The titles of the movements of this suite are “Playful,” “Thoughtful” and “Joyful.”

The movements of this jazz-oriented suite are “Battling Cellos,” “‘Bluesy’ Cellos” and “Cello Boogie.”

The purchase price includes two complete copies of the score.

The movements of this jazz-oriented suite are “Battling Bassoons,” “‘Bluesy’ Bassoons” and “Bassoon Boogie.”

The purchase price includes two complete copies of the score.

The three movements of this suite are:

1. Fanfare and Grotesque March
2. Somber Shades
3. Blazing Fury

The opening fanfare reveals the quartal harmonies on which the whole work is based. The march in traditional form is labeled “grotesque” because of its awkward intervals, the “halting, limping” effect in the percussion and the shifting meter signatures.

In “Somber Shades” all the instruments are muted. The movement opens with soft gong sounds from which an undulating theme in the second horn begins a gradual ascent picked up by the first horn and second trumpet. The first trumpet entering with the main theme continues the melodic rise to a grand peak then descends in retrograde fashion. The undulating theme returns (also in retrograde fashion) until the second horn fades into the sound of the gong.

The final movement opens with a “blazing” series of chords that lead to a theme of driving energy presented in canonic style. A return of the fanfare of the opening movement played molto accelerando closes the suite.

Fanfare and Grotesque March – Movement 1 (excerpt)
Somber Shades – Movement 2 (excerpt)
Blazing Fury – Movement 3 (excerpt)

The “Love Theme” of this work is presented by the violin after a short piano introduction which itself is based on the “Love Theme” mirrored. These two themes, the original and the mirrored, alternate, then gradually intertwine until a portion is heard simultaneously. The instruments then begin to exchange this theme portion building to a climax of a few measures in unison. The coda highlights the first interval of the two themes (a major seventh ascending and a major seventh descending) moving to a unison note which represents the Biblical passage, “These two shall become one.”

Music is a unifying force, and yet is expressed in so many differing ways. This thought, central to the National Federated Music Clubs, is the basis of the composition. The quartet opens with unison pitches in fanfare-like manner. Gradually wider and wider intervals emerge leading to the opening theme in the first violin accompanied by sustained fifths in the cello with the second violin and viola offering syncopated pizzicato chords. Then the cello and first violin exchange roles. Finally the theme is heard in unison by the two inner instruments with the outer ones adding the punctuated chords. Descending pizzicatos lead to sustained chords by the three lower strings while the first violin plays a lengthy cadenza-like melody. The final section is in fugato-style using the melody of the NFMC national hymn, “Lasst uns erfreuen,” as thematic material. The ending is the opening in retrograde, the final note being in unison as it was in the beginning.

This student suite has five movements: Ionian Etude, Dorian Dance, Phrygian Fantasy, Lydian Lament, Mixolydian Mania

This student suite has five movements: Ionian Idyll, Dorian Dervish, Phrygian Frolic, Lydian Longing, Mixolydian Majesty. Also contains a glossary and an explanation of the five modal scales.