Composed by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). Arranged by Sandra Zylstra. Baroque, Christian, Easter, Sacred. Score. 8 pages. Sandra dee zylstra #9429. Published by sandra dee zylstra

Instrumental Duet Instrumental Duet,Piano - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.534483 Composed by Germaine Tailleferre. 20th Century,Concert,Standards. Score and parts. 65 pages. Musik Fabrik Music Publishing #3534799. Published by Musik Fabrik Music Publishing (A0.534483). This work was written in the first months of 1942 while Tailleferre was living in Grasse, in the socolled« Free Zone » of occupied France during the Second World War and was completed just asTailleferre was forced to flee France with her daughter. As the wife of Jean Lageat, who had been thesecretary of the French socialist Léon Blum during the « Front Populaire » period just before the Warand who was at that time in the US working against the Vichy Government, and as someone who wasnot unvocal about her political views, this could not have been a comfortable situation. Tailleferre left arecord of what she experienced during this period in an article written for the American music journal «Modern Music » which she wrote shortly after arriving in America in the Spring of 1942 :« Notwithstanding their staunch spirit of resistence, the people under German rule today areincreasingly bowed down under their burdens. By achieving the physical decline of the French, theNazis hope that spiritual collapse will ensue. However, after two years of quasi-famine, France remainspround and great, although the necessity of liberation grows daily more urgent.....For an artist to workunder these conditions is almost impossible. The mere effort of subsisting wastes time and absorbsenergy ; The means to work are also lacking.....Musical composition is made practically impossiblethrough lack of music paper. For more than a year, I sought in vain to find paper in Lyon, Marseillesand Nice on which to copy an orchestral score...Two years of experience under German rule havetaught me that all expressions of pride, dignity, spirit , aspiration of the human will can be made onlyclaudestinely. It is a historical truth that the human mind makes its greatest progress under freedom ».Under such circumstances, it is a miracle that this work exists at all. The three movement work wasdedicated to the famous Marguerite Long, for whom Tailleferre had already written several short worksfor piano solo, and François Lang, a pianist who was closely linked with the Group des Six and whohad performed in the première of the 1934 Concerto Grosso for Two Pianos, 8 Solo Voices, SaxophoneQuartet and Orchestra and for whom Tailleferre wrote two cadenzas for concerti by Mozart and Haydn.The work opens with sunny, optimistism in a mood similar to the opening movement of the ConcertoGrosso, but quickly the mood changes to more dramatic themes. The second movement seems tosubjectively express a rupture with the past and a tragic melancholy. The final third movement isextremely dramatic and almost frightening with it’s force.When Tailleferre left France in the Spring of 1942, having been warned by a neighbor that she wasgoing to be arrested if she didn’t leave immediately, she left the score in a two-piano version, probablydue to the fact that there was no music paper to be had to copy the score. When she returned to Francein 1946, she learned that François Lang had been deported to Auschwitz where he died. Musical life inFrance had been completely changed by the War years. Tailleferre put the work aside and forgot aboutit, perhaps wanting to forget the hardships that she had lived through and the loss of many of her friendsassociated with these years.Tailleferre's version for two pianos is published by Musik Fabrik and the work may be performed inthat version. It is clear however, that the work was intended to be orchestrated and the editors hope thatthe present orchestration will allow the work to finally be presented as Tailleferre conceived duringsome of the darkest years of the Twentieth century.

Instrumental Duet,Keyboard - Digital Download SKU: A0.1497843 Composed by Jenni Roditi. 21st Century,Classical,Contemporary. 12 pages. Jenni Roditi #1074255. Published by Jenni Roditi (A0.1497843). Piano Duo - 2 pianos, 4 hands. Surrender, Between the Octaves was the piece that was composed first in the suite. It exposes a simple call to return to the beginning, to return to a pure act of listening. This note..ah, now that note.. oh. This is how the piece was written - one note at a time. Listening from within a space (its original title) of resonance, of edges and meetings, of disappearances and repetitions that reflect on this gentle body of notes. There is a slow hearing that may, or may not create a tone-journey.Names of all the movements in the suite Between the Octaves in the right order are Initiate, Surrender, Thread, Curve, Encircle, Ritualise, Ignite. The whole suite follows a long line from movement 1 to movement 7. However, individual pieces are well suited to be played alone too. Piano Duo is ideally two Steinway grands, otherwise, whatever is available. An enjoyment of the tensions and relationships generated between the two instruments: grand-upright, upright-electronic keyboard is to be explored as a positive. Each piece creates its own world in the suite and can be part of smaller subgroups taken from the suite, in any combination, but the order of the pieces needs to be maintained if more than one is played. Here is a taste of the background to the musical world of this 53 minute compositional suite. During a reflective time I read the following: The whole philosophy of dharma art (Buddhist art) is that you don't try to be artistic, but you just approach objects as they are, and the message comes through automatically. (Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, from 'True Perception The Path of Dharma Art.' Shambhala 2008, p.133.) The 'objects as they are' became the 'octaves as they are'. As the pieces were composed the octaves had a centring and clarifying role that allowed other material to circulate around or play against them. They acted as pivots, repetitions, drones, ostinati, pointillist nodes, pedals, melodic features, struts, harmonic turnpikes, breathing spaces, bass lines: musical imperatives. The octaves called the musical shots most of the time. When the music pulled a semitone up or down and away from the octaves (as it did quite often) it was especially telling in the context of the ringing spaces the octaves were creating. I became interested in the subtle dislocation that two pianos could provide. By dislocation I mean a degree of tension between the natural acoustics of the two instruments in the room and the players idiosyncrasies as musicians.  The whole point of this work was to examine the nature of my syntax, grammar, and compositional thinking. The title demanded one thing above all: what notes am I going to use between these octaves?? My choice of notes was derived in most instances from the tempo, pitch, and rhythm of the initial octaves at the beginning of each piece alongside the individual word titles that I set out to explore as musical images. The audio was developed from Sibelius software, via MIDI to Logic samples of a Steinway grand piano.

Instrumental Duet,Keyboard - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1497861 Composed by Jenni Roditi. 21st Century,Classical,Contemporary. 26 pages. Jenni Roditi #1074273. Published by Jenni Roditi (A0.1497861). Piano Duo 2 pianos/4 hands. Ritualise, Between the Octaves finally found its identity with the word ritualise. It began as announce, became pronounce, then declare and went as far a pontificate for a title. At that point I realised I was mocking my own music and needed to take it more seriously. Ritualise brought out a meaning to the music that I hadn’t wanted to admit to. It is quite folk-like, in a primal and entrancing kind of way. I can imagine a communal dance for some ceremonial purpose in this music with both public and private elements.Names of all the movements in the suite Between the Octaves in the right order are Initiate, Surrender, Thread, Curve, Encircle, Ritualise, Ignite. The whole suite follows a long line from movement 1 to movement 7. However, individual pieces are well suited to be played alone too. Piano Duo is ideally two Steinway grands, otherwise, whatever is available. An enjoyment of the tensions and relationships generated between the two instruments: grand-upright, upright-electronic keyboard is to be explored as a positive. Each piece creates its own world in the suite and can be part of smaller subgroups taken from the suite, in any combination, but the order of the pieces needs to be maintained if more than one is played. Here is a taste of the background to the musical world of this 53 minute compositional suite. During a reflective time I read the following: The whole philosophy of dharma art (Buddhist art) is that you don't try to be artistic, but you just approach objects as they are, and the message comes through automatically. (Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, from 'True Perception The Path of Dharma Art.' Shambhala 2008, p.133.) The 'objects as they are' became the 'octaves as they are'. As the pieces were composed the octaves had a centring and clarifying role that allowed other material to circulate around or play against them. They acted as pivots, repetitions, drones, ostinati, pointillist nodes, pedals, melodic features, struts, harmonic turnpikes, breathing spaces, bass lines: musical imperatives. The octaves called the musical shots most of the time. When the music pulled a semitone up or down and away from the octaves (as it did quite often) it was especially telling in the context of the ringing spaces the octaves were creating. I became interested in the subtle dislocation that two pianos could provide. By dislocation I mean a degree of tension between the natural acoustics of the two instruments in the room and the players idiosyncrasies as musicians.  The whole point of this work was to examine the nature of my syntax, grammar, and compositional thinking. The title demanded one thing above all: what notes am I going to use between these octaves?? My choice of notes was derived in most instances from the tempo, pitch, and rhythm of the initial octaves at the beginning of each piece alongside the individual word titles that I set out to explore as musical images. The audio was developed from Sibelius software, via MIDI to Logic samples of a Steinway grand piano.

Instrumental Duet,Keyboard - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1497857 Composed by Jenni Roditi. 21st Century,Classical,Contemporary. 19 pages. Jenni Roditi #1074269. Published by Jenni Roditi (A0.1497857). Piano Duo 2 pianos/4 hands. Encircle, Between the Octaves, originally called rotate as its impetus was to generate a steadily rotating music. Encircle was later chosen as a more evocative word. The harmony surprised me as it suggested shifts and colourations that I would not have expected to conjure. Two upper rotating parts with melodic narrative are supported by bass and baritone lower parts. The final section adds a dance-like short form to end what could otherwise have run and run and run.  Names of all the movements in the suite Between the Octaves in the right order are Initiate, Surrender, Thread, Curve, Encircle, Ritualise, Ignite. The whole suite follows a long line from movement 1 to movement 7. However, individual pieces are well suited to be played alone too. Piano Duo is ideally two Steinway grands, otherwise, whatever is available. An enjoyment of the tensions and relationships generated between the two instruments: grand-upright, upright-electronic keyboard is to be explored as a positive. Each piece creates its own world in the suite and can be part of smaller subgroups taken from the suite, in any combination, but the order of the pieces needs to be maintained if more than one is played. Here is a taste of the background to the musical world of this 53 minute compositional suite. During a reflective time I read the following: The whole philosophy of dharma art (Buddhist art) is that you don't try to be artistic, but you just approach objects as they are, and the message comes through automatically. (Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, from 'True Perception The Path of Dharma Art.' Shambhala 2008, p.133.) The 'objects as they are' became the 'octaves as they are'. As the pieces were composed the octaves had a centring and clarifying role that allowed other material to circulate around or play against them. They acted as pivots, repetitions, drones, ostinati, pointillist nodes, pedals, melodic features, struts, harmonic turnpikes, breathing spaces, bass lines: musical imperatives. The octaves called the musical shots most of the time. When the music pulled a semitone up or down and away from the octaves (as it did quite often) it was especially telling in the context of the ringing spaces the octaves were creating. I became interested in the subtle dislocation that two pianos could provide. By dislocation I mean a degree of tension between the natural acoustics of the two instruments in the room and the players idiosyncrasies as musicians.  The whole point of this work was to examine the nature of my syntax, grammar, and compositional thinking. The title demanded one thing above all: what notes am I going to use between these octaves?? My choice of notes was derived in most instances from the tempo, pitch, and rhythm of the initial octaves at the beginning of each piece alongside the individual word titles that I set out to explore as musical images. The audio was developed from Sibelius software, via MIDI to Logic samples of a Steinway grand piano. 

2 Pianos,4 Hands,Piano Duet - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.977034 Composed by Paul SanGregory. Contemporary. Score. 29 pages. Distant Engraver Music #3536815. Published by Distant Engraver Music (A0.977034). Each of these four short pieces has its own character, color and rhythmic flow. Because the interplay between parts is sometimes complex and challenging, they can provide wonderful ensemble workouts for performers as well as fun and exciting musical experiences for audiences. The title Harmonic Spaces refers to both the idea that they are musical spaces filled with colors and characters as well as to the widely-spaced harmonic intervals upon which those aspects are built. Each movement is based on one or two wide intervals that mimic the spacing of overtones (or partials) in the harmonic series. This approach allowed the composer to produce unique harmonies, colors and atmospheres. For listeners, of course, knowledge of these intervals isn't important, even though the colors, characters and atmospheres they produce is. Each movement is described briefly below: I - Simply and gracefully moving forward. (9th and 3rd partials)This gently flowing movement is a slow progression of widely-spaced chords with gracefully rising and falling strings of notes woven in and around them. The chords often appear in groups of two, with the second being quieter, like an echo of the first. That creates a sense of harmonic space within which the delicate lines move in and out of agreement with the chords.II - With a steady, even flow (or groove). (7th and 5th partials)The harmonic partials of this movement are what give dominant 7th chords their characteristic sound and function. Furthermore, because 7th chords are an important part of jazz harmony, jazz influences enter into this piece. Listeners may notice the outlines of gliding 7th chords, swinging meters and syncopated rhtyhms reminiscent of jazz.III - Gentle, flexible, but rhythmically accurate. (11th Partial)This movement unfolds slowly like a quiet summer afternoon under a shade tree watching lazy clouds. Because the 11th partial is a note that falls between the cracks of the piano keyboard, both the perfect 4th and augmented 4th (in very wide spacing) are used to approximate it. Although this creates some non-traditional harmonies and non-chord tone effects, the piece is tranquil, peaceful and beautiful. IV - With precision, energy and excitement. (13th Partial)This energetic finale uses much syncopation and rhythmic interplay as well as wide-ranging arpeggios that get shared between the two players. The primary interval often appears as widely spaced parallel motion, which adds a special color or flavor to the rhythms. The result is a joyful romp in a playground of rhythm, color, motion and contrast. (duration of all four pieces is ca. 12 minutes) This work was funded by the National Culture and Arts Foundation of Taiwan (ROC)

Instrumental Duet,Keyboard - Digital Download SKU: A0.1497852 Composed by Jenni Roditi. 21st Century,Classical,Contemporary. 17 pages. Jenni Roditi #1074264. Published by Jenni Roditi (A0.1497852). Piano Duo 2 pianos/4 hands. Curve, Between the Octaves points to a fugal past, where lines enter and build in stately flow. It invites lines to intermingle, without assuming they will all arrive somewhere, or at the same time. A certain intensity builds, then scales, both up and down, free themselves from the discussion of the interleaving lines. The chromaticism suggests curving between harmonies, and is nearly always ambivalent. An assertive chordal climax intervenes to shake off the tensions, yet this peels away into further curvatures that twist and twirl, until a final resting point agrees to present itself.  Names of all the movements in the suite Between the Octaves in the right order are Initiate, Surrender, Thread, Curve, Encircle, Ritualise, Ignite. The whole suite follows a long line from movement 1 to movement 7. However, individual pieces are well suited to be played alone too. Piano Duo is ideally two Steinway grands, otherwise, whatever is available. An enjoyment of the tensions and relationships generated between the two instruments: grand-upright, upright-electronic keyboard is to be explored as a positive. Each piece creates its own world in the suite and can be part of smaller subgroups taken from the suite, in any combination, but the order of the pieces needs to be maintained if more than one is played. Here is a taste of the background to the musical world of this 53 minute compositional suite. During a reflective time I read the following: The whole philosophy of dharma art (Buddhist art) is that you don't try to be artistic, but you just approach objects as they are, and the message comes through automatically. (Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, from 'True Perception The Path of Dharma Art.' Shambhala 2008, p.133.) The 'objects as they are' became the 'octaves as they are'. As the pieces were composed the octaves had a centring and clarifying role that allowed other material to circulate around or play against them. They acted as pivots, repetitions, drones, ostinati, pointillist nodes, pedals, melodic features, struts, harmonic turnpikes, breathing spaces, bass lines: musical imperatives. The octaves called the musical shots most of the time. When the music pulled a semitone up or down and away from the octaves (as it did quite often) it was especially telling in the context of the ringing spaces the octaves were creating. I became interested in the subtle dislocation that two pianos could provide. By dislocation I mean a degree of tension between the natural acoustics of the two instruments in the room and the players idiosyncrasies as musicians.  The whole point of this work was to examine the nature of my syntax, grammar, and compositional thinking. The title demanded one thing above all: what notes am I going to use between these octaves?? My choice of notes was derived in most instances from the tempo, pitch, and rhythm of the initial octaves at the beginning of each piece alongside the individual word titles that I set out to explore as musical images. The audio was developed from Sibelius software, via MIDI to Logic samples of a Steinway grand piano.

Instrumental Duet,Keyboard - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1497831 Composed by Jenni Roditi. 21st Century,Classical,Contemporary. 24 pages. Jenni Roditi #1074235. Published by Jenni Roditi (A0.1497831). For Piano Duo - 2 pianos/4hands. Initiate, Between the Octaves, the opening piece in the suite, is a sparky, rhythmic and post-modern hoquet, of some wit and almost perpetual bounciness. A ricocheting of quickly contrasting dynamics with occasional switches to distant moments. Three big plunges into legato emotional flow, release the popping bubbles of the fiery staccato material. A short final chorale settles and grounds the quick cuts, swoops and build ups that have propelled the whole piece. Names of all the movements in the suite Between the Octaves in the right order are Initiate, Surrender, Thread, Curve, Encircle, Ritualise, Ignite. The whole suite follows a long line from movement 1 to movement 7. However, individual pieces are well suited to be played alone too. Piano Duo is ideally two Steinway grands, otherwise, whatever is available. An enjoyment of the tensions and relationships generated between the two instruments: grand-upright, upright-electronic keyboard is to be explored as a positive. Each piece creates its own world in the suite and can be part of smaller subgroups taken from the suite, in any combination, but the order of the pieces needs to be maintained if more than one is played. Here is a taste of the background to the musical world of this 53 minute compositional suite. During a reflective time I read the following: The whole philosophy of dharma art (Buddhist art) is that you don't try to be artistic, but you just approach objects as they are, and the message comes through automatically. (Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, from 'True Perception The Path of Dharma Art.' Shambhala 2008, p.133.) The 'objects as they are' became the 'octaves as they are'. As the pieces were composed the octaves had a centring and clarifying role that allowed other material to circulate around or play against them. They acted as pivots, repetitions, drones, ostinati, pointillist nodes, pedals, melodic features, struts, harmonic turnpikes, breathing spaces, bass lines: musical imperatives. The octaves called the musical shots most of the time. When the music pulled a semitone up or down and away from the octaves (as it did quite often) it was especially telling in the context of the ringing spaces the octaves were creating. I became interested in the subtle dislocation that two pianos could provide. By dislocation I mean a degree of tension between the natural acoustics of the two instruments in the room and the players idiosyncrasies as musicians.  The whole point of this work was to examine the nature of my syntax, grammar, and compositional thinking. The title demanded one thing above all: what notes am I going to use between these octaves?? My choice of notes was derived in most instances from the tempo, pitch, and rhythm of the initial octaves at the beginning of each piece alongside the individual word titles that I set out to explore as musical images. The audio was developed from Sibelius software, via MIDI to Logic samples of a Steinway grand piano.

2 Pianos,4 Hands,Piano Duet - Level 2 - Digital Download SKU: A0.565178 By Sharon Wilson. By African-American Spiritual. Arranged by Sharon Wilson Music. Children,Folk,Jazz,Sacred,Spiritual. Score. 12 pages. Sharon Wilson #3519273. Published by Sharon Wilson (A0.565178). This arrangement of the traditional spiritual When the Saints Go Marching In is presented here as a mixed level duet for two pianos, four hands. The PIANO 1 is the easier part (early-intermediate) and the PIANO 2 is slightly more challenging, though still only at the intermediate level. Both PIANO parts carry the melody at times beginning with PIANO 1 for the verse. Quick-paced and bright, this dual piano duet is an ideal selection for a church setting.The purchase price includes a 5-page score with combined PIANO 1 and PIANO 2 parts on each page (the grand staff) plus an alternate format with the PIANO 1 and PIANO 2 parts on separate pages (3 pages each). Duration is just under 1-1/2 minutes. This arrangement is one of the 5 spirituals in the collection Five Joyful Tunes for Two Pianos.This song has numerous verses and varying lyrics, most of which reference the joy of marching into heaven at Jesus' second coming. Bible verses from which the lyrics were gleaned include the following: . . .Yahweh's ransomed ones will return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. Isaiah 35:10 WEBFor the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God's trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 WEBBlessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city. Revelation 22:14 WEBLyrics for my favorite 3 verses:O when the saints go marching in,O when the saints go marching in,O Lord I want to be in that number,When the saints go marching in.O when the trumpet sounds its call,O when the trumpet sounds its call,O Lord I want to be in that number,When the trumpet sounds its call.O when they crown him Lord of all,O when they crown him Lord of all,O Lord I want to be in that numberWhen they crown him Lord of all.

Instrumental Duet,Keyboard - Digital Download SKU: A0.1497847 Composed by Jenni Roditi. 21st Century,Classical,Contemporary. 11 pages. Jenni Roditi #1074259. Published by Jenni Roditi (A0.1497847). Piano Duo 2 pianos/4 hands. Thread, Between the Octaves grew out of the call the make a single line weave between the octaves. Line was the original title. Thread, as a word, brings more texture to the title and describes what the line is actually doing, threading around the harmony. A secondary thread is heard after a while, echoing and shading the primary line, with its own treble weave. It was like going back to the beginning of making melody again.Names of all the movements in the suite Between the Octaves in the right order are Initiate, Surrender, Thread, Curve, Encircle, Ritualise, Ignite. The whole suite follows a long line from movement 1 to movement 7. However, individual pieces are well suited to be played alone too. Piano Duo is ideally two Steinway grands, otherwise, whatever is available. An enjoyment of the tensions and relationships generated between the two instruments: grand-upright, upright-electronic keyboard is to be explored as a positive. Each piece creates its own world in the suite and can be part of smaller subgroups taken from the suite, in any combination, but the order of the pieces needs to be maintained if more than one is played. Here is a taste of the background to the musical world of this 53 minute compositional suite. During a reflective time I read the following: The whole philosophy of dharma art (Buddhist art) is that you don't try to be artistic, but you just approach objects as they are, and the message comes through automatically. (Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, from 'True Perception The Path of Dharma Art.' Shambhala 2008, p.133.) The 'objects as they are' became the 'octaves as they are'. As the pieces were composed the octaves had a centring and clarifying role that allowed other material to circulate around or play against them. They acted as pivots, repetitions, drones, ostinati, pointillist nodes, pedals, melodic features, struts, harmonic turnpikes, breathing spaces, bass lines: musical imperatives. The octaves called the musical shots most of the time. When the music pulled a semitone up or down and away from the octaves (as it did quite often) it was especially telling in the context of the ringing spaces the octaves were creating. I became interested in the subtle dislocation that two pianos could provide. By dislocation I mean a degree of tension between the natural acoustics of the two instruments in the room and the players idiosyncrasies as musicians.  The whole point of this work was to examine the nature of my syntax, grammar, and compositional thinking. The title demanded one thing above all: what notes am I going to use between these octaves?? My choice of notes was derived in most instances from the tempo, pitch, and rhythm of the initial octaves at the beginning of each piece alongside the individual word titles that I set out to explore as musical images. The audio was developed from Sibelius software, via MIDI to Logic samples of a Steinway grand piano.    

Instrumental Duet,Keyboard - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1497866 Composed by Jenni Roditi. 21st Century,Classical,Contemporary. 24 pages. Jenni Roditi #1074279. Published by Jenni Roditi (A0.1497866). Piano Duo - 2 pianos/4 hands. Ignite, Between the Octaves began with the impetus of static ‘pulsation’ (its original title) on repeated octaves. The piece is a fizzing dash of nodal vortices, small, then larger, spinning and tumbling and all the way to the finish line. This piece brings the complete suite of 7 pieces to a dynamic close, with a sense of ignition to new beginnings. The music echoes the opening F octaves of Initiate (movement 1). Names of all the movements in the suite Between the Octaves in the right order are Initiate, Surrender, Thread, Curve, Encircle, Ritualise, Ignite. The whole suite follows a long line from movement 1 to movement 7. However, individual pieces are well suited to be played alone too. Piano Duo is ideally two Steinway grands, otherwise, whatever is available. An enjoyment of the tensions and relationships generated between the two instruments: grand-upright, upright-electronic keyboard is to be explored as a positive. Each piece creates its own world in the suite and can be part of smaller subgroups taken from the suite, in any combination, but the order of the pieces needs to be maintained if more than one is played. Here is a taste of the background to the musical world of this 53 minute compositional suite. During a reflective time I read the following: The whole philosophy of dharma art (Buddhist art) is that you don't try to be artistic, but you just approach objects as they are, and the message comes through automatically. (Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, from 'True Perception The Path of Dharma Art.' Shambhala 2008, p.133.) The 'objects as they are' became the 'octaves as they are'. As the pieces were composed the octaves had a centring and clarifying role that allowed other material to circulate around or play against them. They acted as pivots, repetitions, drones, ostinati, pointillist nodes, pedals, melodic features, struts, harmonic turnpikes, breathing spaces, bass lines: musical imperatives. The octaves called the musical shots most of the time. When the music pulled a semitone up or down and away from the octaves (as it did quite often) it was especially telling in the context of the ringing spaces the octaves were creating. I became interested in the subtle dislocation that two pianos could provide. By dislocation I mean a degree of tension between the natural acoustics of the two instruments in the room and the players idiosyncrasies as musicians.  The whole point of this work was to examine the nature of my syntax, grammar, and compositional thinking. The title demanded one thing above all: what notes am I going to use between these octaves?? My choice of notes was derived in most instances from the tempo, pitch, and rhythm of the initial octaves at the beginning of each piece alongside the individual word titles that I set out to explore as musical images. The audio was developed from Sibelius software, via MIDI to Logic samples of a Steinway grand piano. 

2 Pianos,4 Hands,Piano Duet - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.730240 Composed by James Nathaniel Holland. Contemporary,Folk,Holiday,Jazz,Patriotic. Score. 56 pages. James Nathaniel Holland #442965. Published by James Nathaniel Holland (A0.730240). (Duration: 25 minutes) 2 Pianos, 4 Hands (Revised 2018)James Nathaniel Holland is an American classical music composer of operas, symphonies, ballets, songs, and other musical concertworks that incorporate a unique, eclectic, blend of romantic, classical, world and jazz styles. In this second of his piano concerto, he blends jazz with sensitivity, rhythmic to lyrical. This concerto is entitled New York Tour because like the city that inspired it, it travels throughout times, musical neighborhoods and cultures. Great compliment in programming with Mozart piano concertos or Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue to feature American classical composers. Newly revised (2018) with measure numbers and rehearsal letters that match the full score.YouTube presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAKDrGPLa3g Born and raised in Indiana, James Nathaniel Holland studied music at DePauw University, Vienna Austria, Interlochen National Music Camp and Indiana University (Bloomington, IN). At these schools many of his early pieces were premiered and performed, with one work being selected for main-stage production in the season. Moving to Los Angeles and then settling in New York, he performed professionally sometimes as a singer, sometimes as a pianist, sometimes as choral conductor. He composed incidental music for the stage. In 2002 he founded a composers collective where they showcased their work. He was one of the first composers to participate in the American Music Center's initial on-line library. The New Jersey Concert Opera and the Gay Men's Chorus of New Jersey also featured his comic operas and art songs. From 2005 he moved to Costa Rica where he organized concerts with visiting guest artists to present his chamber music to the public. Presently he lives in a castle in the central mountains of Costa Rica. Website: https://facebook.com/jamesnathanielholland/ YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/composerjnholland

2 Pianos,4 Hands,Piano Duet - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.972673 Composed by James Siddons. Contemporary,Folk,Jazz,Spiritual. Score. 25 pages. James Siddons Music and Writings #6698569. Published by James Siddons Music and Writings (A0.972673). Performance NoteSonata Hymnica No. 6 is scored for two pianos and three performers. One  performer (or player) sits at Piano I and may also serve as the conductor. At Piano II, Performer 1 plays from the treble  staff and Performer 2 plays from the bass staff. There are possible variations in this, such as having four pianos (two pianos  doubling the other two), or having two performers at Piano I, with Performer 2 playing only the bass-staff rhythmic pattern that  begins in measure 37. A standing conductor (not playing piano) may be desired.  Although repetitive, the music in this sonata rarely repeats itself  exactly; hence, further minor improvisations by the performers are appropriate, keeping with the improvisatory nature of oral  tradition. Program Note (for use in concert programs) by James Siddons  The Sonata Hymnica series by James Siddons consists of piano solos that explore the world of American hymns and  vernacular religious songs in the 1880-1920 era, when rural and small-town churches relied on pianos for music, and, in an age before microphones and amplification, the acoustics of wooden floors, walls, and high ceilings. These sonatas are not hymn arrangements but explorations of the sounds that can be created by a piano in a reverberant environment, all the while keeping in mind the essential message of the familiar words  sung to the various hymn tunes. Sonata Hymnica No. 6 is the first in the series to be for piano ensemble, and the second (after No. 3) to be based on the worship music of the 19th-century African American church. This sixth sonata also explores the singing world of the black congregation and choir as well as the piano. Their singing was shaped  by the sounds and intonations of the piano and the heritage of European music behind it, as well as the contours and cadences of the religious folk songs known as Spirituals. But the black congregations also sang hymns and choruses from the Classical tradition, and the Spirituals became the basis of many adaptations by white arrangers. Thus, we may speak  of  standardized adaptations of Spirituals as white black music, and black performance styles of Classical works as black white music. Piano ragtime music is a non-religious example of white music (the military march) made into black white music by the blending in of the syncopated rag rhythm. Sonata Hymnica No. 6 explores the intermingling of these two strains of American music as heard in the 19th-century black church. In his classic book The Souls of Black Folk (Chicago, 1903), W. E. B. Du Bois confesses to not being a musician but nonetheless finding himself enthralled by the music of the Southern 19th-century African Americans. He refers to their singing as the Frenzy or ‘Shouting,’ when the Spirit of the Lord passed by, and seizing the  devotee, made him mad with supernatural joy . . . stamping, shrieking, and shouting, the rushing to and fro and waving of arms,  the weeping and laughing, the vision and the trance (p. 116). On another page, Du Bois speaks of . . . the songs of my fathers . . . swelling with song, instinct for life, tremendous treble and darkening bass (p. 163). Sonata Hymnica No. 6 uses the African call and response form as well  as percussive polyrhythms.

2 Pianos,4 Hands,Piano Duet - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1440150 Composed by Florence B. Price (1887-1953). Arranged by Mena Williams (b. 2002). 20th Century,Classical. Score. 90 pages. Mena C. Williams | The Unfinished Symphony #1020099. Published by Mena C. Williams | The Unfinished Symphony (A0.1440150). In 1903, Florence B. Price (1887-1953) attended the New England Conservatory for piano, organ, and composition. When Price graduated from NEC in 1910, she returned to Arkansas, bringing music education to her hometown. Unfortunately, due to increased racially charged hostility within Little Rock, Arkansas, Florence Price and many other families who participated in the Great Migration moved to Chicago in 1927, where she found new musical studies and performance opportunities. The opportunity that launched Price’s musical career as a composer was when she won the Wanamaker Prize in 1932 for her Symphony in e minor and became the first Black woman composer to have a major orchestral work performed by an American orchestra. Four years later, Price composed Quintet in a minor for Piano and Strings. Within the Quintet, there are four movements, the “Allegro non troppo”, the “Andante con moto”, the “Juba”, and the “Scherzo”. Quintet in A Minor for Piano and Strings utilizes many of Florence Price’s trademark stylistic ideas, imbuing her music with harmonic freshness and a creative and organic structural approach as well as melodies that reflect her spiritual and cultural heritage, all stemming from how Price’s music brings together the European-classical tradition and African American spirituals and folk tunes. Florence Price was a deeply religious person who brought the music of the African American church and the influences of Romantic composers such as Dvo?ák and Tchaikovsky. Thus further resulting in the overall appeal of Price’s music. The captivating lyricism and juba (a dance that originated from plantation enslaved people in the Southern US) rhythmic devices.