Par BEETHOVEN LUDWIG VAN. Beethoven completed his String Quartet Op.135 at Wasserdorf Castle in Gneixenhof, where he sought to recuperate with his nephew Karl after the latter?s failed suicide attempt in summer 1826. It stands out among his late quartets owing to the often cheerful, almost pastoral character of its four movements. Since Beethoven?s death it has often been interpreted as an attempt…

Par LIANG LEI. Having been interested in Mahayana Buddhism for a number of years, I went to a Buddhist monastery in upstate New York to study meditation in 1999. One evening, while walking alone by the side of the lake, I caught the sight of a “V” shape floating and extending on the surface of the water. It was a beaver taking a swim under the moon. This image gave me insight into my relationship …

Sing eight of the finest songs to emerge from the Great White Way! Man of La Mancha hit Broadway in 1965 and won the Tony for Best Musical. Chicago came to Broadway in 1975 and was later revived, to great success, in 1996. The rock musical Rent won both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Musical. Oliver, a musical based on Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist, got its start on…

Eight great pieces by Glenda Austin! This collection includes six of Austin's favorite pieces through the years, as well as two brand new ones composed especially for this series. / Piano

Fassung Ii. Par BACH JOHANN SEBASTIAN. The St. John Passion ranks alongside the St. Matthew Passion, the Christmas Oratorio, the Magnificat and the B minor Mass as one of the great vocal works from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Leipzig years. In contrast to his other large-scale choral works, however, Bach never gave this work a definitive final form. Rather, for every performance he substantially revis…

KT Tunstall has had a recurring dream since she was a child. She sees a tiger in her garden and goes outside to stroke it. She returns indoors and is seized by the fear that she could have been killed. Over the years, it has occurred to her that the reason the tiger responds so passively is that she herself is disguised as a tiger. That she is wearing a tiger suit.The Brit Award-winning singer has…

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…

Par BACEWICZ GRAZYNA. Grazyna Bacewicz realised at a very early age that her main purpose in life was to compose music. Already during the 1920s, as a student of Lódz Conservatoire, as part of her lessons in harmony and counterpoint, she made attempts at composing, in which she tried to resolve nagging technical problems and impart an artistically satisfying form to them. She grew up in an atmosph…

Opus 13 - Grande Sonate Pathetique. Par BEETHOVEN LUDWIG VAN. In a span of only eight years, between 1794–1802, Beethoven composed twenty Piano sonatas, among them his so-called “Grande Sonate Pathétique” op. 13. It marks the consummation of his Classical style, yet also already alludes to his Heroic Period with its intensely Romantic characteristics. Composed in the “tragic” key of C minor, it fo…

Original Repertoire for Alto Saxophone. Nobuya Sugawa presents 9 new pieces with piano accompaniment which are suitable for saxophonists who have been playing for 3 or 4 years and want to become more experienced at playing with a pianist. The piano parts have been written so they can be played by piano students. This way the Recital Album can help the saxophonist and the pianist to a higher level.…

Par MULLER-SIMMERLING CH.. The Rainbow Piano is a new tutor method for children aged 4 to 7 years. It aims to encourage musical awareness by introducing the piano in an enjoyable way, using the seven colours of the rainbow to represent the seven musical notes, making them easily identifiable on the keyboard and staff. It also includes stickers in seven different colours to add to the piano keys a…

Based on the Critical Edition- Orchestra material on hire. Par MAHLER GUSTAV. Universal Edition continues its new study score standard. These completely redesigned scores offer an unparalleled insight into the music of the last hundred years. Great care has been taken to select the best available content for this journey through music history, and every score has been edited according to the lates…

Par HAENDEL GEORG FRIEDRICH. 'Rodrigo” was premiered in autumn 1707 in Florence and is therefore one of Handel's early stage works. The composer, only 22 years old, wrote a densely-woven musical scenario for his first opera composed in Italy . It masterfully portrays the dramatic states of mind of the protagonists surrounding the Iberian tyrant Rodrigo and the plot full of deception, betrayal , a…

Par HOSAY JAMES L.. If you seek truly dramatic music, look to opera. Opera has been enormously influential on Classical, Popular, and Film and Television music over the years. James L. Hosay’s new intermediate level piece, Operatica, incorporates the important elements of Opera and Classical music to bring exhilarating drama to the concert band stage. Style and technical considerations make this a…

Par VAUGHAN WILLIAMS RALPH. On his return to civilian life after five years Army service in the First World War, Vaughan Williams revised some pre-war works, such as The Lark Ascending and his opera Hugh the Drover , and embarked on new compositions - the Pastoral Symphony , the one-act Bunyan episode The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains and the Mass in G minor - all of which have outwardly i…