Face First

First performed in 1979 at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. by Jazz Violinist Sergiu Luca and the composer at piano. The Sonata is in four movements: Summer Dreams, Brutal-fast, Adagio, and In Memory of Joe Venuti. Duration ca. 16 minutes.

Tribute revolves on a dual axis comprised of two lyrical themes that generate the other musical ideas appearing throughout this one movement work. The first theme is given to the piano in the opening and the second theme is announced by the violin on the heels of the opening piano section. Both Themes are developed and elaborated on, woven in and around one another, until they are, at length, transformed into new themes that are more dramatic and rhythmic that their lyrical forebears. The end of the work is announced when a hymn-like section commences in the piano after a genuinely loud climactic section.
- Stephen Albert

Commissioned by Music Associates of Aspen and The Martin and Deborah Flug Foundation. Duration ca. 17 Minutes.

The recent release of Bolcom's first and fourth violin sonatas marks the first time all four of these great works are available. Performers, teachers and student violinists will include these in their repertory.

This volume presents the Concerto for violin, strings and basso continuo, BWV 1041, in A minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. The first and second movements of this concerto are particularly popular among learnings and can be played after a few years of lessons. Our edition allows you to work through the piece systematically and at different tempi with accompaniment.

Lista utworów:
I. Allegro moderato BWV 1041 (Bach J. S.)
II. Largo BWV 1041 (Bach J. S.)
III. Allegro assai BWV 1041 (Bach J. S.)

Dowani 3 Tempi Play Along is an effective and time-tested method of practicing that offers more than conventional play-long editions. Dowani 3 Tempi Play Along enables you to learn a work systematically and with accompaniment at different tempi. The first thing you hear on the CD is the concert version in a first-class recording with solo instrument and orchestral, continuo, or piano accompaniment. Then the piano or harpsichord accompaniment follows in slow and medium tempo for practice purposes, with the solo instrument heard softly in the background at slow tempo. Finally you can play at the original tempo to the accompaniment of an orchestra, piano, or basso continuo. All versions appearing on the CD were recorded live by renowned soloist, accompanists, and orchestras. There are no synthesised sounds in a Dowani edition!

Dowani 3 Tempi Play Along is an effective and time-tested method of practicing that offers more than conventional play-long editions. Dowani 3 Tempi Play Along enables you to learn a work systematically and with accompaniment at different tempi. The first thing you hear on the CD is the concert version in a first-class recording with solo instrument and orchestral, continuo, or piano accompaniment. Then the piano or harpsichord accompaniment follows in slow and medium tempo for practice purposes, with the solo instrument heard softly in the background at slow tempo. Finally you can play at the original tempo to the accompaniment of an orchestra, piano, or basso continuo. All versions appearing on the CD were recorded live by renowned soloist, accompanists, and orchestras. There are no synthesised sounds in a Dowani edition!

The publication of the Complete Works of Henryk Wieniawski is a critical edition. It is based on sources, which consist of sketches and manuscripts of the entire pieces of music or their fragments, as well as of those verions of a work which came into being with the composer's editing or those which he authorised (the first editions, the so - called authorized copies).

Lista utworów:
Légende pour violon avec accompagnement de piano op. 17 (Wieniawski Henryk)

Louis Spohr (1784 - 1859) to niemiecki skrzypek, kompozytor i dyrygent. Z jego dwunastu koncertów skrzypcowych w dzisiejszym repertuarze utrzymuje się VIII Koncert skrzypcowy a-moll op. 47 skomponowany w 1816 roku. Spohr nazwał go "Koncertem w formie sceny wokalnej". Koncert składa się z następujących części:
I - Recytatyw (Allegro molto), w którym charakterystyczne jest przeplatanie się energicznego tematu orkiestry z patetycznymi deklamacjami solowych skrzypiec;
II - Aria - składa się z dwóch ogniw: lirycznego (w pięknej kantylenie skrzypiec rozwijającego się ariosa - Adagio) i z właściwej arii (Allegro), w której mocny temat główny łączy w sobie motywy recytatywu i ariosa.
W Finale instrumenty przyjmują już zdecydowaną postawę, ukazując swoje możliwości wirtuozowskie.
Niniejsze wydanie zawiera jedynie pierwszą część koncertu - Recytatyw (Gesangsszene) na skrzypce i wyciąg fortepianowy partii orkiestry.

Nieoficjalny tytuł tego dzieła "Pisendel Konzert", pochodzi od Johanna Georga Pisendela, współczesnego Vivaldiemu skrzypka, który dzięki patronatowi Fryderyka Augusta II mógł pobierać u niego lekcje. Na oryginalnym rękopisie znalazła się wzmianka na ten temat, dopisana dużo później, gdy koncert został odnaleziony w posiadłości Pisendela.

Luigi Boccherini (1743 - 1805) to włoski kompozytor i wiolonczelista okresu klasycyzmu. W jego dorobku znajduje się około 600 utworów, w tym m. in. symfonie, koncerty wiolonczelowe, utwory kameralne, oratoria i kantaty. "Sonata B-dur" na skrzypce i fortepian (lub klawesyn) op. 5 nr 3 pochodzi ze zbioru "Sei sonate di cembalo e violino obbligato" wydanego w 1769 roku w Paryżu. Utwór ten posiada dwuczęściową budowę: cz. I - Moderato con espressione oraz cz. II - Allegro. Jest to kompozycja w typowej klasycznej stylistyce.

Work in the first position by German violinist, Oskar Rieding.

Lista utworów:
Violin Concerto in G op. 34 (Rieding Oskar)

Burlesque for violin and piano was composed in 1990. The light and cheerful four-minute miniature contains elements evocative of earlier composition by Romuald Twardowski - Capriccio in Blue of 1979. Just like in that composition, we will find echoes of American folk music and jazz in Burlesque. The piece was first performed by Sławomir Tomasik (violin) and Barbara Topolnicka (piano) in Warsaw on 9th December 1991.

Lista utworów:
Burleska (Twardowski Romuald)

Introduction and Allegro, composed in 2000, in respect of the form and stylistic devices closely resemble a composition created by Romuald Twardowski in the previous year - Pastorale e danza. However, this composition is shorter, as it lasts five minutes, and easier for the performer. The composer himself emphasises that first of all he had in mind younf violin players while writing the Introduction and Allegro. It is, however, no obstacle to the piece being performed by virtuoso violinists. The composition was first performed in Warsaw on 16th February 2001. Andrzej Gębski (violin) and Romuald Twardowski (piano) were the performers.

Lista utworów:
Introdukcja i Allegro (Twardowski Romuald)

Associating the title of the composition - Pleiades - with the poem by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz is thoroughly justified. By his composition for violin and piano Romuald Twardowski wished to pay tribute to the poet, with whom he was a close friend. The piece was composed in 1993, thirteen years after the poet's death. In the musical language of Pleiades we shall find traces of works by karol Szymanowski. In Pleiades Twardowski uses similar solutions regarding the music texture, such as the high register of the violin playing the cantilena against the background of figurative arabesques of the piano. Irregular rhythm structure of the melodic line can also be encountered in Pleiades. The composition was first performed by Piotr Stawski (violin) and Maciej Grzybowski (piano) in Warsaw on 25th October 1993.

Lista utworów:
Plejady (Twardowski Romuald)

Although Romuald Twardowski wrote the Three Studies - caprices for solo violin in 1992, it took quite a long time for the work to make it to the world premiere, due to his uncertainty regarding the way the second study should be performed with its changeable, capricious mood. It was not until several years later that he succeeded in giving it the form of a dialogue - a clash between two opposing phrases. Andrzej Gębski completed it, editing its performance. The first public presentation of the work took place in Warsaw on 13 December 2005.

Lista utworów:
Etiuda - Kaprys Allegro (Twardowski Romuald)
Etiuda - Kaprys Andante capriccioso (Twardowski Romuald)
Etiuda - Kaprys Allegro (Twardowski Romuald)

Lista utworów:
Wariacje na temat piosenki Lecha Miklaszewskiego "Uczeń pierwszej klasy" (Krzanowska Grażyna)