Par COLERIDGE-TAYLOR SAMUEL. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor\'s Christmas Overture appeared posthumously in 1925. Originally orchestrated by Sydney Baynes, it features God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Hark the Herald Angels Sing. It is thought by some to have been put together from incidental music he wrote for a children\'s play called The Forest of Wild Thyme. This band arrangement, based on Baynes\' orc…

Par VAN DER ROOST JAN. Jan Van der Roost originally composed each and every note of ‘Slavia’ (as in case in ‘Puszta’, ‘Rikudim’ and ‘A Highland Rhapsody’). Consequently, ‘Slavia’ does not contain any arrangement of existing tunes, but is an original composition ‘in the style of…’. The introduction has an ABA structure and exposes a broad melodic line. Following a short cadenza, there is a second m…

Impressioni Musicali su 14 Poesie di Grazia Frisina. Par PINESCHI UMBERTO. The poet Grazia Frisina, Sicilian by origin, but living in Tuscany, a former literature teacher, had asked me to illustrate, by interventions on the organ, the public reading of some of her poems, finding suitable music. After reading these poems, however, I decided to try to write an original comment, taking inspiration fr…

Everybody knows it, and for many a player it was perhaps the first tentative attempt to coax sounds out of the piano: Chopsticks. The origin of this popular piano piece, like that of most folksongs, cannot be ultimately settled today. Legend has it that it was written by Ferdinand Loh and that the designation of the work 'F. Loh: Walzer' eventually turned into 'Flohwalzer'.But no matter who actual…

Par BARTOK BELA. Bartók' s 'Romanian Christmas Songs' are based on folk melodies that originated in a pagan celebration of the winter solstice, and which he felt gave ' the impression of a fiery, war-like type of song, rather than a pious and religious one”. Nevertheless, he chose 20 melodies from this collection of ' colinde” and published them under the title of ' Christmas Songs”. In the first …

Georg Frideric Händel 's Serse (Xerxes) has everything one would expect from a Baroque opera - many intertwining love stories, affairs, intrigues, scheming, misunderstanding and forgiving - all presented in the great master's magnificent music. The opera is set in Persia in 480 BC and is very loosely based upon Xerxes I of Persia, though there is little in either the Baroque libretto or music that…

Par GOODIN JIM. Whether guitarists are new to open-tunings or already working with them, fingerstyle specialist Jim Goodin offers a progressive look at the popular D-based harp-like tuning. Classical, Celtic, blues, folk, gospel and several original compositions are represented in the 15 notation/tablature arrangements each arranged proportionately to offer beginning, intermediate and advanced fin…

Par TAKE THAT. As the original boy-band, Take That took the pop world by storm in the 1990s with a flurry of huge hit singles, setting the blueprint for today's biggest pop acts. Along with principal songwriter Gary Barlow, Robbie, Jason, Mark and Howard captured the hearts of a generation with addictive melodies, characteristic good looks and a genuine sense of fun. Originally formed as a British…

for Strings Score and Parts. Par BACH JOHANN SEBASTIAN. Sinfonia No. 15 by Johann Sebastian Bach, originally for piano solo, is now available for string orchestras because of Shirl Jae Atwell\'s musical arrangement. Sinfonia No. 15 arranged in the original key of B minor, with an altered time signature from 9/16 to 9/8, is much more friendly for student musicians. Bach\'s Sinfonia No. 15, arranged…

Vesperpsalm. Par HASSE JOHANN ADOLF. The Laudate pueri was composed between 1735 and 1749 for the Ospedale degl’Incurabili in Venice. Since the Ospedale was an institution for the musical training of gifted girls and young women, the vocal parts are scored for female voices. As Director of Music at the Saxon-Polish Court of Dresden, Hasse was also responsible for church music, and therefore he arr…