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£148.99Symphony No. 1 - The Borgias - 2. Nepotism - Otto M. Schwarz
A sinister legend hangs over the Borgia family, a legend of corruption, abuse of power, orgies, sex and murder. These rumours proliferated especially during the papacy of Alexander VI, a descendant of the family, who was even called the Antichrist. On his death, contemporary witnesses reported that the devil himself prowled around the death chamber and a black dog run along the corridors of the Vatican as his emissary. One might say that this Borgia pope, who ruled together with his family with the greatest brutality, became demonised. Unscrupulousness, poison-toting, incest and other malice are to this day the hallmarks of this pontiff.2. NEPOTISMRodrigo Borgia was elected Pope on 11 August 1492. From the very start, the new pope was prepared to use any means to eliminate his opponents, either through the infamous 'Borgia poison' or by excommunication and execution. His son Cesare, who wanted little to do with the church, was appointed cardinal against his will. Alessandro Farnese, broth of Giulia Farnese, the Pope's mistress, also became a cardinal. Numerous Spaniards were brought into the country and were appointed to ecclesiastical posts. This infuriated the opponents of Alexander VI. The Dominican Girolamo Savonarola from Florence demanded the removal of the Pope. He was tortured and banned. Giuliano della Rovere wanted to convene councils to depose the Pope, which Alexander managed to prevent through artful political manoeuvrings. Through great brutality, brilliant political skill and power games, this pope was able to achieve his goal of leaving for his children a great legacy. Alexander VI constantly changed his allies and always acted unscrupulously to improve his financial situation and expand his sphere of influence. At the centre of the second movement of this work is the medieval hymn Dies Irae (Day of Wrath), which acts as a warning in the background condemning the Pope's actions.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£123.203 Letzte Motetten - Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner (b. 4.9.1824, Ansfelden, d. 11.10.1896, Vienna) didn't have it easy. Throughout his life, the Austrian composer was plagued by self-doubt. Anton Bruckner came from a simple, rural background. After the death of his father, he was accepted as a choirboy at the monastery of Sankt Florian in 1837. After several years as a school assistant and his own organ and piano studies, he first worked as organist in St. Florian, then from 1855 as cathedral organist in Linz. Introduced to music theory and instrumentation by Simon Sechter and Otto Kitzler, he discovered Richard Wagner as an artistic role model, whom he admired throughout his life and also visited several times in Bayreuth.In 1868 Anton Bruckner became professor of basso continuo, counterpoint and organ at the Vienna Conservatory; ten years later court organist; and in 1891 finally honorary doctor of the University of Vienna. He was considered an important organ virtuoso of his era, but had to wait a long time for recognition as a composer. It was not until Symphony No.7 in E major, composed between 1881 and 1883, with the famous Adagio written under the effects of Wagner's death, that he achieved the recognition he had hoped for, even if he was reluctant to accept it given his inclination towards scepticism and self-criticism.Anton Bruckner was a loner who did not want to follow a particular school or doctrine. He composed numerous sacred vocal works, such as his three masses, the Missa Solemnis in B flat minor (1854), the Te Deum (1881-84) and numerous motets. As a symphonic composer, he wrote a total of nine symphonies and many symphonic studies from 1863 onwards, tending to revise completed versions several times over. Bruckner's orchestral works were long considered unplayable, but in fact were merely exceptionally bold for the tonal language of their time, uniting traditions from Beethoven through Wagner to folk music, on the threshold between late Romanticism and Modernism.Anton Bruckner composed about 40 motets during his lifetime, the earliest a setting of Pange lingua around 1835, and the last, Vexilla regis, in 1892.Thomas Doss has compiled some of these motets in this volume for symphonic wind orchestra.These motets show many characteristics of personal expression, especially Bruckner's colourful harmony in the earlier works, which is in places aligned with Franz Schubert (changes between major and minor; and movements in thirds). Later works are characterised by many components which, in addition to the expanded stature of the movements, include above all a sense of the instrumentation as an outward phenomenon and the harmony as a compositional feature that works more internally. Some aspects of Bruckner's work are the result of his long period of study, which familiarised him not only with the tradition of his craft, but also gave him insights into the "modernity" of his time in such composers as Wagner, Liszt and Berlioz.From this developed his personal standpoint, which always pursues the connection between the old and the new.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£168.50The Bones of Mr. Fortune - Adolphus Hailstork
THE BONES OF MR. FORTUNE (FREE AT LAST!) is an 11-minute concerto-like work for solo flute accompanied by symphonic winds and percussion - perfect to play with band or with orchestra, as well as with the composer's own piano reduction (114-42424). The work features lengthy cadenzas, and exhilarating dance-like sections with the ensemble. Hailstork describes the historical inspiration: abused in life and death, an enslaved man (Mr. Fortune) was owned by a surgeon who preserved his skeleton to study anatomy. The bones remained with the doctor's family for generations, and were given a proper burial that made national news in 2013, 215 years after Mr. Fortune's death.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£75.50The Dream of Tiberius - David Campo
The Roman Emperor Tiberius was born in 42 BCE to Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla, both descendants of prestigious political families, at a time when Rome was undergoing significant political upheaval. Julius Caesar had begun a brutal civil war in 49 BCE to end Rome's rule as a Republic and consolidate his power as supreme ruler. Following Caeser's assassination in 44 BCE, Tiberius' father backed the forces wishing to return Rome to a Republic, but they were defeated by Caesarian loyalists led by Caeser's heir Octavian. As a result, Tiberius' early life was spent on the run and in political exile with his parents. In 27 BCE, Octavian would become the first Emporer of Rome and assume the name Augustus. Augustus forced Tiberius' parents to divorce and took Tiberius' mother as his new bride, separating the family and forcing Tiberius to live with his father. Upon his father's death, Tiberius went to live with his mother and Emporer Augustus, a situation Tiberius found extremely uncomfortable but one over which he had no control. Having been adopted by the Emperor, Tiberius assumed the military and political life thrust upon him. He proved to be an outstanding military and political leader, and with his marriage to Vipsania Agrippina his life took on a heretofore unknown stability. However, Augustus would intervene in Tiberius' life once more, forcing him to abandon his happy marriage and take Augustus' daughter Julia (Tiberius' step sister) as his new wife. This arrangement, while securing Tiberius' place as Augustus' heir and ensuring he would one day be Emperor of Rome, was disastrous. Julia's drunken licentiousness was a constant source of scandal and embarrassment for Tiberius (and her father, the Emperor) and she was eventually exiled by her father Augustus. Tiberius was named Emperor of Rome upon the death of Augustus in AD 14, assuming his position as the most powerful man on Earth. However, no matter how powerful he had become, Tiberius never felt as if he had ever had any control over his life, having been manipulated from childhood through adulthood by the whims of Augustus. As Emperor, he soon became disgusted with the political intrigue of the Roman Senate and by AD 26 left Rome and took up residence on the island of Capri, where he lived out the rest of his life. History does not regard Tiberius fondly and by all accounts towards the end of his reclusive life on Capri, he had become a miserable, sick and mentally unstable old man reveling in debauchery and cruelty. It is also informative to note that he was Emperor of Rome when Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, and while there is no indication that Tiberius was even aware of the existence of Jesus, as Emperor he was responsible for the appointment of Pontius Pilate as Governor of Judea. Even considering this, it is difficult to look on the life of the Emperor Tiberius and not feel some sympathy and pity. It's in this spirit that I composed "The Dream of Tiberius." I imagine the man sitting in thoughtful seclusion on the beautiful island of Capri imagining what his life might have happily been had not power been thrust upon him: husband, father and humble servant of the people.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£104.99Ceremonial March - Jan Van der Roost
In the course of the two centuries following the death of Henry Purcell in 1695, no British composer of any statue was apparent. Consequently, the break-through of Edward Elgar (1857-1934) as an internationally known and respected composer at the end of the last century, was of considerable importance. As a composer Elgar was largely self-taught and he looked towards the continent for his inspiration. He is without doubt on par with his contemporaries such as the somewhat younger Richard Strauss. The Belgian composer Jan Van der Roost is a genuine admirer of Elgar's music and on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the composer's death in 1984 he composed the "CeremonialMarch". Van der Roost was inspired by the most famous and frequently played works from Elgar's catalogue of works, the characteristic "Pomp and Circumstances" marches, and decided to add his own, sixth march to the existing collection.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£139.99
Cobra - Jan Bosveld
Shortly after the Second World War, a combative movement of Danish, Belgian and Dutch artists chose the cobra snake - extremely dangerous yet considered sacred - as a symbol of their resistance to strict guideliness of form. The name "Cobra" also happens to contain the first letters of the cities Copenhagen, Brussels ans Amsterdam, from where most of the movement's members came. The Cobra movement, which existed from November 1948 until November 1951, can with some justicication be called the last major avant-garde movement of the 20th century.The source of inspiration for the composition Cobra comes from four paintings: "Obhobning" by the Dane Egill Jacobsen; "La jeune fille et lamort" by the Belgian Pierre Alechinsky; "Orgeldraaier" and "Le rythme joyeux de la ville" by the Dutch artists Karel Appel and Corneille. Obhobning means "pile-up", which is represented musically in the first part by a melodic and harmonic pilling up of perfect fourth's. The first part is also characterized by a rhythmic feeling, which the painting gives through its use of numerous black stripes. In the painting La jeune fille et la mort, Pierre Alechinsky places a young girl opposite Death. The second part features the constantly pulsating motion of live while a creeping, dark, melodic line develops. The tension between life and death is tangible as a battle reveals itself. In part three, one hears the Orgeldraaier by Karel Appel, as cheerful and playful as an organ grinder's music. The painting Le rythme joyeux de la ville by Corneille is busy and extremely dynamic, a perfect source of inspiration for a powerful, rhythmic ending to this composition.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£72.99Odysseus and the Sirens - Dana Wilson
The Odyssey was written by Homer about 2700 years ago and tells of the adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus during his harrowing return trip home after fighting the Trojan Wars. This work is suggestive of his dramatic encounter with the sirens, famous for luring sailors to their death with their beguiling wind-like song. In this descriptive piece you can hear the wind-song becoming evermore insistent, the rocking of the ship, Odysseus' screams, and finally the sirens plunging to their death as they fail in their attempt to lure Odysseus. Learn more on YouTube! BandQuest, an exciting series of new music and accompanying curricula for band, is a program published by the American Composers Forum. The series was started as a response to feedback from music educators that there is a pressing need for new, fresh band music. The heart of this program is new works written by a diverse group of leading American composers who have created challenging pieces that are a true departure from standard middle school repertoire. Every BandQuest project includes a residency component in which the composer works collaboratively with a middle school as they create their new piece.Many BandQuest pieces are accompanied by an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to assist students as they learn the music and to integrate each piece with non-music studies. Visit www.bandquest.org to learn more about this innovative series, and email [email protected] to request a free downloadable audio catalog.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£339.99Symphony No. 4 - Johan de Meij
This symphony was inspired by a selection of 19th century German poetry: three poems from Friedrich Rckerts' Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children) and three poems by Heinrich Heine and Hugo von Hofmannsthal which, in the secondmovment of this impressive work, introduce themes of death, rebirth and hope.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£123.203 Letzte Motetten (Concert Band - Score and Parts) - Bruckner, Anton - Doss, Thomas
Anton Bruckner (b. 4.9.1824, Ansfelden, d. 11.10.1896, Vienna) didn't have it easy. Throughout his life, the Austrian composer was plagued by self-doubt. Anton Bruckner came from a simple, rural background. After the death of his father, he was accepted as a choirboy at the monastery of Sankt Florian in 1837. After several years as a school assistant and his own organ and piano studies, he first worked as organist in St. Florian, then from 1855 as cathedral organist in Linz. Introduced to music theory and instrumentation by Simon Sechter and Otto Kitzler, he discovered Richard Wagner as an artistic role model, whom he admired throughout his life and also visited several times in Bayreuth. In 1868 Anton Bruckner became professor of basso continuo, counterpoint and organ at the Vienna Conservatory; ten years later court organist; and in 1891 finally honorary doctor of the University of Vienna. He was considered an important organ virtuoso of his era, but had to wait a long time for recognition as a composer. It was not until Symphony No.7 in E major, composed between 1881 and 1883, with the famous Adagio written under the effects of Wagner's death, that he achieved the recognition he had hoped for, even if he was reluctant to accept it given his inclination towards scepticism and self-criticism. Anton Bruckner was a loner who did not want to follow a particular school or doctrine. He composed numerous sacred vocal works, such as his three masses, the Missa Solemnis in B flat minor (1854), the Te Deum (1881-84) and numerous motets. As a symphonic composer, he wrote a total of nine symphonies and many symphonic studies from 1863 onwards, tending to revise completed versions several times over. Bruckner's orchestral works were long considered unplayable, but in fact were merely exceptionally bold for the tonal language of their time, uniting traditions from Beethoven through Wagner to folk music, on the threshold between late Romanticism and Modernism. Anton Bruckner composed about 40 motets during his lifetime, the earliest a setting of Pange lingua around 1835, and the last, Vexilla regis, in 1892. Thomas Doss has compiled some of these motets in this volume for symphonic wind orchestra. These motets show many characteristics of personal expression, especially Bruckner's colourful harmony in the earlier works, which is in places aligned with Franz Schubert (changes between major and minor; and movements in thirds). Later works are characterised by many components which, in addition to the expanded stature of the movements, include above all a sense of the instrumentation as an outward phenomenon and the harmony as a compositional feature that works more internally. Some aspects of Bruckner's work are the result of his long period of study, which familiarised him not only with the tradition of his craft, but also gave him insights into the "modernity" of his time in such composers as Wagner, Liszt and Berlioz. From this developed his personal standpoint, which always pursues the connection between the old and the new.Duration: 14.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£95.995 Tantum Ergo (Concert Band - Score and Parts) - Bruckner, Anton - Doss, Thomas
Anton Bruckner (b. 4.9.1824, Ansfelden, d. 11.10.1896, Vienna) didn't have it easy. Throughout his life, the Austrian composer was plagued by self-doubt. Anton Bruckner came from a simple, rural background. After the death of his father, he was accepted as a choirboy at the monastery of Sankt Florian in 1837. After several years as a school assistant and his own organ and piano studies, he first worked as organist in St. Florian, then from 1855 as cathedral organist in Linz. Introduced to music theory and instrumentation by Simon Sechter and Otto Kitzler, he discovered Richard Wagner as an artistic role model, whom he admired throughout his life and also visited several times in Bayreuth. In 1868 Anton Bruckner became professor of basso continuo, counterpoint and organ at the Vienna Conservatory; ten years later court organist; and in 1891 finally honorary doctor of the University of Vienna. He was considered an important organ virtuoso of his era, but had to wait a long time for recognition as a composer. It was not until Symphony No.7 in E major, composed between 1881 and 1883, with the famous Adagio written under the effects of Wagner's death, that he achieved the recognition he had hoped for, even if he was reluctant to accept it given his inclination towards scepticism and self-criticism. Anton Bruckner was a loner who did not want to follow a particular school or doctrine. He composed numerous sacred vocal works, such as his three masses, the Missa Solemnis in B flat minor (1854), the Te Deum (1881-84) and numerous motets. As a symphonic composer, he wrote a total of nine symphonies and many symphonic studies from 1863 onwards, tending to revise completed versions several times over. Bruckner's orchestral works were long considered unplayable, but in fact were merely exceptionally bold for the tonal language of their time, uniting traditions from Beethoven through Wagner to folk music, on the threshold between late Romanticism and Modernism. Hymns for four-part mixed choir a cappella (1846, St. Florian) No. 1 in E flat major (WAB 41/3): Quite Slow No. 2 in C major (WAB 41/4): Andante No. 3 in B flat major (WAB 41/1): Slow No. 4 in A flat major (WAB 41/2): Slow Hymn for five-part (SSATB) mixed choir and organ No. 5 in D major: Solemnly They are simple works, completely subordinate to their liturgical use, which nevertheless already show numerous characteristics of personal expression. These small pieces were able to stand up to the harsh scrutiny of the mature master: in 1888, Bruckner subjected them to a revision in which he made only minor corrections.Duration: 11.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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