Par SPARKE PHILIP. To A New Dawn was commissioned by the United States Continental Army Band - Captain Timothy J. Holtan, Commander and Conductor. The brief was for a piece to celebrate the 3rd Millennium and it was the composer’s aim to provide a work which, as well as looking forward to the challenges of the new century, also contained moments of reflection about the last one. After a bright int…

'What's important in music that's based on a poem - on the emotion inspired by a poem - is the music and power of emotion it harbours within itself?. These words, written in 1949 by poet Pierre Reverdy, would make a deep impression on composer Betsy Jolas. She'd just sent the writer her Six mélodies for mezzo-soprano and piano composed on poems from his masterwork Plupart du temps. The songs were …

A 20-minute work written for large orchestra and first performed in 2013. The title is a reference to the Beethoven Frieze by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, a series of frescoes inspired by the finale of the Ninth Symphony, to which Turnage's work makes several allusions, painted on the walls of the Vienna Secession Building. / Orchestre

Par JEFFREYS GEORGE. Publication of the complete English sacred music of George Jeffreys (c.1610?1685) opens a window on the achievement of one of the few pre-Commonwealth composers wholeheartedly committed to the contemporary Italianate stile nuovo. Besides a quantity of sacred works in Latin, there are 26 surviving English anthems and devotional pieces, plus three settings from the Communion Se…

This unique collection of songs draws mainly upon Columbia's Bootleg Series, an ever-expanding collection of outtakes, alternate versions, live performances and lesser-known songs from the incomparable Bob Dylan.Some of these songs stand comparison with the Dylan classics and several shed light on the variety of his astonishing career of over fifty years, including his very distinctive approach to…

Sound Innovations: Ensemble Development for Advanced Concert Band builds upon the concepts in Ensemble Development for Intermediate Concert Band with 399 new exercises that are more technically and musically challenging, including over 70 chorales written by some of today's most renowned composers for concert band, including: Roland Barrett, Chris Bernotas, Andrew Boysen, Ralph Ford, Rossano Galan…

Par DVORAK ANTONIN. For several years following composition of his first piano quartet, Dvorák?s publisher Simrock pushed him to compose a follow-up piece in the genre. The work, written during a few short weeks in summer 1889, fulfilled Simrock?s wishes. With his op. 87, Dvorák delivered a challenging and mature work in which a mastery of form is combined with memorable themes and surprising harm…

Sound Innovations: Ensemble Development for Advanced Concert Band builds upon the concepts in Ensemble Development for Intermediate Concert Band with 399 new exercises that are more technically and musically challenging, including over 70 chorales written by some of today's most renowned composers for concert band, including: Roland Barrett, Chris Bernotas, Andrew Boysen, Ralph Ford, Rossano Galan…

Par COURT DOUGLAS. Imaginative thematic interplay threads its way throughout this dynamic new concert piece. Your Grade 2 ensemble will enjoy finding several traditional armed forces songs hiding in the fabric of this piece as neatly as if Betsy Ross herself had stitched them together. The parade-like atmosphere is uplifting and energizing. The stars and stripes fly high with Yankee Doodle Salute!…

In E-flat major Op.102. Par SAINT-SAENS CAMILLE. The second half of the 19th century represented something of a ?Golden Age? of the violin sonata in France: influential violin sonatas such as those by Franck, Fauré and Saint-Saëns were among the successful works of this genre, inspiring many further compositions. Saint-Saëns? Violin Sonata No.2 was written in 1896 during a stay of several months b…

Par BROSSE DIRK. The central figure in this work is Marianella Garçia Villas (1948-1983). This Salvadorean woman fought for human rights in her country. As a barrister for political prisoners she belonged to the opponents of the regime in El Salvador. She escaped death several times, but eventually her activities cost her her life. The story of Marianella Garçia Villas is very important in the str…

Par MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY FELIX. The Overture to Ruy Blas, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s last overture, was not composed as an autonomously conceived score, but as the opening piece of a stage work. Nevertheless, its immediate success at the Leipzig first performance in 1839, as well as the fact that no further contributions to Victor Hugo’s drama followed from Mendelssohn’s pen soon made it well …

Par SCHUBERT FRANZ. Octet in F major Op. post. 166 D 803 for Clarinet (in B-flat), Bassoon, Horn, Violin (2), Viola, Violincello, Double Bass “I have done little new by way of lieder. In compensation I have tried my hand at several instrumental things, for I have composed two quartets for Violins, Viola and Violincello [A minor, D 804; D minor, D 810] and an octet [F major, D 803] and will write y…

Considered by Gramophone magazine as 'one of the most astounding players of the day?, saxophonist Theodore Kerkezos divides his time between a brilliant soloist career and educational activities that include teaching at the Athens Conservatoire and providing master classes around the globe. Drawing on his long experience, the Greek musician is publishing his Etudes for high and low notes on the Sa…

An appealing and spirited march for your beginning band. While this piece uses only six notes, it maintains all of the excitement that a march should provide. Your students will stand tall as each section has the chance to present the melody. A strong sense of rhythm, catchy melody, and several dynamic changes provide for many teachable moments. (1:55) 'To the Fore? correlates to Book 1, Level 2 o…