On Cloud Nine is an impressive and energetic composition that will fit in just about any part of your concert program. The flashy opening segment features woodwind flourishes with powerful brass interjections. Following a slow and beautiful lyric setting of the theme featuring solos on horn and flute, the fast tempo returns and powers the piece to an exciting climax. With accessible ranges and modest technical demands, this work sounds harder than it really is. Dur. 3:00
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List: 10.00
Ariel is scored for basset clarinet, violin, cello and piano, and is a response to the poem of the same name by Sylvia Plath. Simpson reacted to the poem musically, jotting down the ideas for instrumental combinations, as well as the emotional content as he read the words. The piece begins, ('Stasis in darkness...') and gradually wakens up to a furious outburst in all the instruments. Scales descend to the depths of the instruments ranges, out of which a slow, winding duet for basset clarinet and cello leads to the centre of the work – a slow, calm three-chord chorale. The work then comes to a stand-still where short outbursts are gradually transformed into new, faster material. The three-chord chorale motif then goes through a number of permutations until a recap of theopening's outburst is quickly side-lined by a boldly expressive return of the chorale motif. This piece is about extremes – extremesof expression, of instrumental textures and capabilities.
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List: 58.00
Tchaikovsky spent the summer and autumn of 1880 at his sister's country estate in Kam'ianka, Ukraine, where he sought peace and relaxation. But after a short time the desire to work took hold of him again. “I'm sketching a symphony or string quintet just now; I don't know where it's going yet,” he wrote to his friend and patroness Nadezhda von Meck. In the end it turned out to be a Serenade for String Orchestra, which numbers among his most beautiful inspirations and is today a central work in the genre. The four movements captivate with their diverse moods – be it the Mozartian first movement “in the form of a sonatina”, the elegant Waltz, the melancholy “Elegia” or the rousing Finale. For this new source-critical edition it was possible to consult the autograph in Moscow as well as the early printed editions into which Tchaikovsky sometimes entered a number of minor revisions. Clear the stage for the new reference edition of this indispensable work of the string-orchestra repertoire!
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List: 7.95
Nikolai Kapustin's Divertissement op. 126 for violin, cello and piano dates from 2005. The four-movement work is now available in a sheet music edition for the first time.
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List: 59.00
In setting Richard Dehmel's poem “Verklärte Nacht” (Transfigured Night) in his op. 4, the young Arnold Schönberg pursued the intention, as he himself said, of “attempting those new forms in chamber music which have been created in orchestral music based on a poetic idea”. Composed in September 1899 in a few weeks whilst he was on holiday, the Sextet incorporates the ideas of the symphonic poem in its programmatic character and its one-movement form, and also displays late Romantic traits in its opulent tone. Already at its premiere in 1902 in Vienna, the special quality of the work was recognised, characterised by “peculiar sound combinations and groundbreaking figures”, a work which was to become a true modern classic in the 20th century. For this Urtext edition, both the autograph score and the 1905 first edition have been consulted, as well as Schönbergs personal copies which are preserved in Vienna and contain numerous markings by the composer.
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List: 23.95
Taylor Swift's original recording of this hit from 2019 was driven by a marching style drumline, making it a natural choice for the stands or on the field. Featuring a strong pulse and catchy melody, it's sure to be a hit with all audiences.
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List: 60.00
Tchaikovsky spent the summer and autumn of 1880 at his sister's country estate in Kam'ianka, Ukraine, where he sought peace and relaxation. But after a short time the desire to work took hold of him again. “I'm sketching a symphony or string quintet just now; I don't know where it's going yet,” he wrote to his friend and patroness Nadezhda von Meck. In the end it turned out to be a Serenade for String Orchestra, which numbers among his most beautiful inspirations and is today a central work in the genre. The four movements captivate with their diverse moods – be it the Mozartian first movement “in the form of a sonatina”, the elegant Waltz, the melancholy “Elegia” or the rousing Finale. For this new source-critical edition it was possible to consult the autograph in Moscow as well as the early printed editions into which Tchaikovsky sometimes entered a number of minor revisions. Clear the stage for the new reference edition of this indispensable work of the string-orchestra repertoire!
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List: 7.95
Lullaby was composed in 2018 following the passing of composer Oliver Knussen and is dedicated to his memory. It was premiered in 2019 by Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen.
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List: 8.99
New, corrected edition of MacMillan's breakthrough work, a sensation at the 1990 BBC Proms. The work is now firmly established in the contemporary orchestral repertoire worldwide and championed by leading conductors.
Isobel Gowdie, from Nairn, Scotland, was publically executed in 1662 amid scenes of hysterical fright and sadism, one of 4,500 who perished during the Scottish Reformation because their contemporaries thought they were witches. The composer remarks, “Initially I was drawn by the dramatic and programmatic potential of this insane and terrible story but the work soon developed a far more emotional core as I attempted to draw together various strands in a single, complicated act of contrition. On behalf of the Scottish people the work craves absolution and offers Isobel Gowdie the mercy and humanity that was denied her in the last days of her life. To do this I have tried to capture the soul of Scotland in music, and the outer sections contain a multitude of chants, songs and litanies (real and imagined) coming together in a reflective outpouring – a prayer for the murdered woman. This work is the Requiem that Isobel Gowdie never had.”
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List: 58.00
