Piano Solo - Digital Download

SKU: A0.976504

Composed by James Domine. 20th Century,Concert,Contemporary. Score. 19 pages. Earth Music, Ltd. #2081589. Published by Earth Music, Ltd. (A0.976504).

The Piano Sonata #3 in A minor was written as an expansion of a rock song entitled Wind of Time, composed in 1973 when the composer was the lead guitarist with the Molay Band, a group that regaled the bars and frat parties of Westwood during those tumultuous years. The composer returned to the song in order to develop the harmonic peculiarities and improvisational qualities the Wind of Time theme offers. The tempo of the sonata is Allegro strepitoso, and is cast in one movement following the traditional sonata-allegro form. The opening theme is characterized by a sustained rhythmic ostinato that is elaborated with unresolved suspended 2nd and 4th harmonies. This is followed by a contrastingly lyrical passage that unfolds through a series of sequential gyrations. The development is a fantasia that employs improvisational techniques associated with rock music, and lends the piece a sense of freshness and spontaneity. The sonata returns in the recapitulation to the athleticism of the principal theme, concluding in a powerful unresolved suspension that seems to ask an unanswered question, the answer to which may someday be found in blowing on the Wind of Time. This sonata was first performed by fifteen-year old pianist Sarah Knauer in a contemporary music competition sponsored by the Music Teachers’ Association of California West San Fernando Valley Branch, in which she took first place. Ms. Knauer subsequently performed the piece in recital at Pierce College on April 13, 2008.

Piano Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.750160

Composed by Bradley Sowash. 20th Century,Jazz,New Age. Score. 37 pages. Bradley Sowash #1891755. Published by Bradley Sowash (A0.750160).

Ever notice how little contemporary music is available for advanced pianists? It's like you pass level 5 and all you have is the classical canon. Here's an evocative suite you can really dig your teeth into with proven audience appeal. Note: The recording includes bass and drums that were added in the studio. However, the composer intends this suite for solo piano and has performed it many times in that context.. Composer's Comments: ELEMENTS was created during a visit to the Pacific Northwest, where the natural world exhibits an unusual intensity and the elements are quite prominently display. With this music I hope to capture the contrasts between the four elements as well as the dual natures within each of them. Water, for example, is both a source of life and potentially dangerous. Air is both breath and wind. Fire comforts or burns. Only Earth seemed to me continuous and dependable. Level: Advanced Video: https://youtu.be/S-6iWvQcryU?list=PLS-9O7RWuXdc88bLVl4lziJimyUj8s5nW.

Piano Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1125813

By Michael Swedberg. By Gustav Holst. Arranged by Terrence Niska. Christmas,Contemporary,Holiday. Score. 8 pages. Niska Music Publishing #726553. Published by Niska Music Publishing (A0.1125813).

Another arrangement that had its genesis as a vocal chart for Five By Design. However, this piece went on to be performed in our holiday show, “A Winter’s Evening.� I have always loved the Gustav Holst melody to Christina Rossetti’s poem, subsequently it was that setting that I chose to arrange for our group. When I was selecting pieces for my second collection of Christmas Preludes, I knew this would be among them. The piece starts out quite gently, and in my mind’s ear I hear a cello and oboe establishing a mood of utter serenity and calm as the snow gently falls outside the frost-covered window. Soon the oboe is joined by a clarinet as they play a duet while the cello continues the gentle sway of eighth notes. For the pianist, there must be great control of the left hand to keep it as calm as possible while the melody floats above, just as the snow falls to the earth. As the second verse begins, the right hand now plays a triplet pattern beneath the melody. It is a gentle breeze, stirred by the wings of angels and cherubim, upon which the crystalline flakes swirl and dance in the cold night air. All the while the left hand continues its steady motion of eighth notes. Halfway through the triplet pattern moves to the left hand and the right hand takes up the eighth notes while still keeping the melody above all. The verse comes to a close with a slowing of the tempo to emphasize the importance of what the poet states in the last lines of the poem: “Yet what I can I give Him, — Give my heart.� It is all that any of us can do, and all that we are asked to do.