Tone Poem for Band. Par HOSAY JAMES L.. The mighty conflict between the great Civil War ships, the Monitor and the Merrimac, plays out once again on your concert stage! Dramatic and inventive, heroic themes and rhythmic undercurrents bring the historic battle to life. It's a programmatic work with powerful percussion, effective use of dissonance, and distinguished writing for the entire band. It's…

Par MOZART WOLFGANG AMADEUS. Ease away the stresses of the day with two collections of beautiful, tranquil music. Put your feet up and enjoy the best-selling Chillout With Mozart CD from Naxos, containing 11 favourite masterpieces. Then explore the complementary collection of Piano music, with a hand-picked selection of your favourite slow movements and gentle themes by this great composer. / Nive…

One of the most successful British films ever has received an Olivier Award-winning stage makeover with music added by Elton John, and every song from the smash hit show is featured in this commemorative songbook. The magical tale of a northern lad, raised in the masculine environment of the mining industry, but who dreams of attending the Royal Ballet School has struck a chord with audiences the …

Par VASKS PETERIS. The Latvian composer Peteris Vasks, who is known for his atmospheric pieces for string orchestra, “Cantabile”, “Musica dolorosa” and “Voices”, is concentrating increasingly on chamber music: his latest works are the “Partita” for cello and piano, the “Fifth String Quartet” and a piano quartet. Vasks has brought elements of ancient and folk traditions in Latvian music into his co…

Spatzenmesse. Par MOZART WOLFGANG AMADEUS. An unusual feature of this Mass is its cyclic form, a compositional principle which Mozart first introduced in his masses in this 'Mass in C': in the Agnus Dei ('Dona nobis pacem') he reverted to the music of the Kyrie, thus giving the Mass overall musical unity. Another unusual feature of this work is its popular character. This is evident both in its ca…

Scène Aus Der Oper 'Giralda' Von Adolphe Adam. Par BORNE FRANCOIS. In this edition of the “Flute Collection” Henrik Wiese, principal flutist with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, presents two works by French composer and flutist François Borne (1840-1920), arranged for flute and piano: “Fantaisie brillante” on themes from the opera Carmen by George Bizet and the first-ever edition of “Scène”…

Par VAN DER ROOST JAN. ‘Toccata Festiva’ was commissioned in 1994 by the Dutch Brass Band Championships. The wind band version was made a year later by the composer himself. Historically speaking, the toccata is considered to be one of the first independent instrumental forms for keyboard instruments. Originally the toccata was typically more or less improvised, later this musical form was given a…

It was in 1990 - more than 250 years after the publication of 'Il Pastor Fido' - that the masterful forgery was exposed: not Antonio Vivaldi but in fact the French composer Nicolas Chédeville (1705-1782) turned out to be the true author of this sonata collection, which was subtly foisted upon the unsuspecting Parisian public in the middle of the 18th Century, at the height of Vivaldi's popularity …

Pour Quintette de Vents. Par TOMASI HENRI. French composer and conductor, Henri Tomasi (1901-1971) published Five Secular and Sacred Dances for Wind Quintet in 1963. As with his other wind compositions, Five Secular and Sacred Dances was well-received by audiences. Tomasi was born in Marseille, but his Father and Mother were originally from La Casinca in Corsica. Despite being pressured into music…

Sergei Prokofiev's nine piano sonatas span the years 1907 to 1953. This collection, edited by Thomas Schumacher, addresses the first four of these masterworks: Op. 1 (in F minor), Op. 14 (in D minor), Op. 28 (in A minor), and Op. 29 (in C minor). In prefatory matter, Schumacher discusses Prokofiev's compositional style and the form of each sonata, in addition to analyzing the various themes and co…