Variations on a melody by Adriaen Valerius (1575-1625). Par SPARKE PHILIP. Dutch composer, artist and poet Adriaen Valerius is mostly remembered today for his collection of 79 songs for voice and lute or cittern, published posthumously in 1626. Philip Sparke has taken one melody from this collection that tells of the War of Independence with Spain. The beautiful slow melody is followed by a series…

'La Mer?, which is an impressionistic work through and through, was composed between 1903-1905. Debussy however refined this work up until at least 1913. These corrections are found in a score which Debussy gave to his wife as a present for her private library in 1913.The new scholarly-critical edition draws on several important sources previously unavailable to musicologists, resulting in an arra…

'La Mer?, which is an impressionistic work through and through, was composed between 1903-1905. Debussy however refined this work up until at least 1913. These corrections are found in a score which Debussy gave to his wife as a present for her private library in 1913.The new scholarly-critical edition draws on several important sources previously unavailable to musicologists, resulting in an arra…

Waldkircha in Musica. Par DE HAAN JACOB. Jubilate’s main theme comes from the Gregorian chant on the Psalm Jubliate Deo omnis terra. The work itself was inspired by the sacredhistory of the Waldkirch (a forest village) community, located on the Swiss/German boarder. It tells a tale of the Irish and Scottish monks who build the first wooden church at the site of what is now Waldkirch, of the dramat…

These two fascinating works are combined into one volume that includes an interesting biography, background information on the writing of the music, indispensable performance suggestions and a listing of recommended readings and recordings. Also included is an outstanding CD recording from the Naxos label, by Hungarian pianist Klara Kormendi. She studied at the Bartok Conservatory and later at the…

Dear saxophonists, I cannot encourage you enough to listen to and attend the operas that these paraphrases were taken from. To that end, I have indicated the title and the placement of each aria enabling you to locate them easily when listening to the work. In music, not everything is defined by notes and rhythm, the essentials may lie elsewhere. This is even truer of opera. Fabien Chouraki/ Rec…

Waldkircha in Musica. Par DE HAAN JACOB. Jubilate’s main theme comes from the Gregorian chant on the Psalm Jubliate Deo omnis terra. The work itself was inspired by the sacredhistory of the Waldkirch (a forest village) community, located on the Swiss/German boarder. It tells a tale of the Irish and Scottish monks who build the first wooden church at the site of what is now Waldkirch, of the dramat…

Par BERIO LUCIANO. This set of arrangements of Luciano Berio’s “Duetti”, originally for two violins, represents a fascinating expansion of the limited repertoire for two violas. Berio originally conceived these duets as a collection of occasional pieces, each dedicated to someone who was close to him, rather like Elgar’s “Enigma” Variations, but they eventually developed into a full compositional …

Par PART ARVO. Composed in 1990, and revised in 1991, for SATB Choir or soloists with organ accompaniment, Pärt's setting of The Beatitudes is one of only a handful of works ('Litany' and 'And One of the Pharisees' also falling into that category) composed in English. Taken from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, as found in Matthew 5:3-12, The Beatitudes provide a fitting structure for Pärt's setting. E…