist worked through her pain by creating her most famous sculpture, The Mourning Parents. It stands today at the German soldiers’ cemetery at Vladslo in western Flanders, where her son Peter also lies buried. During the 18 years that she worked on the Parents, Kathe Kollwitz attended several concerts at the Volksbuhne in Berlin, where from January to February 1927 she heard Arthur Schnabel’s cycle of all the Beethoven piano sonatas. Schnabel performed the Sonata op. 111 in c minor on 26 February 1927, and this work touched her in particular, as we can read in her diary: “The strange flickering notes turned into flames – a moment of rapture, taking one into a different sphere, and the heavens opened almost as in the Ninth (Symphony). Then one found one’s way back – but it was a return after having been assured that there is a heaven. These notes are serene – confident – and good. Thank you, Schnabel!” This encounter with Beethoven’s last sonata inspired the artist to take up work again on her sculpture after a long interruption and to consider different possibilities for arranging the two figures. For this reason, the first minutes ofMomentum are derived from this sonata by Beethoven – though without it being quoted in an audible manner – and they leave their mark on the form of the Sextet. The number 18 and the date of Peter Kollwitz’s death (23 October 1914) also have a direct impact on the work’s dramaturgy. This music is mostly calm in nature, but is time and again interrupted unexpectedly, being disturbed by unruly sounds and vehement eruptions until time itself seems to dissolve in an aleatoric passage. The work ends with an extended lament on “seed corn should not be ground”, a line from Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister’s Journeyman Years. Kathe Kollwitz often quoted this phrase to argue for peace, and also took it as the title for a lithograph that she made in 1942. - David Philip Hefti
SKU: CF.CAS80
ISBN 9780825894817. UPC: 798408094812. 9 x 12 inches. Key: D major.
Composer Deborah Baker Monday provides us with an exciting new composition that contains all of the grandeur of the American West. With wide open spaces, reminiscent of pieces from the Americana composers of the last century, this will be a perfect choice to highlight your group at contest and festival performances.Canyonland Skies is a programmatic work which was composed for the 2013 Utah/American String Teachers Association (ASTA) composition competition. The required element for the contest was that the entry should have a theme based on something native to the state of Utah.This original work attempts to represent the brilliance of the Utah sky; the clearest blue by day, with its blinding bright sun and the deepest dark blue of night, with a palette of stars which are breathtaking. The sunrise and sunset scenarios are uniquely remarkable from wherever one may be observing. At any one moment or another, these magnificent visions of color are always fresh and different.Canyonland Skies uses the bright key of D major to maximize the sonority of the string instruments. Excellent opportunities for drone-like intonation practices abound. Scalewise passages build and build for the strong harmonic changes which drive the piece to a contrasting section.G major dominates the jaunty middle section, which suggests a smooth ride on an open road. Melodic opportunities abound while the piece soars to a satisfying reflection of the opening material.Canyonland Skies is the winning Composition of the 2013 Composition Contest sponsored by the Utah Chapter of the American String Teachers Association.Sit back and begin a road trip with your students. With your navigation they will create a soundtrack for this beautiful journey.
About Carl Fischer Concert String Orchestra Series
This series of pieces (Grade 3 and higher) is designed for advancing ensembles. The pieces in this series are characterized by:
SKU: CF.FAS65F
ISBN 9780825883910. UPC: 798408083915. 8.5 x 11 inches.
Take a musical journey down an old country road with Road to the Rock Hole, a breath of fresh air from up-and-coming composer George Sweet. The Americana feel of this piece is at once comforting and inspiring, featuring lush, open harmonies and soaring melodies.
