Classical Music

Classical Music

One of the most exciting drummers ever to climb up onto a jazz bandstand leads a terrific group (featuring Clark Terry on flugelhorn) on this recording. Their inspired take on Caravan joins Hot; Hookin' It; Ode to a Friend; the Peaceful Poet; Walkin' with Buddy, and more!

Classical Music

Hannah Mathilde von Rothschild was born in Frankfurt on the 5th of March 1832 and showed her musical talent early, being an excellent pianist and composer. Mathilde spent her childhood between Vienna and Frankfurt, and was greatly encouraged in her musical studies by her mother who brought her children up to be trilingual and to have a deep appreciation of art and music. Frédéric Chopin was a frequent performer at the salon of James and Betty de Rothschild, in rue Laffitte in Paris, and taught various Rothschild ladies, including the 16 or 17 year-old Mathilde who would have taken lessons from him during one of her frequent visits to her cousins. Rothschild’s international lifestyle results in a rich and varied collection of songs; the genre of song provided the ideal vehicle for Rothschild’s thorough understanding of languages with sympathetic yet astute settings of French, German and English texts. In 1867 the esteemed musician Sir Charles Hallé told Louisa de Rothschild that ‘no-one can have any idea of your cousin’s rare and delightful talent; her compositions are charming, full of tender grace and sparkling originality.’ She was asked by many leading singers to compose for them, including Christine Nillson, Selma Kurz and Adelina Patti. Sechs Lieder was composed in 1897.

Hannah Mathilde von Rothschild was born in Frankfurt on the 5th of March 1832 and showed her musical talent early, being an excellent pianist and composer. Mathilde spent her childhood between Vienna and Frankfurt, and was greatly encouraged in her musical studies by her mother who brought her children up to be trilingual and to have a deep appreciation of art and music. Fr�d�ric Chopin was a frequent performer at the salon of James and Betty de Rothschild, in rue Laffitte in Paris, and taught various Rothschild ladies, including the 16 or 17 year-old Mathilde who would have taken lessons from him during one of her frequent visits to her cousins. Rothschild's international lifestyle results in a rich and varied collection of songs; the genre of song provided the ideal vehicle for Rothschild's thorough understanding of languages with sympathetic yet astute settings of French, German and English texts. In 1867 the esteemed musician Sir Charles Hall� told Louisa de Rothschild that 'no-one can have any idea of your cousin's rare and delightful talent; her compositions are charming, full of tender grace and sparkling originality.' She was asked by many leading singers to compose for them, including Christine Nillson, Selma Kurz and Adelina Patti. Here, her composition O sage nicht is presented.

Augusta read thomas : Qì (2017)For four percussionistsDuration: c. 5 minutesFormat: 28-page A4 saddle stitched score & 4 A4 saddle stitched partsAvailable on CD, NI6355“Qì has Thomas in fun-and-games mode full-on as the music tears off at dizzying speed without pause through the work's five densely packed minutes. Thomas's underlying image here is the notion of four interlocking gears, the players having to mesh and dovetail with the absolute precision of well-oiled gears and cogs whirring away in a fine Swiss watch.” Paul Pellay

JOHN WALLACE : Chosen Vale (2015)For three trumpetsDuration: c. 14 minutesFormat: 16-page A4 saddle stitched score & 3 A4 saddle stitched partsChosen Vale is an exciting and challenging work for three trumpets in three movements. Its opening movement Belong is an  expansive fanfare with sweeping gestures, the second Between, a spritely interlude before the third romping finale Behave.​​​​​​​John Wallace read music at King’s College, Cambridge, with Sir David Willcocks, and composition at the Royal Academy of Music with Alan Bush. In 1974 he joined the London Symphony Orchestra and then from 1976 to 1995 he was Principal Trumpet of The Philharmonia where he became vice-Chairman of the Board. Among his performing highlights were as a soloist with Kiri Te Kanawa to a live TV audience of 750,000,000 people, at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981. In 1986, he formed The Wallace Collection, a brass ensemble of like minded specialists which toured extensively throughout the world, along with making more than 30 ensemble and solo CDs getting to the top of the Billboard crossover charts in the USA twice. Wallace returned to Scotland in 2002 to become the first Scot to hold the position of Principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. John Wallace retired from RCS in September 2014 to concentrate once again on composing and performing.

Richard Blackford : Spirited (2013)For Symphony OrchestraDuration: c. 6 minutesFormat: 36-page A4 perfect bound study scoreScore and parts available on hire“When I was invited to write a short overture for the 2013 English Music Festival the word that irrepressibly sprung to mind was Spirited. The overture starts with a sense of hushed anticipation and excitement. The tension builds then a trumpet presents a heroic theme, punctuated by ricochet timpani.” Richard Blackford

Richard Blackford : Within the Seed (2015)For SATB ChorusThree poems by Kathleen RaineDuration: c. 14 minutesFormat: 40-page A4 saddle stitched sheet music“I returned many times to Kathleen Raine’s poems, with their ecstatic spirituality and mysticism, and when the BBC Singers commissioned me to write a set of choruses I was glad to continue my exploration of her unique poetic world. Both Let in the wind, Let in the rain and Spell of Creation have an innate musicality with their irregular repetition patterns, beautiful and spellbinding in themselves, but also lending themselves to musical setting.” Richard Blackford

Engel Lund : Book of Folk Songs (1936)For voice and pianoPianoforte accompaniments by Ferdinand RauterEnglish translations by Eileen MacLeod and a foreword by Douglas KennedyDuration: c. 50 minutesFormat: 60-page A4 saddle stitchingAvailable on CD, NI5813Assembled by the Icelandic mezzo-soprano Engel Lund and her accompanist Ferdinand Rauter. These two extraordinary artists were passionate about bringing people closer to each other through the power of music, and in pursuit of this aim gave hundreds of performances of these songs throughout Europe and the United States in the 1930s and 40s.

Augusta Read Thomas : !HOPE (2017)For TTTBB ChoirDuration: c. 8 minutesFormat: 16-page Octavo ScoreAlso available for SSSAA Choir (NMP1028)An elegant, musical braid of the E.E. Cummings text between the five equally important vocal parts (either SSSAA or TTTBB) starts very delicately on quiet and poetic perfect fifth. Gradually, across its 8 minute duration, the vocal colours and lyric imagery unfold with passionate energy to a radiant and intense climax. This is followed by a peaceful, optimistic coda which brings !HOPE to a still, meditative culmination. Members of the Wellesley College Chamber Singers described the song with these words: “reflective, grounded, ethereal, reminiscent, purposeful at how it takes its time to express the poem, suspension of time and place with a contrast of contradiction and movement, glassy, fluid and efflorescent.” Augusta Read Thomas

A new sampler from Nimbus Alliance, featuring the Rcs Symphonic Wind Orchestra!

Augusta read thomas :rainbow bridge to paradise (2016)For Solo ViolinDuration: c. 4½ minutesFormat: 8-page A4 saddle stitched sheet musicAlso available for solo cello (NMP1045) and solo viola (NMP1044)“Rainbow Bridge to Paradise starts at the very bottom note of the cello, in the deep, rich, elegant tones of the instrument and traverses to the very bright, clear, clean, optimistic top register of the instrument. This music’s vibrant, expressive and distinct ‘picture’ is one of an ascent from earth to paradise across a colorful bridge.” Augusta Read Thomas

Classical Music