for piano quartet. Par DAVIES PETER MAXWELL. The two nocturnes were composed immediately after major surgery, against a deadline, and, despite the music sounding unlike anything I have written before, I decided to keep them exactly as they turned out. 2010 is a Chopin year, and I made this pair of nocturnes into a little tribute, after playing through and listening to most of his output. Never bef…

The three pieces in Idaho Gems capture the spirit of this northwestern state. 'White Pine Waltz' begins with a delicate melody in 3/4 meter inspired by the majestic western white pine, Idaho's state tree. The piece builds to a climactic middle section featuring flowing arpeggios in both hands before subsiding into a restatement of the theme. The second piece, 'Craters of the Moon,' paints a pictur…

A tuneful way to introduce students to the lyrical style and rollicking feel of traditional Scottish/Irish music. The 'Air' is the melody from Gilderoy and is set with a contemporary harmonic palette that concludes with an exciting climax before transitioning to the jig. 'The Jig of Slurs' is a traditional Irish dance with a melody and feel that is infectious! (2:30) 'Air and Jig? correlates to Bo…

Par HALL ALEX. This stately and sonorous grace was written for a celebration held at Oundle School of the civil partnership of two friends of the composer, who points out that as one studied at Oxford and the other at Cambridge, he chose a text with no association to any particular college! Though appropriate in purpose to any occasion where a communal meal is shared with a sense of thankfulness, …

Shortly after a rather unsuccessful performance of his Piano Concerto #1, Johannes Brahms wrote to Joseph Joachim in 1859: '... a second one will sound different?. Nevertheless, a good 20 years elapsed before that second concerto finally took form, and only in 1881 was he able to announce: 'I wanted to tell you that I have written a very small piano concerto with a tiny little delicate Scherzo?. O…

Par WICKLUND BRIAN / WINSHIP BEN. La méthode de mandoline américaine est la nouvelle norme pour l'instruction de la mandoline. Professeurs principaux et les interprètes de la mandoline, Brian Wicklund et Ben Winship ont conçu le volume 2 de la série à être utilisé à la fois comme un suivi au volume 1 et pour les joueurs intermédiaires qui sont déjà expérimentés avec la mandoline. Utiliser des illu…

Par ARMAN HOWARD. Howard Arman, director of the Bavarian Radio Choir, has been actively engaged with international Christmas carols through various Christmas-related CD productions of his choir in the past years. This has resulted in a number of original arrangements for four- to eight-part mixed choir a cappella, shedding new light on well-known classics such as O du fröhliche [O, you joyful], St…

Impressions On Beethoven's Harp Quartet. Par AMANTI LUCIO. When Cuarteto Casals approached me with the idea of illuminating Beethoven´s quartets anew, you can imagine the many thoughts and feelings that where going through my mind: what a joy, what a great honor… What an intriguing head-scratcher! How can you possibly shine a new light on something that is already perfect? Weeks, months went by in…