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  Complete Organ Music

  Cardi, Emanuele - Praeludium G-mollCardi, Emanuele - In Dich Hab Ich Gehoffet, HerrCardi, Emanuele - Auf Meinen Lieben GottCardi, Emanuele - Praeludium F-durCardi, Emanuele - Herr Gott, Dich Loben WirCardi, Emanuele - Canzona G-durCardi, Emanuele - Christ Lag In Todes BandenCardi, Emanuele - Jesus Christus, Wahr' Gottes SohPlyta 2.Cardi, Emanuele - Praeludium Nr. 3 G-mollCardi, Emanuele - Jesus Christus, Unser HeilandVers 1Vers 2Vers 3Cardi, Emanuele - Was Kann Uns Kommen An Fuer NotCardi, Emanuele - Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre GottCardi, Emanuele - Was Kann Uns Kommen An Fuer NotCardi, Emanuele - Praeludium Nr. 2 G-moll? Franz Tunder (1614-1667) was born in the German city of Lübeck, wherehe stayed his whole life as organist and treasurer of the St. Marienkirche.? Tunder is one of the cornerstones of the North German organ school. Hisstyle is the "Stylus Phantasticus", in which the emotional content of thetext is the basis of the musical expression, using sudden harmonicchanges, dissonances and tone painting.? Tunder left an oeuvre consisting of Chorale Preludes on Lutheran hymns,as well as several separate organ preludes.? Emanuele Cardi is one of the foremost Italian organists, specialized in earlyorgans and the restoration of Baroque instruments. On this recording heplays a magnificent Ghilardi organ built in 1996, inspired by the 17thcentury German Arp Schnitger instruments.? Excellent liner notes written by a musicologist, as well as the completedisposition and photo of the organ are included in the booklet.? Another fine issue in the Brilliant Classics series of Pre-Bachian organmasters!

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  De Mar a Mar

  SENDEBAR seeks to recapture the vibrant and exquisite art of medieval Mediterranean music with the intensity and drama of it's powerful and timeless musical language. An ongoing study of musicological and linguistic theories gives the ensemble's interpretation of early music the most authentic historical support, while a continuous interaction with the live musical traditions of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East permeates Sendebar's performance with a profound and expressive character. The Ensemble and the Reconstruction of Performance Practice: The lack of extant instructions about the performance of medieval music leaves performers and scholars with a sole method of reconstructing medieval performance practice: the study of literary and iconographical sources complemented by personal intuition. This approach, although in many cases musically satisfying, is problematic, of course, since not only the amount of information that can be extrapolated from a silent source is limited at best, but also the personal intuition of a 21st century scholar or player are tainted by modern musical aesthetics. Fortunately, a comparative study between musicological and ethnomusicological data suggests that some elements of the medieval Iberian practice such as ornamentation, articulation, and the combination of melodic and percussion instruments can be still witnessed in musical traditions of the Peninsula and the historically and culturally related Maghreb and Latin America. This fortunate phenomenon of continuity is of significant consequence since it offers the performer the opportunity to corroborate and expand historical information. Thus, under the direction of the historical musicologist Mauricio Molina, and with the participation of the distinguished traditional music specialists Francesc Sans i Bonet, Thomas Rohrer, Cristina Boixadera and Carlo Valte, the ensemble Sendebar performs Medieval Iberian music based on the combination of rigorous scholarship and the observation of pertinent live models.

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  Late Beethoven

  Late Beethoven It is well recognized that during his last years, especially from 1817 on, Beethoven's music underwent a transformation that redefined his legacy. Moreover, in a series of powerful masterstrokes the composer forever enlarged the sphere of human experience. There is disagreement as to when precisely the late style first appeared. There are differences over the extent to which it emerged from internal or external sources, and critics have struggled to describe it's characteristics in a coherent and meaningful way, but few have disagreed about the existence of the phase itself, let alone it's seismic character or it's chief examples: the late sonatas and string quartets, the 'Diabelli' Variations and the bagatelles, the Ninth Symphony and Missa solemmis Sonata Op.101, in A major. The Sonata in A major, op.101, published in Vienna by Steiner,in 1817, is the first of the 'final five' piano sonatas with which Beethoven brought his work on this genre to a close. The crux of this Sonata is contained not in the opening Allegretto ma non troppo, despite it's quiet, lyrical beginning in medias res on the dominant. The suspended quality of the music is enhanced by Beethoven's seamless lyricism, his placement of the exposition in the dominant key, and his avoidance throughout of strong tonic cadences. Following this short movement of yearning quality and the brusque, angular, contrapuntal march in F major which forms the second movement, a more fundamental level of feeling or state of being is uncovered in the slow introduction to the finale, marked Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll. Here the music is drawn progressively lower in pitch, collapsing onto a soft sustained chord that will serve as a turning-point and a new beginning. This soft chord, which represents the end of the descending progression and the termination of the Adagio, also embodies the a priori condition for the first movement, since it represents the exact sonority in the precise register out of which the opening of that movement has sprung. In view of this, the opening of the Sonata in medias res assumes a new and deeper significance. The importance of this original sound is confirmed by it's transformation, after a short cadenza-like passage, into the actual beginning of the opening movement. This reminiscence lasts a few bars before it dissolves into the emphatic beginning of the finale. The finale is in sonata form, with it's development assigned to a fugato. The fugal textures in the finale unfold with uncompromising determination and virtuosity. Op. 101 is among the most difficult of the sonatas. Beethoven himself once described it as 'hard to play' The A major Sonata marks a major transition in Beethoven's style, pointing unmistakably to the unique synthesis achieved in works of his last decade. Sonata Op. 111,in C minor Beethoven's last Sonata. Op. 111, in C minor, completed in 1822, defines with absolute assurance the two polarities within which his creative consciousness evolved. The two movements completely symbolize the two primary functions of the mind: analysis and synthesis of conflicting elements on the one hand, and transcendence of all oppositions on the other. It is literally and figuratively a lifetime away from the Op.2 group. The first movement of Op. 111 represents the last example of Beethoven's celebrated ' C minor mood', evidenced in a long line of works from the string Trio op.9 and 'Pathetique' Sonata to the Coriolan Overture and Fifth Symphony. The sonata begins with a Maestoso exposing left-hand plunges of the diminished seventh in a dramatic and tightly spaced rhythmic relationship. An effect of parenthetical enclosure is created not only through the sudden thematic and tonal contrast and slowing of tempo but also through the sudden return of the original tempo and agitated musical character. Consequently, the intervening lyrical utterance is isolated, like 'a soft glimpse of sunlight illuminating the dark, stormy heavens', to use imagery of Mann's Kretzschmar in DoktorFaustus. The lyrical passage reaches C major in the recapitulation and it seems to foreshadow the atmosphere of the Arietta finale. The transition to the ensuing Arietta is built into the coda. The rhythm and register of the last bars allude unmistakably to the diminished-seventh chords of the exposition. With the Arietta we enter a new world. In this case it seems offensive to reduce to conceptual analysis a musical experience which so transcends conceptual activity. The movement establishes a sense of immediacy in which the perception of sound creates a state of contemplation. As Claude Palisca said so simply, 'the Adagio molto - a long set of variations in an arietta is so eloquent and so complete that nothing further seems to be required'. 33 Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli Op.120 The 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli. Op. 120 represent Beethoven's most extraordinary single achievement in the art of variation writing. In their originality and power of invention they stand with other late masterpieces such as the Ninth Symphony, the Missa Solemnis, and the last quartets. When Anton Diabelli invited selected composers to write a variation on one of his waltzes, to be published as a collection, Beethoven at first declined to participate but later offered to provide a set of variations on the Diabelli theme. The scope of the work grew and the 33 variations (started in 1819, completed in1823 and dedicated by Beethoven to Antonie Brentano ) were published in June 1823 under the title '33 Veränderungen über einer Walzer von A. Diabelli'. Beethoven used the term Veränderungen, following Bach's title for his 'Aria mit 30 Veränderungen ' ( Goldberg Variations). Together with the Bagatelles Op. 120 Published in 1825, the Variations Op. 120 represents Beethoven's final contribution to the piano literature. Parody lies at the heart of this composition. Beethoven expanded his draft of the work in 1822-3. He left his older variation order intact for the most part, but opened with two new variations (the present Vars. 1 and 2), added many more variations towards the end, and inserted one at the middle of the set. These added variations contribute substantially to the form of the work, imposing not a symmetrical but an asymmetrical plan, an overall progression culminating in the last five variations. The work as we know it is thus to a great extent the product of two conceptions: an original conception and a superimposed conception. The inserted variations added by Beethoven in 1823 contribute a subtle dimension to the set whose implications transcend the purely musical sphere. Most of them are, in one sense or another, parodistic variations, and while this is clear enough on close inspection, it is sufficiently subtle to be overlooked. This issue of parody in Op. 120 is complex. It is interesting that in Op. 120 the overall formal progression of the variations relies heavily on parody of the melody of Diabelli's theme, an idea that, though prominent in the finished piece, is not in evidence in the 1819 draft. Although it is possible to speak of the unity of the whole work, such as we find in other works of the composer, the variations are based on a trivial theme not of the composer's making,thus the complete work spans a tension from ironic caricature to sublime transformation of the waltz of DiabelIi. This extra-musical dimension of parody is essential to a full understanding of the piece, although by it's very nature it is not immediately obvious in the work itself. About the artist Concert pianist, musicologist and educator, Luisa Guembes-Buchanan was born in Lima, Peru, where she received her early musical education at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música. She holds degrees in Performance and Musicology from the Manhattan School of Music, C.W.Post College, New York University and Boston University. Ms. Guembes-Buchanan has given performances throughout the United States, Latin America a

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  Enchantment: Music By Michael Mauldin

  ENCHANTMENT: THREE MEDITATIONS FOR TWO PIANOS was written for pianist Lawrence Blind to celebrate the birth of his twins, Alexandra and William. Larry was my accompanist when I directed the Albuquerque Boy Choir. When I retired from the choir, his first child was "on the way," so I wrote "Going Forth at Dawn with Power" to thank him for his years of service to the choir and to celebrate Wesley's birth. I chose the title of the two-piano piece to reflect the enchantment Larry felt with his babies, and that I felt with nature at "Annacarla." That was the name that Dutch linguist, Elizabeth Willink gave her rambling adobe house near Cuba, New Mexico. In the late 70's, she invited me to stay there on my trips to Chaco Canyon. Twenty-five years after "Willie's" death, I bought the house and restored it as a composing and teaching retreat for myself and my students, and for other music students and guests who enjoy the scenic and spiritual landscape of northern New Mexico. VOICES FROM CHACO: CONCERTINO FOR PIANO AND WOODWIND QUINTET won the 1980 Composer-of-the-Year Competition of the Music Teachers National Association. Dedicated to the memory of another pianist/friend, Paul Muench, the work was written to provide advanced pianists of high-school or college age with a solo work having an instrumental accompaniment of chamber proportions. Centuries before Europeans came to North America, the Chacoans created beautiful cities, accurate solar/lunar markers, intricate artwork, straight roads, and a far-flung trade network. "Voices from Chaco" marked the beginning of my long fascination with these remarkable people. By "time-traveling" a thousand years to a civilization that seemed "at one" with the cosmos, I found a way to be positive in my work. There was also the tragic tone of a great people who dispersed, perhaps because of their overuse or misuse of the land (and maybe of their own power). Though we may never be certain of the reasons for Chaco's abandonment, I sensed that the place held valuable lessons for us. A LITTLE MAGIC was written for an outstanding new boychoir in Oakland, California, the Pacific Boychoir, founded and directed by Kevin Fox. The words were written by Peggy Pond Church, who was best-known for her book THE HOUSE AT OTOWI BRIDGE, excerpts from which I used as the narration for my orchestral suite, "Enchanted Land." Peggy grew up on the beautiful mesas around what is now Los Alamos, New Mexico before her father's boys' school was chosen by the government as the site for atomic-weapon research. I. Prayer Let me live keenly as a lark high-soaring In one swift arc of song across the sky, However brief let my flight be unswerving And straight and high. Let me increase as rivers do and gather Wisdom from hills and every rooted tree, Then let me go at last like quiet water Toward the sea. II. Pilgrimage The black stone: I carried it all the way up the mountain. When I came down, a piece of the moon was shining in my pocket. III. Stones Stones Those many shaped small smooth-polished pebbles Have been waiting so long For the ear that can hear How they cry out. The Pacific Boychoir Academy is one of the only full-time choir schools in the USA, and the only one on the West Coast. Continuum is a group of former boy choristers in grades 7-12 whose voices have changed. The Pacific Boychoir has appeared frequently with the San Francisco Symphony, and can be heard on the Grammy-winning recording of Mahler's Third Symphony with the SFS. The PBA has sung with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Berkeley Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra of Brazil, the UC Davis Orchestra, the American Bach Soloists, and the Youth Orchestra of the Americas. WORLD WORDS was written for the Albuquerque Boy Choir, directed by Ed Torrez, after my retirement as director. The words are paraphrased from the book "Worldwords" by Victor La Cerva MD, published by Heal Foundation Press. I. Nasha hozho (Navajo: To walk in the Beauty way) To walk in beauty Is to know the goodness of all creation. II. Kairos (Greek: Right timing/synchronicity) Trust that part of you always knows when to listen, That part of you always knows when to act. Honor the knowing of the other way to listen. Invite the rhapsody of committed surrender. III. Mitakuye oyashin (Lakota: We are related to everyone and everything) We walk through the earth with open eyes to be one with all that is. We accept our humble place in this vast creation to honor kinship with all that lives. O sacred candle of understanding, light our path, we are part of a great unfolding. We are related to life around us, we are part of the life-force of all creation. All things above us, all things below us, all honor kinship with all that lives. We honor kinship with all that has life. FOUR ZUNI-MOUNTAIN MINIATURES FOR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE was commissioned by the Ensemble of Santa Fe. This is a recording, made by musicologist Jack Loeffler, of the premiere performance in Santa Fe on March 3, 1985. My wife and I bought and fenced 20 acres of Zuni-Mountain land, to allow it to recover from years of overgrazing. I reveled in the beauty and used the piece as a kind of journal. Back in Albuquerque, I could recall the feel of the place in different seasons and at different times of day. SANTA FE MAGIC is a tribute to the life and work of Peggy Pond Church, whose words I used in "Enchanted Land" and in the three short pieces for the Pacific Boychoir. After she had to leave "the hills" (see "A Little Magic" above), she lived and raised a family in Santa Fe. She had a keen eye for the beauty and sacredness of WILDNESS-whether in nature or in people, themselves a part of nature. And what she saw, she put into words-every day, in her journals and poems. She was a gifted and prolific poet. After her death, I chose these three poems from the unpublished writings I was shown by Peggy's daughter, Kathleen, who narrates this recording, made by the Russian State Symphony Cinema Orchestra, conducted by Sergei Skripka: I. October Sundown Great clouds leap upward from the earth like flames Into a cold, blue sky. The mountains are a line of sharpened fire Quenched at their lowest slope by a dim tide of twilight. Golden leaves glimmer along pale rivers. Dark birds fly soundlessly in and out of radiance. Oh this is music written for the eye. It vanishes beyond the first white stars Like a chord held till the last echoes die Into a waiting silence. II. The Children The children are going to school: rivulets of color and curls, White shirts mother-ironed, the man-like tie, arms clutching books and bags. They gather from all directions as though it had rained on the hills, As though the rain had turned into children running downhill, Streaming through arroyos to the river. From the river they are caught like fish in a net, Lifted and sorted to sit in even rows all day, Being stuffed with learning, being caged and tamed. How quiet the fields are, how quiet the houses. All the human noise has gone downtown, The birds and the trees have the world to themselves. How long as it been since the children ran free on the hills? III. Ecstasy A lifetime of journeying among these bare hills, Past these escarpments, these wind and water sculptured sands. Remembering how, a child at the edge of the ocean, Watching the water slope back beneath the curved wave, She cupped the glistening grains under her small hands, Becoming a maker of what the sea would erase by morning. Time has more time to play at making mountains. There is no accounting, though, for this ecstasy of time past That penetrates the present moment. * * * Born in Texas in 1947, Michael Mauldin moved to New Mexico in 1971 for "the space, the light, and the timelessness," after completing a Bachelor of Music degree at Washburn University of Topeka. He completed a Master of Music degree at the University of New Mexico and served as president of the Albuquerque Music Teachers Association, the New Mexico Music Te

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  Selections from the Recueil By Francesco Pasquale

  A Berkeley piano teacher would recommend for her students: No. 58 Allegro, No. 71 'reminds me of Scarlatti', No. 72 'very pretty with a cadenza and No. 73, 'very dramatic'. CD Baby customers can also check out the mysterious No. 54 Maestoso and the very tender No. 47 Amoroso, and No. 49 Pastorale with the surprise middle part. Web-site: fpricci.com In November of 1778, F. P. Ricci placed an announcement in a Hague newspaper that his 'Recueil' would be available for 'seven Dutch nickels at the beginning of 1779.' (1) Many music historians consider this 100 piece work to be the first piano-forte method. In the introduction, Ricci writes: 'The same zeal that drives your efforts to guide your students has compelled me to follow with my own, the order that you will find in this 'Recueil de Connaissances Elementaires pour le Forte-piano'. The success that this work has always brought me has led me to publish it, and I dare to hope that it will meet with your approval.' Ricci was born In the beautiful town of Como, Italy at the foot of the Swiss Alps in 1732. After he finished his musical education, he was ordained a priest, and subsequently he was appointed Maestro di Cappella at the Cathedral of Como. His church superiors granted Ricci autonomy, allowing him to seek his fortune abroad. He lived a long and fruitful life of 85 years as a touring musician, composer, musical entrepreneur and well loved music teacher. The music on this CD is from the 'Recueil' and he probably wrote the pieces for his students. Recently with the aid of the Italian musicologist Oscar Tajetti, 200 letters written to Ricci have come to light. In her biography of him based on these letters, 'Mon Cher Ami', Helen Metzelaar describes how two of his students in Milan, Marianne and Julie Imbonate wrote to Ricci: 'We wait impatiently for your arrival...for the pleasure of playing the Musette together'. Another letter from the Como Archive is from La Salazar de Los Porta who writes: 'I am flattered that you will have the graciousness to write some easy music pieces for my limited ability and I wish with all my heart to play something really by you'. (2) Did some of these 'easy pieces' later find their way into the 'Recueil'? Did the 'Musette' become 'No 82'? Ricci very likely accompanied his students on the violin. In about 1764, Ricci journeyed across the Alps into the countries of Northern Europe, with his touring partner and friend, the famous cellist, Francesco Zappa. Soon he made his home in Holland where he would remain for the next sixteen years. He was a well known a musician in the Hague, often performing as a violinist and singer for the House of Orange. He started to publish his music. Works with and without opus numbers emerged. His sacred composition, 'Dies Irae, Opus 7' was published in 1773. The 'Recueil de Connaissances Elementaires pour le Forte-piano ' has no opus number, but it is the first, #45', in a long list of his compositions at the Dutch music library, '1183 Huis Amerongen Muziekbibliotheek'. When he wasn't on tour, Ricci gathered around himself a large group of students who revered him. He was a very successful teacher. His student Josina van Boetzelaer became one of only two Dutch women composers of the Eighteenth century who's music survives today.(3) Ricci behaved like a kindly uncle to his students. They would often ask him to write pieces for them and in addition, they requested non-musical items such as books. One letter from the Como Archive is from a former student who needed 70 ducats immediately, that very day. Josina requested woolen socks in order to help a friend's husband who had gout. In another letter, she asked Ricci to pack her hair creme carefully because half the last bottle spilled en route.(4) During his time in Holland, Ricci joined the Masonic order. This is surprising, because he was an ordained priest and there had been papal bulls threatening Catholics with excommunication if they were Masons. By 1778, he achieved the level of Fouth Degree Mason in 'Le Veritable Zele' lodge of the Hague. His certificate was signed by Josina's husband and fellow member, Charles baron De Boetzelaer, who mentioned Ricci's 'excellent personal qualities and distinguished talents'.(5) Just when it seem as though he was a fully participating citizen in the Dutch Republic, authorities at the Cathedral of Como summoned Ricci back to his post as 'Maestro di Cappella' They told him that if he did not return, he would lose his position there. Ricci was fourty eight at the time. He returned a celebity, playing organ and directing the choir at the Como Cathedral, and at other churches nearby. (5) His Dutch friends missed Ricci. They continued to write to him five years after he had left. In one of her last letters to her music master, Josina wrote: 'As for us, we will never get used to your absence'(6)) For more information there is a new web-site: fpricci.com FOOTNOTES: 1.Helen Metzelaar, 'Mon cher ami' A New Source on Francesco Pasquale Ricci (1732-1817), his Music Career, and his Dutch Pupils.' Publisher: Tildschrift van de Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziek geschiedenis LX (2010), p. 116, footnote 91. 2.Ibid., P. 92. 3. Helen Metzelaar, 'From Private to Public Spheres: Exploring womens Role in Dutch Musical Life from c. 1700 to c.1800 and Three Case Studies', Publisher: Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziek geschiedenis, 1999, p. 128. 4. H. Metzelaar, 'Mon cher ami', p.105, 106,& 97. 5. Malcom Davies, 'The Masonic Muse'. Publisher: Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziek geschiedenis, 2005, p. 263. 6.Oscar Tajetti, 'Francesco Pasquale Ricci and Como, a European city.' Meeting and concert on Saturday, April 19, 2008, Paolo Giovio Archeological Museum. 7. H. Metzelaar, 'Mon cher ami', p. 106.

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  MT. Shasta Christmas

  Missa Brevis in C Major The original incomplete Mass in C by Mozart lay for many years in the archives of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. It had originally been identified as a W.A. Mozart work by Kirchel and given the number K115. It was assumed that the mass was one of the greatest examples of Mozart's early masses. Musicologist Bernhard Paumgartner, who attributed the mass to the 18 year old Wolfgang, took it upon himself to finish the Mass which ended only five measures into the Sanctus. It was not until 1975 that the discovery was made that the mass was not by W.A. Mozart at all, but rather by his father, Leopold Mozart. In the words of Maynard Solomon, foremost Mozart scholar and biographer, '(Leopold)...was a prolific and competent craftsman who composed large quantities of music as required by his employer.' The Kyrie and Gloria included in this recording were composed in their entirety by Leopold Mozart. Ceremony of Carols In 1942, during a stopover in Halifax, Nova Scotia, before crossing the Atlantic to England, Benjamin Britten purchased a copy of 'The English Galaxy of Shorter Poems.' It was this volume of poems which sparked off the idea for the sequence of Carols with harp accompaniment which Britten wrote during the crossing. Five of the poems from this small book appear in the finished copy. Other music Irving Berlin's songs of Christmas bring to mind 'Snow' and 'White Christmases.' If you have never heard any of the Christmas mischief of P.D.Q. Bach, here is your chance to hear 'Throw the Yule Log On, Uncle John.'

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  Melancholy Cello

  "A composer with the ability to transcend several musical genres and yet stay firmly focused within his own perceived sound. The word 'genius' I have always reserved for the greats like Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Richard Thompson and Louie Armstrong, but given the diversity, variation, number of musical genres, and the prolific number of high quality, original compositions of all styles of music Pete has put out. And continues to produce every year, not to mention a back catalogue of finely crafted original songs (that always have something unique to say about the human condition), it's hard not to use the word for him here as well. If he is not a genius then he is certainly one of Australia's most creative and interesting composers for acoustic music to emerge in the last decade" Tony Bates ..Musicologist/Reviewer' Station Librarian /Presenter 3WBC 94.1FM, BOX Pete Hawkes is one of the most important figures in contemporary roots music due to his melding of different styles, his capacity to write anything from delta blues to stunningly complex orchestral music and due to his radically different conceptual approach to recording. Now considered by many of his contempories as one of the great composers of his time, not only due to his capacity to write evocative and stunningly beautiful emotional music, but more so due to his unusual ability, unlike most writers, to write innovative, often ground breaking music in all musical genres, Hawkes still remains an unknown quantity to many. Never really lusting for fame and fortune and remaining a composer rather than entertainer, Hawkes actively sought to negate the opportunities for stardom when they came, preferring to play small clubs and venues and spend his time writing his often complex and 'bitterly beautiful' compositions as Jeb Tyler describes them. After his debut album, the critically acclaimed folk blues album Secrets Vows and Lies released on Festival Records in 1996, with and England's notorious fiddler Dave Swarbrick guesting on a few tracks, Hawkes relocated to London, the album had sold poorly in Australia and Hawkes was despondent following a relatively unsuccessful tour. In London he briefly reconnected again with Swarbrick and friends in Coventry, and on the odd occasion supported Swarbrick and Carthy and other notable acts in northern England. Hawkes then started playing in small clubs and hotels throughout Europe, moving deeper and deeper into far Europe and finally into Russia. Making St Petersburg his home, he lived there for several months, playing Jazz with local musicians and gypsies. On his return to Australia the following year, Hawkes released a number of remarkable musical works including Unspoken Riddles, the Russian flavoured Melancholy Cello and the brilliant Double Diversity, considered now a landmark album of it's time. In 2002 Hawkes was awarded ABC songwriter of the year from his hometown Newcastle, in honour and respect of his musical endeavours. In many ways Hawkes, was akin to Davey Graham, to whom he credits his initial inspiration of guitar (both Graham and Robert Johnson were his initial influences) in his constant travelling to foreign countries and his lack of interest in the music business per see. Like Davey also, he was ahead of his time, due to the fact that Hawkes produced albums from a composer's point of view, not as a touring vehicle for sales. Whereas most musicians make albums usually of a specific genre designed 'go on the road with' a Hawkes album (such as Unspoken Riddles, Double Diversity) would often reflect songs spanning radically different genres, contain different styles, involve unusual arrangements and involve a plethora of musical ideas all in the one disk. This new conceptual approach to making albums made it difficult for the music industry of it's day to pigeon hole Pete into a specific category for commercial business and my have contributed to his anonymity but his albums themselves remain brilliant musical statements. As one reviewer writes "On a Pete Hawkes album you will find airs, reels and Celtic influenced pieces, Delta Blues and a cleverly written neo classical piece that just oozes Russia. It also includes some very finely arranged and well-executed jazz. If that doesn't take your fancy then you can always listen to Pete's beautiful arrangements of some great classical guitar standards or alternatively relax with the innovative Cello compositions. Dig ragtime? then you have it. In fact there is so much here, in this record you need to listen to it a few times to digest all the ideas and nuances on the disk" Hawkes relocated to Melbourne in 2003 and released a variety of radically different recording projects including The DADGAD Files, original tunes in the DADGAD tuning as a tribute to Davey Graham. In 2006 he released Witchcraft a stunning evocative suite of beautiful orchestral music and then a jazz album, Colors, (which includes one of the great, if not very different versions of summertime you will ever hear) and then in contrast to all these in 2007 he released an amazing extended gothic rock adventure, The Lost Souls Entwined with world renown electric guitar virtuoso Phil Emmanuel. With a back catalogue spanning blues, jazz, rock, classical, folk and everything in between Hawkes is one of the most interesting musical gems that has been, for far too long, hidden away. A composer's composer and a musician's musician.

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  Earth Speaks

  This is multi-layered, transcendent music composed in collaboration with animal helpers and the spirits of Nature. It was created to relax, focus, tune in and deepen your connection with your fellow species. Recover the true spirit of ecological awareness, and attune to the language, message, and heart of the Earth. Interwoven with sounds of nature, the music invites entrancement until you hear the Earth itself and all her creatures speak to you. Descriptions of each track follow these Testimonials: "So wonderful and so unique!! Your music is so distinctive and mood and image evoking. Your images and the transference of the images to instrumental music and non-instrumental sounds are awesomely creative. " - Bunny Beck, jazz pianist and composer (New York City) "Very alluring and complementing" - Sandy Dierks, co-producer of U.S. National Park Service film Coming Home-The Life Cycles of Coho Salmon and Steelhead Trout, which includes selections from The Earth Speaks. "Rich and very soothing. Creates a peaceful atmosphere instantly. Has a profoundly reflective quality." - Debra Evans, San Francisco Whole Life Expo Program Director "Just gorgeous...Musical refinement" - Constance Demby, New Age contemporary classical composer "Engaging at a very interesting level. You are so present in the music, as is the Earth. Thank you for making this available to us." - Julie Soquet, Shamanic Counselor "It really opens up the heart" - Amy Cooper, senior yoga teacher and therapist "Very relaxing" - Assunta Chytry, Music Buyer for Open Secret (metaphysical) Books, Music, & World Art Gallery, San Rafael, California "Quite a gorgeous work. I like it a lot." - David Spelman, classical music publicist, New York City "Your playing is so joyful, and the pieces offer such a rich and complex feast for the ear and the soul. Thank you for creating such a wonderful pathway to connect with nature." - Rae Ramsey, New York City "Michel Sherman has shown us that the lute has come a long way into the modern age. From now on, we can acknowledge that the lute is no longer only for old music. Michel blends old and new musical ideas in a new and startling way. He is a pioneer in the use of the lute for music of all ages." - Stanley Buetens, Lutenist and Publisher, Instrumenta Antiqua Publications "I really enjoyed it. It's great music." - Grant Tomlinson, Lute Maker "Great Tai Chi music" - Jane Hallander, Founder & Director, Marin Tai Chi Center, California "Perfect for massage" - Terri Elaine Prince, Certified Massage Therapist "Beautifully performed, recorded and packaged - a proper platform for your expressive work" - Dave Brast, classical and flamenco guitarist "Has quickly become a favorite of mine. I love to play it at night before bed when I want to shed the day's history and enter dreamtime." - Nan Moon, Management Consultant "I enjoy the whole, deeply felt concept. You play wonderfully, with clarity and cleanness. Your compositions are rich." - Rosey Bock, Musicologist "Very, very good and deserves to be heard." - Kathy Geisler, Well-Tempered Productions, Berkeley, California "Thank you so much, it is wonderful music, romantic and full of meditation. All the best and much success." - Ralf Bauer, Musikschule Metronom, Bonn, Germany -------------------------------------------------------------- The tracks: 1) The Earth Speaks Instrumental played on a Renaissance lute, with sound of thunder. The pain of pollution. The yearning to breathe fresh air and drink pure water. The Big Cleansing. The Earth is alive, nurturing all who dwell on, within, and above her body. Listening to the Earth, we heal and rediscover a balanced relationship with all life. 2) Longing for the Ocean Instrumental played on a Renaissance lute, with sound of surf. It's where we first met. Now, so far away, we long to be close to the ocean again. 3) Dance of the Water Sprites Instrumental played on a Renaissance lute. Sunlight dissolving in bubbling cascades. Water sprites dancing pure joy. Let's dance! 4) Igor's Waltz with the Flies Instrumental played on a Renaissance lute. Wizardlike, Igor was an anole lizard who gazed with ancient reptile wisdom into the people who came to him. He taught us about the loving relationship of predator and prey as he communicated, stalked, and danced with the insects that gave him life. 5) Enter Dragons' Realm Instrumental played on a classical guitar, with sound of wind. Suspense and wonderment as you enter and explore the dragons' realm. Follow the trail up the mountain, along the rocks of many colors. The magnetic power of the cool, deep caves above draws you through sparkling shafts of light. 6) Fingers of the Mist Instrumental played on a classical guitar. Tenderness and bliss. The chameleon mist...rearranging form and color...beckoning our love. 7) Angel Birds Instrumental played on a Renaissance lute, with sound of wood thrush. Where do birds come from, and where can they take you? Listen and follow. Spirits soaring. 8) Lost Caverns of the Soul Instrumental played on a classical guitar, with sounds of wind, eagle, and hawk. Suspenseful throughout. Searching for meaning and reconnection to a peaceful state of spirit. Feel the essence of life in dark and light, mysterious havens. 9) Music of the Mountains Instrumental played on a classical guitar, with sounds of bell and chimes. Dream of a Tibetan mountaintop where monks pray and vultures soar. Breathe the rarified atmosphere, a portal to the gods. 10) The Magic Garden Instrumental played on a classical guitar, with sounds of orioles. The garden seeds inspiration and becomes the whole world. Blissful cooperation of the plants and animals. A happy and magical union. 11) Birds' Call to Prayer Instrumental played on a Renaissance lute, with sounds of bell and nightingale. The bell rings and the nightingale sings, calling all creatures of earth and air in prayers of thanksgiving for the beauty and peace all around and within. 12) Rana, Queen of the Heavens Instrumental played on a Renaissance lute. Rana was an Afghan hound companion whose name came from a past life as a queen in India. Quiet and graceful, she emanated ripened sensitivity. On a calm winter solstice, she left her form and stretched skyward in an arc from east to west, surrounded by a constellation of angels. 13) Chrysalis Instrumental played on a Renaissance lute. Transformation, evolution, new creations, new lives, new universes. The sadness of letting go and dying. Nostalgia. Delight and hope in The New. 14) Water Temples Instrumental played on a Renaissance lute, with sound of waterfall. Neptune calls us far below the ocean surface where we float through water temples of the deep. Liquid heaven. 15) Into the Eye of the Tiger Instrumental played on a classical guitar, opening with sound of tiger. Race with the tiger into the eternal enigma of being. Finish with blissful sleep. 16) Interdimensional Avenues Instrumental played on a Renaissance lute, with some synthesizer sound to simulate Earth moving through space, owl, crickets, frogs. The piece is my impressions of mystic spirit and parallel worlds. Follow the dragonfly along the pathways to that which underlies all form. 17) Ocean Walking Instrumental played on a Renaissance lute, with sounds of surf and seagulls. Immersed in enchanted freedom, we walk on the waves. 18) Sacred Harmony Among All Species Instrumental played on a Renaissance lute, with sounds of whales, eagle, and wolf. The vast realm far below the surface of physical form. Deep within the rhythms of life on Earth, eternal harmony sings.

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  Bhakti: Devotion

  BABA "The end goal of education is character. The end goal of knowledge is unconditional love. The end goal of wisdom is freedom. The end goal of culture is perfection." - Bhagwan Sri Satya Sai Baba Few have influenced the spirit of modern India as Bhagwan Sri Satya Sai Baba. Baba's thoughts, words, sentiments and actions permeate the lives of human beings everywhere regardless of origin or faith. Baba's vision of a better world is exemplified in the exceptional schools, universities, hospitals, housing and drinking-water supply projects built by his charities to serve and enhance societies in hundreds of countries. A life of truth, righteousness, peace, love and non-violence is a life dedicated to Baba. THE MUSIC BHAKTI : DEVOTION celebrates the eternal spirit of Baba through music. The inimitable sisters Kalaimamanigal Radha & Jayalakshmi join some of the most eminent musicians of India to sing twelve songs espousing Baba's values composed and conducted by Pt. Vijay Raghav Rao. Through the past seven decades, legendary flautist, innovative composer, pioneering choreographer and erudite musicologist Pt. Vijay Raghav Rao has shaped and indelibly influenced the essential form and derivatives of culture known to the world as classically Indian. Pt. Vijay Raghav Rao's is a rare brilliance on the cultural firmament in India and abroad. Marked by characteristic excellence, his work has always carried an exuberance of spirit. In BHAKTI : DEVOTION Panditji leads a stellar cast of renowned singers and musicians to celebrate the aesthetic joy inherent in spirituality. ART & SPIRITUALITY In the interview below, Pt. Vijay Raghav Rao elaborates on the confluence of art and spirituality. Question: What is spirituality? Answer: It is perhaps an inwardly soulful vivacity, well defined as an immaterial, eternal, pure state of mind devoid of all physical tensions, illusions, or wants. It is what makes the mortal an immortal. Q: Are you spiritual? A: Just to say 'yes, i am' is sheer hypocrisy. All achievements, attainments or professional skills of a human being - I think - are ultimately aimed at making him/her a ' spiritual' person: a true human being guided by a spirit that can conquer his / her self. That spirit embodies my ideals. As I seek it through my thoughts, it transforms my actions. In the serene, unconscious manner of a prayer with tangible consequences, my spirituality allows me successively increasing amounts of self-fulfillment. Complete self-fulfillment is a state of true independence. Liberation is another moniker for that state of being. As we seek what we know is an infinite expanse of ideals, we regulate our processes accordingly, and eventually liberate ourselves. I think liberation is the process of fully coming to terms with oneself, free from non-idealistic bondage. Every human is endowed with a fund of divinity, the complete potential of our ideals. Artistes seek it as a matter of skill, those less prone to expression seek it through prayer. When we strive to realize that innermost being and it's consequent divinity, we seek to be spiritual. 'Spirituality' is a process of such realization. If I am engaged in this process, I am spiritual. I wish to be spiritual in every action of mine and earnestly attempt to seek it's blessings. Q: How does your spirituality influence your expressions? A: My spirituality guides me when I create. It offers me inspiration. It makes me humble. It provides me with an anchor. It puts my muse in perspective. It is the essence of any innovation I attempt. When my creations rise above what is mundane and appear to be genuine, everlasting, they implicitly suggest a lingering, pervasive aesthetic. That aesthetic is significantly intertwined with my spirituality. Because what I seek through my spirituality is intrinsically unique to my being, my aesthetic is original too. Technically perfect pieces of art begin to enlighten beyond their compass if they were founded on the basis of spirituality. Entertaining is no longer an audience driven exercise - with spirituality, the performer begins to express a soul. Q: Can there be such an entity as a non-spiritual artiste? A: The world is populated with human beings of all kinds. Simple expression sometimes becomes high art. Much vacuous expression is passed off as art. Intentions drive human beings to the extremes of their potential: evil masquerades under guises of acceptable expression. There is much tacit approval of non-art, rooted as it is in a confusion of metaphor or medium. A lot of this comes from non-spiritual expressionists. They exist, and they practice, and they foist their mindsets on unsuspecting audiences. They are a necessary barometer of free societies: for every action, the unavoidable reaction. Yet, in my opinion, true art has always had it's roots in introspection. Art is a journey from the realms of the self to the non-self. The moment one undertakes the responsibility of making that trip, he / she invariably operates in the realm of spirituality. To be an artiste, therefore, is to be spiritual. Art is the language of the spirit. A non-spiritual artiste, thus, is a rare species. Q: Is the artist's nature the same as his spirit? A: Through constant 'sadhana', by virtue of an innate discipline in consequent expression, an artiste could attain a level of maturity that allows him / her to realize all his / her visions and his / her dreams, consistently, at the level of complete perfection. In that stratosphere, over time's passage, he /she could conceivably express his / her imagination through the process of conquering self-defining traits, so that his / her spirit is allowed free reign. What he / she expresses then is the spirit in it's full glory. Shorn of what is fleeting, devoid of the artiste, completely representing his / her art. The spirit is the art, then, the spirit is the artiste. There is a resplendent symmetry in the artiste's nature, his / her medium, and what it carries outward. Perhaps this is utopian, maybe it is an ideal as unattainable as the spirit itself. Perhaps that state of being is what characterizes saints who practice artforms - Thyagaraja is a case in point. In such states of consciousness physical existence is not a desire. Art outlives the artiste. Q: Is God an artiste? A: Can you ever believe that nature - our nature, beautiful, colorful, multivariate - , throbbing with a multitude of energies, seething with a billion forms extending well into the reaches of time and space, that this nature could ever be the work of a non-artiste? I believe God is the net essence of all knowledge, truth, energy and purity. He / She is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent. That essence is achieved through several lifetimes of inculcating and honing of an ephemeral spirituality. The quest of a typical human lifetime is to harness it's skills, knowledge, capacity and deeds to move toward a sense of godliness. In that framework, we human beings are all engaged in the process of making art. An art that meshes with the grand order of natural process - the ultimate work of art. In that order worlds exist in majestic splendor to sustain life, and just as majestically self-destruct, so that newer worlds of fresher truths take their natural place. If that is not art, what is. If that is not the artiste's dream, what is. Q: What has been the role of God in your art? A: To me God represents exquisite energy: immaterial, immortal, eternal energy. As I create, I seek recourse to that perennial energy. I can seek to perfect my expressions that way. Work becomes a form of worship. I am able to sustain my spirits for interminable lengths of time. My creations take on a completeness of meaning. I seek symmetries with pieces of nature. Can my interpretation of a Raga induce it's natural mood in the ears and minds of my connoisseurs? I work within a divine frame of reference. I develop an aesthetic which is uniquely mine. I am more mature as an artiste because I

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  Saturn Sky

  In our 13 year history, the Winnipeg Wind Ensemble has been involved in two prior recording projects. The first, a compilation of graded literature for use by school bands, was conducted by Glenn D. Price and underwritten by St. John's Music Ltd. The second was a demo recording of band arrangements and transcriptions by Texas music publisher Harold Gore. When the idea came up for the band to make a third recording, we decided that the repertoire should be chosen from our recent concert programs and represent a variety of styles and moods. Each member of the band was asked to fill out a survey naming their ten favourite selections performed over the past four years. Through this democratic process came a rather eclectic mix of works, some lighter some heavier, some older, and some newly written, such as the evocative title work, Saturn Sky: Sunrise, composed by one of the ensemble's own members and premièred by the Winnipeg Wind Ensemble. Some are transcriptions and some are original works for band. Many of the selections are familiar standards in the repertoire, while others are less known. Our wish is that the music be entertaining, exciting, and representative of what can be accomplished when talented players with a love of music unite for a common purpose. Enjoy! Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), one of this century's most remarkable musicians, was a charismatic figure from the time he became the first American born conductor of a major American symphony orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, until his death in 1990. Bernstein seemed to express such unparalleled vitality in so many capacities - composer, conductor, pianist, and above all, teacher - someone with the gift of communicating and making music more accessible. The sparkling Overture to Candide (1957), transcribed by Clare Grundman (1913 - 1996), is frequently performed and ably reflects the brash optimism and tunefulness of it's composer. Jan Bach Jan Bach, born in Illinois in 1937, attended the University of Urbana where he received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition. He has written for a number of musical genres, including orchestral, chamber, theatrical, as well as music for wind ensemble. The source for the four arrangements included in his Praetorius Suite (1984) is Terpsichore (1612), the only secular work of Michael Praetorius (1571 - 1621) that has survived to the present day. This Renaissance composer is perhaps best known for the Christmas Madrigal Lo, How a Rose Ere Blooming. During his lifetime, however, he composed over one thousand sacred works based on Protestant Hymns, and was a frequent collaborator with Martin Luther in contributions to the Latin liturgy. Revered as a gifted organist, Praetorius was also an early musicologist, his Syntagma Musicum remains our chief resource for knowledge of Renaissance musical instruments. Terpsichore is a collection of dances popular around the turn of the seventeenth century. From his own account, we know that Praetorius often rearranged the dances from this collection for the instruments of his day, and so it is fitting that Jan Bach has 'freely arranged' these once again for the modern wind ensemble. Jean Baptiste Arban Variations sur Le Carnival de Venise evokes an era before radio, movies, television, the internet and other mass media, where the outdoor band concert was one of the main forms of entertainment available. At these weekly concerts in the park, community and professional bands would feature marches, orchestral transcriptions, and band members as soloists, often playing variations on traditional melodies. Jean Baptiste Arban (1825 - 1889) wrote many such arrangements for cornet, The Carnival of Venice being among the most famous. This particular version was first recorded in 1994 by Wynton Marsalis and the Eastman Wind Ensemble, arranged and conducted by Donald Hunsberger. David Taubner It is a special treat for our ensemble to have a composer within it's ranks. String bass player David Taubner (born 1951) began his musical career at the age of twelve, when a piano appeared in his home, and by age thirteen was composing on the keyboard. He studied composition with Robert Turner, first privately and then at the University of Manitoba School of Music. His writing career came to a halt for about twelve years during which he taught piano and classical guitar and played piano, guitar and electric bass is various blues and jazz bands. For the next several years he took time to establish a career in computers while raising a family. He has spent recent years re-learning the art of music composition and writing mainly for small ensembles such as flute and piano and string quartet, but more recently exploring larger forces as in Saturn Sky: Sunrise (1997, revised 1998). In David's own words, '[Saturn Sky] was originally conceived as a tone poem in three movements for full orchestra, of which Sunrise is the first. [It was] suggested to me that this movement might work well for wind ensemble, so I then transcribed it, and the band gave it a reading. I was unhappy with the result - it was after all my first effort for band, and there were still many things I was learning about how to write for an ensemble that had no string section - but it was all instructive. I felt that the original idea was too difficult for me to make work with my limited experience, so I took the primary melody and totally rewrote the piece with only band instruments in mind. The piece begins with the bass clarinet playing the theme upon which all subsequent musical ideas are based. " Percy Grainger The Australian Percy Grainger (1882 - 1961) is one of the most interesting characters in the history of twentieth century music. A prolific and inventive wind ensemble composer, he was a pioneer in folk melody collection and many of his most memorable works for band are folk song settings, such as Irish Tune From County Derry (1909), also known by the title Danny Boy, and Children's March - 'Over the Hills and Far Away' (1919). The latter work is an example of Grainger's habit of writing substantial parts for piano in his orchestral and band works. Being a concert pianist, Grainger meant those parts for himself when the music was premièred, and they add an interesting colour to the texture of the ensemble. Norman Dello Joio Norman Dello Joio (born 1913) received his earliest musical training from his father on the organ and also with Pietro Yon, the famed organist of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. After composition studies at both Juliard and Yale where he came under the influence of Paul Hindemith, Dello Joio went on to establish himself as one of the foremost figures in American music. According to the composer, Fantasies on a Theme by Haydn (1968) 'is based on a theme from a composition for piano by Joseph Haydn. The subtly conceived theme, I concluded, offered an opportunity to fantasize in the musical language of today. The three movements are a constantly varied examination of Haydn's basic idea. The bubbling humour of the first and third fantasies flank a second, which is intensely lyrical. In the final sense, it is my homage to a composer who will always remain contemporary. ' George Gershwin George Gershwin (1898 - 1937) occupies a unique place in the history of American music. A gifted writer of popular songs, musical comedies, piano concertos and other art music, he was able to combine the styles of tin Pan Alley and Carnegie Hall in a way which seemed perfectly clear to him, but never quite right to many music critics of the time. In today's cultural climate of 'cross-over' artists and greater blending of artistic styles, history has been kind to Gershwin. He is now given full credit for a successful synthesis of popular and serious art forms, bringing listeners of both to a common ground. Gershwin's legacy, and his mastery of American song os masterpiece, Porgy and Bess (1935). Having aspired to write the Ameri

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