SKU: A0.1278098

No vocal part

brianpesoth@gmail.com

SKU: A0.1090846

Bring the mood to your next concert with this beautiful work for orchestra and solo viola. Deep and moving, this work will stir the souls of both the audience and performers alike.

SKU: A0.1090848

Bring the mood to your next concert with this beautiful work for orchestra and solo viola. Deep and moving, this work will stir the souls of both the audience and performers alike.

SKU: A0.1362749

SKU: A0.1030571

For Orchestra, Solo Vocalist and Choir Shadowland is a song written by Lebo M., Hans Zimmer and Mark Mancina for the musical The Lion King (1997), a stage adaptation of Disney's 1994 animated film of the same name. Based on the song Lea Halalela (Holy Land), a track featured on Lebo's Lion King-inspired concept album Rhythm of the Pride Lands (1995), Lebo composed the track with Zimmer, while both Lebo and Mancina contributed new lyrics to its melody. Lebo based the song's lyrics on his own experiences having been exiled from South Africa during apartheid, therefore imbuing Shadowland with themes about refugeeism and survival. Originally performed by Trinidadian-American singer and actress Heather Headley as Nala, and South African actress Tsidii Le Loka as Rafiki, roles both performers originated on stage, Shadowland narrates Nala's decision to leave the Pride Lands in search of a more habitable environment upon realizing that her homeland has grown dry and barren in the midst of Scar's reign. Taking place shortly after Nala rejects Scar's romantic advances, director Julie Taymor used the song to develop Nala into a stronger character for the stage adaptation, and identified Shadowland as her favorite among the production's original songs, believing its message and themes to be universal. Musically, Shadowland is a soul power ballad. Sung in both English and African languages, its instrumentation combines African percussion with European orchestration to create a more exotic sound while accompanying pop vocals and African chants; some critics have observed political themes such as feminism, injustice and the ecosystem throughout the song's lyrics. Shadowland has been mostly positively received by music and theatre critics; both Headley and actresses who replaced her in subsequent productions of the musical have been praised for their vocals and performances.

SKU: A0.869355

Instrumentation: solo alto saxophone & 2222-4231-perc-drumset-strings. Program note. Maestro Max Hobart called me in the spring of 2009 and told me to check out this young jazz phenom on the saxophone named Grace Kelly. I said OK, that’s cool. That summer we went to the Regatta Bar in Harvard Square to hear her play with her band, and I was duly impressed by her musicality, soulfulness and chops. Max asked if I would be interested in writing a concerto for her and the Wellesley Symphony. I said, Sure. It sounds like a great idea. One of the most cherished jazz records in my vast collection is the collaboration between Stan Getz and Eddie Sauter entitled Focus. Eddie, who used to be an arranger for the Benny Goodman Band in the forties, went on to create the Sauter Finegan Band in the early fifties. The band was one of the first to include the piccolo, oboe, bassoon, harp, celesta, French horn, tuba, xylophone, glockenspiel, chimes, timpani, and other unusual symphonic instruments in the standard big band format of trumpets, trombones, saxophones and rhythm section of piano, bass and drum set. On the album Focus Eddie Sauter composed seven tracks of music for string orchestra and rhythm section. Stan Getz did not have a written part - he just improvised over the written music. If you are not familiar with this recording, then you will do yourself a huge favor if you go find it and add it to your own CD collection. The music is phenomenal and Stan is on top of his game, soaring above the strings with endless melodic inventions, flights of imagination and whimsy! It is one of those desert island CDs one should not be without. When I emailed Grace about this project and mentioned Stan Getz’s Focus, she said, It’s one of my favorite albums. So, we got off on a positive note immediately. My work, Focus on Grace … Concerto for Jazz Saxophone and Orchestra, is very much inspired both by the Stan Getz album and by the performances I heard of Grace and her band. The first movement is based on a funk groove in D minor: Grace’s part is initially written-out but she improvises freely in the coda. The second movement is a boss nova: as in the Stan Getz album, Grace does not have a written part but improvises over a set of chord changes provided by the orchestra. The third and last movement is an Afro-Cuban groove in six-eight: Grace has a written melody at first but soon launches into improvisation on a 12-bar blues in F. She ends the concerto in a free cadenza to show off her virtuosity and saxophone chops. ENJOY!!!