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La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder) is one act comic opera first performed in Venice on May 9, 1812. Although the opera is only rarely performed today, the sinfonia (overture) has remained a concert favorite from the outset and is programed often. The name comes from one of the character's lowering a ladder made of silk so that her lover can visit at night. The edition offered here is licensed reprint in reduced format of the critical edition prepared by Clark McAlister first issued as a large score and set of parts in 2013. It includes the editor's informative preface about the performance tradition of the overtures for Rossini's operas, which until very recently have been rather carelessly treated by publishers over the decades. IMSLP page Wikipedia article

Written in September and October of 1880 Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings was completed quickly. While away visiting his sister in Kamenka he "immediately began to feel cheerful, well and relaxed". This work is perfectly reflective of warmth and happiness the composer experienced on his Autumn holiday. Though originally intended to be a suite, Tchaikovsky ultimately created a symphony for strings. Because of its sunniness this work soon become a concert favorite among string players and with audiences worldwide. This newly engraved edition by Richard W. Sargeant Jr. uses the composer's manuscript and the first edition as its primary sources, correcting the many errors and editorial additions that have been added over the years. A beautiful score showcasing one of Tchaikovsky happiest times as the composer intended it. Large conductor's score and parts are also available from Serenissima Music.

Newly edited and engraved study score for the original 1877 version of Tchaikovsky's first ballet masterpiece. Includes Preface, Synopsis, and Cast of Characters. This is the complete orchestral score, not a piano reduction, based upon the composer's autograph, the first edition issued by P. Jurgenson, and the score from Tchaikovsky's complete works. Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky's first venture into ballet, was only moderately successful in its first production at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre. Choreographer Julius Reissinger's dances were not well received, and those of his successor Joseph Peter Hansen fared no better. The ballet was propelled into the permanent repertoire only after a brilliant revival mounted by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov in St. Petersburg more than a year after Tchaikovsky's death from cholera. A new, reasonably priced study score that will be invaluable to students, conductors, music lovers and ballet aficionados everywhere.Originally issued in 2008 by the now-defunct American publisher E.F. Kalmus, the only authorized publisher of the Simpson edition is now Serenissima Music, who also offers the large conductor score (10 x 13 inches, 2 volumes) and orchestra parts (9.5 x 12.5 inches).

SSAATBB Chorus / PianoISMN: 979-0-09300-272-2

Orchestra2+1, 2+1, 2+1, 2+1 - 4, 3, 3, 1 - timp, perc, strsISMN: 979-0-58042-598-0

Flute, Oboe, StringsISMN: 979-0-58042-496-9

Bartok originally set this series of folk tunes for piano in 1915. Two years later, he scored them for small orchestra. This is a newly engraved and corrected edition by Richard W. Sargeant Jr. of this deservedly popular orchestral showpiece, available for the first time at a reasonable price for musicians, students and fans of Bartok's highly individual style in an easy-to-read large score. Matching parts also available from Serenissima Music.

Holst's popular suite was named for the St. Paul's Girls' School of Hammersmith, London - where he was the music director from 1904 until his death thirty years later. Composed in 1912 as a token of gratitude for the installation of a sound-proof teaching studio, where Holst composed this and nearly all subsequent works. The four movement suite was also premiered at St. Paul's by the school orchestra under Holst's direction in the winter months of 1913. Now available in a newly-engraved, easy-to-read score edited by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. which is based on the composer's manuscript and first edition score and parts. IMSLP page Wikipedia

The Moldau (Vltava) is the second tone poem in a set of six from Ma Vlast (My Homeland). The best description is from the composer himself, "The composition describes the course of the Vltava, starting from the two small springs, the Cold and Warm Vltava, to the unification of both streams into a single current, the course of the Vltava through woods and meadows, through landscapes where a farmer's wedding is celebrated, the round dance of the mermaids in the night's moonshine: on the nearby rocks loom proud castles, palaces and ruins aloft. The Vltava swirls into the St John's Rapids; then it widens and flows toward Prague, past the Vy¿ehrad, and then majestically vanishes into the distance, ending at the Labe". Composed rapidly between November 20 and December 8 of 1874, it was premiered in Zofrin on April 4, 1875 with the orchestra conducted by Adolf Cech. It was last of the two symphonic poems from the series to be published in the composer's lifetime. The newly engraved edition offered here has been prepared by Richard W. Sargeant Jr. from the primary sources and dispenses with some of the odd additions made by various publishers in the early part of the 20th century and is a must for all who treasure Smetana's orchestral masterpiece. Large conductor's score and parts are also available from Serenissima Music.

Originally composed for piano duet, Debussy's Peite suite was first peformed in Paris by the composer and Jacques Durand at a private hearing on February 2, 1889 and became immediately popular after its publication the same year. Its widespread popularity resulted in demands from the publisher for an orchestral setting. The composer, too busy with new works, ultimately assigned the orchestration task to the conductor Henri Busser. This is the orchestral version most widely performed and recorded today. This is a newly-engraved urtext edition of this orchestral favorite prepared by one of Serenissima's finest editors Richard W. Sargeant Jr. IMSLP page All Music Guide

One of the first Russian tone poems, Night on Bald Mountain had its genesis in the late 1850s when Mussorgsky started sketches for a projected opera: St. John's Eve (1858), later changed to The Witch (1860) - based upon a scenario about a witches' sabbath on St. John's Eve. These were abandonded by the early 1860s but Mussorgsky contemplated a tone poem using the material featuring piano and orchestra along the lines of Liszt's Totentanz. The work was finally completed on St. John's Eve (June 23) of 1867 as an orchestral tone poem entited St. John's Eve on the Bare Mountain. The symphonic poem was never performed in the composer's lifetime. After rejection for performance, Mussorgsky reworked the material two more times for operatic projects that never materialized. After the composer's death his friend Rimsky-Korsakov prepared a new arrangement based on the last version composed for the opera Sorochintsy Fair which was published in 1886. Rimsky's arrangement became very popular, especially after its use in the 1939 Walt Disney film Fantasia in a very bowldwerized orchestration made by Leopold Stowkowski. Rimsky's setting is the work offered here - in a newly engraved edition by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. It is now often regarded as more of a fantasy on themes by Mussorgsky composed by Rimsky-Korsakov. IMSLP page Wikipedia article

There have been several orchesatrations of Bach's famous organ masterwork over the years, including some by notable conductors such as Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy, Rene Leibowitz, Andrew Davis plus a couple by comoposers: Ottorino Respighi and the one offered here by the Russian Aleksandr Gedike. The exact date of Gedike's orchestration is unknown but could date from before the Russian revolution of 1917 which would make it one of the earliest orchestral settings. It's a splendid example of Gedike's typically Russian orchestrational style which employs the full compliment of orchestral forces. The score offered here is a newly engraved edition prepared by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. IMSLP page Wikipedia

Elgar's Serenade for Strings is a youthful work full of charm and elegance. Completed in 1892, it is most likely a reworking of a suite Elgar had written some years earlier and has been a long-standing favorite of string orchestras and audiences worldwide ever since its publication the same year. Even though the first known public performance was given in Antwerp on July 21, 1896, at least one movement was performed in Worcester by the Worcester Ladies' Orchestral Class in March 1892 under the composer's direction. Richard W. Sargeant, Jr.'s newly engraved edition showcases this brilliant work and is available for the enjoyment of professionals and amateurs alike. IMSLP page Wikipedia article

The Polovtsian Dances from Borodin's Prince Igor consist of two numbers from the opera's second act (8 and 17). The first dance is the 'Dance of Polovtsian Maidens' while the remaining of the dances come from the second act finale. Borodin worked sporadically for almost 18 years on Prince Igor but it was left in an incomplete chaotic state upon his death in 1887. The dances here were orchestrated by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov for an 1879 concert performance and subsequently revised by him after the opera's publication in 1888. This newly engraved edition by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. has been meticulously researched from authoritative sources so that Borodin's masterful dances are available for the enjoyment of professionals and amateurs alike. IMSLP page Wikipedia article

Grieg's orchestral setting of five of his 6 Lyric Pieces, Op.54 for piano actually started with an orchestration made of Nos.2, 3, 4 and 6 by Anton Seidl (1850-1898), then conductor of the New York Philharmonic, for an 1894 concert under the title Norwegian Suite. In 1905, the composer obtained a copy of Seidl's score and set about re-working the orchestration of the four numbers above and added his own of the first number from the piano original, ultimately subtracting No.6 (Klokkeklang = Bell-Ringing) before publication. The orchestral setting was thus published with only 4 movements and given its premiere by the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam in April of 1906 with the composer conducting. This newly engraved edition by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. is based upon the composer's manuscript and the first edition full score issued by C.F. Peters in late 1905. The editor has included the Grieg's orchestration of No.6 as an optional second movement.

Reznicek's early comic opera Donna Diana, premiered at Prague's New German Theatre on December 16, 1894, was fairly popular in its day but largely forgotten now. Fortunately, its delightful overture rapidly took on a life of its own in the concert hall, where it soon became part of the standard repertoire. This new edition prepared by Richard W. Sargeant Jr. is based upon the first edition of the opera full score issued by Schuberth in 1895 and showcases Reznicek's orchestral brilliance for the enjoyment of professionals and amateurs alike. IMSLP page (opera) Wikipedia article (opera)

Despite his overall misgivings about composing music for exhibitions, Tchaikovsky composed what was to become one of his most popular works between September and November of 1880. The commission was for an Arts and Industry Exhibition to be given in the summer of 1881 to commemorate the Russian victory over the Napoleonic forces in 1812. Because of the murder of Tsar Alexander II in 1881, the exhibition was delayed to the next year and the premiere took place on August 20, 1882 with the orchestra and band conductor by Ippolit Altani. Despite the composer's expressions of disappointment with the work, numerous performances took place starting withing a year of its publication.For this edition Tchaikovsky's manuscript was used as the principal source to correct the changes that have been inserted over the decades in the different publications. The manuscript itself contains errors including many missing accidentals. Where there are sixteenth notes with accidentals much of it is hard to read. Most of the missing accidentals have been supplied by those found doubled in other instruments and were fixed without comment. The brass band parts follow the composer's manuscript and first edition rather than the odd additions which seem to have been inserted into the Schmeling edition issued by Breitkopf und Hartel early in the last century. IMSLP page Tchaikovsky Research

Mozart had been commissioned to compose a requiem by Count Franz von Walsegg to be performed on the anniversary of his wife Anna's death on February 14 of 1791. Left incomplete upon Mozart's untimely death on December 5th the same year, Mozart's widow Constanze (anxious to receive the last half of the payment for the commission) entrusted the completion first to Joseph von Eybler - who returned the manuscript in frustration after working on the Dies irae through the Lacrimosa. Constanze then assigned the task to Franz Xaver Sussmayr who finished the task so the score was dispatched to the count in the Spring of 1792 complete with his forged signature of the composer dated the same year. Walsegg had a reputation for passing off the works of other composers as his own and was no doubt planning to do likewise with Mozart's work. He was not the only person to receive a copy of Sussmayr's completion, for Constanze sold one to the King of Prussia in March of 1792. Despite the stipulation in the commission that the work not be published, Constanze ultimately sold copies of the work to Breitkopf & Harel and Johann Andre. Walsegg was additionally upstaged for the premiere by a benefit performance given on January 2, 1793 in Vienna for Constanze.The generous-format study score offered here is a newly engraved and thoroughly researched edition by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. based upon the Mozart's holgraph fragment, Sussmayr's completion and other primary sources. IMSLP page Wikipedia article

La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder) is one act comic opera first performed in Venice on May 9, 1812. Although the opera is only rarely performed today, its overture (or sinfonia) has remained a concert-hall favorite and is programed often. The opera's title comes from one of the character's lowering a ladder made of silk so that her lover can visit at night. This newly engraved edition by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. is a welcome addition showcasing Rossini's quick wittedness. IMSLP page Wikipedia article

Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne (What one hears on the mountain) is a symphonic poem inspired by Victor Hugo's poem of the same name. Composed in 1846, three years before Liszt's tone poem on the same subject, the score remained unknown until 1922. The score offered here is a newly engraved edition prepared by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. based upon the composer's manuscript preserved at the French National Library.Although the editor has been faithful to Franck's manuscript, a few changes have been made for the sake of practicality in performance. Due to the replacement of natural horns and trumpets with valved the chromatic instruments like those employed today during the composer's own lifetime the brass has been reorganized. The manuscript features first and second natural trumpets and horns (respecvtively in E and E-flat) alternating notes to acheive melodic passages. These sections have accordingly been amended to be performed by valved trumpets or horns in unison. Starting in measure 187 flute 1 has a solo followed by an extremely long held note - impossible for a single player. This long note has therefore been split between overlapping flutes 1 and 2.Possibly the first symphonic poem ever composed, Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne is a truly magnificent work with a brilliant orchestration which has been unduly disregarded for far too long. Hopefully this new, highly readable score will open the doors to more performances so audiences can appreciate the composer of the much later Symphony in D minor in an entirely new way.

Franck's Piano Concerto in B minor is an early work written when he was only 13 years old to showcase his piano talents. A fragment of one of his two piano youthful concertos (likely this one) was performed in Paris at 62nd concert of L'Athénée musical on February 23, 1837 featuring the composer as soloist and the orchestra conducted by J.J. Vidal but there doesn't seem to be any further record of a performance in Franck's lifetime. In the manuscript the orchestra parts contain very few dynamic markings and almost no articulations. These have been supplied by the editor for balance and style. Franck calls for a pair of horns in D and a second pair in B basso. The first pair (in D) take the upper notes only when all four horns are playing; the second pair (in B basso) play throughout the entire work. The horn parts have therefore been reorganized for the present edition so that Horns 1 & 2 play the orginal D parts when all four horns are playing and take music originally assigned to the B basso parts elsewhere. Since Horns 3 & 4, Trumpets and Trombones seldom play, the editor has provided cues for these sparse parts so that the work can be performed with a smaller orchestra.While the piano solo in the manuscript has been marked with dynamics throughout, there are few articulations. The few that are indicated have been also been applied to parallel passages by the editor. As Franck left phrasing, pedaling, articulations for the soloist to decide (as was the tradition), the editor has not supplied any. Richard W. Sargeant, Jr.'s, newly engraved edition is based directly upon the composer's manuscript preserved at the French National Libarary, brings to life an early but impressive work that is undeservedly overlooked and neglected. IMSLP page YouTube (listen)

First composed in 1809 as a viola showpiece for his for his step-brother Fritz, Weber's Andante et rondo ongarese remained unpublished in the composer's original settng for decades after the composer's death. In the wake of the touring composer's great success with his Clarinet Concertino of 1811 - composed for Heinrich Baermann, virtuoso clarinetist of the Munich Court Orchestra sortly after the composer's arrival there, the orchestra's bassoonist Georg Friedrich Brandt demanded a concerto for bassoon, which was premiered later the same year - again to great acclaim. In 1813 Brandt asked Weber for another bassoon concerto, so the composer reworked his earlier viola showpiece into the one for bassoon and orchestra which is the version ultimately published and generally known today. This newly engraved edition by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. corrects the numerous mistakes that are in the parts and presents for the first time a published orchestral score using both the manuscript and the original parts as sources. IMSLP page All Music Guide

Written in 1809 for his step-brother Fritz for viola and orchestra, Weber's Andante e rondo ongarese was never published in the composer's lifetime. In 1813 when Georg Friedrich Brandt asked for another Bassoon Concerto, the composer reworked it featuring Bassoon as the solo instrument, which is the version published as Op.35 and the one generally known today. Using the holograph manuscript as the authoritative source, Serenissima's newly engraved edition by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. allows conductors, students and musicians to appreciate the original version composed with a concertante viola in mind, which contrasts with the well-known Op.35 in a number of significant details. IMSLP page All Music Guide

Dedicated to the father of the to symphonic poem Franz Liszt, Borodin's In the Steppes of Central Asia is a musical depiction of a caravan traveling through the steppe lands of the Caucasus under the protection of Russian troops. The premiere took place in St. Petersburg on April 20, 1880 with the Orchestra of the Russian opera under the baton of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The work begins quietly and gradually leads to the climax with the two major themes, Russian and Asia being played simultaneously. The work ends with fragments of the themes fading away in the distance as the caravan disappears. This newly engraved edition prepared by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. showcases this brilliant work for the enjoyment of professionals and amateurs alike. IMSLP page Wikipedia article

L'apprenti sorcier - also widely known as The Sorcerer's Apprentice - is a symphonic poem originally subtitled as "Scherzo after a Ballad by Goethe". Inspired by Goethe's poem of the same name, Dukas' musical depiction closely follows the narrative of the original tale. Because of this, Disney animated the story for the film Fantasia which resulted in the work becoming widely known to mainstream audiences around the world. The study score offered here is a newly engraved edition meticulously prepared from the primary sources available by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. IMSLP page Wikipedia article