These editions mark the first publication of Julius R�ntgen's Variations on a Theme by C�sar Franck and his Variations on a Theme by Beethoven. Both works have been recorded and published by Nimbus. Each unique set of variations demonstrates Julius R�ntgen's capabilities of a composer in general and in this important genre specifically. R�ntgen's writing is effortless, balanced, harmonically interesting and highly expressive. The editors believe that introducing this publication into the 2-piano literature will give performers and audiences a new work of artistic merit and musical excellence. Julius R�ntgen's Variations on a Theme by Beethoven is a set of seven variations and coda based on the theme from the Finale of Beethoven's string quartet Opus 130. R�ntgen's variations demonstrate considerable musical complexity and harmonic daring. In fact, it displays some of his most engaging and enchanting music. The introduction - marked molto sostenuto - opens with a dark and dramatic statement punctuated with sforzandi. Each 4-measure gesture seems to build on the previous one but without creating direction or momentum. Edited by Mark Anderson and Michelle Mares.

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. Her most famous song Si vous n'avez rien � me dire, was written for her friend Adelina Patti, who often sang this as an encore and made a recording of it in 1905.

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. Her most famous song Si vous n'avez rien � me dire, was written for her friend Adelina Patti, who often sang this as an encore and made a recording of it in 1905.

My justification for arranging these works for two harpsichords derives from the preface to Fran�ois Couperin's L'apoth�ose de Lully (1725) in which he describes the manner in which he often played trio sonatas on two harpsichords: 'Trios... can be played on two harpsichords... I play them with my family and pupils with very happy success, namely, by playing the first treble part and the bass on one of the harpsichords, and the second treble part and the same bass on the other harpsichord tuned to the same pitch. Furthermore, with two harpsichords whose compasses extend down to bottom FF, a fifth lower than the organ, opportunities are presented for playing the bass down an octave, at both 8-foot and 16-footpitches, and both the harpsichordists' right hands have the potential to fill in some continuo chords when opportunities arise. The result is a transformation of these famous trio sonatas, giving them a character that is neither better nor worse than interpretations on the organ, but very different and no less exciting. (David Ponsford)

Even in a catalogue as multifarious as Thomas', the carillon piece Ripple Effects stands out as a one-off. Commissioned by Rockefeller Chapel and devised in a number of versions, sculpted for carillons of three sizes, requiring varying numbers of players, the work is described by the composer as 'a labyrinth of musical interrelationships and connections' that increases in complexity as more and more players are added to this ever-expanding spider web of peals. Ultimately, the simultaneous sounding of all Rockefeller Chapel's 72 bells is the only logical conclusion! (Paul Pellay)

Even in a catalogue as multifarious as Thomas', the carillon piece Ripple Effects stands out as a one-off. Commissioned by Rockefeller Chapel and devised in a number of versions, sculpted for carillons of three sizes, requiring varying numbers of players, the work is described by the composer as 'a labyrinth of musical interrelationships and connections' that increases in complexity as more and more players are added to this ever-expanding spider web of peals. Ultimately, the simultaneous sounding of all Rockefeller Chapel's 72 bells is the only logical conclusion! (Paul Pellay)

Augusta Reed Thomas writes of her work Clara's Ascent for string orchestra: "Clara's Ascent for string orchestra (or string quartet) features the solo cello in a lyrical and intricately contrapuntal work. The cello serves as protagonist as well as a fulcrum point, on and around which the other player's musical force fields bloom, rotate, and proliferate. Although highly notated, precise, carefully structured, soundly proportioned, and while musicians are elegantly working from a nuanced, specific text, I like my music to have the feeling that it is organically being self-propelled -on the spot - as if we listeners are overhearing (capturing) an un-notated improvisation. This short work celebrates the manner in which the musicians embody sound. Musical transformations and carefully crafted connections unfold with a natural impulse. An optimistic, flexible-sounding, sonorous ascending journey weaves itself forward as if it is spinning innately out of their instruments. In the most general of terms, the form of the work is a 6-minute crescendo during which the soloist moves from the very lowest notes up to the highest possible, reaching as if the soloist is trying to kiss the sky. On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Clara Schumann, this work honors the legacy and contributions of a pioneering performer, caring collaborator and artistic confidant."

My justification for arranging these works for two harpsichords derives from the preface to Fran�ois Couperin's L'apoth�ose de Lully (1725) in which he describes the manner in which he often played trio sonatas on two harpsichords: 'Trios... can be played on two harpsichords... I play them with my family and pupils with very happy success, namely, by playing the first treble part and the bass on one of the harpsichords, and the second treble part and the same bass on the other harpsichord tuned to the same pitch. Furthermore, with two harpsichords whose compasses extend down to bottom FF, a fifth lower than the organ, opportunities are presented for playing the bass down an octave, at both 8-foot and 16-footpitches, and both the harpsichordists' right hands have the potential to fill in some continuo chords when opportunities arise. The result is a transformation of these famous trio sonatas, giving them a character that is neither better nor worse than interpretations on the organ, but very different and no less exciting. (David Ponsford)

My justification for arranging these works for two harpsichords derives from the preface to Fran�ois Couperin's L'apoth�ose de Lully (1725) in which he describes the manner in which he often played trio sonatas on two harpsichords: 'Trios... can be played on two harpsichords... I play them with my family and pupils with very happy success, namely, by playing the first treble part and the bass on one of the harpsichords, and the second treble part and the same bass on the other harpsichord tuned to the same pitch. Furthermore, with two harpsichords whose compasses extend down to bottom FF, a fifth lower than the organ, opportunities are presented for playing the bass down an octave, at both 8-foot and 16-footpitches, and both the harpsichordists' right hands have the potential to fill in some continuo chords when opportunities arise. The result is a transformation of these famous trio sonatas, giving them a character that is neither better nor worse than interpretations on the organ, but very different and no less exciting. (David Ponsford)

My justification for arranging these works for two harpsichords derives from the preface to Fran�ois Couperin's L'apoth�ose de Lully (1725) in which he describes the manner in which he often played trio sonatas on two harpsichords: 'Trios... can be played on two harpsichords... I play them with my family and pupils with very happy success, namely, by playing the first treble part and the bass on one of the harpsichords, and the second treble part and the same bass on the other harpsichord tuned to the same pitch. Furthermore, with two harpsichords whose compasses extend down to bottom FF, a fifth lower than the organ, opportunities are presented for playing the bass down an octave, at both 8-foot and 16-footpitches, and both the harpsichordists' right hands have the potential to fill in some continuo chords when opportunities arise. The result is a transformation of these famous trio sonatas, giving them a character that is neither better nor worse than interpretations on the organ, but very different and no less exciting. (David Ponsford)

In Flanders Fields was commissioned by the Flanders Symphony Orchestra and first performed at Cadogan Hall, London in November 2015. As part of the anniversary commemorating World War I it includes two narrated poems, The Dead by Rupert Brooke and In Flanders Fields by John McRae. A sombre string introduction leads to ghostly fanfares that recall bugle calls from the front line. A full fortissimo statement of the opening theme dies away as the narrator speaks the first poem over soft strings. The second musical interlude is more martial and dynamic with rattling xylophone and snare drum. Then soft distant bells herald a gentle rustling texture over which the final poem is narrated. Soft brass chords over the rustling texture die away into nothing. In Flanders Fields was narrated by Simon Callow and conducted by Jan Latham-Koenig.

At the core of Blackford's work is a setting of the Stabat Mater; but it also includes settings of two relevant poems by the celebrated Russian poet Anna Akhmatova from her poem cycle Requiem. The poems echo the words in Stabat Mater reflecting the grief of a mother for her son Lev, a student at Leningrad University, who, in 1938, at the height of Stalin's terror, was arrested in his dormitory room and shipped to an Arctic labor camp. For 17 months his mother waited in queues and wrote letters to police officials beseeching them to tell her the fate of her son. Her struggle is immortalized in "Requiem", her most famous work. Alternating between elegy, lamentation and witness, it culminates in it's most famous stanza: "For seventeen months I've been crying out, Calling you home. I flung myself at the hangman's feet, For you my son, my horror." The music embraces the passion of these words. After our recent workshop when the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus studied the work for the first time, conductor Gavin Carr wrote: "It is so compact, and so powerful: the intensity is incredible, and the release at the end is remarkable." (Sandrey Date)

The composer and pianist Percy Sherwood (1866-1939) was born in Dresden, the son of an English teacher and a German singer. His compositional output encompassed five symphonies, concertos for piano, violin and cello, a Requiem for solo voices and orchestra, chamber music for various combinations of instruments, and numerous solo piano pieces. Sherwood's career was almost equally divided between Germany and England. In the twenty-five years before the outbreak of the First World War Sherwood established himself as a prominent figure in Dresden's musical life. But despite early successes Sherwood never gained a lasting foothold in London's musical life despite settling there after the outbreak of the First World War. The Sonata in C minor for two pianos was not published during the composer's lifetime. The manuscript is held by the Bodleian Library. It was first performed by Sherwood and Hermann Scholtz under the auspices of the Dresden Tonkunstler-Verein on April 27, 1896.

It is clear, in all Thomas' works, that she has been listening to jazz for over 40 years. She is not a composer of what is sometimes referred to as "crossover" jazz/classical pieces; rather, there is a deeply integrated, digested and well-heard sensibility related to jazz harmonies, flexibility, spontaneity, rhythm and flow in her music of the past 30 years. Thomas said of the work: Although highly notated, precise, carefully structured, soundly proportioned, and while the pianist is elegantly working from a nuanced, very specific text, I like my music to have the feeling that it is organically being self-propelled - on the spot. As if we listeners are overhearing a spontaneous captured improvisation. The title's word "illumination" has many meanings related to this music, including: radiance, lighting hues, decoration, ornament, embellishment and elucidation. Throughout the dramatic crescendo of increasing virtuosity, speed and volume, musical connections are orbital. Layers of bells are added and a chain-link of transformations, variations and outgrowths unfolds. Sounds crossfertilize and establish organic relationships which, in turn, create new intersections and fulcrum points. The music starts very modestly and, as the inner-life of the sounds percolate and bloom, Bell Illuminations develops into a vivid, plentiful adventure. Commissioned by and dedicated with admiration and gratitude to Daniel Pesca

The spirit of Amalgam is that no two chords, motives, lines, phrases, rhythms are exactly the same. Everything is transforming - everything is an amalgam. Amalgam unfolds a chain link of transformations, variations and outgrowths. Musical connections are orbital; sounds cross-fertilize and establish relationships which, in turn, create new intersections and fulcrum points. The sonic predecessors of this work include Ravel, Debussy, Scriabin, Herbie Hancock, Art Tatum, Cecil Taylor, and Bill Evans, whose musical perfumes I have reveled in for decades. ARC I: INVOCATION is dedicated with admiration and gratitude to The Royal Academy of Music. ARC II: FUSION is dedicated with admiration and gratitude to Min Kwon