SKU: A0.551493

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: A0.549892

Score: 12 pages, piano part: 6 pages, alto sax part: 4 pages. duration: ca. 5'. This is the famous wedding march from Op. 61 composed in 1842 and commonly performed as a recessional march at the end of a wedding. The piece was originally composed for orchestra then arranged for organ and performed by Mendelssohn himself.

Mendelssohn: Wedding March

Mendelssohn’s Wedding March is so popular that it’s difficult to imagine a wedding without it. It seems like it’s been around for eternity. In any case, it was only 150 years or so ago that the Wedding March came about. It was performed in Potsdam for the first time in 1842, as a piece of Mendelssohn’s music for the Shakespeare play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was first used for a wedding in 1858

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 all of a sudden 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 major 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 methodical 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 virtuos.

SKU: A0.549489

ALTO SAX & 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.

SKU: A0.844328

This arrangement of And Can It Be That I Should Gain? is for alto saxophone solo and piano.
A theme and variation treatment is used.  

For a piano background Mp3 track, search for:
Alto Sax - And Can It Be? Theme and Variations-Accompaniment Track, Dan Cutchen

Time: approximately 6:00

And Can It Be That I Should Gain? is a Christian hymn written by Charles Wesley. And Can It Be was written in 1738 to celebrate Wesley's conversion, which he regarded as having taken place on May 21 of that year.

This beautiful hymn has been popular and enduring.

And Can It Be That I Should Gain is perhaps one of the most joyfully poignant hymns penned by Charles Wesley (1707-1788). On Whitsunday (Pentecost), May 21, 1738, three days before his brother John experienced his heart strangely warmed,’ Charles was convalescing in the home of John Bray, a poor mechanic, when he heard a voice saying, In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, arise, and believe, and thou shalt be healed of all thy infirmities. The voice was most likely Mr. Bray’s sister who felt commanded to say these words in a dream.

Anglican hymn writer Timothy Dudley-Smith, notes that the following then happened:

Charles got out of bed and opening his Bible read from the Psalms: He have put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God, followed by the first verse of Isaiah 40, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. He wrote in his journal, I have found myself at peace with God, and rejoiced in the hope of love Christ (Dudley-Smith, 1987, 1).

The statement from Mr. Bray’s sister sparked within Charles a conviction like he had never felt before. Moved and convicted in spirit, Charles wrestled with these words until he came to rest in his faith, knowing that it is by faith we are saved (Ephesians 2:8).

Soon after this conversion experience, he wrote two hymns in celebration of the amazing love he had come to know: And Can It Be that I Should Gain and Where Shall My Wondering Soul Begin? (United Methodist Hymnal, 342)

There has been some debate as to which hymn was written first, but most current scholarship accepts the latter as the first hymn written by Charles after his conversion experience. No matter its place in the chronology of Wesley's output, And Can It Be has been and remains one of his most remarkable hymns, expressing like no other the rapturous joy of receiving salvation.

And Can It Be That I Should Gain. Hymnary.org, https://hymnary.org/text/and_can_it_be_that_i_should_gain

Dudley-Smith, Timothy. A Flame of Love: A Personal Choice of Charles Wesley’s Verse. London: Triangle SPCK, 1987.

Timothy Dudley-Smith. And can it be that I should gain. The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed May 29, 2018, http://www.hymnology.co.uk/a/and-can-it-be-that-i-should-gain.

Young, Carlton R. And Can It Be That I Should Gain. Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal. Abingdon Press, 1993.

(Taken from: History of Hymns: And Can It Be That I Should Gain by DeAndre Johnson found at https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources)

https://youtu.be/BSX9yYcNY2E

SKU: A0.549511

Duration: ca. 4:00, Score: 9 pages, solo prt: 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: A0.1118286

Scott Joplin is celebrated as the United States’ first well-known black composer, making his name as a writer of piano rags. His life was a constant struggle with adversity, and Joplin died relatively young in 1917, at the dawn of the recording age. Few remembered Joplin’s music until a revival in the 1970s brought The Entertainer and others to the world’s attention. Nowadays Scott Joplin has taken his rightful place in the gallery of great American composers.

The Rags included in this collection are, The Entertainer, The Maple Leaf Rag, The Easy Winners, The Elite Syncopations and The Favorite.

They have been arranged as solos for one Alto Saxophone with piano accompaniment, and include all sections of the original compositions. You will download one pdf file that contains both 22 pages of piano score and the 10 page solo part. These pieces are suitable for players at an intermediate and advanced intermediate level. Musicians will find these Ragtime solos ideal for formal and informal performances, light and fun, yet still a serious and vitally important part of the American musical heritage. The overall performance time for all five is around 25 minutes.

Teachers will enjoy using these arrangements as a fun way to help with phrasing, syncopated rhythms and light articulation. 

Click on the YouTube link to see and hear samples from the collection. There are many more top quality arrangements and compositions by David McKeown for you to browse at http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/publishers/david-mckeown/6203

SKU: A0.532826

The German mystic the Abbess, Saint Hildegarde de Bingen, describes in the Sciula contraction of Cito uias domini (Learn the ways of the Lord), the visions that she had from childhood. This kind of experience is in a certain extent comparable to the beginning of the process of artistic creation. It was the case of Hildegarde herself, who had great expertise in many fields, including medicine, astronomy. and poetry which she often set in musical setting which were often very inspired. According to God’s will, my soul sometimes goes up into the heights of the sky and in the various regions of air, sometimes among the various peoples who live in far-off lands, unknown places because I see these things in my soul and according to this manner I see them also according to the imprecision of clouds and other creatures. I do not hear these things with my ear, I do not perceive them according to the thoughts of my heart, nor any of my five sense. I see them only en my soul, and the eyes of my body are open; And I see them awake both day and night This work also exists in a version for alto saxophone, viola and piano.

SKU: A0.549383

Duration: 4:55, Score: 6 pages, Solo part: 1 page, piano part: 2 pages. A very famous aria (Ombra mai fu) from Xerxes
Suitable for any venue requiring meditative music. Excellent choice for a recital encore.

Xerxes

Xerxes is, in fact, an opera seria in three acts by Handel. Moreover, Handel conducted the premiere performance in London in 1738. Handel casts the opera in Persia in 470 BC. The part of Xerxes was indeed originally sung by a soprano castrato. Nowadays, the part is generally sung by a mezzo-soprano or conversely a counter-tenor. In the first place, Xerxes sings an opening aria, Ombra mai fu to a plane tree. Handel sets this aria to one of his most truly famous melodies. Although many refer to it traditionally as Handel’s Largo, Handel has, on the contrary, clearly marked Larghetto in the score.

Handel Background

George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759) was born in Germany but eventually became a British citizen. Nonetheless, he was a famous Baroque composer. In fact, he became famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. Handel studied music and, by and large, worked as a composer in Germany and Italy before moving to London. On the whole, Handel was very familiar with the contemporary music of Italy and Germany.

Career in England

It is essential to realize that Italian opera was all the rage in England at the time. Moreover, Handel was really good at writing them. Therefore, he started not one but three opera companies in England. Alexander's Feast was a huge success in 1736, but Handel began composing English choral works. After success with the Messiah in 1742) he certainly never again wrote an Italian opera.

Consequently, he died in 1759, a treasured genius. Accordingly, the English government gave him full state honors at his funeral. Hence, he is buried in Westminster Abbey in London.

Legacy

Music historians agree that Handel was in general one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era.  To demonstrate, his works such as the Messiah, Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks remain consistently popular up to the present time. He especially composed the coronation anthem, Zadok the Priest for the coronation of George II. Nevertheless, it has specifically been performed at every succeeding British coronation since. His oratorio Solomon has by all means also continued to be prevalent. As a matter of fact, Sinfonia from act 3 was featured in the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony. Handel was particularly prolific. To enumerate, he wrote over forty operas.  Since the late 1960s, we have expressly experienced a revival of baroque music. Similarly, we have especially seen a pique of interest in historically informed musical performances. Since his death in 1779, interest in Handel's music has all in all, expanded.

 

SKU: A0.1016097

Music for Alto Saxophone and Piano. ca. 5:15

Program Notes: The piece was inspired by section VIII from The Auroras of Autumn by Wallace Stevens. The poem gives one the feeling of longing for a half-remembered innocence...a primal innocence, though. It is an innocence basic to the earth and us...an innocence not Less Real though we cannot be sure of its time or place.

The music seeks to evoke a sense of this longing memory of innocence. Phrases are repeated (exactly...changed...extended...shortened), as if trying to remember. Mid-way there is a sense of firmness-of grasping this memory. In the end, the hesitant memory returns, but it is now at peace with its not less real, but half-heard existence.

SKU: A0.548472

Traditional Christmas song arranged for alto sax & piano. Final verse features an alternate harmonization.
Score: 2 pages. Part: 1 page.

Away in a Manger – Alto Sax

Away in a Manger is a popular Christmas song published originally sometime in the later 19th century and performed throughout the world. In England, it is considered one of the two most popular carols of all time; a 1996 poll ranked it as a tie for second place. To begin with, many thought it was written by Martin Luther, but now the song is considered to be absolutely American. The most common musical arrangements are by William Kirkpatrick (1895) and James R. Murray (1887). The melody was first published, as Luther's Cradle Hymn, by James R. Murray. Then, came a confusing series of explanations about how Martin Luther wrote the song. Murray even went so far as to suggest that Luther wrote it for his children. As a result, the song has become known as simply Mueller. Nobody knows who this Mueller actually is, but the name stuck.

Popularity

By the 1880’s the cradle song was being performed in church. By the 1990’s the song was becoming the most popular Christmas song of all time. It was sung in school, in church, and at home by nearly everyone.

Other musical settings

The first musical setting published with the lyrics appeared in the Little Children's Book for Schools and Families (1885). The title was Away in a Manger. This edition is the first one not to attribute the song to Martin Luther.

Charles H. Gabriel was the first arranger to present the third verse. He also composed and published a large number of different arrangements of the song. In one of his settings, he supplies a chorus for each verse with asleep sung in canon. Another prevalent preparation uses the lyrics to the melody Flow Gently, Sweet Afton. Yet another arrangement dating uses the lyrics to an old Normandy Carol.