Level 2 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1432631 Composed by Jan de Lublin. Arranged by Alastair Lodge. Chamber,Early Music,Renaissance. 10 pages. Wold Meridian #1013102. Published by Wold Meridian (A0.1432631). Renaissance Dance music provides some of the most simple yet satisfying pieces to play in ensemble on a wide range of instruments.  They are suitable for recorders, modern strings, woodwinds or brass, or where available, reproductions of 16th century instruments, such as crumhorns, viols or shawms to name but a few.Also appearing in the publication Chording to the Consort,  this individual piece is presented in full score and with separate parts for each of the lines.  Wold Meridian editions of these pieces have been created to make performing them as accessible as possible.  Chords have been provided so that the piece can be performed with just the melody line and a simple accompaniment.  Each piece can be heard in a video on YouTube with illustrations and historical background information.  Even more helpful for players who are less experienced in reading harmony lines, there is a YouTube video link featuring each part, where it is heard initially on its own with the chords, on repeats with the melody line added and finally together with all the parts in the whole ensemble.  If you have not had the pleasure of playing in consort with other people, you could not do better than start with these Wold Meridian editions.You can hear the piece in a linked YouTube video at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV4bQlo9gBAAs a help for players who are not so familiar with playing harmony and inner linesLine 2  is featured at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Hdq1L7Ol8cLine 3 is featured at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQpeOFEcuQILine 4 is featured at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXRSk6elwtU

Level 2 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1428273 Composed by Tielman Susato. Arranged by Alastair Lodge. Chamber,Early Music,Renaissance. 10 pages. Wold Meridian #1009058. Published by Wold Meridian (A0.1428273). Renaissance Dance music provides some of the most simple yet satisfying pieces to play in ensemble on a wide range of instruments.  They are suitable for recorders, modern strings, woodwinds or brass, or where available, reproductions of 16th century instruments, such as crumhorns, viols or shawms to name but a few.Also appearing in the publication Chording to the Consort,  this individual piece is presented in full score and with separate parts for each of the lines.  Wold Meridian editions of these pieces have been created to make performing them as accessible as possible.  Chords have been provided so that the piece can be performed with just the melody line and a simple accompaniment.  Each piece can be heard in a video on YouTube with illustrations and historical background information.  Even more helpful for players who are less experienced in reading harmony lines, there is a YouTube video link featuring each part, where it is heard initially on its own with the chords, on repeats with the melody line added and finally together with all the parts in the whole ensemble.  If you have not had the pleasure of playing in consort with other people, you could not do better than start with these Wold Meridian editions.You can hear the piece in a linked YouTube video at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbp8Z7uCpMIAs a help for players who are not so familiar with playing harmony and inner linesLine 2  is featured at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JubPiPTAUXsLine 3 is featured at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm2e7SZvR_oLine 4 is featured at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d---BhwEBxA

Jazz Combo - Level 2 - Digital Download SKU: A0.708636 By E. A. Mario / Edoardo Nicolardi. By E. A. Mario / Edoardo Nicolardi. Arranged by Gianluca Marano. Country,Folk,Multicultural,Pop,Traditional,World. Score and parts. 39 pages. By Gianluca Marano #317205. Published by by Gianluca Marano (A0.708636). Black Tammurriata tells the story of a woman who gives birth to a black child, conceived by a soldier during the American occupation . The woman, however, accepts her child, strengthened by her own maternal love. The whole story is told by a kind of Greek choir , which ironizes that although the woman turns the point of view of the fact ( Seh, vote and spin, seh seh, spin and vote, seh ) , or affibbi Italian names such as Ciccio, Antonio, Peppe or Ciro ( ca tu 'or call me Ciccio or' Ntuono, ca tu 'or call me Peppe or Giro ), the child who gave birth is still black ( chillo' or fatto è niro niro, niro niro comm'a cche ). Arrangement for: 5 Clarinet Bb 5 Sax Alto Eb 3 Trumpet Bb 2 Trombone 2 Glockenspiel 2 Percussion.

Level 2 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1437421 Composed by Claude Gervaise. Arranged by Alastair Lodge. Chamber,Early Music,Renaissance. 10 pages. Wold Meridian #1017542. Published by Wold Meridian (A0.1437421). Renaissance Dance music provides some of the most simple yet satisfying pieces to play in ensemble on a wide range of instruments.  They are suitable for recorders, modern strings, woodwinds or brass, or where available, reproductions of 16th century instruments, such as crumhorns, viols or shawms to name but a few.Also appearing in the publication Chording to the Consort,  this individual piece is presented in full score and with separate parts for each of the lines.  Wold Meridian editions of these pieces have been created to make performing them as accessible as possible.  Chords have been provided so that the piece can be performed with just the melody line and a simple accompaniment.  Each piece can be heard in a video on YouTube with illustrations and historical background information.  Even more helpful for players who are less experienced in reading harmony lines, there is a YouTube video link featuring each part, where it is heard initially on its own with the chords, on repeats with the melody line added and finally together with all the parts in the whole ensemble.  If you have not had the pleasure of playing in consort with other people, you could not do better than start with these Wold Meridian editions.You can hear the piece in a linked YouTube video at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWD5COs6I1YAs a help for players who are not so familiar with playing harmony and inner linesLine 2  is featured at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-cbWrJVP-8Line 3 is featured at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIdSRRTQS0MLine 4 is featured at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KBeAu9Jdv4

Choral Choir (SATB) - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1166622 Composed by Kevin G. Pace (ASCAP), Mary Ann W. Snowball. Christian,Praise & Worship,Religious,Sacred,Spiritual. Octavo. 2 pages. Kevin G. Pace #767002. Published by Kevin G. Pace (A0.1166622). A beautiful, sacred hymn with music by Kevin G. Pace and text by Mary Ann W. Snowball.Text:Twelve years she had suffered; she bled with no cure. When drained of all resource, a crowd was then heard. Boldly approaching, she pressed in the throng, For Jesus was nearing, and her faith was strong. This womam pressed forward, though she was unclean. She knew He could heal her; she would not be seen. Reaching his garment, his garment of grace, She mended abruptly in that  very place. Her presence was shrouded, but Jesus perceived. He asked who had touched Him and who had believed? Trembling and falling, she bowed at his feet. My daughter, He named her. Now go with My peace.Thy faith, it hath healed thee, for now thou art whole. O, be of good comfort. He honored her soul. Jesus, our Healer, with garments of grace, Will cover our suff'rings with love on his face.

Level 2 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1439529 Composed by Christoph Demantius. Arranged by Alastair Lodge. Chamber,Early Music,Renaissance. 10 pages. Wold Meridian #1019539. Published by Wold Meridian (A0.1439529). Renaissance Dance music provides some of the most simple yet satisfying pieces to play in ensemble on a wide range of instruments.  They are suitable for recorders, modern strings, woodwinds or brass, or where available, reproductions of 16th century instruments, such as crumhorns, viols or shawms to name but a few.Also appearing in the publication Chording to the Consort,  this individual piece is presented in full score and with separate parts for each of the lines.  Wold Meridian editions of these pieces have been created to make performing them as accessible as possible.  Chords have been provided so that the piece can be performed with just the melody line and a simple accompaniment.  Each piece can be heard in a video on YouTube with illustrations and historical background information.  Even more helpful for players who are less experienced in reading harmony lines, there is a YouTube video link featuring each part, where it is heard initially on its own with the chords, on repeats with the melody line added and finally together with all the parts in the whole ensemble.  If you have not had the pleasure of playing in consort with other people, you could not do better than start with these Wold Meridian editions.You can hear the piece in a linked YouTube video at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRQs6HWSX4cAs a help for players who are not so familiar with playing harmony and inner linesLine 2  is featured at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW0BkWOq0HgLine 3 is featured at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdE2WOys2vsLine 4 is featured at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd0PxOcZAHELine 5 is featured at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpqOTIwMu80

Concert Band - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.891956 Composed by A.E.Williams. Arranged by Stephen Davies. 20th Century,Standards. Score and Parts. 74 pages. Stephen Davies #6094485. Published by Stephen Davies (A0.891956).    CLARINET CONCERT CONCERTINO FOR WIND BAND I don’t normally enter long descriptions of my arrangements, nothing worse than seeing that little sign on the bottom right saying ‘see more’, however this piece has a rather interesting story that I’d like to share with you! It was maybe 8 or 9 years ago that I helped in the library of the Band Of The Guards Association, a group of musicians who were all members of the Household Division Bandsin London, that is to say the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish, Welsh, Life Guards and Blues & Royals bands, chiefly known the world over for Changing The Guard at Buckingham Palace and many other ceremonial occasions. The Band Of The Guards Association were privileged to rehearse at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, home of the famous Chelsea Pensioners, renowned for their Redcoats and medals as veterans of the British Army. Our library of music for the band at the time was held in an air raid shelter deep in the cellars underneath the labyrinthine corridors of the old building built by Sir Christopher Wren back in the 1680’s. When I say ‘air raid shelter’, that is exactly what it was like! Can’t go into too much detail, but suffice it to say that it was like being transported back in time! But this is where the library was kept, complete with dusty shelves, blackout warnings, obsolete bulb replacements and tunnels to the Thames! The man in charge of the library was Mr.Gordon ‘Joe’ Stafford, former Solo Clarinet with HM Band Of The Welsh Guards (ret’d), a fine player of that instrument in his day, and revered as such even now. About 8 years ago, our ‘underground ‘ library was deemed a fire hazard, and we were ‘invited’ to move it elsewhere. As we had our practice room nearby in the Chelsea Hospital, we decided to relocate the whole library there, shelving being built and constructed by enthusiastic band members. Joe Stafford and myself were not particularly enthusiastic about this, but it had to be done. Having looked at the enormous amount of music to be moved, we thought about ditching some of the scores which would never be played again, for instance selections of musicals long forgotten, scores with multiple missing parts etc. Lots of that music went to local music organisations simply for sight reading purposes, and the more complete versions went to bands and orchestras to bolster their stock of scores. After the laborious sorting out in the air raid shelter, Joe and I had the unenviable task of discarding the scores and parts that were incomplete, defaced, or just basically useless. It was an arbitrary case of ‘keep or throw’, and at the time we were doing this, Joe was desperate for a pint in the bar! I agreed, and was anyway on my last batch of throwaways when I found a piece titled ‘Clarinet Concerto’, by A.E.Williams. Written in pencil, with ancient sellotape, and signed by all the people who played it many years ago, including the Soloist and composer, I thought that that should not be binned, so I kept it! Joe Stafford suggested that I should ‘get it out there’ , so I have. Incidentally it has a cracking Cadenza towards the end, it was a bit smudged in the original score, but I’ve filled in the gaps!! This would be an ideal addition to the band repertoire for Clarinet!

Level 2 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1442658 Composed by Claude Gervaise. Arranged by Alastair Lodge. Chamber,Early Music,Renaissance. 9 pages. Wold Meridian #1022644. Published by Wold Meridian (A0.1442658). Renaissance Dance music provides some of the most simple yet satisfying pieces to play in ensemble on a wide range of instruments.  They are suitable for recorders, modern strings, woodwinds or brass, or where available, reproductions of 16th century instruments, such as crumhorns, viols or shawms to name but a few.Also appearing in the publication Chording to the Consort,  this individual piece is presented in full score and with separate parts for each of the lines.  Wold Meridian editions of these pieces have been created to make performing them as accessible as possible.  Chords have been provided so that the piece can be performed with just the melody line and a simple accompaniment.  Each piece can be heard in a video on YouTube with illustrations and historical background information.  Even more helpful for players who are less experienced in reading harmony lines, there is a YouTube video link featuring each part, where it is heard initially on its own with the chords, on repeats with the melody line added and finally together with all the parts in the whole ensemble.  If you have not had the pleasure of playing in consort with other people, you could not do better than start with these Wold Meridian editions.You can hear the piece in a linked YouTube video at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klD8-PR_EUUAs a help for players who are not so familiar with playing harmony and inner linesLine 2  is featured at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niwkktHVbL4Line 3 is featured at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te8sPxvkd8QLine 4 is featured at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKfYti7yEUE

Choral Choir (SATB) - Digital Download SKU: A0.835786 Composed by Paul Burnell. Contemporary. Octavo. 124 pages. Paul Burnell #3405305. Published by Paul Burnell (A0.835786). Composed 2007, duration 8:30 approx. The music and text of ‘The Sense of a Place Will Remain’ was inspired by pictures of an early carved stone cross and a tenth-century Viking burial stone on the island of Inchcolm in Scotland. First performed by Inchcolm New Music Ensemble 29 June 2007, conductor Steve King.   Instrumentation is flexible; the following is a guide: Part 1 - Violin 1, flute 1 (doubling piccolo if possible) oboe 1, Part 2 - Violin 2, flute 2, oboe 2 (doubling tenor recorder if possible), clarinet 1, trumpet Part 3 - Viola, clarinet 2, horn in F, Eb horn (2 players doubling harmonicas in C) Part 4 - Cello, bassoon Part 5 - Double bass, bass guitar (or Cello 2 - playing as if usual bass clef, but an octave lower where possible) SATB voices (doubling metal spoons and pitch pipes) Optional:Percussion (one player) - claves, glockenspiel (could be a child’s toy instrument such as an ‘Angel’ glockenspiel), mark tree, spring drum (thunder shaker), frame drum, musical jewelry box (or similar clockwork device).Should a glockenspiel not be available, a special part has been created which arranges the glockenspiel for two flutes, together with the other percussion music. This special part is not visible in the score. Keyboard instrument with sustaining capability - piano sound   Instructions: Wind players can breathe ad lib. during any very long notes. From letter D onwards non-wind players who are not soloists blow across the top of small bottles. The pitches produced are not specified, but they should not be shrill. A soft breathy tone is preferred. About half of the voices play pairs of metal spoons (share printed part between two singers and anyone not holding the music holds metal spoons). Hold the spoons one in each hand, and strike the larger ends together. Spoons are struck together where shown with a large patterned note head. Strike rapidly where a tremolo sign is given. Four singers play pitch tuning pipes: 1 Soprano and 1 Alto play viola/cello pitch tuning pipes, 1 Tenor and 1 Bass play violin pitch tuning pipes Pitch pipe playing is indicated with square note heads - player should breathe ad lib. during very long notes. Where there are very long sung notes, the singers may stagger breathing ad lib. Spoken sounds are indicated with x note heads and with the text in italics. There are many pauses. These can be of varying duration, but on the whole they should not hold up the momentum of the piece, but be of sufficient duration to establish the solo and pitch pipe notes.   Text: Carve stone Strike out Stay at home Or go far alone. Blocks of stone are laid Emblazoned with the signs of great deeds That signify our memory, Mem’ries of who we are. Careful carvings erode through time, Chiseled grooves smooth away. Families, they scatter and fade As generations age Descendants pass on memory time. Sense of our allegiance shifts when major faults are found, Feelings of belonging fall on shaky ground, But the sense of a place will remain.

Level 2 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1456367 Composed by Tielman Susato. Arranged by Alastair Lodge. Chamber,Early Music,Renaissance. 10 pages. Wold Meridian #1035447. Published by Wold Meridian (A0.1456367). Renaissance Dance music provides some of the most simple yet satisfying pieces to play in ensemble on a wide range of instruments.  They are suitable for recorders, modern strings, woodwinds or brass, or where available, reproductions of 16th century instruments, such as crumhorns, viols or shawms to name but a few.Also appearing in the publication Chording to the Consort,  this individual piece is presented in full score and with separate parts for each of the lines.  Wold Meridian editions of these pieces have been created to make performing them as accessible as possible.  Chords have been provided so that the piece can be performed with just the melody line and a simple accompaniment.  Each piece can be heard in a video on YouTube with illustrations and historical background information.  Even more helpful for players who are less experienced in reading harmony lines, there is a YouTube video link featuring each part, where it is heard initially on its own with the chords, on repeats with the melody line added and finally together with all the parts in the whole ensemble.  If you have not had the pleasure of playing in consort with other people, you could not do better than start with these Wold Meridian editions.You can hear the piece in a linked YouTube video at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3Dc6BnAVYgAs a help for players who are not so familiar with playing harmony and inner linesLine 2  is featured at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PUVYKxBRDgLine 3 is featured at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA2u4gWHUaELine 4 is featured at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atsEGxlk7rI

Choral Choir (Unison) - Level 1 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1007860 Composed by by Australian composer, Rebecca Summers. Children. Octavo. 5 pages. Rebecca Summers #3907535. Published by Rebecca Summers (A0.1007860). A song written especially for young voices to celebrate the value of our Grandparents. Terrific for Grandparents' Day ceremonies for whole schools to perform with a very simple chorus that even the tiniest student can take part. Bound to get some hearts moving. Piano part and vocal lead sheet available separately. Lyrics Please know I’ll remember The time we’ve spent together You taught me things so eagerly To take my life less seriously Your house is full of clutter You say it doesn’t matter Life’s too short to pick up socks To burn a bridge or turn a lock PRECHORUS And it was you Who taught me ‘bout family And it was you Who showed me how to love CHORUS Older, wiser, softer, kinder Older, wiser, softer, kinder Older. wiser, softer, kinder Older, wiser, softer, kinder VERSE 2 Your laugh makes people stop and stare You hear songs and music everywhere I’ve seen you tango with a mop Fed me cakes, hot chips and lollipops You seem to have more time for me You’d sweat and laugh and lie for me Your grass gets greener everyday I’m glad you’re here with me today CODA Please know I’ll remember,the time we spent togetherI need you in so many waysLet me wish you Happy Grandparents’ Day

Level 2 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1454548 Composed by Anonymous. Arranged by Alastair Lodge. Chamber,Early Music,Renaissance. 10 pages. Wold Meridian #1033650. Published by Wold Meridian (A0.1454548). Renaissance Dance music provides some of the most simple yet satisfying pieces to play in ensemble on a wide range of instruments.  They are suitable for recorders, modern strings, woodwinds or brass, or where available, reproductions of 16th century instruments, such as crumhorns, viols or shawms to name but a few.Also appearing in the publication Chording to the Consort,  this individual piece is presented in full score and with separate parts for each of the lines.  Wold Meridian editions of these pieces have been created to make performing them as accessible as possible.  Chords have been provided so that the piece can be performed with just the melody line and a simple accompaniment.  Each piece can be heard in a video on YouTube with illustrations and historical background information.  Even more helpful for players who are less experienced in reading harmony lines, there is a YouTube video link featuring each part, where it is heard initially on its own with the chords, on repeats with the melody line added and finally together with all the parts in the whole ensemble.  If you have not had the pleasure of playing in consort with other people, you could not do better than start with these Wold Meridian editions.You can hear the piece in a linked YouTube video at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PejNtrAwSucAs a help for players who are not so familiar with playing harmony and inner linesLine 2  is featured at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnaekHrIZ1ALine 3 is featured at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2U9cyc9AdALine 4 is featured at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njWC88vnPDALine 5 is featured at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1rQ7eJ53UQ

Piano,Tenor Trombone - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1335564 Composed by Alexander Burdiss. Contemporary. Score and part. 12 pages. Ars Nova Press #921400. Published by Ars Nova Press (A0.1335564). Too Much For Our Thirstby Alexander BurdissArranged for Trombone and PianoDedicated to Courtney CarmackPerformance Time: approx. 7:00This is an adaptation for trombone of a piece originally written for tuba. The Eyes of the Poor from Paris SpleenWritten by Charles Baudelaire, Translated by Arthur Symons Ah! you want to know why I hate you to-day. It will probably be less easy for you to understand than for me to explain it to you; for you are, I think, the most perfect example of feminine impenetrability that could possibly be found. We had spent a long day together, and it had seemed to me short. We had promised one another that we would think the same thoughts and that our two souls should become one soul; a dream which is not original, after all, except that, dreamed by all men, it has been realised by none. In the evening you were a little tired, and you sat down outside a new café at the corner of a new boulevard, still littered with plaster and already displaying proudly its unfinished splendours. The café glittered. The very gas put on all the fervency of a fresh start, and lighted up with its full force the blinding whiteness of the walls, the dazzling sheets of glass in the mirrors, the gilt of cornices and mouldings, the chubby-cheeked pages straining back from hounds in leash, the ladies laughing at the falcons on their wrists, the nymphs and goddesses carrying fruits and pies and game on their heads, the Hebes and Ganymedes holding out at arm's-length little jars of syrups or parti-coloured obelisks of ices; the whole of history and of mythology brought together to make a paradise for gluttons. Exactly opposite to us, in the roadway, stood a man of about forty years of age, with a weary face and a greyish beard, holding a little boy by one hand and carrying on the other arm a little fellow too weak to walk. He was taking the nurse-maid's place, and had brought his children out for a walk in the evening. All were in rags. The three faces were extraordinarily serious, and the six eyes stared fixedly at the new café with an equal admiration, differentiated in each according to age. The father's eyes said: How beautiful it is! how beautiful it is! One would think that all the gold of the poor world had found its way to these walls. The boy's eyes said: How beautiful it is! how beautiful it is! But that is a house which only people who are not like us can enter. As for the little one's eyes, they were too fascinated to express anything but stupid and utter joy. Song-writers say that pleasure ennobles the soul and softens the heart. The song was right that evening, so far as I was concerned. Not only was I touched by this family of eyes, but I felt rather ashamed of our glasses and decanters, so much too much for our thirst. I turned to look at you, dear love, that I might read my own thought in you; I gazed deep into your eyes, so beautiful and so strangely sweet, your green eyes that are the home of caprice and under the sovereignty of the Moon; and you said to me: Those people are insupportable to me with their staring saucer- eyes! Couldn't you tell the head waiter to send them away? So hard is it to understand one another, dearest, and so incommunicable is thought, even between people who are in love!

Choral Choir,Choral (SATB) - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1343531 Composed by Byzantine hymn. Arranged by Marilena Zlatanou. Classical. 4 pages. Marilena Zlatanou #929061. Published by Marilena Zlatanou (A0.1343531). BYZANTINE HYMN (Apolytikion) for St. DIMITRIOS arrangement for SATB choirSt. Dimitrios was born around 280-284 in Thessaloniki (N. Greece), and martyred under Roman Emperor Diocletian in ca 306. He had become a Roman army officer but was incarcerated after converting to Christianity. In prison he met with Nestor, a gladiator set out to fight the famous and feared Lyeos. Dimitrios gave Nestor his blessing who then won the fight, something that enraged Maximilian (then governor of the city and later emperor), and who then ordered the execution of both Nestor and Dimitrios. St. Dimitrios is the patron saint of Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece, which has, since its establishment in 315 BC, been the administrative center of the whole area. duration: 3'25' Phonetic transcription in the Latin alphabet is notated right below the original Greek text, English translation, and a key to Greek Pronunciation are provided on the title page. The mp3 file provided is exported from the sibelius file.For more information on the arranger, (member of TONO, the Norwegian copyright org.), please visit website www.zlatanou.netAs a Greek living in Norway for most of my adult life, and in my many years’ work as a conductor of a Norwegian choir specializing in Greek music (!), I have experienced the need to enrich the choir’s repertoire with both folk song- as well as other -arrangements of Greek music: This gave me the opportunity to share with our audiences some of the centuries-long musical heritage, as well as helping me make known to them some of the History behind the music of a country of such international historical influence in the past, and such a tourist magnet in our times.

Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1133721 By Various. By Anonymous, Claude Gervaise, Claudin de Sermisy, Erasmus Widmann, Giorgio Mainerio, Henry VIII, Juan Del Encina, Michael Praetorius, Pierre Attaignant, Pierre Phalese, Thoinot Arbeau, Tielman Susato, and William Cornysh. Arranged by Alastair Lodge. Early Music,Folk,Historic,Medieval,Renaissance. 50 pages. Wold Meridian #733832. Published by Wold Meridian (A0.1133721). This is a companion to my earlier volume Chording to the Dance Masters which presented 44 of my favourite Renaissance Dance band tunes and arranged them as a single melody line with chords derived from the original harmony lines. In this volume I have reunited 22 of the pieces with the lower parts in the score, so that with more collaborators, the fullness of the original arrangement can be heard. The chords are still present, so if the ensemble is short handed, and lines are missing, the arrangements will still work. What is more, by contrasting the melody and chords with the full scoring, it should be possible to work some light and shade into performances.  You can hear all the pieces and their chords on YouTube together with contemporary art and historical background material:https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYRWH2nycMkMoIoEYEMVPa_EXY6NVDpNSAs a help to those less confident in playing harmony lines, I have provided links to playlists of videos online for each part of each piece. You will hear the selected line on its own with chords and percussion, with the melody line added on repeats. The final repeat includes the other harmony lines, but the featured line is slightly louder in the mix. The performance starts with a percussion beat introduction to set the tempo.Who were the Publishers and the Dance Masters? What did they do? Sometime around the 1500s, the popularity of dance music exploded in Europe. Dance Masters were collecting chansons and dance tunes from courts and rural parts and were teaching these to new audiences, spreading their arrangements and reflecting the performance styles of the areas from which they had collected the tunes. Publishers were able to take these tunes that were becoming known across the regions and nations and spread them even more widely, thanks to technological innovations in music printing which made it quicker and therefore cheaper to produce collections of these dances in four or more parts. These publishers were often highly accomplished composers in their own right, who were both able to provide distinctive harmony lines and compose new tunes in the style of their sources, feeding the courts with enduring tunes. Composers and printers of this time would often use note values that are double the length of those we would be used to seeing today, and so to make this version more readable, breves have become semibreves or whole notes, semibreves have become minims or half notes and so on. Working with this publication For those just starting out in Early Music, the volume is an ideal introduction, since the ensemble can build from a soloist with accompaniment with the chords alone, and parts can be added in as additional musicians become available. Instrumentation for these pieces was not specified in the original prints. The range of each part is quite limited, and though the harmonies may seem strange at times, key signatures are kind to the less experienced musician. If enthusiasm takes hold, then reproductions of early music instruments are sold by some very talented makers, as well as coming up on auction sites. Otherwise, it is possible to put together a fairly convincing ensemble with recorders, violins, a cello and mandolins, bouzoukis, flutes or guitars and gradually introduce the authentic instruments as they become available.