In the early seventeenth century, enthusiasm for the violin swept across Europe-this was an instrument capable of bewitching virtuosity, with the power to express emotions in a way only before achieved with the human voice. With this new guide to the Baroque violin, and its close cousin, the Baroque viola, distinguished performer and pedagogue Walter Reiter puts this power into the hands of today's players. Through fifty lessons based on the Reiter's own highly-renowned course at The Royal Conservatory of the Hague, The Baroque Violin & Viola, Volume I provides a comprehensive exploration of the period's rich and varied repertoire. Volume I covers the basics of choosing a violin, techniques to produce an ideal sound, and sonatas by Vivaldi and Corelli. Practical exercises are integrated into each lesson, and accompanied by rich video demonstrations on the book's companion website. Brought to life by Reiter's deep insight into key repertoire based on a lifetime of playing and teaching, The Baroque Violin & Viola, Volume I: A Fifty-Lesson Course will enhance performances of professional and amateur musicians alike.

(Amadeus). Performer and scholar Abram Loft wants every chamber musician to be a strong, collaborative ensemble voice. Here's his hard-headed advice on choosing colleagues, rehearsing and performing effectively together, building repertoire, programming, touring and other facets of the art and business of a chamber music career. Ranging from hilarious to sobering, this is essential reading for music lovers, amateur players, students, teachers and today's many emerging professional ensembles. Recent events in the field, including some strident litigation, highlight the usefulness of this veteran's realistic counsel.

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The six string quartets comprising Joseph Haydn's Opus 20 (composed in 1772) are the first works in the genre to have received consistent critical attention from writers on music. The twenty-two quartets Haydn wrote before this date, though rarely discussed by historians and theorists and seldom performed in public, are nevertheless fundamental to the development of the quartet and thus inseparable from Opus 20 itself. This thoughtful discussion provides a basis upon which to study the quartet by showing how the relationship among the four players can best be understood as a musical dialogue. A methodology is developed for analyzing these quartets by focusing on the characteristics of string instruments that inform not only the style of the music, but also the materials of the composition. The changing relationships among the instruments reveal the level of sophistication evident in Haydn's early works and attest to the affinity these works have with his later masterpieces. Music scholars and educators will appreciate the generous musical examples and clear prose that explains the more detailed analysis of the Opus 20 set.

A monumental accomplishment from the age of Enlightenment, the string quartets of Joseph Haydn hold a central place not only in the composer's oeuvre, but also in our modern conception of form, style, and expression in the instrumental music of his day. Here, renowned music historians Floyd and Margaret Grave present a fresh perspective on a comprehensive survey of the works. This thorough and unique analysis offers new insights into the creation of the quartets, the wealth of musical customs and conventions on which they draw, the scope of their innovations, and their significance as reflections of Haydn's artistic personality. Each set of quartets is characterized in terms of its particular mix of structural conventions and novelties, stylistic allusions, and its special points of connection with other opus groups in the series. Throughout the book, the authors draw attention to the boundless supply of compositional strategies by which Haydn appears to be continually rethinking, reevaluating, and refining the quartet's potentials. They also lucidly describe Haydn's famous penchant for wit, humor, and compositional artifice, illuminating the unexpected connections he draws between seemingly unrelated ideas, his irony, and his lightning bolts of surprise and thwarted expectation. Approaching the quartets from a variety of vantage points, the authors correct many prevailing assumptions about convention, innovation, and developing compositional technique in the music of Haydn and his contemporaries.
Going beyond traditional modes of study, The String Quartets of Joseph Haydn blends historical analysis and factual information with critical appraisal in a way that will engage all Haydnenthusiasts.

This book deals with all the well-know piano, violin, and cello concertos and is illustrated with a wealth of musical examples.

"This practical, comprehesive, and well-organized book by an experienced conductor and educator is the very first to concentrate on this type of performing group and its special needs. . . . Valuable appendixes give IRS rulings, suggested auditioning material, addresses of publishers and rental libraries, and more." Library Journal

for SATB or SSA and string orchestra, with optional organ Set of parts for John Rutter's much-loved Nativity Carol, one of the composer's earliest pieces. The string accompaniment is compatible with both SATB and SSA versions of Nativity Carol, and this set includes the following string parts: 4 x vln I, 4 x vln II, 3 x vla, 2 x vc, 1 x db.

'They are not for you but for a later age!' Ludwig van Beethoven, on the Opus 59 quartets Beethoven's sixteen string quartets are some of the most extraordinary and challenging pieces of music ever written. They have inspired artists of all kinds - not only musicians - and have been subject to endless reinterpretation. What does it feel like to be a musician taking on these iconic works? And how do the four string players who make up a quartet interact, both musically and personally? The Takács is one of the world's pre-eminent string quartets. Performances of Beethoven have shaped their work together for over forty years. Using the history of both the Takács Quartet and the Beethoven quartets as the backbone to his story, Edward Dusinberre, first violinist of the Takács since 1993, recounts the exhilarating challenge of tackling these pieces. Beethoven for a Later Age takes the reader inside the daily life of a quartet, vividly showing the necessary creative tension between individual and group expression and how four people can enjoy making music together over a long period of time. The key, the author argues, is in balancing continuity with change and experimentation - a theme that lies at the heart of Beethoven's remarkable compositions. No other composer has posed so many questions about the form and emotional content of a string quartet, and come up with so many different answers. In an accessible style, suitable for novices and chamber music enthusiasts alike, Dusinberre illuminates the variety and inherent contradictions of Beethoven's quartets, composed against the turbulent backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars and their aftermath, and shows that engaging with this radical music continues to be as invigorating now as it was for its first performers and audiences.

for SATB and piano (with opt bass and drums) Optional parts for bass and drum set enliven this joyous arrangement for choir and piano of a traditional spiritual. Propelled by a light swing tempo, the mood grows more and more euphoric with each succeeding stanza of text, and the uplifting music surges towards an opulent conclusion.

for SATB and four-piece ensemble (piccolo, oboe, harp, organ) Four-piece chamber ensemble accompaniment to Rutter's vibrant carol. Pack includes full score and set of parts. Compatible with the original mixed voices version, as well as the upper voices and unison versions, available separately and in John Rutter Carols, Carols for Choirs 2, Carols for Choirs 4, and 100 Carols for Choirs. Not compatible with the abridged arrangement of this carol by Kenneth Pont.

for SATB and four-piece ensemble (flute, oboe, harp, organ) Four-piece chamber ensemble accompaniment to Rutter's uplifting carol. Pack includes full score and set of parts.

for SATB and four-piece ensemble (flute, oboe, harp, piano) Four-piece chamber ensemble accompaniment to Rutter's arrangement in 2/2 time. Pack includes full score and set of parts. Compatible with the mixed voices leaflet, as well as the versions in in 100 Carols for Choirs and Carols for Choirs 3.

Though individual pieces from the late fifteenth century are widely accepted as being written for instruments rather than voices, they are traditionally considered as exceptions within the context of a mainstream of vocal polyphony. After a rigorous examination of the criteria by which music of this period may be judged to be instrumental, Dr Jon Banks isolates all such pieces and establishes them as an explicit genre alongside the more commonly recognized vocal forms of the period. The distribution of these pieces in the manuscript and early printed sources of the time demonstrate how central instrumental consorts were to musical experience in Italy at this time. Banks also explores the social background to Italian music-making, and particularly the changing status of instrumentalists with respect to other musicians. Convincing evidence is put forward in particular for the lute ensemble to be a likely performance context for many of the surviving sources. The book is not intended to be a prescriptive account for the role of instruments in late medieval music, but instead restores an impressive but largely overlooked consort repertory to its rightful place in the history of music.

Set against the vivid background of 1920s Sydney, A Distant Prospect is an intimate, hilarious and ultimately deeply moving coming-of-age adventure told with a touch of poetry by a quintessentially Irish narrator.

Vaughan Williams's famous romance for solo violin and orchestra is given new life in this beautiful arrangement, which features the original solo line as part of a string sextet. Perfect as a rehearsal tool in preparation for a larger-scale orchestral concert, the arrangement is also ideal for performance in a chamber recital.

More String Time Joggers is a welcome addition to the ensemble repertoire for beginner strings from the authors of the award-winning Fiddle Time series. This exciting collection provides inventive and enjoyable ensemble material for all string groups, whatever their size.