Piano,Tuba - Level 1 - Digital Download SKU: A0.548679 Composed by Adam. Arranged by James M. Guthrie, ASCAP. Christian,Christmas. Score and part. 10 pages. Jmsgu3 #3410443. Published by jmsgu3 (A0.548679). Duration: 4:56. Score 5 pg. 44 ms. Solo part: 2 pg. Piano part: 3 pg.Cantique de Noël The French composer Adolphe Adam was already famous as a composer of many successful ballets and operas. Then, in the 1840’s he wrote his most famous work - O Holy Night. The original song title was Minuit Chretiens or Cantique de Noël.  Placide Cappeau provided the original song lyrics. The song was first performed in Roquemaure by the opera singer Emily Laurey at midnight mass in 1847. It became very popular among the French, much the way that Silent Night was famous elsewhere. In the 1850’s John S. Dwight, a Unitarian minister and music teacher translated the song into English.   Adolphe Adam In his younger years, Adam studied organ and composition at the Paris Conservatoire. He also played the timpani in the Conservatoire orchestra. Adam used his savings and borrowed money to open a new opera house - the fourth opera house in Paris in 1847. Unfortunately, the Revolution of 1848 forced him to close. He taught composition at the Paris Conservatoire from 1849 until his death in 1856. Placide Cappeau The poet Cappeau was an advocate of the French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire.  Voltaire was renowned for criticizing the Catholic church, religious intolerance, and dogma in general. Consequently, Cappeau made the Redeemer figure in his song a kind of reformer of injustices, in particular, the problem of original sin. To begin with, people recognized Cappeau’s theology as eccentric, probably even doubtful. Theology In the earlier form of Minuit, the Christ figure descends to intervene with His Father’s plan to punish mankind.  Traditional doctrine pronounces that Christ came from love, not to intervene. This version also declares that Christ appeared to expunge the original sin of Adam. Cappeau removed this part from his poem years later, because he just didn’t believe it.  He preferred to portray Christ as the reformer of disparity and unfairness. Before long, the writer/politician Alphonse de Lamartine referred to the Minuit as the the Marseillaise of religion. Most French churchmen agreed with this idea but certainly did not consider it a tribute.  Register for free lifetime updates and revisions at www.jamesguthrie.com

Piano,Tuba - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1252810 Composed by Maria Thompson Corley. 21st Century. Score and part. 10 pages. Maria Thompson Corley #846603. Published by Maria Thompson Corley (A0.1252810). “Pax Aeternam� was written in memory of renowned composer Barbara York, a fellow Canadian whom I was blessed enough to meet in person through my interaction with Matt Brown. Though we connected many years into my collaborative piano career, Matt is the first tubist I ever worked with, and Barbara’s music was my favorite part of getting introduced to the tuba literature. I was thrilled to learn how much she appreciated my playing of her work.“How Beautiful� was written in memory of Matt’s son Eli, who had a congenital condition that took his life a few hours after he was born. This flawless piece of music, poignant yet never maudlin, provided the title for a recording Matt and I did of all of Barbara’s tuba output. It also threw down the gauntlet when Danny Rowland approached me, at Matt’s suggestion, about composing a piece. Danny mentioned loving “How Beautiful,� and intending to commission Barbara, who’d recently passed on. I’d never written for the tuba before, but felt absolutely no pressure. That’s a lie.Like “How Beautiful,� “Pax Aeternam� is in a major key; in my case, I wanted to evoke wistfulness rather than despair. Barbara’s path was full of suffering, and having lost a brother to prolonged illness, I’ve come to embrace the idea that death can be a sweet relief from pain. I tried to capture some of Barbara’s spirit, particularly in the middle section, and chose triple meter to give the outer sections a bit of “swing.� I don’t recall Barbara as a somber person, and I wanted to paint a portrait of someone who moved through life with a smile. I didn’t know her as well as many, but I always found her kind, generous, and unpretentious. I hope that this musical portrait does her justice.