SKU: A0.548647

O Come, All Ye Faithful

O Come, All Ye Faithful arranged for piano trio ( piano, violin & cello) featuring a thought-provoking re-harmonization of the final verse. O Come, All Ye Faithful is an English translation of the Latin Christmas carol Adeste Fideles. No one knows exactly who wrote it. One theory holds that King John IV of Portugal (1604–1656) wrote it. Another view says John F. Wade or John Reading wrote it. Nowadays, we usually attribute it to John Wade. It seems like Stonyhurst College in Lancashire owns the oldest manuscript. It is from the year 1751.

Lyrics

Frederick Oakeley, a Catholic priest in 1841, wrote the English translation. This translation is probably the most common in English-speaking states. To begin with, the hymn had only four verses. Later, the verses grew to eight. Music directors often cut various verses because otherwise, the song goes too long. Some believe that St. Bonaventure wrote the first Latin lyrics. Others hold that King John IV of Portugal is responsible. Yet even others think the Cistercian monks wrote them.

King John IV

His subjects called King John IV of Portugal The Musician King. He became king in 1640. In addition to performing the duties of a king, he composed and wrote as a music journalist. King John built an extensive music library. Unfortunately, the massive earthquake in Lisbon ruined the library in 1755. In addition to making his library, the king started a Music School that produced many accomplished musicians. The king also worked diligently to get instrumental music approved by the Vatican for use in his churches. Aside from his authorship of Adeste Fideles, he is famous for another popular choral setting of the Crux Fidelis, a prevalent Lenten hymn.

Performance in Context

Verses are sometimes left out because all eight verses would take too long to perform. More to the point, though, some of the poems may be unsuitable for whatever church calendar they are intended. The eighth verse deals with the Epiphany, so it makes sense to sing this on Epiphany Sunday but not on other Sundays. Similarly, other poems are used for whether the event is Midnight Mass or regular daytime Mass.

 

SKU: A0.622851

One of the most popular and recognizable tunes by renowned composer Henry Mancini from the motion picture Breakfast At Tiffany's has been freshly arranged as a duet for Violin and Cello with Piano accompaniment. Accessible and appropriate for any school or concert venue.  .

SKU: A0.1488222

The Piano Trio in E flat, Op.2 was published by Simrock in 1807 with a dedication to Monsieur le Comte de Browne, Brigadeur au Service de S.M.J. de toutes les Russies. It is a generously proportioned work in the usual three movements. The lengthy sonata-from first movement is prefaced by a slow introduction which begins on dominant seventh harmony (a nod perhaps to Beethoven's first symphony), slowly finding its way to the tonic by the start of the Allegro section. The brief development section modulates widely, including references to keys as distant as E minor and C major, while the substantially rewritten and varied recapitulation touches on both B and G majors.

The slow movement, Andante un poco Allegretto , is cast in the key of C minor and features many solos and duets for the string instruments as well as further harmonic interest, especially in the central modulating episode from bar 46. The finale is a sonata-rondo design complete with all the usual tricks, including even a remote transposition of the refrain late in the movement to B major, a technique surely learned from Beethoven. The present edition reproduces as faithfully as possible the text of the trio as transmitted in Simrock's edition of the work, a copy of which is preserved in the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin. The piano part is most successfully realised on an instrument extending as far as c4, although since such instruments were by no means standard in the first decade of the 19th century, Ries has notated the part carefully to cater for instruments without an extended treble compass.

Any alternative readings have been incorporated into the current edition exactly as they appear in the Simrock print. In an instance such as bars 298-309 of the finale for example, instruments with the extended compass should follow the small print in bars 298 and 309, and in between read the notes an octave higher according to the composer's 8ve marking. Instruments with a limited compass should play the notes as written, without the octave transposition of bars 299-309.

The cello part contains several passages written in the treble clef. Evidence that these should sound an octave lower than written is provided by bars 74-80 of the first movement and 85-89 of the finale. In the first instance, awkward octave displacements would result if this passage were played literally; in the second instance, some unacceptable part crossing between violin and cello would result from a literal rendition of these two bars. Accordingly then, all passages written in the treble clef should be transposed down an octave.

The style and notation of articulation and dynamic markings have been standardised throughout, and, where missing from the print, markings have been reconstructed from parallel passages. These are indicated by the use of dotted slurs or brackets where appropriate. Obvious wrong notes have been corrected without comment, and editorial emendations with no authority from the print are placed within brackets.

Dianne James.

SKU: A0.1475078

La Marche des rois is a popular Christmas carol of provençal origin celebrating the Epiphany and the Wise Men.  Freshly arranged as a duet for Violin and Cello with Piano accompaniment.  Accessible and appropriate for any church or concert setting.  An accompaniment track is also available.