Vivaldi's violin concertos called «The Four Seasons» are one of the best known and loved collections of string music in our time. Their programmatic nature, based on the lines of sonnets printed along with the music, brings seasonal sights and sounds readily and delightfully to the ear: the bird calls in «Spring,» the swarm of wasps in «Summer,» the hunters' horns in «Autumn,» the winds and icy snow of «Winter.»This volume contains the ...
For anyone who loves to sing the great old songs, knows the melodies, but has trouble remembering some or all of the words, help is at hand in this extremely useful and unique compendium of popular song lyrics.Included are the complete lyrics for 500 well-known songs from many sources: folk songs, hymns and spirituals, nursery songs and children's play songs, patriotic and military songs, popular songs (many from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway ...
Prokofiev's first symphony, which he mischievously dubbed «Classical,» is a sprightly piece based on the symphonic models of Haydn. «I thought that if Haydn were alive today he would compose just as he did before, but at the same time would include something new in his manner of composition,» Prokofiev remarked. «I wanted to compose such a symphony: a symphony in the classical style.»The composer's synthesis of twentieth harmonies and ...
One of the last works of German composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847), the oratorio Elijah was first performed at England's Birmingham Festival in August 1846. Elated by the audience's response, Mendelssohn wrote jubilantly to his brother: «Not less than four choruses and four airs were encored.» Audiences still respond enthusiastically to this splendid oratorio. A century and a half later, Elijah is one of the most frequent ...
A solid grounding in musical techniques of the 17th and 18th centuries is essential to a complete understanding of Baroque music. Arnold's legendary work is a comprehensive survey of the topic, covering every issue of significance to today's performers. The text is fully amplified with numerous musical examples, authoritative citations, scholarly interpretations and syntheses, and the author's own conclusions. This rich collection ...
Young pianists and their teachers will welcome this treasury of favorites in musically attractive and pedagogically sound arrangements for beginners. Bergerac has written exclusively for young pianists since 1967, including original music and many easy arrangements of folk materials. His expert settings explore a full and satisfying piano sound within the natural capabilities of the beginning performer.The songs in this varied collection  ...
Mendelssohn's Lieder Ohne Worte, or «Songs without Words,» is among the most loved, most played collections in the Romantic piano repertoire. Reproduced from the authoritative Breitkopf & Härtel edition, this volume contains all of these popular compositions—more than 40 pieces, including such favorites as Spinning Song, Spring Song, and Venetian Gondola Song.Composed at various points throughout his life, Mendels ...
"His melodic imagination displays admirable freshness. He possesses a delicate harmonic sense. His themes show the inspirations of an impassioned musician: perfectly created, firm in line, vivid, and enduring in color. His art never wavers; it consistently exhibits a magnificent technique." — John Gillespie, Five Centuries of Keyboard MusicThis famous edition, prepared a century ago by Johannes Brahms and Friedrich Chrysander, pre ...
Romance, murder, and revenge — Don Giovanni offers an ingenious blend of comic and tragic elements in recounting the adventures of a dashing libertine whose trail of seductions and abandonments leads (literally!) to hell. Mozart's masterpiece, a product of his inspired collaboration with poet Lorenzo da Ponte, premiered to public and critical acclaim in 1787. Since then, every great opera singer has assayed one or another of its l ...
