SKU: A0.775968

Miacomet Dreaming (2008) for orchestra is dedicated to Loretta Yoder and Kyle Latshaw. The title refers to Miacomet, a region of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. This work is one of a variety of pieces deeply connected to the landscape of Nantucket. The inspiration for the work was an oil painting, Path to Miacomet (2006), by Loretta Yoder; its fervency of color and landscape provided the poetic image that drives the work. The music itself was worked out during a the early hours of darkness on the actual beach of Miacomet. As the sun set, and darkness covered the landscape, only the passionate sound of the surf remained. The music is fervent and searching in tone. It begins with a roar before quieting down to introduce its basic musical material-a simple lament-like theme in a folkinflected style. This material is used for further explorations, building to passionate climaxes. Finally, the opening music returns, but this time it is whispered. The movement winds down to a distant and reposed conclusion. Instrumentation 2 Flutes 2 Oboes 2 Clarinets in Bb Bass Clarinet 2 Bassoons 2 Horns in F 2 Trumpets in C 2 Trombones Tuba Timpani Percussion (1 player) Marimba, Tubular Chimes Violin I Violin II Viola Violoncello Contrabass Score in C Bass clarinet and contrabass sound one octave lower than written. PROGRAM NOTES Miacomet Dreaming (2008) for orchestra is dedicated to Loretta Yoder and Kyle Latshaw. The title refers to Miacomet, a region of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. This work is one of a variety of pieces deeply connected to the landscape of Nantucket. The inspiration for the work was an oil painting, Path to Miacomet (2006), by Loretta Yoder; its fervency of color and landscape provided the poetic image that drives the work. The music itself was worked out during a the early hours of darkness on the actual beach of Miacomet. As the sun set, and darkness covered the landscape, only the passionate sound of the surf remained. The music is fervent and searching in tone. It begins with a roar before quieting down to introduce its basic musical material-a simple lament-like theme in a folkinflected style. This material is used for further explorations, building to passionate climaxes. Finally, the opening music returns, but this time it is whispered. The movement winds down to a distant and reposed conclusion. (part on rental: infoATclassicalmusicnow.com).

SKU: A0.922635

Original by Johann Strauss II
Reduction to String Orchestra by Aaron Meier

Part: Full Score ONLY

True to the original work by Strauss, this reduction for string orchestra features the ornaments and mystical writing that defines Strauss' polkas. There are optional percussion parts to be added at the discretion of the ensemble, however even without percussion the ensemble will sound full (the percussion acts as an ornament).

Difficulty: Intermediate-advanced - advanced (best-suited for advanced student ensembles)
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Performance Notes:

• Approximate length: 3:30 minutes
• 1st Violins: In m. 1, trill a half step from a Dâ™­ to a Dâ™® 
• 2nd Violins:
 - At m. 42, divide players by 3, with 2 players playing line A and the remaining player playing line B
 - At m. 72-75, emphasize the E♭ in the div.
• Snare Drum: The buzz roll needs to be quieter than how it is played in the midi recording (*see YouTube link ↓)

History:

The Olga-Polka itself owed its creation to a Russian royal wedding which took place in St. Petersburg on 28 August 1857. On that day, amid accompanying splendour, the music-loving Grand Duke Michail Nikolaievich (1832-1909), youngest brother of Tsar Alexander II, married Princess Caecilie of Baden (1839-91), daughter of Archduke Leopold of Baden. Johann Strauss, who at that time was giving a summer season of concerts in nearby Pavlovsk, used the opportunity occasioned by the event to enhance his already enviable popularity with the Russian royal family and composed the Caecilien-Polka in honour of the lovely young bride. Indeed, it is clear from a letter which Johann wrote in late July 1857 to Carl Haslinger, his publisher in Vienna, that the new polka had been prepared well in advance of the wedding (the fair copy of the full orchestral score made for the publisher's engraver is dated 9 August) and was enjoying success even before the royal couple's official engagement on 16August 1857. Sometime after performing the Caecilien-Polka in Pavlovsk, Johann despatched the work to the Austrian capital where his brother Josef conducted its Viennese première, together with that of Johann's waltz Telegraphische Depeschen (op. 195, Volume 28), at his own benefit concert in the Volksgartenon Sunday 18 October 1857. The Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung (16.10.1857) remarked that both works have caused a sensation in St. Petersburg and are truly genial Viennese sounds full of verve and melody.

Since tradition demanded that the German Princess Caecilie adopt a Russian name - Olga Feodorovna - before her marriage, so Johann's Caecilien-Polka also underwent a change of identity. On 8 December 1857 Carl Haslinger announced the publication of Strauss's Olga-Polka, on the title page of which is the inscription: Dedicated to her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga, née Princess of Baden. It was under this title, too, that Johann himself first conducted the work in Vienna at a concert in the Volksgarten on 1 November 1857, shortly after his return from Russia. Reporting on this event, the Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung (3.11.1857) observed: The 'Olga-Polka' is a most delightful, fragrant musical bouquet, full of fine, gracious rhythms.
[excerpted from NAXOS Records]
Kemp, Peter. Program Notes - About this Recording. NAXOS, 1993, www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.223232&catNum=223232&filetype=About%20.......... Accessed 5 June 2020.

Resources:

• Visit sites.google.com/view/aaronmeier for more information regarding this arrangement and other works.
• Find a full midi recording of this arrangement on YouTub.

SKU: A0.869365

Instrumentation: 2222-4321-2perc-pf-strings.

When Andrea Bates, executive director of the Brockton Symphony Orchestra, first told me that the Brockton Symphony had commissioned me to write a new work to be premiered in 2003-2004, I immediately thought that since its music director, Jonathan Cohler, is a marvelous clarinetist I would be most attracted to the idea of writing a clarinet concerto for the occasion. Both Andrea and Jonathan were very receptive and enthusiastic about my idea. Andrea also told me that the commissioned work should somehow bring to attention the diverse cultures of the recent immigrants that have settled in the city of Brockton. So in the spring of 2003 I came down to Brockton for a meeting to which Andrea had invited representative members of these new communities. Three showed up: Maria Evora-Rosa, Rick Marrero and Fred Fontaine. Andrea had asked them to bring recordings of the music from their countries for me to listen to. There were CDs of very exciting and fun music from Cape Verde, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. After spending months listening to the music from these countries, all of them islands in the Atlantic or the Caribbean, I slowly began to get a sense of the beauty and the magic of the musical style and language of each place, each individual island. The end result is a three-movement work for clarinet and orchestra.

Unlike the traditional Concerto form which is Fast-Slow-Fast, this work begins with something slow. A fast number follows as a second movement; and then, after a short, slow interlude, another fast number appears. The first movement is my adaptation of the morna of Cape Verde – slow, melancholy and sad. The diva of the morna is Cesaria Evora. Her singing brings to mind a fusion between the African blues and the Portuguese fado. The second movement is my take on the merengue as performed by the inimitable Xavier Cugat. It is dance music through and through!!! The third movement is also a dance number: the ever-popular music from Haiti, the reggae. And in order to give some contrast between the two dance numbers, I added a slow chorale for clarinet and strings that serves as a prelude before the dancing begins in the final movement. I envision the chorale as a little church music before the people go out and dance the night away. Throughout the entire work, the solo clarinet is the principal voice … singing, dancing, and cavorting!!! Gotta dance!!!

Have fun and enjoy the music!!! I surely did as I was working on it ….

SKU: A0.1105185

Danny Elfman’s classic song “This Is Halloween� from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas has been skillfully adapted for standard-sized orchestra with harp. This instrumental arrangement retains the “haunting� mood and colorful orchestration of the original, but makes it easily performed by any group with standard instrumentation. The harp and pitched percussion parts may be performed on electronic keyboards. Danny Elfman composed the music to Tim Burton’s 1993 classic stop-motion animated feature The Nightmare Before Christmas. Although Walt Disney Pictures feared the film might be too scary for children, it is now considered a timeless classic that has been re-released numerous times, and has been featured in the annual holiday-season version of Disney’s Haunted Mansion since 2001. Today the film is frequently screened with live orchestra and singers. “This Is Halloween� is the perfect piece to open or close your next fall or holiday concerts.

Please note the following errata: In the flute 1, flute 2, and clarinet 1 parts, the arpeggio in measure 59 should be one measure later in measure 60.