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Variations contains solo and
chamber music of composer, Sy Brandon,
professor emeritus of music from Millersville University, Millersville,
PA. He has received numerous commissions and honors including 1st place
in WITF-FM's 25th Anniversary Composition Contest, the El Dorado Sacred
Music Composition Contest, Franklin and Marshall College’s Wind
Ensemble Composition Contest, and the New England String Ensemble
Composition Contest. His music has been recorded by the Czech National
Symphony Orchestra, thePhilharmonia Bulgarica, the Kiev Philharmonic
and has been performed both throughout the United States and abroad
including performances by the United States Army, Navy, and Air Force
Bands and on NPR’s Performance Today. A complete bio, discography, and
catalog is available at
http://cooppress.hostrack.net
Click
on the title to purchase the sheet music
Badinerie (2001) is a exciting rhythmic
piece in a modal style. The piece is in a large ABA form. The A
sections contain much syncopation and counterpoint. The B section has a
more sustained clarinet part over an ostinato in the piano. Leanne
Manning is currently living in Hong Kong where she is principal
clarinet with the Shenzhen Symphony and a member of the City Chamber
Orchestra of Hong Kong and the Island Clarinet Quartet. Pianist Mary Wu
is presently Artist-in-Residence at the Chinese University of Hong Kong
and a faculty member of the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. These
artists received first prize in
the 2003 Co-op Press Woodwind Recording Competition for this recording.
Variations
(1971) begins with a lyrical, yet angular theme that undergoes five
transformations. Tempi, harmonics, canon, pizzicato and meter change
all create contrast as this piece develops. The Nevsky String Quartet
was founded in 1995 by students of St. Petersburg Conservatoire and won
1st prize in the 1998 Swedish International String Quartet Competition.
The musicians are Tatiana Razoumova and Svetlana Grinfield, violins,
Vladimir Bystritsky, viola, and Dmitri Khrytchev, cello.
Celebration
of Flight (2002) commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Wright
Brothers' first controlled flight by an aircraft using its own power.
The piece contains musical representations of birds, gliders, the
Wright Brothers’ experiments, and the two successful flights of 1903.
Shelley Jagow, saxophone, and In-Hong Cha, violin, are on the faculty
of Wright State University. Both are active as performing artists,
conductors and clinicians.
Three Songs of Protest
(1971) is based on poetry written by the composer’s uncle, Joseph
Brandon, who was one of eight conscientious objectors during World War
I and ran for mayor of New York City under the Socialist Party ticket.
Baritone, Marshall Urban was an adjunct professor at Penn State
University and is currently pursuing an advanced degree at the
University of Minnesota. Tim Christian is a free-lance pianist in the
central Pennsylvania area.
Three Jazzy Pieces (2003)
combines jazz elements with classical composition techniques. Riffs
consists of many short ideas treated contrapuntally and homophonically.
The Blues is verytorchy with a lighter section in the middle. The
Jitterbug is in rondo form with each instrument having a written out
jazz solo. The Trio di Camerati is an active chamber music group in
Connecticut composed of musicians are Katherine Di Pierro Isles, flute,
Dawn Ellen Whaley, clarinet, and Thirzah Bendokas, cello.
Sonatina (1998) received a performance award
in the 2000 Delius Composition Contest. It explores the lyrical and
technical aspects of the piano within a modal harmonic language. Anita
Boyle Renfroe is a professor of music at Millersville University of
Pennsylvania. She has performed throughout the United States and Europe
as featured soloist with the Winnenden Kammerorchester, Stuttgart,
Germany and in solo recitals at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater and
the Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts.
Three Flirtations (2002) is a
musical description of courtship. "Innocent" is a flirtation between
two good friends whose friendship is blossoming into love, but they
donʼt quite know it. "Sultry" can be described as a dance of seduction
with both parties overtly expressing their attraction to each other,
yet with an air of mystery. "Coy" contains teasing that is both
aggressive and playful. Harmonie del Sur consists of Robert Murray,
trumpet and flugelhorn, and Lauren Murray, oboe and English horn. Both
are active as performers and teachers with credits ranging from the
Owensboro Symphony, Murray State University, and the University of
Northern Colorado, where Robert currently teaches.
Olympic Prelude (1998) was selected as
a competition piece for the 2002 Australian Flute Festival. This piece
captures the excitement and anticipation of the Olympics through
driving rhythms and meter changes. The Stables Ensemble, directed by
Emma Knott, is associated with the Sydney Conservatorium in Australia
and has won many chamber music competitions. They received third prize
in the 2003 Co-op Press Woodwind Recording Competition for this
recording.
