25 popular opera melodies arranged for violin and piano

Wolfgang Birtel (arr.)

 

• Arrangements for violin


• Great repertoire resource


• For intermediate violinists

 

The latest addition to the Violinissimo series, La donna è mobile, presents well-known opera melodies and audience favourites in 25 moderately difficult arrangements for violin and piano.

Featuring such classics as “Largo al factotum” from The Barber of Seville, “The Clog Dance” from La Fille mal gardée, and “Brindisi” from La traviata, there’s sure to be a melody here to entertain any opera fan.

Suitable for intermediate level violinists, the repertoire can be used in lessons or as an ideal addition to concert performances.

The Staatskappelle Berlin celebrates its impressive history as it marks its 450th anniversary this year. The earliest sources mentioning the orchestra date from 1570. On 11 September, the world premiere of a new work by Jörg Widmann commissioned specially for the occasion, Zeitensprünge (Leaps in time), will be given in a concert conducted by Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin State Opera House. 

The title Zeitensprünge is a pun about musical time-travel and stylistic escapades. Widmann explores the multiple stylistic periods through which the orchestra has lived during its long history, with the opening bars featuring an off-stage ensemble playing renaissance dances. Only when the musicians enter the stage does the idea of conducting start to take form, and a concert of today’s understanding commences. 

Jörg Widmann – Zeitensprünge: A Concerto for Orchestra in a nutshell

Though Zeitensprünge is a condensed 10-minute orchestral work of only 450 bars (one for each year of the Staatskapelle´s history), it nevertheless has everything a full-scale Concerto for Orchestra needs. There are solos from nearly every section of the orchestra, ensembles such as fanfares emerge from the texture, medieval winds and consorts play next to each other, and Widmann uses a variety of musical forms to lead to a brilliant final canon that symbolises many becoming one. 

“When I sit in front of a sheet of manuscript paper, I don’t keep thinking ‘you have to invent something new’. Not at all. My head is full of harmonies, connections and combinations that have never been heard before. My problem is to find forms for them. I am now in a stage of fighting to find these new forms.” - Jörg Widmann 

• Jörg Widmann – composer profile


• Zeitensprünge – work details and online score


• Staatskapelle Berlin
  

Photos:Marco Borggrve, Adobe Stock / spuno

2020 is the 200th anniversary of the Berlin Konzerthaus, a concert hall that started life as a theatre. In celebration of this anniversary as part of Musikfest Berlin, Christian Tetzlaff will perform the world premiere of a new violin concerto by Christian Jost on 6 September. The concerto, entitled Concerto noir redux, will be accompanied by Konzerthausorchester Berlin and conducted by Christoph Eschenbach. 

Concerto noir redux was originally intended to bear the same title as his opera Journey of Hope - Voyage of Despair. However, after the cancellation of the original premiere in March 2020, Jost chose instead to make changes to the music in response to recent events.

Christian Jost – Concerto noir redux: music from the lockdown

The result was not only a smaller orchestra, necessitated by social distancing, but a work that expresses a darker character and soundworld. Concerto noir redux is now one of two versions of the work Concerto noir, each with the same solo part.

Usually, I compose with a clear idea of the musical structure and of the sounds, and therefore of the course of the resulting work. But this time it was different. There was an initial thought for the opening in which the solo violin gradually separates from unison with the first violins. From this starting point the work should virtually compose itself. The resulting single-movement concerto with a single tempo (quarter = 76 espressivo) is driven by rhythmic ‘cells’. I completed the composition more or less simultaneously with the end of the lockdown, and since this had given rise to a work with predominantly dark shades of colour and sound, I considered Concerto noir to be a perfect title. Christian Jost

• Christian Jost – composer profile


• Concerto noir redux – work details and online score


• Konzerthaus Berlin


• Musikfest Berlin

Photos: Adobe Stock / lakkot, Joe Quiao

30 Famous Pieces for Piano

Johann Sebastian Bach / Hans-Günter Heumann (arr.)

 

• 30 well-known pieces for piano


• Easy to intermediate pieces


• Includes practical performance notes

 

This collection of compositions and arrangements for piano presents a selection of pieces by J.S. Bach that will thrill any pianist.

Featuring popular works such as the ‘Prelude and Fugue in C major’, the ‘Air’ from the Orchestral Suite No. 3 and the ‘Toccata and Fugue in D minor’, the pieces are of an easy or intermediate standard, with fingerings and metronome suggestions added.

The collection is recommended not only for teaching purposes, but to anyone who enjoys playing the piano as a hobby.

30 Famous Pieces for Piano

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart / Hans-Günter Heumann (arr.)

 

• 30 well-known pieces for piano


• Easy to intermediate pieces


• Includes practical performance notes

 

This collection of compositions and arrangements for piano presents a selection of pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that will delight any pianist.

Featuring popular works such as the ‘Sonata facile’, the first movement from ‘Eine kleine Nachtmusik’ and various opera arias, the pieces are of an easy or intermediate standard, with fingerings and metronome suggestions added.

The collection is recommended not only for teaching purposes, but to anyone who enjoys playing the piano as a hobby.

For Solo Viola

Igor Stravinsky / Kim Kashkashian (arr.)

 

• Viola arrangement of Stravinsky’s Suite italienne, from the 1920 ballet, Pulcinella


• Advanced level


• Arrangement by Grammy Award-winning violist and teacher Kim Kashkashian

 

Drawing on the composer’s transcriptions for violin (with Samuel Dushkin) and for cello (with Gregor Piatigorsky), Kim Kashkashian has produced a long-overdue viola version of this neoclassical masterpiece.

The choice of movements from Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite differs between those for violin and cello; Kashkashian has in turn made a slightly different selection comprising Introduzione, Serenata, Aria, Tarantella, Toccata and Minuetto e Finale.

A show-stopping addition to the repertory of modern viola music.

For Solo Double Bass

Igor Stravinsky / Brian Powell (arr.)

 

• Double Bass arrangement of Stravinsky’s Suite italienne, from the 1920 ballet, Pulcinella


• Advanced level


• Arrangement by Associate Professor at Frost School of Music and double bass performer Brian Powell

 

This transcription of Suite italienne is the first full-scale composition by Igor Stravinsky to enter the double bass solo repertoire.

The selection of movements has been widened, continuing a practice Stravinsky established with his instrumental collaborators (Dushkin and Piatigorsky) of allowing the performers to select material from the ballet Pulcinella. The Vivo movement especially is derived directly from the orchestral Pulcinella Suite: widely recognised by classical bassists as one of the most significant solos in the orchestral repertoire, the bass part is faithfully reproduced as in the original score.

The suite possesses an abundance of flare and technical virtuosity that will excite audiences.

 

10 Piano-Bar Arrangements of Well-Known Schott Melodies

Carsten Gerlitz (arr.)

 

• Well-known Classical and Romantic melodies


• Easy-to-play, jazzy arrangements


• Audio recordings for download

 

Founded in 1770 by Bernhard Schott in Mainz, the Schott music publishing house celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2020. The anniversary’s motto is ‘Joy of Music’ because Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, published by Schott in 1826, is one of the most important works in music history, with Schiller’s famous final chorus ‘Ode to Joy’.

In ‘Happy Birthday, Schott Music!’ top arranger Carsten Gerlitz devotes himself to arranging the perhaps most popular melody by Beethoven and nine other treasures from the Schott programme. He interprets a selection of original works by Wagner, Humperdinck and the like with great care and respect in his unmistakeable, atmospheric lounge style.

Including audio tracks for download.

The Vocal Body

Jole Berlage-Buccellati

 

• For singers of all abilities


• Designed to develop the connection between the body with the voice


• Learn how to unlock your own unique vocal potential

 

This book addresses singers of all kinds, from professionals to amateurs. It is about empowerment. The voice is different from any other instrument because it is a part of your body – emanating from your core. You are the instrument.

The core principle of this book is that joyful and successful singing has a lot more to do with body coherence, vital energy connection and embodied communication than with viewing the voice mostly from a functional perspective. This book encourages you to experiment with surrender, involvement and body awareness. One of the many benefits of this approach is that it can help to reduce performance anxiety and stage fright.

If you want to express with your own unique vocal quality, then this book is for you. If you are curious about your expressive potential, if you are curious about what your next inspirational step might be, this book is for you.

250 Jahre Verlagsgeschichte

Susanne Gilles-Kircher (ed.) / Hildegard Hogen (ed.) / Rainer Mohrs (ed.)

 

• Insights into the history of the publishing house and its cultural history


• From music engraving to digitization


• Programme and authors

 

This publishing history tells of Bernhard Schott’s beginnings as a music engraver, of the first heyday under “B. Schott’s Söhne” in the 19th century, when important late works by Beethoven like Symphony No. 9 and “Missa solemnis” were published by the publishing house, and of the collaboration with Richard Wagner.

It also deals with the Schott and Strecker families of publishers, the dawn of modernity, the effects of two world wars, the years of post-war reconstruction, and the expansion into a modern media company and an international publishing group.

The richly illustrated volume is complemented by essays on the most important areas of the publishing house, especially on its educational commitment, as well as on topics such as the publishing archives and sheet music production.