SKU: A0.978107

The famous Corta-jaca, the name with which the tango Gaúcho became popular, is one of Chiquinha Gonzaga's most recorded and best-known songs, along with Ó abre alas, Lua branca, and Atraente. It was born on the stages of musical theaters, where it was danced in the final scene of the burlesque operetta of national costumes Zizinha Maxixe, imitated from French by an anonymous author, performed at the Teatro Éden Lavradio, in August 1895. Actor Machado Careca (José Machado Pinheiro e Costa), the anonymous author of the play, ended up putting verses to the music of Corta-jaca, helping to popularize it, especially after his version was recorded on disc by the duo Os Geraldos. Throughout history, Corta-jaca frequented other stages and repertoires: café-cantante, chope-berrante, rodas de choro... But it was at the Palácio do Catete, in 1914, that it achieved its glory. Performed on the guitar by first lady Nair de Teffé, it caused political scandal and ended up nicknaming the administration of Hermes da Fonseca. The reaction can be measured by the impassioned speech that Senator Rui Barbosa made from the rostrum. When asked what was the corta-jaca he had heard so much about, he concluded: The lowest, the most vulgar, the rudest of all wild dances, the twin sister of batuque, cateretê and samba. But at presidential receptions the corta-jaca is performed with all the honors of Wagner's music, and one does not want the conscience of this country to revolt, our faces to blush and the youth to laugh! Never before in the history of Brazil had eminently popular music been performed at the seat of government, in front of the diplomatic corps and the country's elite. Corta-jaca has become a classic of the great repertoire of Brazilian instrumental music, meriting recordings by, among others, Abel Ferreira, Altamiro Carrilho, Antonio Adolfo, Artur Moreira Lima, Clara Sverner, Conjunto Regional do Donga, Eudóxia de Barros, Guio de Morais, Itamar Assieré, Leandro Braga, Marcus Viana, Maria Teresa Madeira, Marcelo Verzoni, Paulo Moura, Radamés Gnatalli, Rosária Gatti, Talitha Peres, Turíbio Santos, countless bands, and some sung versions. It was written by the maestro also for singing and piano and small orchestra: oboe, viola, timpani, horns (bass), bassoon.

SKU: A0.1039841

I composed this piece while I was still a student at Marcus High School and a member of the band, myself (2002-2006). This fanfare was commissioned by Amanda Drinkwater, the director of bands at the time, to be a symbol of heart and identity for the organization – to be performed by the band while marching onto the field, as well as to promote a sense of comradery and unity among all members of the band. I was lucky enough to call Amanda Drinkwater one of my earliest mentors in music, and I will always be grateful for her encouragement and teaching, and for giving me this opportunity. Towards the end of my time in high school, I had gotten very serious about composition and trumpet performance, and was looking ahead to music as my future college major and career. That timing was serendipitous for each of us. Amanda conceived of this project that year, and, knowing of my passion for composing, graciously offered me the opportunity to compose the piece. For me, I was thrilled to accept the opportunity, and it meant a lot. I cherished my experiences in the Marcus Band, and I saw this as my chance to give something back. In that spirit, even though the piece is short, I put my heart into it. This commission was also my first professional engagement as a composer, and that was tremendously exciting.

SKU: A0.1039839

I composed this piece while I was still a student at Marcus High School and a member of the band, myself (2002-2006). This fanfare was commissioned by Amanda Drinkwater, the director of bands at the time, to be a symbol of heart and identity for the organization – to be performed by the band while marching onto the field, as well as to promote a sense of comradery and unity among all members of the band. I was lucky enough to call Amanda Drinkwater one of my earliest mentors in music, and I will always be grateful for her encouragement and teaching, and for giving me this opportunity. Towards the end of my time in high school, I had gotten very serious about composition and trumpet performance, and was looking ahead to music as my future college major and career. That timing was serendipitous for each of us. Amanda conceived of this project that year, and, knowing of my passion for composing, graciously offered me the opportunity to compose the piece. For me, I was thrilled to accept the opportunity, and it meant a lot. I cherished my experiences in the Marcus Band, and I saw this as my chance to give something back. In that spirit, even though the piece is short, I put my heart into it. This commission was also my first professional engagement as a composer, and that was tremendously exciting.

SKU: A0.1181507

Honor was written to give young ensembles a chance work on a lyrical piece that evokes a sense of compassion towards those that serve. Not specifically in a specific genre, it uses subtle harmonies of 4ths and 5ths with an occasional major seventh sound to create a Copland-esque nostalgia. Honor would go well on a Veterans Day or Memorial Day Program, but also as just a concert piece to work on lyrical playing at a young age. 

This piece directly correlates with the Foundation Warm-Up Series. This series is designed to follow most beginning band methods. The early sets focus primarily on airflow, common patterns, and reinforcing concepts presented in the method books. As the series develops, the sets become more like a traditional band warm-up, including long tones, flexibility exercises, articulation, scale patterns, and a chorale.

SKU: A0.755237

Tweets is a composition for small concert band that portrays a wide range of emotions similar to the kind of emotional displays that may appear on Twitter posts. Each movement lasts under a minute therefore sharing a conciseness with their verbal counterparts. There are seven movements: Kudos, Compassion, Humor, Rage, Happiness, Grumpy, and Enthusiasm. The scoring is such that the parts for less common instruments may be omitted because their parts are doubled elsewhere. The composition is at an easy high school level. The score prints on legal size paper and the parts on letter size paper.