SKU: PR.114410790
ISBN 9781491112687. UPC: 680160015580. 9 x 12 inches.
THREE MYSTERIES OF NAGASAKI was inspired by the eerie darkness and ambiguous bells of the oldest Western church in Japan. Dorff’s program note describes impressions of his visit to Nagasaki while withholding any explanation of the three movements. The 13-minute work is a duo for violin and one percussionist, with an array of pitched and unpitched ringing metallic instruments plus bass drum.THREE MYSTERIES OF NAGASAKI was inspired by the ambiguous bells of the oldest Western church in Japan.In an island nation that used to thrive on isolation from the rest of the world, Nagasaki has long been a vulnerable exception. From the 16th through 19th centuries, it was Japan’s only international port, open to Portuguese and Dutch traders. From this sole crossroads, Christianity (along with European food, flowers, and language) began flowing into the otherwise insular culture. The US Navy’s presence in the 1800s added to Nagasaki being Japan’s exposed Achilles’ heel, which may be why Puccini’s Madama Butterfly is set in this city, with Cho-Cho-San’s vulnerability symbolizing the risk of openness to Western influence.I’ve had occasion to visit Nagasaki, and have never felt so haunted. Aside from the unspeakable atrocity of 1945 and the lasting presence of that horror, there also remains a mysterious air of not really being in pure Japan, or in the present day. Nowhere was this more obvious than within the Ōura Basilica, the earliest Christian church built in Japan. Decades after visiting the basilica, I still recall its oddly distorted and slowly pealing bells, and timeless incense floating in relative darkness. The mysterious bells have stayed with me both for their own sonority, and as a subconscious reminder of everything Nagasaki is and was.Composed for a violinist-percussionist couple who ended a decades-long relationship just as I completed the work (and never performing it), it was originally called simply THREE MYSTERIES; I couldn’t make a direct reference in the title because it felt too raw. Looking back years later, the updated title THREE MYSTERIES OF NAGASAKI seems to ask more questions than it answers.
SKU: CF.MXE55
ISBN 9781491153864. UPC: 680160911363.
Harmonic Gallery, commissioned by Network for New Music for premiere at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, is a musical analog of a museum exhibition in which paintings, sometimes created hundreds of years apart, are shown in close proximity. There are three movements, surrounded by musical frames. Minuetto is reminiscent of the early nineteenth century when the minuet form started to escape its rigid formalities. Angst recalls the early twentieth century when tonality supposedly started to crumble. It is based on famous harmonies used by Richard Wagner and Arnold Schoenberg. Dance is unashamedly post-minimal and post-modern, and celebrates repetition and cadences. The four frames comment on the harmonies of the movements that they surround.
The three movements are very loosely related to three paintings in the collection: The Gordon Family, by Henry Benbridge, ca. 1762; Final Assault upon Fort Fisher, North Carolina, by Xanthus Smith, ca. 187273; Three Wise Men Greeting Entry into Lagos, by Kehinda Wiley, 2008.
Paul Lansky
Frame 1 100
Minuetto (Post-Classical, c. 1810) 352
Frame 2 125
Angst (Post-Romantic, c. 1910) 353
Frame 3 122
Dance (Post-Modern, c. 2010) 535
Frame 4 050
Total Duration 1755
Harmonic Gallery, commissioned by Network for New Music for premiere at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, is a musical analog of a museum exhibition in which paintings, sometimes created hundreds of years apart, are shown in close proximity. There are three movements, surrounded by musical aframes.a aMinuettoa is reminiscent of the early nineteenth century when the minuet form started to escape its rigid formalities. aAngsta recalls the early twentieth century when tonality supposedly started to crumble. It is based on famous harmonies used by Richard Wagner and Arnold Schoenberg. aDancea is unashamedly post-minimal and post-modern, and celebrates repetition and cadences. The four aframesaa comment on the harmonies of the movements that they surround.
The three movements are very loosely related to three paintings in the collection: The Gordon Family, by Henry Benbridge, ca. 1762; Final Assault upon Fort Fisher, North Carolina, by Xanthus Smith, ca. 1872a73; Three Wise Men Greeting Entry into Lagos, by Kehinda Wiley, 2008.
aPaul Lansky
Frame 1 1a00a
Minuetto (Post-Classical, c. 1810) 3a52a
Frame 2 1a25a
Angst (Post-Romantic, c. 1910) 3a53a
Frame 3 1a22a
Dance (Post-Modern, c. 2010) 5a35a
Frame 4 0a50a
Total Duration 17a55a
Harmonic Gallery, commissioned by Network for New Music for premiere at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, is a musical analog of a museum exhibition in which paintings, sometimes created hundreds of years apart, are shown in close proximity. There are three movements, surrounded by musical frames. Minuetto is reminiscent of the early nineteenth century when the minuet form started to escape its rigid formalities. Angst recalls the early twentieth century when tonality supposedly started to crumble. It is based on famous harmonies used by Richard Wagner and Arnold Schoenberg. Dance is unashamedly post-minimal and post-modern, and celebrates repetition and cadences. The four frames' comment on the harmonies of the movements that they surround.
The three movements are very loosely related to three paintings in the collection: The Gordon Family, by Henry Benbridge, ca. 1762; Final Assault upon Fort Fisher, North Carolina, by Xanthus Smith, ca. 1872-73; Three Wise Men Greeting Entry into Lagos, by Kehinda Wiley, 2008.
--Paul Lansky
Frame 1 1'00
Minuetto (Post-Classical, c. 1810) 3'52
Frame 2 1'25
Angst (Post-Romantic, c. 1910) 3'53
Frame 3 1'22
Dance (Post-Modern, c. 2010) 5'35
Frame 4 0'50'
Total Duration 17'55
SKU: CF.MXE55F
ISBN 9781491153895. UPC: 680160911394.
SKU: PR.416414210
UPC: 680160602049. 8.5 x 11 inches.
Composed for violinist Baird Dodge in 1995-97, SLEEP is a 25-minute concerto in three movements. Thefirst movement (Twitching) is dramatic in character, full of contrasts, pitting the violin against the orchestra in more or less romantic fashion. The second (Breathing) is comprised of overlapping layers of simple harmonies accompanying a freely evolving, lyrical melody in the violin. In the third movement (Sweating), the soloist and ensemble initially work together to create a rising line. They soon diverge, and an increasing layering of multiple lines throughout the ensemble leads to a very high point of density which is then abruptly cut off by the virtuosic frenzy in the violin which ends the work.
SKU: PR.41641421L
UPC: 680160602056. 11 x 17 inches.
SKU: HL.49045996
ISBN 9781540033901. UPC: 888680786991. 9.25x12.0x0.314 inches.
Light, Line, Shadow is a response to Edward Hopper's iconic painting Road and Trees, a painting donated to the Philadelphia Museum of Art by Daniel Dietrich II, and the first Hopper painting acquired by the museum. My piece is in three contrasting movements, each referring to and inspired by an aspect of Hopper's painting.The first movement, Landscape in Motion, refers to the dynamic movement of the landscape when traveling in a car and looking at the landscape passing by in the window. Hopper loved to take road trips, experiencing America by car, and in one of his initial sketches for Road and Trees, there was a car in the painting. The first movement tries to capture that moving landscape as experienced in a car in motion. The second movement, Brush Strokes, focuses on the darker forest in the painting, as the trees become denser and the technique of brush strokes creates deep layers. There is a spiritual aspect to Hopper's paintings, a kind of isolation and emptied out space, and the third movement, Open Road, dwells on that aspect of the painting before reprising material from the dynamic first movement.- Pierre Jalbert.
SKU: PE.EP14445
ISBN 9790014135041. 297 x 420 mm inches. German.
ARKA stammt aus dem Sanskrit und bedeutet so viel wie Strahl, Blitz, Sonne, Licht, aber auch Lied, Feuer und Hymnus, und entwickelt in meiner Vorstellung sehr viele unterschiedliche Assoziationsfelder. In ARKA stecken auch die Worter arc (beten) und ka (Wasser), und es kann auch ubersetzt werden mit: ,,Das Wasser stromt aus dem heraus, der mehr weiss.
Mein neues Werk fur Pipa, Oboe, Pauke, Schlagzeug und Orchester entstand im Auftrag der Kammerakademie Neuss und auf Anregung des Oboisten Christian Wetzel. Es entstanden drei Rituale mit zum Teil szenischen Elementen fur die Solisten und das Orchester.
Inspirationsquelle in der Vorbeschaftigung waren zwei Quellen und Bucher. Das Daodejing von Laozi in der hervorragenden Neuubersetzung von Viktor Kalinke, eine der wichtigsten Quellen chinesischen Denkens und der Philosophie dieser grossen Kulturtradition und die chinesische Tradition der 5-Elementelehre und der Wandlungsphasen. Als zweites Buch hat mich ,,Die Glut von Roberto Calasso inspiriert, ein Buch uber die indischen Veden in Verbindung mit den Ursprungen des Buddhismus und den damit verbunden Ritualen.
In den letzten 20 Jahren habe ich mich intensiv mit ostasiatischer Musik, Kunst und Philosophie beschaftigt und habe das auch durch langere Studienreisen und kompositorische Projekte vertiefen konnen. U.a. wurde 2012 mein Chorwerk PRAN in Kolkata in Indien uraufgefuhrt (Goethe-Institut), ebenfalls 2012 ,,in between VI fur Sho und Sheng in Tokyo und 2013 ,,Mirror and Circle fur Pipa, Cello und chinesisches Orchester in Taipeh/Taiwan (Auftragswerk der taiwanesischen Regierung). Mit der chinesischen Pipa-Virtuosin Ya Dong arbeite ich seit 2000 zusammen und habe fur sie mehrfach komponiert (Urauffuhrungen u.a. in Hannover/EXPO 2000, Rottweil 2001, Taipeh 2013, Magdeburg 2016). Auch mit Christian Wetzel arbeite ich seit uber 20 Jahren zusammen und habe ebenfalls haufig fur ihn komponiert (UA u.a. in Bonn 1999, Hannover/EXPO 2000, Rottweil 2001, Darmstadt 2004 und etliche weitere Projekte).
Jedes dieser drei Rituale hat eine Lange von ca. 6-7 Minuten und stellt unterschiedliche Qualitaten und Besonderheiten der beiden Soloinstrumente heraus, immer in Verbindung mit der Interaktion zwischen Soli und Orchester. Die Besetzung war fur mich ausserst reizvoll, da beide Instrumente in dieser Kombination noch nie so erklungen sind. Die Pipa ist ein ungemein modernes und ungewohnliches Instrument, reich an Farben und vor allem an perkussiven Effekten. Das Tonmaterial wurde zum grossten Teil aus den Namen der beiden Solisten gewonnen und ergibt interessanter zwei gespiegelte Viertonmotive. In der asiatischen Kultur spielen der Spiegel und der Kreis eine wichtige Rolle, und so werden die Tone, Rhythmen und Formen eingewoben in diese drei Rituale, welche am Ende des dritten Satzes wieder kreisformig an den Anfang des ersten Rituals anknupfen. Ein von den Streichern und der Pauke erzeugtes Gerausch, verbunden mit dem Rhythmus der grossen Trommel, welcher einen Herzschlag symbolisieren soll. Die drei Untertitel der Rituale Himmel, Erde und (atmospharischer) Raum spielen im vedischen und chinesischen Denken eine grosse Rolle und war fur mich beim Komponieren ebenfalls eine sehr starke Inspirationsquelle. In vielen meiner Kompositionen gibt es Raumeffekte, Annaherungen an das Publikum, das Verschieben von Perspektiven, die Dekonstruktion und das Hinterfragen der ublichen Konzertsituation, so u.a in meinem Beuys-Zyklus oder in den Zyklen ,,CUT und ,,in between.
In ARKA geht es mir besonders um die Interaktion zwischen westlichem und ostlichem Denken, um das gegenseitige Durchdringen dieser auf den ersten Blick so unterschiedlichen Denk- und Lebensweisen, um eine Verschmelzung scheinbarer Gegensatze - um Annaherung!
Bernd Franke. Leipzig, 11.10.2019
for low voice and piano This beautiful collection of 14 songs for low voice offers Christmas settings by some of Oxford's best-loved composers. Suitable for solo singers and unison choirs alike, each song is presented with piano accompaniment, and high-quality, downloadable backing tracks are included on a companion website. With a wonderful selection of pieces, including favourites such as Bob Chilcott's 'The Shepherd's Carol' and John Rutter's 'Candlelight Carol', this is the perfect collection for use in carol services and Christmas concerts or for enjoying at home. Also available in a volume for high voice and piano.
AGNI is the Hindu god of fire; the elemental and transformative force inherent in everything:
Every flame, every fire, every light, every warmth is AGNI.
AGNI is omnipresent, establishing everything and ending everything.
AGNI is often depicted with seven tongues which represent different aspects of his being.
These include: creating, sustaining, cleansing, purifying, priestly, martial, devastating, destructive, and consuming.
Derived from Franke's concerto of the same name, this solo work for bass clarinet compositionally traces the transformative processes initiated by the divine fire. The solo takes seven pieces from the concerto, presenting vivid character pieces exploring the creative possibilities and wide tonal range offered by the bass clarinet.
This version of AGNI for bass clarinet solo was premiered on 4 December 2020 in Leipzig by Volker Hemken, the principal bass clarinetist of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. EP14437a convinces with its excellent and clear notation, making the piece a new standard for bass clarinet.
Ikons, commissioned by the Vancouver Cultural Olympiad 2010, exists in two forms. This 14-minute acoustic version, premiered by the Turning Point Ensemble, calls for an octet of live musicians to execute complex rhythms and quarter-tone harmonies.
The interactive, electronic version, created with visual artist Eric Metcalfe and designed to be presented separately, incorporates samples from this acoustic version into a sculptural environment of seven pyramidal structures that respond sonically to the viewer.
Roxanna Panufnik's Sonnets without Words is a contemporary piece for Horn in F and piano. Written for horn player Ben Goldscheider, Panufnik has reimagined the lyrical vocal lines from three of her previous settings of Shakespeare's sonnets (Mine eye, Music to hear and Sweet Love Remember'd for voice and piano) into a purely instrumental work.
Score and horn part.
Stephen McNeff's Trig is a short 7-minute contemporary work for solo cello, written to celebrate the bicentennial of the Royal Academy of Music in 2022 and in memorium cellist Mike Edwards 1948-2010.
Trig was premiered by Henry Hargreaves on 19 March 2021, livestreamed from the Royal Academy of Music.
to an utterance - study was commissioned by Klangforum Wien for the premiere commercial audio recording on a portrait CD in 2020 and first performed by Joonas Ahonen at the Berlin Philharmonie on 4th September 2020 at the Musikfest Berlin.
Roxanna Panufnik's Spirit Moves, for brass quintet, was commissioned by the Fine Arts Brass Ensemble. This 15-minute piece is scored for two trumpets in Bb (one doubling piccolo trumpet and the other doubling flugel horn), horn in F, trombone and tuba. This brass quintet is so called because the outer movements are highly spirited and the central one is spiritual.
This product consists of score and parts.
A gently flowing 3-minute arrangement by Roderick Williams for SATB (with divisi) with piano accompaniment that captures the beauty of this famous traditional Hebridean love song. The song text uses both old dialect and English, each verse ending with the words, 'Sad am I without thee'.
for high voice and piano This beautiful collection of 14 songs for high voice offers Christmas settings by some of Oxford's best-loved composers. Suitable for solo singers and unison choirs alike, each song is presented with piano accompaniment, and high-quality, downloadable backing tracks are included on a companion website. With a wonderful selection of pieces, including favourites such as Bob Chilcott's 'The Shepherd's Carol' and John Rutter's 'Candlelight Carol', this is the perfect collection for use in carol services and Christmas concerts or for enjoying at home. Also available in a volume for low voice and piano.
for SATB and organ This energetic setting of words by St Ambrose of Milan is a real showstopper. With pop-influences and a sparkling organ part, Young effortlessly fuses modern and traditional sound worlds, while changes in key and metre build up to an invigorating finish. Perfect for accomplished choirs looking for something different.
for SA unaccompanied This simple, charming two-part motet features long melismatic phrases that reflect the text (1 Corinthians 2: 9), such as the rising melodic line over three bars on the word 'ascended' (ascendit).
for SAATB unaccompanied. This glorious musical depiction of the honour, strength, power and authority of the Holy Trinity by Thomas Tallis is the third issue in the CMS's series of great English Responds from the 16th century, edited by Sally Dunkley. Scored for SAATB, it can be performed either as a motet or as a full Responsory with plainsong alternating with polyphony.
Based on a traditional Scottish/Irish 'farewell' song, this short piece is one of six works written to express my love of Scotland. After living there for nearly half my life, and raising a family, I moved back to England in 2018, and remarried in 2019.
Of course, there were many different emotions attached to the move south: especially the joy and excitement of new beginnings, and reconnection with friends from my youth.
But this piece expresses the wrench I experienced after a last family meal in Glasgow, and the realisation of all I was about to leave behind.
I have taken the melody of the original song, and expanded it, exploring the detail of its patterns, so that it becomes a timeless meditation.
The six pieces in the 'farewell' series are for 6 violas, string quintet, string quartet, trio, violin and clarinet duo, and solo clarinet.
The Parting Glass was composed in 2020 during the coronavirus lockdown, which intensified the feeling of separation from my Scottish family, as well as from other musicians.
It was commissioned by Vittorio Ceccanti for the ContempoArtEnsemble.
Maple arose from a commission to write a work for solo cello, to be performed alongside readings from artist John Newling's collection of letters entitled 'Dear Nature'; a poetic manifestation of our relationship with the natural world.
The piece is in eight short sections, to be interspersed with readings of groups of the poems. It may also be performed as a single movement. It begins with a seed - the seed of a maple tree, as it hangs on the mature tree, ready to drop. The seeds are like propellers, sometimes travelling more than a mile before landing on the ground. Maple follows the growth of the tree to maturity - which in reality would take at least a hundred years. 'Roots, shoots' grows downwards and upwards from a pedal note, and the dance-like 'Flowers' is followed by the stately 'Tree', and then the warm, cascading 'Autumn'. Maple is very often the wood of choice for the back of a stringed instrument, and the last section uses open strings to explore the full resonance of the cello.
The piece starts with a 'seed' of only five notes, which grows into different configurations. It is intended to be played in an improvisatory style.
Maple was co-commissioned by Brighton Festival, Ars et Terra Festival with SACEM and Ditchling Arts and Crafts Museum, to be performed by Margarita Balanas as part of the Brighton Festival's 'Dear Nature' project.
First performed by Noriko Kawai for Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, in a broadcast from the Radio Theatre, BBC Broadcasting House, November 2020.
Full of beautifully crafted, delicate tintinnabulations - Richard Morrison, The Times
