Written in 1943-44 as a ballet for Martha Graham, Appalachian Spring is one of Aaron Copland's most celebrated compositions and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1945. In this edition for concert band, Robert Longfield has skillfully adapted the most striking and beautiful sections from the orchestral suite. The work ranges in scope from delicate and soloistic to the overpowering force of the full e…

Introductie en variaties over het Dies Irae. Par DE HAAN JAN. De Ruigewaard is a large polder (reclaimed land protected by dykes) in the Dutch province of Groningen. Shortly after the land was reclaimed around 1500, a settlement was established at the location of the current village of Grijpskerk. This was the source of inspiration for this concert work, together with a 13th-century Gregorian them…

Urtext edition. Par BACH JOHANN SEBASTIAN. Bach composed his oratorio for the Feast of the Ascension in Leipzig in 1735. Though this work has the duration of a cantata, the choice of text places it among the oratorios. It combines the biblical account of the Ascension with chorales and free madrigal poems. As in other works which were composed during this same year (e.g. the 'Christmas Oratorio?),…

Par . The Piano Player: Uplifting Classics presents 20 of the most famous pieces of classical music, ideal to lift the spirits specially arranged for intermediate solo piano. Contents include Can-Can by Offenbach, Jerusalem by Parry and William Tell Overture by Rossini. The striking cover features Edward Bawden?s colour linocut Aesop?s Fables: Peacock and Magpie, 1970, and a 4-page pullout provide…

Bach composed his oratorio for the Feast of the Ascension in Leipzig in 1735. Though this work has the duration of a cantata, the choice of text places it among the oratorios. It combines the biblical account of the Ascension with chorales and free madrigal poems.As in other works which were composed during this same year (e.g. the 'Christmas Oratorio?), Bach reveals a special fondness for colourf…

Par DE HAAN JACOB. This composition is based on a passacaglia theme, in which artistic perfection, symphonic drama and oriental melody lines play a role. The passacaglia is originally a dance made up of a series of variations above a bass line constantly present as an ostinato. It is not in this sense that the 'Symphonic Variations' are in the passacaglia form but in the sense of the open form of …

Par TIERSEN YANN. 'I think there is a similarity between the infinite big and the infinite smallness of everything,' says Yann Tiersen. 'It's the same experiment looking through a microscope as it is a telescope.' Named after a chapel in a small village on the island of Ushant, Kerber marks a new chapter in Tiersen's career. A chapter still true to Tiersen's nuanced and subtle approach but one tha…

'O Lux Beata? ('O Blessed Light') was commissioned by The Fotheringhay Singers (Marius Carney, conductor). The work, a setting of a 4th-century hymn text ascribed to St Ambrose of Milan, contrasts a plainsong style melody over the organ pedals with the rich and lyrical outpouring of larger choral sections. Although challenging in places, the subtle chromaticism and occasional lush close-harmonies …

Aus Der Kunst Der Fuge. Par BACH JOHANN SEBASTIAN. In 1991 an astonishing discovery was published by Zoltán Göncz answering the question with fairly great certainty how Bach planned the appearance of the fourth subject, the main subject of the cycle: One of the striking features of Contrapunctus 14 is that in this movement Bach applied the stretto of whole expositions. In the exposition of the fir…

Par ZANON FABIO. Brazil guitar sensation Fabio Zanon exploded on the international scene in 1996 when he won the first prize at the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America International Competition, just weeks after having won the first prize at the 30th Francisco Tarrega International Competition... the most prestigious guitar contest in Europe. This was an unprecedented achievement in the guita…

Bach composed his oratorio for the Feast of the Ascension in Leipzig in 1735. Though this work has the duration of a cantata, the choice of text places it among the oratorios. It combines the biblical account of the Ascension with chorales and free madrigal poems.As in other works which were composed during this same year (e.g. the 'Christmas Oratorio'), Bach reveals a special fondness for colourf…

Par BOULANGER LILI. The brevity of Lili Boulanger's life (1893-1918) does not obsecure its substantial achievements. With the cantata 'Faust et Helene' (1913) she became the first woman to win the Prix De Rome, and several large projects, including 'D'un Matin De Printemps' and its companion piece 'D'un Soir Triste', both in various scorings, followed during the last five years of her life. 'D'un …

A modern sequel to the music of the Romantic era. The first movement hints at the chromatic of 'Tristan?- cantilena lines convey a mournful scene. It is succeeded by a brilliant scherzo with the cryptic title 'Erste fremde Szene? (First Foreign/Unknown Scene - one is invited to solve this riddle), while the third movement, with its singing quality, is related to the first. The final movement, a 'Z…

String Quartet No. 4. Par BARRY GERALD. The title of Barry’s fourth string quartet refers to a Kafka story of the same name about a trapeze artist who is happy only when aloft. This is striking music, full of fragility, beauty, outbursts and to finish, an unexpected hymn sung by the quartet./ Répertoire / Quatuor à Cordes