Full Orchestra - Level 2 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1199137

By Erik Satie. By Erik Satie. Arranged by Hans Rudolf. 19th Century,Classical,Romantic Period. Score and Parts. 37 pages. Hans Rudolf #798204. Published by Hans Rudolf (A0.1199137).

Gnossienne No. 1 is a solo piano piece by French composer Erik Satie. It was written in 1890 and published in 1893. The piece is part of a series of six Gnossiennes and is perhaps Satie's best known and most frequently performed work.

The piece is written in a slow tempo and is marked Lent (slow) and douloureux (painful). It has a simple and repetitive melody played over a slow, dreamy accompaniment. The harmonies are also very sparse, often consisting of only two or three chords.

The title Gnossienne is thought to have been invented by Satie himself, and its meaning is not entirely clear. Some suggest that it is a reference to the ancient Greek city of Gnossos on the island of Crete, while others believe that it is an allusion to gnosis, a mystical knowledge in which Satie was interested. For me, I translate Gnossienne simply as knowledge.

Overall, Gnossienne No. 1 is a beautiful and haunting piece of music that has captured the imagination of audiences and performers alike for over a century.

My orchestration attempts to counter the painful character, at least in part, with a rebellion and triumph over pain. The most unusual detail is the rhythmization by the timpani, which can be perceived as a driving, an eternity of the same or also as a will to continue.

Full Orchestra - Level 5 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1017072

Composed by Eoin Buchanan. Contemporary. Score and parts. 87 pages. 7plc Music #6079111. Published by 7plc Music (A0.1017072).

At the centre of the Norfolk city of Norwich lies Tombland. The name evokes thoughts of haunting, death and Black Plague burial pits. Actually Tombland simply means empty space and it was here that Norwich market was sited. Violence seems to have been a recurring theme in the history of Tombland. In 1549 Robert Kett led a rebellion against the enclosure of common land. After a fierce attack on Bishop Bridge, Kett and his band of followers gained access to the city and took the Mayor, Thomas Codd, prisoner. Having spent a number of years as a clergyman in the Diocese of Norwich, I can tell you that this area is very different nowadays. However, its Normal cathedral and older buildings still offer a sense of struggles past, present and future.

Inspired by Ray Sampson’s book, Tombland, this original work for full orchestra uses harmonic and rhythmic dissonance to portray the violent and oppressive struggle between those with and ‘those without. The blacksmith’s anvil heralds village life with church bells sounding and flute introducing children playing in the village square. Very quickly the scene changes as Basses offer a deep threatening tone and slowly the rhythmic confusion builds to an eventual climax. Horns then introduce a quasi carillon Dies Irae theme and flutes and piccolo enter with a haunting bird call until low strings and Cor Anglais begin the build up to chaos once again. The work’s false, dying ending suddenly gives way to a sacred style chorale leading to the very abrupt Malcolm Arnold style ending.

Full Orchestra - Level 4 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.869365

Composed by Thomas Oboe Lee. 20th Century,Classical,Contemporary,Latin,Romantic Period. Score and parts. 102 pages. Thomas Oboe Lee #29655. Published by Thomas Oboe Lee (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 ….