Philip Glass : A Descent into the Maelstrom

Philip Glass : A Descent into the Maelstrom Review

In continuing with their ongoing program of releasing vital recordings from the archive of Philip Glass recorded material, Orange Mountain Music is pleased to release "A Descent into the Maelström". In 1986 Mr. Glass was commissioned to create and bring a piece to the Adelaide Festival of Arts in Adelaide, Australia. He chose to write a piece based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story "A Descent into the Maelström" and invited collaborators dancer/choreographer Molissa Fenley, set designer Eamon D’Arcy and theatre director Mathew McGuire to participate. They transformed Edgar Allan Poe's vertiginous short story of being swept into a huge and terrible whirlpool by a raging hurricane that "the oldest seaman in Norway never experienced" into a Musical/Dance/Theatre extravganza.

This compelling, propulsive piece of music premiered in March, 1986 at the Adelaide Festival of Arts and was only performed by the Philip Glass Ensemble during the week of the festival in Australia. Consequently, it has had very little exposure to Philip Glass' audience. In the spring of 1986 after the Ensemble returned to New York it was discovered that the 24 track live recordings that were made of the performances were distorted, noisy and mostly unusable. At that point PGE musical director, Michael Riesman, Kurt Munkacsi and the Ensemble members set about replacing their parts on the recording. The newly recorded tracks had to be kept in sync with the live recording because the resulting mix would be used for a television broadcast of the performances. The finished recording is a studio/live hybrid. It is very similar to the mix that was made in 1986 for the video, but we've remixed the material taking advantage of the digital recording technology that is available today! .

This little known recording of this powerful piece of classic Glass music was made when the Philip Glass Ensemble was at one of its peaks. It was also done in possibly one of the best settings for Philip Glass and his musicians– musical theatre. It will be available for shipping July 19th, 2002 Read more...

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Camerata Woodwind Quintet - Music Minus One French Horn

Camerata Woodwind Quintet - Music Minus One French Horn Review

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Woodwind Music of Robert Fruehwald, Vol. 1

Woodwind Music of Robert Fruehwald, Vol. 1 Review

Music is not abstract, it is shaped by life experience.

Every day, when walking home from my job at the university, I would see a glint of blue through the trees on the horizon. For many months, I thought I was seeing the sky. Then, one day, I saw a stern-wheel steamboat squarely in the middle of that patch of blue. What I had been seeing was the Mississippi River. Every day after that, I would watch the river and its changing moods. It became my daily companion. I decided to write a piece about the river. A passage from Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi was my inspiration. Summer Sunrise on the Mississippi was commissioned by clarinetist Michael Dean. In addition to the solo clarinet, ambient sounds of life on the river appear.

The Turkish Preludes were shaped by the life experiences of New York flutist Linda Wetherill. In addition to being a great proponent of new music, Linda spent a number of years traveling the world performing and teaching. Much of that time was spent in Istanbul. While in Istanbul, Linda became interested in Turkish folk music and collected quite a few folk melodies. These pieces are based on some of the melodies she collected.

Atacameno Eluwun was inspired by the loneliness of the high desert. When I was a student in California, I would look across the valley to the barren mountains and wonder what it was like to live in such a place before the subdivisions, the freeways, the apartment complexes. I heard a recording of a funeral procession of native people from the high desert of Chile. The music of the procession was evocative of the loneliness of that landscape. Atacameno Eluwun also incorporates vocal sounds and musical scales inspired by the music of the high desert.

My wife and I occasionally play for a university fund raising function known as the medieval dinner. Some of the music we play comes from Terpsichore, the quintessential renaissance gig-book of dance tunes by Michael Praetorius. While performing these tunes one night, it dawned on me that I could fit several of the tunes together into a kind of simultaneous medley, a quodlibet. In order to make this work, it was necessary to change the rhythm of the melodies so that the different melodies alternate, with the gaps between the fragments of one melody allowing bits of the other melodies to be heard. Since only one melody was actually being heard at any given time, it seemed appropriate to use this material in a work for a solo melody instrument, the clarinet. Terpsichore, A Quodlibet on Melodies by Michael Praetorius for Solo Clarinet was commissioned by Michael Dean and his wife to celebrate the birth of their daughter.

Andy and Me is a piece about a man and his dog. It is a kind of duet. First, between the clarinetist and himself (prerecorded clarinet sounds) and later between the clarinetist and Michael Dean's dog, Andy. The work presents snapshots of Andy's daily routine: his barking at strangers, his excited scrambling across the deck in the back of his house, and his enthusiastic enjoyment of dinner.

Hymntunes I: Three Chorale Preludes for Christmas was one of my first attempts to use familiar melodies as material for extreme transformation.

When I started working on Metamorphosis of my Cat Fletcher, I thought about the advice given by high school creative writing teachers: write about what you know. At the same time, our cat kept bothering me about dinner. It occurred to me that my cat was something I knew. Why not write a piece about Fletcher?

I eventually made a video to accompany the piece. In many ways the piece works better with the video (posted on YouTube - search on the title). It is easier to follow and it's more humorous. Still, I think the purely auditory version presented here has its own charm.

Robert Fruehwald, 2010 Read more...

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DVD-Blues and Rock Techniques for Hammond Organ

DVD-Blues and Rock Techniques for Hammond Organ Review

The Hammond organ, especially the B-3 combined with the Leslie speaker, has long been an integral part of modern popular music.You can hear the "classic" sound of the Hammond organ in blues, gospel, jazz, rock, and even on some contemporary singer/songwriter songs (try to picture Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" or Procol Harem's "Whiter Shade of Pale" without that distinctive sound). Sometimes the organ is used as "padding," providing background textures using only its sustain capabilities, and at other times it takes a more prominent role as a lead instrument. We're proud to present the first lesson to teach the organ as a blues and rock instrument for learning players. David Cohen starts with the basics, detailing all the parts of the Hammond B-3 and showing how to get the unique sounds associated with this instrument using presets, drawbars, percussion tablets, vibrato switch, volume pedal and other devices. Then it's into the playing! David covers some of the! most important licks and grooves you'll need to get out and play in a band. His love of the instrument comes across as he teaches riffs, blues scales, chord changes, and many of the specific musical tricks that work only on organ. Each tune is illustrated by a top New York rock band to give you a feeling for how it should be performed. You'll learn to play a fast shuffle in C; a funk tune in E; a medium-tempo shuffle in A (with a Jimmy Smith riff); the all-important slow blues in G; and a funk rhythm with a G minor to C (I - IV) groove. In each of these pieces, you'll learn how to improvise solos, use licks and fills, play a variety of bass lines, and become an integral part of a rockin' blues band. Read more...

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Lennon & McCartney - Guitar Play-Along DVD Vol 12

Lennon & McCartney - Guitar Play-Along DVD Vol 12 Review

The Guitar Play-Along DVD Series lets you hear and see how to play songs like never before. Just watch, listen and learn! Each song starts with a lesson from a professional guitar teacher. Then, the teacher performs the complete song along with professionally recorded backing tracks. You can choose to turn the guitar off if you want to play along or leave the guitar in the mix to hear how it should sound. You can also choose from three viewing options: fret hand with tab, wide view with tab, pick & fret hands close-up. Each DVD includes great songs that all guitarists will want to know! Volume 12 includes: Back in the U.S.S.R. · Blackbird · Day Tripper · Get Back · A Hard Day's Night · I Feel Fine · Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) · Ticket to Ride. Read more...

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Theodor Blumer: Wind Chamber Music, Vol. 3

Theodor Blumer: Wind Chamber Music, Vol. 3 Review

THEODOR BLUMER Woodwind Music, Vol. 3. John Bailey, Flute, Mark Clinton, Piano, Moran Woodwind Quintet.

Serenade and Theme and Variations, op. 34 for Woodwind Quintet. Ten Waltzes (Hausmusik), op. 56 for Flute and Piano. From the Animal Kingdom, op. 57a for Flute and Piano. From the Plant World, op. 57b for Flute and Piano.

Theodor Blumer (1881-1964) was director and principal conductor of the Dresden Radio Orchestra and the Middle German Radio Orchestra in Leipzig. Read more...

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Woodwind Music

Woodwind Music Review

All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed. Read more...

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