Tag Archives: books

to touch their harps of gold

To Touch Their Harps of Gold: 22 Favorite Christmas Carols (arranged for harp)

to touch their harps of gold

Schocker’s third collection of Christmas carols arranged for solo harp dives deeper into traditional carols across Europe, from Portugal to Scandinavia. This set of 22 carols augments his two previous collections: Joy to the World! (21 Favorite Christmas Carols) and In the Moon of Wintertime (20 Favorite Christmas Carols).

To Touch Their Harps of Gold: 22 Favorite Christmas Carols (arranged for harp), by Gary Schocker, Theodore Presser Company, www.presser.com

Jazz Baroque:Vivaldi/Bach

Jazz Baroque:Vivaldi/Bach

Jazz Baroque:Vivaldi/Bach

Pianist Lee Evans, of Local 802 (New York City), has released his latest intermediate/upper-intermediate level book, which consists of 13 jazz-tinged piano solo arrangements of music from the Baroque era. Selections include music from Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, J.S. Bach’s organ preludes, Inventions and Sinfonias, a work by him for solo cello, and his famous Jesu, Joy of Man’s DesiringJazz Baroque:Vivaldi/Bach is available only in an interactive digital format in SuperScore Music on the iPad.

Jazz Baroque:Vivaldi/Bach, by Lee Evans, SuperScore Music, www.timewarptech.com.

tiny tattoo for orchestra

Tiny Tattoo for Orchestra: Score and Parts

tiny tattoo for orchestra

This orchestral work was written by Carter Pann after he visited a bistro on a cliff in Big Sur, CA. The place so inspired Pann that he began humming the opening melody. Written as a gift for conductor Alastair Willis, the colorful five-minute work, which includes electrifying percussion parts, is suitable for advanced student orchestras, intermediate players, and professional ensembles.  

Tiny Tattoo for Orchestra, by Carter Pann, Theodore Presser, www.presser.com.

selected late works for piano solo

Franz Liszt: Selected Late Works for Piano Solo, 1870-1886

selected late works for piano solo

In his final years, Liszt was beset by tragedy, depression, and poor health. This collection presents 30 solo piano pieces from that period (until his death in 1886), many that were unknown and underperformed well into the 20th century. Included is an in-depth essay by music scholar Nicholas Hopkins exploring the influences of major life events on the composer’s work, as well as a detailed analysis demonstrating the stylistic quality and highly original nature of the pieces.

Franz Liszt: Selected Late Works for Piano Solo, 1870-1886, edited by Nicholas Hopkins, Carl Fischer, www.carlfischer.com.

Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography

Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography

Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography

Music critic Andrea Warner draws on more than 60 hours of exclusive interviews to offer a powerful, intimate look at the life of the beloved artist and her 77-year career as a singer-songwriter and a tireless advocate for Indigenous rights. Sainte-Marie of Local 802 (New York City) stood out among the ranks of musicians in the 1960s and has received countless accolades, among them the only Academy Award won by an Indigenous artist. This biography celebrates Sainte-Marie’s unique talent, her commitment to activism, and leadership in the protest movement.

Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography, by Andrea Warner, greystonebooks.com.

airs and ballads for classical guitar

Airs and Ballads for Classic Guitar

airs and ballads for classic guitar

A dozen of the most beautiful traditional melodies from the British Isles and North America are arranged here as concert pieces, with rich harmonies and variations, by Local 802 (New York City) member John Lehmann-Haupt. Carefully voiced and fingered for fluidity and effectiveness, the collection offers a wide range of style and expression, from contemporary to Elizabethan to Arabic and Celtic, to gentle bluegrass swing, with a hint of gospel.

Airs and Ballads for Classic Guitar, by John Lehmann-Haupt, Mel Bay, www.melbay.com.

classical guitar album

Classical Guitar Album: New and well-known pieces (Volumes 1, 2, and 3)

classical guitar album

Paul Coles’ three-volume Classical Guitar Album offers nearly 100 varied pieces of increasing difficulty. His works are designed for the developing musician but include commissioned works performed and premiered by some of the world’s leading guitarists. He draws on Baroque, contemporary, and classical Spanish influences.

Volume 1 contains 43 preparatory pieces and includes well-known melodies for the beginning guitarist in accessible keys (1-2). Volume 2 has 28 original pieces, which take the player to the next level (2-3). Volume 3 includes 28 pieces written for the middle-grade guitarist, advancing in keys 3-4.

Classical Guitar Album: New and well-known pieces, by Paul Coles, Universal Edition, www.universaledition.com

duetti

Luciano Berio: Duetti (arrangement for two violas)

duetti

This set of arrangements of Luciano Berio’s Duetti, originally for two violins, represents an expansion of the limited repertoire for two violas. These duets, originally conceived as a collection of occasional pieces, became a full compositional project with pedagogical overtones. The wide variation in technical demands for Duetti—from beginner to high-level skills—illuminates Berio’s unique approach.

Luciano Berio: Duetti (arrangement for two violas), arranged by Annegret Mayer-Lindenberg, Universal Edition, www.universaledition.com

steps using fixed do

STEPS Using Fixed DO: Strategies & Tools Encouraging Proficient Sightsinging

steps using fixed do

Written for choirs of all types, this book provides a systematic and sequential process for those who teach sight reading using Fixed DO (the key of C). The book is organized by key so that students are immersed in a key, enabling them to identify the steps of the scales on sight as well as the intervals from the tonic triad.

STEPS Using Fixed DO: Strategies & Tools Encouraging Proficient Sightsinging, by Denise Eaton in collaboration with Janice Bradshaw
www.carlfischer.com

no walls and the recurring dream

No Walls and the Recurring Dream

no walls and the recurring dream

In her new memoir, Ani DiFranco of Local 1000 (Nongeographic) recounts her early life from a place of hard-won wisdom, combining personal expression, the power of music, political activism, storytelling, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, and much more into an inspiring whole. Her coming-of-age story is defined by her ethos of fierce independence—from being an emancipated minor sleeping in a Buffalo bus station, to building a career through appearances at small clubs and festivals, to releasing her first album at age 18, to rejecting the mainstream recording industry and creating her own label.

No Walls and the Recurring Dream, by Ani DiFranco,
Penguin Random House, www.penguinrandomhouse.com.