Kelele” is a song by renowned Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo -Leadsheet Style

SKU: A0.1308790

*THIS ACCOMPANIES THE VOCAL ARRANGEMENT* 

This arrangement came to me over a number of weeks in a very organic way that began with the ostinato piano figure that prevails throughout the piece. I began playing it unattached to any tune and I just liked the way the line descended in the left hand and how I had to find voicings in the right hand that made harmonic sense – like a puzzle. As I was playing around with this puzzle, thoughts of my father were swirling around in my head – I was at the end of a 4 year period of separation from my parents owing to the fact that I’m a Canadian expat living in the US and the borders were closed for a long time because of Covid, and then I had work visa issues and my parents were getting older before my eyes. They were also losing friends to cancer and other ailments and my dad, in particular, had experienced the loss of many close family members and friends during our separation and it was taking a toll.

 

One day I sat down and played the now familiar-to-me ostinato but randomly I started to sing “Beyond the Sea� over it and it fit perfectly. I thought it a happy coincidence. As the days went on I committed to putting my ostinato with Beyond the Sea and the lyrics started to seep into my brain. I have, of course, heard these lyrics many times before, (who hasn’t seen Finding Nemo?) but the lyrics didn’t mean what I thought they meant… They’re NOT about the ocean, they are about my dad!!! Well, kind of… I realized, through careful reflection and by slowing the words down, that the lyrics are talking about a person in heaven who is patiently waiting for their partner to join them.

 

Somewhere beyond the sea

She’s there watching for me

…

It’s far beyond the stars

It’s near beyond the moon

 

And the lyrics end with them meeting, “We’ll meet beyond the shore, we’ll kiss just like before,� and the song ends with: “and never again I’ll go sailing.� It’s like the big bang went off in my head about why all these thoughts of my dad, and his friends, and this arrangement, and what it all meant suddenly just MADE SENSE and I was able to start formulating a plan.

 

Performance Suggestions: 

The improvisation solo in the middle should be free of any traditional “scat syllables� and should be more of a lament. Listen to singers like Aubrey Johnson improvise on ballads for inspiration. An idea for that improv section might be to have a male singer start the improv, then a female singer joins (as if together in heaven) then they sing letter F together (warning: will cause tears…). All solo sections do not have to be sung as written – soloists can take liberties with the melody as the spirit moves.

SKU: A0.1433342

In 1920, Ralph Vaughan Williams composed a set of three organ preludes based on Welsh hymn tunes. Of those three, Rhosymedre quickly became established in organ repertoire and has had enduring popularity. Shortly after the publication for organ, an arrangement for string orchestra with some optional wind parts was available from the same publisher. In the decades since, many other arrangements of it have appeared for various ensembles including brass band, wind ensemble, flute choir, and even handbell ensemble.

This gorgeous 4 minute long setting of Rhosymedre for Trombone Choir arranged by Russell McKinney is very approachable by most trombone ensembles with all 10 parts in bass clef and presents no technical or endurance issues. Instrumentation is for 7 tenors and 3 bass trombones.

SKU: A0.1257964

The High Priestess is a chamber work for mixed instrumentation, including an F Horn with piano, violin, and flute. This piece is inspired by the artwork of the traditional Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck, specifically the less credited illustrator of the world famous deck, Pamela Colman Smith. The music represents the symbolism and feeling behind the High Priestess card, with keywords of strength, adaptability, seriousness, intuition, loving understanding, knowledge, introspection, and self-trust. Each instrument is featured throughout, as the main melody and distinct rhythms are traded and dovetailed around the ensemble. The piece begins with a feeling of watery calm (e.g. Venetian Boat songs), ascends to a hopeful journey, moves through tense trials, then returning back to the distant flute melody, followed by a piano “solo� that ultimately inspired this chamber work in the first place. 

This work is great for high school, collegiate, amateur, or professional ensembles, as well as very advanced young chamber players looking for something new and fresh. Rhythms are simple, while expression and musicality can be explored. In performance, be mindful of balance issues, so seating arrangement can be adjusted. I recommend the horn player be seated on the outside, so as not to cover up the flute. Average performance time: ca. 4:30

Other instrumentations are in progress, so please check back for updated editions. The original instrumentation involved the oboe and cello. There is also another version with trombone substituting the F horn.

Please leave a review here below and reach out via my website listed in the score for any feedback or questions. You can also connect with me on Instagram @jwupiano or my YouTube Channel, JwuPiano.

SKU: A0.987847

Preferred Contact Information: RMonteverdi@comcast.net Performing Rights Organization: BMI Website: robertgreenbergmusic.com Facebook Band Page: facebook.com/RobertGreenbergMusic Duration: ca. 33 minutes Year of composition: 1995 Program Note: I. With Friends Like These II. Inner Voices III. Little Hands and Little Feet IV. Freund Barry V. Friendly Persuasion VI. All For One and One For All I've known the Alexander String Quartet since 1987. More than just colleagues, they have become my friends: I've traveled with them, performed with them, watched them rehearse, dined with them in their homes and they in mine; I know their children and they know my children. Throughout the time I've known the members of the quartet I have observed the relationship between them, that special bond shared by the members of any touring band, described by one pundit as being like a bad marriage with no sex. Such issues notwithstanding, this particular marriage works. A string quartet represents, perhaps, the ultimate musical compromise between individual incentive and the common good. In a string quartet, by definition, four distinct instrumental voices and four different instrumental roles unite to create a whole greater than its parts. And, lest we forget, behind each instrument is a person, with his own particular attitudes, feelings, needs, and, yes, issues, all of which must be tempered and blended for the common good of a good performance. Among Friends is, its liberties aside, about the four people behind the instruments of the Alexander String Quartet and their relationships with one another; the way they play, rehearse, get along and, on occasion, not get along. The first movement, With Friends Like These is gritty and contentious in tone. The players argue, debate, annoy, tease, irk, cajole, abuse, harass, form brief alliances, heap merde upon, gang up on, and otherwise find endless ways to irritate each other. It is in this movement that the individual characters of the four instrumental parts stand in highest relief: the first violin as coloratura prima donna, forever attempting to soar above it all; the second violin as the voice in the wilderness, the viola as the voice of reason and the 'cello as mover and shaker. The opening of the movement is marked argument in progress; with greatest intensity. The second, third and fourth movements are a series of portraits, played without a break. In movement two, Inner Voices, the second violin and viola are featured in a collegial and decidedly non-contentious dialogue. Movement three, Little Hands and Little Feet, is the quiet center of the quartet. It is here that the first violin finally attains the lyric heights vainly sought in the first movement. The fourth movement is a vigorous dance entitled Freund Barry. This movement honors three great friends: Dr. Barry Gardiner, whose friendship and support made the writing of this quartet possible; Gustav Mahler, whose Symphony No. 4, second movement (Freund Heine) inspired this one; and Sandy Wilson, who first encouraged me to compose my second string quartet (Child's Play) for the Alexander in 1987 and whose boisterous 'cello is Freund Barry's alter-ego. The fifth movement is entitled Friendly Persuasion. Rapid fire repeated notes, accompanimental figures and melodic lines are shuttled about from voice to voice, each time elaborated or altered in some way. In this way the music slowly metamorphoses, ultimately arriving at a version of the argumentative music that concluded the first movement. Movement six, All For One and One For All is a fast, brief coda/finale, during which the quartet plays primarily in unison, the musical antithesis of the contentious argument that began the quartet. Among Friends was commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation in the Library of Congress and the Alexander String Quartet. Among Friends i.

SKU: ZY.DO-1552

J’ai composé « Thracian Tale » en 2024 pour George Vassilev. Le titre fait référence au peuple de Thrace qui habitait dans les Balkans et plus particulièrement dans le territoire de la Bulgarie actuelle. La pièce est composée en forme A-B-A et le langage utilisé - comme dans la plupart de mes pièces - est basé essentiellement sur des modes et des rythmes issues de la musique des Balkans. Elle est enrichie avec l’utilisation de chromatismes, d’hémioles pour varier la pulsation de base ainsi que de différentes techniques instrumentales.

I composed Thracian Tale in 2024 for George Vassilev. The title refers to the people of Thrace who lived in the Balkans and more particularly in the territory of present-day Bulgaria. The piece is composed in A-B-A form and the language used - as in most of my pieces - is based essentially on modes and rhythms from Balkan music. It is enriched with the use of chromatisms, hemiolas to vary the basic pulsation as well as different instrumental techniques.

SKU: A0.977351

Happy Birthday Ed

Muss i Denn

La Cucaracha

At last: Some new repertoire for the historical natural trumpet!

This one-handed instrument was familiar to composers such as JS Bach, Handel, Telemann, Purcell, Vivaldi etc., but was largely neglected after the invention of valves in the early 19th century - and the subsequent invention of the nodal vent-hole systems in the late 20th-century - until recently, when the elusive lost art of clarino playing (in the fourth octave and above) was cracked by dedicated optimists such as Don L Smithers and JF Madeuf.

These arrangements are a stylistic departure from the trumpet's golden age of Baroque repertoire, featuring works well known in the 20th century, and provide excellent training for rhythmic precision, style, pitching and team playing.  They're also fun, if you like that sort of thing.

Advice on tuning up the differently-pitched instruments and a technical tip are included.

The current regulations on SMP mean us little guys can only publish in-copyright works one at a time. So, you can collect them all and make yourself a tome! 

This arrangement of Happy Birthday was written in 2011 for Edward H Tarr's 75th birthday concert in Basel (CH). Ed conducted many pieces from the Charamela Real, mostly for trumpets in two different tonalities. Happy Birthday was slipped in the programme before the second encore without his knowledge. At his downbeat, he got quite a surprise.

The rest of these arrangements were originally written for Lunchtime Tower Music (weather permitting), at the Dartington International Summer School between roughly 2000 and 2010, for courses led by Michael Laird and David Staff. Such performances from the mediæval clock tower involved the various brass and other wind classes playing seriously with an informal atmosphere.  Logistical issues, a narrow staircase and the ubiquitous Health-and-Safety regulations prevented the use of timpani on the tower but sometimes larger groups, and those involving vertigo sufferers, played in the courtyard instead.

These pieces are the opposite of playing Baroque music on modern, or postmodern instruments.

Get them all now and enjoy a refreshing change!

Enjoy!

DM