18 Pieces for Clarinet and Piano

Barbara Heller & Sabine Pfeifer

 

• 18 pieces for accompanied clarinet
• Contains examples of repertoire for A and Bb clarinet
• Pieces from the 19th to the 21st Century

 

Female composers such as Germaine Tailleferre, Johanna Senfter and Grazyna Bacewicz are justifiably becoming increasingly popular.

This new edition presents pieces for A and Bb clarinet from the classical, romantic and modern eras.

 

Richard Strauss/ed. Richard Walters

 

• A collection of 51 of Richard Strauss’ songs
• For Medium/Low voice with piano accompaniment
• Presented in German and English translation for study purposes

 

This newly engraved edition, based on the critical edition, presents the most comprehensive collection of Strauss songs, with a different compilation than any other edition.

With translations for study and historical notes.

 

 

Richard Strauss/ed. Richard Walters

 

• A collection of 57 of Richard Strauss’ songs
• For High Voice with piano accompaniment
• Presented in German and English translation for study
purposes

 

This newly engraved edition, based on the critical edition, presents the most comprehensive collection of Strauss songs, with a different compilation than any other edition.

The High Voice includes the complete Brentano Songs (Op. 68) and the Four Last Songs.

With translations for study and historical notes.

 

 

Will Todd

 

• Jazz arrangements of 3 well-known hymns
• For choir accompanied by piano, double bass, and/or optional jazz ensemble
• For advanced-level ensembles

 

These jazz arrangements of well-known hymns were written for Andrew Earis and choirs of St Martin-in-the- Fields, London for various services and BBC broadcasts from that church.

The hymns can be performed using the supplied piano part or using the chord symbols above. Double bass may also be used in addition to piano, again following
the supplied chord symbols, and parts for optional jazz ensemble are available.

Performers of these hymns should feel free to include the congregation or audience in imaginative ways.

 

On 15 March, Joseph Haas’ comic opera Die Hochzeit des Jobs returns to the stage for first time in 60 years. The new production will open at the theatre Eduard-won-Winterstein in Annaberg-Buchholz conducted by Naoshi Takahashi.

Originally premiered at the Staatsoper in Dresden in 1944, Die Hochzeit des Jobs’ libretto was created by Ludwig Andersen from an eighteenth-century satirical poem titled Jobsiade by Carl Arnold Kortum. The poem was originally published under the (far lengthier) title Life, opinions and deeds of the candidate Hieronymus Jobs and how he gained a lot of fame and finally died as a night guard in Salzburg.

Joseph Haas – Die Hochzeit des Jobs: The Jobsiade

The story of Haas’ opera is set in a university town during the early nineteenth century. At its core Die Hochzeit des Jobs is a morality tale about the rewards of doing good and as opposed to bad centring on the protagonist, Hieronymus Jobs, a careless student who threatens to ruin the master carpenter.

The basis for my work with the material is that it radiates cheerfulness, which nevertheless does not overlook or deny the suffering in the world, but can at least alleviate, if not try to overcome it thanks to an unwavering optimistic outlook on life. - Joseph Haas

The new production will provide audiences with a rare opportunity to hear this comic opera in performance. Die Hochzeit des Jobs will run at the Eduard-von-Winterstein theatre until 15 May.

• Joseph Haas – Profile


• Die Hochzeit des Jobs – Details and score preview


• Eduard-von-Winterstein-Theater

On 8 March, Cologne Opera will perform Johannes Hanke’s children’s opera, The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs. Written between 2011 and 2012 on commission from Staatsoper Hannover, Hanke’s opera has since been performed in Dresden Basel and Munich. This most recent production will be conducted by Rainer Mühlbach.

Dorothea Hartmann’s libretto for The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs is a modern retelling Grimm’s fairy tale by the same name. The whole opera lasts around an hour and supports the libretto with a mix of musical styles.

Stefan Johannes Hanke – The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs: making the impossible possible

The plot follows the Child of Fortune who, through self-confidence and courage, liberates a distant kingdom from an oppressive force against seemingly impossible odds. Along the way, the Child’s adventure involves a scary encounter with three robbers in a forest and a journey into hell to retrieve the Devil’s golden hairs.

[Hanke’s] new children’s opera contains many funny moments with great theatrical effects. The contemporary music is characterized by the natural treatment of musical styles (from aria cadences in a major key, going through dissonant steps to allusions to folk music), but above all, he highlights the libretto in a sensitive and effective way. – Jutta Rinas (Peiner Allgemeine Zeitung)

There will be multiple opportunities to see The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs at Cologne Opera, where the production runs until 18 April.

• Stefan Johannes Hanke – Profile


• The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs – Details and score preview


• Cologne Opera

 

[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyiWXbu23LA[/embed]

On 28 February, Pierre Jalbert’s Ephemeral Objects for cello and piano will receive its world premiere at Middlebury College, Vermont. The new work, which was commissioned by Middlebury Performing Arts Series in celebration of its 100^th Anniversary, will be performed by cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han.

Ephemeral Objects is composed in seven self-contained movements which may be performed on their own, grouped into smaller sets of any length.

Pierre Jalbert’s music immediately captures one’s attention with its strong gesture and vitality. Rich in instrumental color and harmonically engaging, its narrative is dramatically compelling yet always logical in its flow. – American Academy of Arts and Letters

Jalbert draws inspiration from a wide variety of sources, including English and French folksongs (the composer’s family moved to Vermont from Quebec), as well as catholic liturgical music. Elements of timeless and suspended music, an energetic scherzo, Gregorian chant, and French-Canadian folksongs all find their way into Ephemeral Objects.

The duo will perform Ephemeral Objects again on 1 March at Laidlaw Performing Arts Center, University of South Alabama.

• Pierre Jalbert – Profil


• Middlebury College


• Mobile Chamber Music

Christian Jost’s opera Egmont premieres at Theater an der Wien on 17 February conducted by Michael Boder. The work was commissioned by the theatre for 2020 in celebration of Beethoven’s 250 Anniversary. Keith Warner has created the production for the premiere.

Egmont is based on the play of the same name by Goethe, a work to which Beethoven famously wrote incidental music. The libretto for Jost’s Egmont was adapted from the play in collaboration with Christoph Klimke for a cast of six characters and addresses both topical issues and conflicts. In the original, Prince Egmont of Gaure is portrayed to be an advocate for freedom, peace, and justice – themes that resonated strongly with Beethoven throughout his life. However, these ideas are sometimes approached from an altered perspective in the opera, which explores how society may be manipulated, and what can happen when a system falls short of its own moral and ideological values.

Christian Jost – Egmont: freedom, peace, and justice

My opera reveals a different side of Beethoven: extracts from his famous letter ‘to the immortal beloved’. The ubiquitous six-voice chorus leads us into the interior of the figures and behind the masks of their social functions in a fragile, chiseled vocal texture. – Christian Jost

Egmont will run at the Theater an der Wien until 26 February with the German premiere of the opera set to take place at Theater Bielefeld during the 2020/21 season. On 30 March, another of Jost’s operas, Voyage vers l’espoir (Reise der Hoffnung), will open in its world premiere production at the Gran Théâtre de Genève.

• Christian Jost – Profil


• Egmont – Work details


• Theater an der Wien

50 Little Piano Pieces

Hans-Günter Heumann

 

• Progressive series of piano pieces
• Very easy to intermediate level
• Covers a variety of styles from classical through to jazz and pop

 

The three-volume collection Mini Maestro presents little piano pieces advancing progressively from very easy to intermediate level, presented in chronological order across five centuries from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern eras through to jazz, pop and minimal music.

At the end of each volume there are three additional pieces for piano duet.

All the pieces are easy to learn and offer varied repertoire as an ideal supplement to any piano tutorial method with music suitable for concert performance, tuition purposes, examinations and competitions.

Gerhard Rühm, writer, composer and visual artist, was co-founder of the Vienna Group.

His audio productions are outstanding examples of the new audio play and of the acoustic arts and have won numerous prizes. Since 1978, Rühm has been a member of the Free Academy of Arts, Hamburg.

WERGO congratulates on its 90th birthday on February 12th.

Published by WERGO:
Wald. Ein deutsches Requiem / Ophelia and the Words / Kleine Geschichte der Zivilisation (WER 63062)
Gebet (CD: Riverrun, WER 63072)
James Joyce, Marcel Duchamp, Erik Satie: An Alphabet (WER 63102)