SKU: A0.549505

Duration: ca. 4:00, Score: 9 pages, solo part: 3 pages, piano part: 4 pages. Super-famous Instantly recognizable tune, not very difficult - suitable for a recital or church meditation.

Grieg Background

In the first place, Edvard Grieg (1843 –1907) was a Norwegian composer as well as a concert pianist. As a matter of fact, most music historians consider him one of the foremost Romantic-era composers. Consequently, his music is part of the international standard classical repertoire. Grieg moreover used Norwegian folk music in his own compositions.  Consequently, he ushered Norwegian music to transnational consciousness. Furthermore, he forged a national musical identity for Norway. It is important to realize that he did this in a manner similar to Jean Sibelius in Finland, and Bedřich Smetana in Bohemia.

Legacy

Grieg is especially celebrated in the city of Bergen. For example, the city has erected numerous statues depicting Grieg. Specifically, the city has named a concert hall (Grieg Hall), a music school (Grieg Academy), and a professional choir (Edvard Grieg Kor) after him. As a matter of fact, there is also a museum located at his former home in Troldhaugen.

Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 (Op. 46)

Grieg wrote incidental music for the purpose of illustrating a play by Ibsen known as Peer Gynt. The play includes, in particular, the famous selection entitled, In the Hall of the Mountain King. In this composition, Grieg depicts the exploits of the scoundrel, Peer Gynt. In one famous episode, for example, Peer steals a bride at her wedding. For this reason, the people chase him, but soon Peer falls, striking his skull on a boulder. He wakens forthwith in a highland bounded by angry gnomes. Consequently, the music of In the Hall of the Mountain King represents the mad gnomes taunting Peer. Therefore, each time the theme repeats it gets louder and faster. In the end, Peer surprisingly escapes from the mountain.

Holberg Suite and Misc. Summary

It must be remembered that Grieg originally wrote his Holberg Suite for the piano. In other words, he only later arranged it for strings. Further, Grieg composed many songs with lyrics by famous writers such as Heine, Goethe, Ibsen, Hans Christian Andersen, Rudyard Kipling, and others. On balance, Norwegian pianist Eva Knardahl recorded altogether Grieg’s whole piano catalog on LP in 1980. These recordings were released again on CD in 2006. In any event, Grieg himself performed and recorded the bulk of these pieces toward the end of his life.

SKU: A0.551512

1. Morning Mood, 2. Ase's Death, 3. Anitra's Dance, 4. In the Hall of the Mountain King

Grieg Background

In the first place, Edvard Grieg (1843 –1907) was a Norwegian composer as well as a concert pianist. As a matter of fact, most music historians consider him one of the foremost Romantic era composers. Consequently, his music is part of the international standard classical repertoire. Grieg moreover used Norwegian folk music in his own compositions.  Consequently, he ushered Norwegian music to transnational consciousness. Furthermore, he forged a national musical identity for Norway. It is important to realize that he did this in a manner similar to Jean Sibelius in Finland, and BedÅ™ich Smetana in Bohemia.

Legacy

Grieg is celebrated in the city of Bergen. For example, the city has erected numerous statues depicting Grieg. Specifically, the city has named a concert hall (Grieg Hall), a music school (Grieg Academy) and a professional choir (Edvard Grieg Kor) after him. As a matter of fact, there is also a museum located at his former home in Troldhaugen.

Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 (Op. 46)

Grieg wrote incidental music for the purpose of illustrating a play by Ibsen known as Peer Gynt. The play includes, in particular, the famous selection entitled, In the Hall of the Mountain King. In this composition, Grieg indeed depicts the exploits of the scoundrel, Peer Gynt. In one famous episode, for example, Peer steals a bride at her wedding. For this reason, the people chase him, but soon Peer falls, thereupon striking his skull on a boulder. He wakens forthwith in a highland bounded by angry gnomes. Consequently, the music of In the Hall of the Mountain King represents the mad gnomes taunting Peer. Therefore, each time the theme repeats it gets louder and faster. In the end, Peer surprisingly escapes from the mountain.

Holberg Suite and Misc. Summary

It must be remembered that Grieg originally wrote his Holberg Suite for the piano. In other words, he only later arranged it for strings. Further, Grieg composed by and large many songs with lyrics by famous writers such as Heine, Goethe, Ibsen, Hans Christian Andersen, Rudyard Kipling, and others. On balance, Norwegian pianist Eva Knardahl recorded altogether Grieg’s whole piano catalog on LP in 1980. These recordings were released again on CD in 2006. In any event, Grieg himself performed and recorded the bulk of these pieces toward the end of his life.

SKU: A0.548518

O Come All Ye Faithful arranged with new harmony for the final verse. Score: 3 pages, part: 1 page.

O Come, All Ye Faithful

O Come, All Ye Faithful is an English translation of the Latin Christmas carol Adeste Fideles. No one knows exactly who wrote it. One theory holds that King John IV of Portugal (1604–1656) wrote it. Another theory says John F. Wade or John Reading wrote it. Nowadays, we usually attribute it to John Wade. Seems like Stonyhurst College in Lancashire owns the oldest manuscript. It is from the year 1751.

Lyrics

Frederick Oakeley, a Catholic priest in 1841 wrote the English translation. This translation is probably the most common in the English-speaking states. To begin with, the hymn had only four verses. Later, the verses grew to eight. Music directors often cut various verses because otherwise, the song goes too long. Some believe that St. Bonaventure wrote the first Latin lyrics. Others hold that King John IV of Portugal is responsible. Yet even others think the Cistercian monks wrote them.

King John IV

His subjects called King John IV of Portugal The Musician King. He became king in 1640. In addition to performing the duties of a king, he composed and wrote as a music journalist. King John built a very large music library. Unfortunately, the massive earthquake of Lisbon ruined the library in 1755. In addition to building his library, the king started a Music School that produced many accomplished musicians. The king also worked diligently to get instrumental music approved by the Vatican for use in his churches. Aside from his authorship of Adeste Fideles, he is famous for another popular choral setting of the Crux Fidelis, a prevalent Lenten hymn.

Performance in Context

Verses are sometimes left out because all eight verses would take too long to perform. More to the point though, some of the verses may be unsuitable for whatever of the church calendar they are intended. The eighth verse deals with the Epiphany, so it makes sense to sing this on Epiphany Sunday, but not other Sundays. Similarly, other verses are used according to whether the event is Midnight Mass or regular daytime Mass.

SKU: A0.549216

J. S. Bach BWV 508.

Bist du bei mir

Bach adapted this aria from a lost Stölzel opera called Diomedes. He changed the original orchestral instrumentation to soprano, strings, and continuo.  He also modified the voice-leading making it sound more like a Bach composition. The work appears as BWV 508 No. 25 in the Anna Magdalena Notebook No. 2.  

Source

Only a few remnants of the original opera have survived. Historians speculate that Anna Magdalena got the song from the Leipzig Opera after the bankruptcy of 1720. Chances are good, though, that the tune was a favorite of everyone in Leipzig at the time.  

Lyrics

When thou art near, I go with joy
To death and to my rest.
O how joyous would my end be,
If your fair hands
            Would close my faithful eyes. - Unknown

Bach Overview

First of all, Johann Sebastian Bach is maybe the greatest composer in music history. Certainly, he was prolific. As a result, everyone has heard of his works. Furthermore, these works number well over a thousand. It seems like people are probably most familiar with instrumental works such as the Brandenburg Concertos, and the Goldberg Variations. But, similarly famous are such noteworthy works as the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Musical Offering, and certainly the Art of Fugue. Seems like his most famous vocal works include the most noteworthy Mass in B Minor. Also, most noteworthy are the St. John Passion, and indeed the Christmas Oratorio.

 History

Bach came from a long line of musicians and above all, composers. Consequently, he, first of all, pursued a career as a church organist. So as a result, he gained employment in various Protestant churches in Germany. For a while, he worked as a court musician in Weimar and Köthen. Here he probably developed his organ style and likewise his chamber music style. Eventually, he, therefore, gained an appointment as Cantor of St. Thomas in Leipzig. Here he worked until difficulties with his employer ultimately drove him away. The King of Poland finally appointed him as court composer.

 Style

It seems like Bach created a fascinating new international style. He synthesized elements of the most noteworthy European music ideas into his new style. Even more, this new style was probably his synthesis of European musical rhythm and form. Furthermore, he demonstrated a complete mastery of counterpoint and motivic development. His sense of harmonic organization probably propelled him to the top.

Revival              

Mendelssohn conducted a Bach revival in the nineteenth century. His effort probably helped to re-familiarize the public with the magnitude of Bach’s works. During this period, scholars published many noteworthy Bach biographies. Moreover, Wolfgang Schmieder published the BWV (Bach Werke Verzeichnis). As a result, this is now the official catalog of his entire artistic output. The BWV number allows us to locate a work in the catalog. Sometimes scholars will simply use an S (Schmieder) as an abbreviation for BWV.

 Voyager

NASA launched two Voyager spacecraft in 1977. Onboard are phonograph records with sounds, music, and images of life on Earth. The purpose of the launch was to inform intelligent extraterrestrial life forms about conditions on Earth. The music on the disc is varied. There is Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Stravinsky among others. However, because Bach is so important in our music history, it contains three times more Bach than all the others combined.

 

SKU: A0.1240299

This arrangement adapted for violin and piano was written keeping the characteristics of the original work, in order to be performed by young music students who want to enter the symphonic music. Besides, it can also be used by professional musicians, for recitals, repertoire, academic presentations and didactic material. As much as it is a funeral march, it is well suited for any musical performance occasion. The transcription is faithful to the structure, with only one change of key, so that it is comfortable for all the instruments in the formation, as well as for use in ensemble practice between musicians of different traditions.

Ludwig van Beethoven began concentrated work on his Symphony No. 7 in A major Op. 92 in 1811, it was completed in 1812, and was dedicated to Count Moritz von Fries, and premiered in Vienna on December 8, 1813. It is considered a remarkable example of the more ebullient side of Beethoven's compositional personality and evidence that even after the onset of deafness, he still found cause for musical optimism. The second movement Allegretto is a funeral march in everything but name. Often several contrasting melodic ideas are made to coexist, as if Beethoven were imagining several processions converging on the cemetery at the same time. As he was working on this symphony during the years of the Napoleonic Wars, this experience was probably within his experience. It was also used as the soundtrack to the film Knowing, by director Alex Proyas and starring Nicolas Cage, where it is used in the final scene of the film. Beethoven called Symphony No. 7 his most excellent symphony, and a music critic of the time reported, this symphony is the most melodically rich and the most pleasing and comprehensible of all Beethoven's symphonies..

SKU: A0.549836

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Awake, the voice is calling us) from Cantata BWV 140. Duration: ca. 4:00, Score: 6 pages, solo part 1 page, piano part: 4 pages. Program this for church services during the Easter season, weddings, or as a recital encore.

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme

(Awake, the Voice is calling us) also known as: Sleepers Awake

Bach composed his church cantata Wachet auf (BWV 140) as part of his second annual cantata cycle covering the entire annual church calendar. It is based on the hymn of the same name by Philipp Nicolai (1599). The hymn text covers the readings for the 27th Sunday after Trinity. Bach designed the cantata in seven movements, setting the stanzas in various forms. Among these forms are the chorale fantasia, the chorale prelude, and a four-part chorale. He casts the new lyrics as recitatives – in a manner similar to the opera.

Fourth Movement

Bach writes the fourth movement, Zion hört die Wächter singen (Zion hears the watchmen singing), in the style of a chorale prelude with the chorale phrases performed as a strict cantus firmus. The phrases seem to enter at times erratically against the famous lyrical melody. The violins play this melody in unison as a foil against the cantus phrases. The violin melody is so independent and complete that when the cantus melody appears it catches the listener at times totally off-guard. Bach later transcribed this movement for organ (BWV 645). This transcription became No. 1 of the Six Schübler Chorales.

Bach Overview

First of all, Johann Sebastian Bach is maybe the greatest composer in music history. Certainly, he was prolific. As a result, everyone has heard of his works. Furthermore, these works number well over a thousand. It seems like people are probably most familiar with the instrumental works such as the Brandenburg Concertos, and the Goldberg Variations. But, similarly famous are such noteworthy works as the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Musical Offering, and certainly the Art of Fugue. Seems like his most famous vocal works include the most noteworthy Mass in B Minor. Also, most noteworthy, though, are the St. John Passion, and certainly the Christmas Oratorio.

 History

Bach came from a long line of musicians and above all, composers. Consequently, he, first of all, pursued a career as a church organist. So as a result, he gained employment in various Protestant churches in Germany. For a while, he worked as a court musician in Weimar and Köthen. Here he probably developed his organ style and likewise his chamber music style. Eventually, he, therefore, gained an appointment as Cantor of St. Thomas in Leipzig. Here he worked until difficulties with his employer ultimately drove him away. The King of Poland finally appointed him as court composer.

 Style

It seems like Bach created a fascinating new international style. He synthesized elements of the most noteworthy European music ideas into his new style. Even more, this new style was probably his synthesis of European musical rhythm and form. Furthermore, he demonstrated a complete mastery of counterpoint and motivic development. His sense of harmonic organization probably propelled him to the top.

Revival              

Mendelssohn conducted a Bach revival in the nineteenth century. His effort probably helped to re-familiarize the public with the magnitude of Bach’s works. During this period, scholars published many noteworthy Bach biographies. Moreover, Wolfgang Schmieder published the BWV (Bach Werke Verzeichnis). As a result, this is now the official catalog of his entire artistic output. The BWV number allows us to locate a work in the catalog. Sometimes scholars will simply use an S (Schmieder) as an abbreviation for BWV.

&n.

SKU: A0.1196315

Christ Arose (He Arose) for violin and piano with chords.
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If you're looking for easy sheet music for the Easter hymn Christ Arose (also known as He Arose), look no further! Our collection of violin and piano arrangements makes it easy to bring this timeless classic to life in your Easter service.
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Our sheet music arrangements are designed to make it easy for even beginner-level musicians to play and sing this hymn. With simplified piano accompaniments and clear, you'll be able to lead your congregation in a beautiful and moving rendition of Christ Arose.
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Wanna see more of my arrangements? Check out my page here and on youtube.com/@easysheetmusic.

SKU: A0.1196318

Christ Arose (He Arose) for violin and piano.
.
If you're looking for easy sheet music for the Easter hymn Christ Arose (also known as He Arose), look no further! Our collection of violin and piano arrangements makes it easy to bring this timeless classic to life in your Easter service.
.
Our sheet music arrangements are designed to make it easy for even beginner-level musicians to play and sing this hymn. With simplified piano accompaniments and clear, you'll be able to lead your congregation in a beautiful and moving rendition of Christ Arose.
.
Wanna see more of my arrangements? Check out my page here and on youtube.com/@easysheetmusic.

SKU: A0.533318

Première Sonate pour piano et violon
I. Modéré
II. Assez lent
III. Animé
IV. Bien allant, mais d'expression tranquille

Jacques Leguerney began the composition of his First Sonata for Piano and Violin in 1926, shortly after beginning composition studies with Nadia Boulanger. She was reportedly quite enthusiastic about the natural talent of her new student, and offered to give him private lessons to supplement her analysis classes. Leguerney was already reticent about studying composition. In an interview in 1989, he remembered his feeling at that time, saying that I found that this was useless work. If one is gifted for music, one is capable of writing harmonies. instead, Leguerney showed his Sonata to the French composer Albert Roussel, who was renting an apartment on Avenue Wagram in a building next to that of the Leguerney family. Leguerney
remembered Roussel's apartment with its dark blue walls and gilded Indian statues! Roussel encouraged his efforts and said of the second theme of the first movement: I would have liked to have written that. (J'aurais été très content d'avoir écrit ça.)
The first performance of the Sonata was given by the pianist Thérèse Cahen (1897-1944) and the violinist Hortense de Sampigny (? – 1970) in a private concert. The violinist was already a well-known concert artist. De Sampigny finished her studies at the Paris Conservatory in 1915, where she was in the class of Jules Boucherit. In 1918 she married the French author Auguste Bailly (1878-1967). From 1921, she was a member of the Trio Trillat, founded by the pianist Ennemond Trillat with the collaboration of cellist Jean Witkowski. The Trio was active in concerts and recordings in France and abroad for about thirty years. De Sampigny later taught at the Conservatory as assistant to René Benedetti. Thérèse Cahen had studied piano, harmony and counterpoint at the Schola Cantorum, where she obtained a Second Prize. She was a faithful friend and muse for Leguerney, and recruited many musicians for first performances of his vocal and chamber works. She was deported to Auschwitz on July 31, 1944, a few weeks before the Liberation of Paris.

This edition of the Sonata was performed at a private concert in Vernon (France) in July 2011 by French violinist Marion Larigaudrie and pianist Mary Dibbern.  It is based upon the autograph manuscript OL 23, on deposit at the Music Department of the Bibliothèque national in Paris.

SKU: A0.549485

VIOLIN & PIANO - Score: 11 pages, solo part: 3 pages, piano part: 5 pages. Duration: 4:20. This is a popular recital piece that would work well also in church or school programs.

Mendelssohn Background

Felix Mendelssohn (1809 –1847) was, by all means, a German mastermind composer, musician, and orchestra conductor of the Romantic period. Consequently, Mendelssohn composed in the usual forms of the time - symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano music, and chamber music. To summarize, his most famous works include his music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, The Hebrides Overture, his later Concerto for Violin & Orchestra, and his Octet for Strings. His most well-known piano pieces, by and large, are the Songs Without Words. 

Artistic Standing

 Musical tastes change from time to time. Moreover, just such a change occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This plus rampant antisemitism brought a corresponding amount of undue criticism. Fortunately, however, his artistic inventiveness has indeed been critically re-evaluated. As a result, Mendelssohn is once again among the most prevalent composers of the Romantic era.

Early Family Life

Mendelssohn was, in fact, born into a prominent Jewish family. His grandfather was, notably, the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Felix was, in fact, raised without religion. At the age of seven, he was suddenly baptized as a Reformed Christian. He was, moreover, a child musical prodigy. Nevertheless, his parents did not attempt to exploit his talent.

Early Adulthood

Mendelssohn was, in general, successful in Germany. He conducted, in particular, a revival of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, specifically with his presentation of the St Matthew Passion in 1829. Felix was truly in demand throughout Europe as a composer, conductor, and soloist. For example, he visited Britain ten times. There, he premiered, namely, many of his significant works. His taste in music was. To be sure, inventive and well-crafted yet markedly conservative. This conservatism separated him by all means from more audacious musical colleagues like Liszt, Wagner, and Berlioz. Mendelssohn founded the Leipzig Conservatoire which, to clarify, became a defender of this conservative viewpoint.

Mature Adulthood

Schumann notably wrote that Mendelssohn was the Mozart of the nineteenth century, the most brilliant musician, the one who most clearly sees through the contradictions of the age and for the first time reconciles them. This observation points to a couple of features in particular that illustrate Mendelssohn's works and his artistic procedure.

Musical Features

In the first place, his musical style was fixed in his systematic mastery of the style of preceding masters. This being said, he certainly recognized and even developed early romanticism from the music of Beethoven and Weber. Secondly, it indicates that Mendelssohn sought to strengthen his inherited musical legacy rather than to exchange it with new forms and styles or replace it with exotic orchestration. Consequently, he diverged his contemporaries in the romantic period, such as Wagner, Berlioz, and Liszt. Mendelssohn revered Liszt's virtuosity at the keyboard but found his music rather insubstantial.