Alto Saxophone,Piano - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1314328 Composed by Camille Saint-Saens. Arranged by James M. Guthrie. 19th Century,Chamber,Contest,Festival,Historic,Romantic Period. Score and part. 11 pages. Jmsgu3 #903072. Published by jmsgu3 (A0.1314328). Saint-Saëns: The Swan (Le Cygne) movement 13 from the Carnival of the Animals Suite. One of his most popular and widely recognized works, it is the only movement from the Carnival Suite that Saint-Saëns permitted to be performed publicly during his lifetime. This is an excellent recital encore to demonstrate melodic playing and strategic phrasing.The Carnival of the AnimalsThe Carnival of the Animals is an entertaining musical suite of fourteen movements by Camille Saint-Saëns. The work was composed for private performance by an ensemble of two pianos and solo instruments. The Swan (No. 13) is among the fourteen most famous movements. In its entirety, it lasts about 25 minutes.Saint-Saëns BackgroundCharles-Camille Saint-Saëns 1835 – 1921) was, by all means, in particular, a famous French composer, brilliant organist, and significant musical mastermind of the Romantic era. Indeed, his most famous compositions, in the long run, include his Piano Concerto No. 2 (1868), Cello Concerto No. 1 (1872), and the Danse macabre (1874). Notwithstanding, we must also add Violin Concerto No. 3 (1880), Symphony No. 3 (the Organ Symphony, 1886), and, it must be remembered, Carnival of the Animals (1886) to the list.ChildhoodIt is essential to realize that Saint-Saëns was undoubtedly, in fact, a child musical prodigy. Consequently, with this in mind, he made his concert debut, albeit at ten years old. Another critical point to remember is that he expressly studied at the Paris Conservatoire, then, despite reality, conversely followed a traditional career path as a church organist. Nevertheless, twenty years later, on the other hand, he left to become a successful freelance pianist and composer despite, as has been noted, his former employment situation. Furthermore, his performances were, after all, markedly in demand - not only in Europe but, above all, in the Americas all in all as well.YouthA point often overlooked is that in his youth, Saint-Saëns was undoubtedly excited about the modern music of the day. He was, in essence, fond of the music of his contemporaries, particularly Schumann, Liszt, and, for the most part, Wagner. In contrast, however, his compositions seemed, in fact, primarily confined within the conservative classical tradition. Be that as it may, he was, at the same time, nevertheless, a scholar of musical history.CriticismOn the whole, his conservatism, in fact, ultimately brought him into frequent conflict in his later years with composers of the impressionist and, in particular, the dodecaphonic schools of musical thought. A point often overlooked is that he included neoclassical elements in his music, contrary to some critics. Furthermore, in so doing, he provided the most compelling evidence that he predicted the techniques and works by Stravinsky and Les Six. To put it another way, given these points, he was regarded, perhaps for the most part unfairly, as a non-progressive reactionary henceforth around the time of his passing.LegacySaint-Saëns taught briefly in Paris, where his students included Gabriel Fauré. Maurice Ravel later studied with Fauré. In conclusion, both Ravel and Fauré were powerfully influenced by Saint-Saëns, whom they respected as a musical mastermind.

Alto Saxophone,Piano - Level 2 - Digital Download SKU: A0.549235 Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. Arranged by James M. Guthrie, ASCAP. Baroque,Easter,Standards,Wedding. Score and part. 9 pages. Jmsgu3 #3468804. Published by jmsgu3 (A0.549235). 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 joyTo 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.

Alto Saxophone,Piano - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.549467 Composed by Alexander Scriabin. Arranged by James M. Guthrie, ASCAP. Concert,Instructional,Romantic Period,Sacred,Standards. Score and part. 12 pages. Jmsgu3 #3499755. Published by jmsgu3 (A0.549467). Score: 8 pages, solo part: 2 pages, piano part: 2 pages. Duration: 3:10. An introspective and meditative work with a lot of dynamic and phrasing nuance.  Works well for church meditations or recital encores.Background Op.11/2 Alto Clarinet version. First of all, Scriabin composed mostly for the solo piano and also the orchestra. This is probably because he was a gifted pianist and therefore certainly appreciated the piano. Scriabin grew up in the late Romantic period, consequently, he was fond of the great piano masters of the time. As a result, he wrote his first noteworthy compositions in the manner of Chopin and Liszt. Forms Likewise, Scriabin used many of the same forms as Chopin. These certainly include the étude, prelude, nocturne, and even the mazurka. In contrast, as he developed his own sense of style his music became more and more unusual. So, the last five of his Piano Sonatas do not have a key signature and therefore lean towards atonality. Philosophy Scriabin also developed a keen interest in philosophy and likewise poetry. He was above all particularly fascinated by Nietzsche, Delville, and Blavatsky. Consequently, he finally established his own ideas about metaphysics and certainly mysticism. Scriabin consequently advanced theories about the relationship between color and musical keys. Synesthesia He also may have experienced a condition called synesthesia where he could probably sense a response created from a different stimulus. Therefore, it was almost as if he could see music and hear colors. Scriabin, therefore, arranged the colors in a circle similar to the circle-of-fifths and assigned each key area a color. Finally, he assigned the key of C to the color red, while the key of G was orange. Similarly, he assigned D to yellow, A to green, and so forth. Strangely, he did not differentiate between major and minor key colors.  Multimedia Hence, his ability to translate colors into music certainly gave Scriabin a most noteworthy interest in creating multimedia events. Furthermore, He designed his biggest work, the Mysterium, to last an entire week. Even more, Scriabin made plans not only for music, but also colored lights, incense, and dancing. He designed the performance to occur in the foothills of the Himalaya mountains. The Mysterium was never performed, and only sketches of the work remain. Modern Performances In modern times, we often experience performances of Scriabin’s most famous completed works accompanied by colored laser lights and incense. These are the Poem of Ecstasy (completed in 1908) and the Poem of Fire (completed in 1910). The lighting effects for these early performances were accomplished by the clavier à lumiéres. It was a keyboard instrument that projected colored light onto a screen.

Alto Saxophone,Piano - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.551997 Composed by Frederic Chopin. Arranged by James M. Guthrie. Holiday,Romantic Period,Standards,Wedding. Score and part. 6 pages. Jmsgu3 #6050947. Published by jmsgu3 (A0.551997). Sonata in G Minor for Piano & Cello, Op. 65, Movement III - Largo.Chopin performed this Sonata on his final recital in 1848.The Largo from Chopin's Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65 is a significant work as it is one of only nine compositions by Chopin published during his lifetime for instruments other than the piano. The Sonata is remarkable for the concentration of its material, with much of the music in the first movement growing out of the opening statement and specific thematic shapes appearing in all its movements. The Largo, in particular, is known for its expressive and lyrical nature, showcasing Chopin's ability to write beautifully for a non-piano instrument. The Sonata was first publicly performed by Chopin and the work's dedicatee, Auguste Franchomme, at the composer's last public concert in 1848. The historical context behind Chopin's Largo from Sonata Op. 65 is rooted in the composer's radical stylistic changes during 1845-1846, which included an increasing prevalence of contrapuntal textures and metric flexibility. The Sonata, including the Largo, is filled with doubts and hesitation, reflecting the composer's difficult decisions and arduous labors. The piece is also notable for its thematic references from Schubert's Winterreise, mirroring the circumstances of Chopin's life when he wrote the Sonata, particularly his separation from George Sand.