Par D'OURVILLE LEON. The circumstances of Léon d’Ourville’s life and times remain shrouded in mystery. Although the Soirées Musicales originally appeared in print over one hundred years ago, it is, at the time of writing, impossible to find any hard evidence about when or where d’Ourville lived; indeed nothing can be presently reported concerning anything to do with his life or circumstances. On…

Par SAINT-SAENS CAMILLE. “The Etudes op. 52 and op. 111 are little masterpieces of invention. On every page you encounter ingenious inventions for piano technique and sound.” (Isidore Philipp) What Isidore Philipp described in “Musica” in 1907 is still true today: indeed, the etudes of Saint-Saens offer a panopticon of French piano technique as complex as it is dazzling. Individual etudes, suc…

Symphonie-Kantate. Par MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY FELIX. Mendelssohn describes to his friend Klingemann the 1840 work as 'a ‘symphony for chorus and orchestra’… First three symphonic movements, to which 12 choral- and solo- movements are appendaged; the words from the Psalms, and indeed all pieces, vocal and instrumental, are composed in the words ‘Everything which has breath, Praise the Lord’; one und…

C-Dur. Par MOZART WOLFGANG AMADEUS. Leopold Mozart described KV 262, unlike Mozart's considerably shorter masses of the same period, as a 'Missa longa'. The prolixity of some of the movements and of concluding fugues in the 'Gloria' and 'Credo' is indeed surprising. The full orchestral scoring also emphasizes the ceremonial character of this Mass. / Messe / Répertoire / Solistes SATB, Choeur SATB…

THE Real Book, une sélection des plus grands thèmes de ces 60 dernières années, arrangés en Do. 464 pages

Par MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY FELIX. Mendelssohn describes to his friend Klingemann the 1840 work as 'a ?symphony for chorus and orchestra?? First three symphonic movements, to which 12 choral- and solo- movements are appendaged; the words from the Psalms, and indeed all pieces, vocal and instrumental, are composed in the words ?Everything which has breath, Praise the Lord?; one understands by this th…

Par MOZART WOLFGANG AMADEUS. Since their publication in the New Mozart Edition, Mozart's sonatas K. 10–15 count as piano trios. Furthermore, the title of the first edition, published by father and son Mozart in 1765 reads 'Six Sonates pour le Clavecin qui puevent se jouer avec l'accompagnement de Violon ou Flaute Traversiere”. In other words, these pieces are harpsichord sonatas that may be accomp…

The 29 etudes in this book are taken from Carl Czerny's The Little Pianist, Opus 823. These engaging etudes are comparable to their famous 'older brothers,? the studies found in The Art of Finger Dexterity, but are written for students at an earlier stage of study. They encompass a wealth of technical and music instruction from this master teacher of the Classical period, indeed, the world's first…

Transcription Pour Flûte, Hautbois Ou Cor Anglais, Clarinette, Cor En Fa et Basson. Par DEBUSSY CLAUDE. Score + Parties. This volume enriches the wind quintet repertoire with a masterpiece of the most refined chamber music literature, composed in a valuable historical period which did not give birth to novel pieces of relevant importance for this kind of ensemble. The present version, which genera…

Farewell to philosophy. Par BRYARS GAVIN. I have a great fondness for the lower string instruments: I am a bass player, my mother is a cellist, as are both my daughters; my own ensemble includes two violas, a cello and a bass, and for the instrumentation of my opera Medea I omit the entire violin section from the orchestra. As I have written a number of works for solo instrument or voice with or…

Der Philosoph. Par HAYDN JOSEPH. Joseph Haydn wrote Symphony No. 22 in E-flat major in 1764 as part of his tenure as Vice-Kapellmeister at the Esterházy court. The work is unique because of its instrumentation with two cors anglais: this instrument, which Haydn had used in some divertimenti from around 1760 onwards, does not appear in any of his other symphonies – or indeed in those by other compo…

Par MARTINU BOHUSLAV. Unusual instrumentations were by no means the exception in the chamber music works of Bohuslav Martinu, most notably the works he wrote in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s being characterised by his experimentation with sound and form. It is from this period that four short serenades also originate (1932), each with a different instrumentation. The serenades were issued by the Pr…

Par SAINT-SAENS CAMILLE. Far from being an isolated work in Camille Saint-Saens’ production, Le Retour de Virginie (Virginia’s Return) belongs to a small set written at the beginning of his career in the particular context of the competition for the Prix de Rome that was established in 1803 then cancelled following the events of May 1968. It had been for more than a century and a half, the most co…

C-Dur. Par MOZART WOLFGANG AMADEUS. Leopold Mozart described KV 262, unlike Mozart's considerably shorter masses of the same period, as a 'Missa longa'. The prolixity of some of the movements and of concluding fugues in the 'Gloria' and 'Credo' is indeed surprising. The full orchestral scoring also emphasizes the ceremonial character of this Mass. / Messe / Répertoire / Solistes SATB, Choeur SATB…

Par VAN DER ROOST JAN. This stately concert opener was originally written by Jan Van der Roost for a special event in which six respected wind orchestras (two Belgian and four Dutch) of different composition (two symphonic bands, two fanfare bands and two brass bands) were featured during six concerts. Each evening brought forth a performance by a symphonic band, a fanfare, and brass band, so that…