| There were times when I thought seriously to myself that Carey Blyton may well be a better writer than composer, but then I thought again… | ||
| —Gary Higginson, MusicWeb International |
Click the quotation text to discover what it refers to!
| There were times when I thought seriously to myself that Carey Blyton may well be a better writer than composer, but then I thought again… | ||
| —Gary Higginson, MusicWeb International |
Click the quotation text to discover what it refers to!
Fand Music Press is a publisher of high quality sheet music, CDs and books, all focussing on accessible 20th Century and contemporary composers and concentrating mainly on first editions. Please use the tabs at the top of the page to explore the catalogue. Further details, such as information about ordering, can be found on the Contact/Info page.
Book now for an exciting event: Carey Blyton & Friends is a celebratory concert marking the 80th anniversary of Carey Blyton’s birth. The performers are:
The concert will feature primarily the work of Carey Blyton, along with that of his friends and pupils, such as Frank Bayford, John Mitchell and Peter Thompson, together with music by Warlock and Moeran (Blyton was a member of the Warlock Society and wrote a radio play about Warlock and Moeran).
Also featured will be three world premiere performances: Sir Arnold Bax’s Welcome, Somer, Peter Thompson’s Dawn and In the Highlands by George Butterworth.
The concert will take place at The Warehouse, London (very close to Waterloo station). Booking is by souvenir programme and spaces are limited. You are therefore strongly advised to book well in advance.
To book, go to the concert page and use the ‘Add to Cart’ button to pay via PayPal. For further enquiries, phone Fand on 01730 267341.
The publication of Sir Arnold Bax’s Welcome, Somer is another important first for Fand; this is a previously unpublished Bax song: a vigorous and typically characterful setting of words by Chaucer, for either soprano or tenor voice and piano.
In 1914, Bax composed Three Rondels by Chaucer for high voice and piano, of which only the first, Roundel, was ever published; the other two, Welcome, Somer and Of her Mercy, remained in manuscript form only.
Welcome, Somer was completed on 20 October 1914, four days before the wedding of Joan Thornycroft, its dedicatee, to the composer Herbert Farjeon; the song was clearly intended as a wedding present. It is a setting of a rondel near the end of Chaucer’s long poem, The Parlement of Foules, in which a narrator describes a dream-vision.
Fand’s other November releases feature the music of Peter Thompson. A pair of keys/quays to start with: The Keys of Heaven is Thompson’s individualistic arrangement of a Cheshire folksong for four voices (SATB, with piano reduction for rehearsal purposes), whilst his Sidlesham Quay is an original piece for solo piano: a limpid impression of a watery landscape, suitable for pianists of Grade 5 and above.
Finally, Thompson’s new Sonatina for Piano is a substantial four-movement work for pianists of around Grade 8 standard.
As a supplement to the recent publication of Carey Blyton’s The Christmas Spirit in its two different authentic scorings for two equal voices and piano and choir (SATB) and string orchestra, Fand has also published a new arrangement of the piece for choir (SATB) and piano. This helpful and easily performed new scoring may be used in its own right – thus making the work more readily accessible for public performance – or may be used as a rehearsal score while learning the version for choir and string orchestra.
Fand is delighted to announce the availability of two new additions to the catalogue. Peter Thompson’s newly written The Renaissance Spirit is a warmly contemplative and sensitive work for piano, dedicated to the memory of John Barton Armstrong, a Renaissance man.
In a lighter and more humorous mood, Carey Blyton’s The Christmas Spirit is available in two versions: one for choir (SATB) and string orchestra and a more easily staged version for two equal voices and piano. The Christmas Spirit is a typically witty Blyton work, with comical words set to memorable tunes, interspersed with snatches of well-known existing melodies. These accessible pieces should be ideal seasonal fare for both youth choirs and amateur ensembles alike.
These issues introduce a new presentational style for Fand sheet music, with attractive full-colour covers that match the look of this Web site.
The version of The Christmas Spirit for two equal voices and piano has been recorded on the CD, The Choral Music of Carey Blyton, also available from Fand.
The Fand site has just undergone a major overhaul to add sound samples to its pages. The samples are of generous length and unusually good quality for a Web site. All CDs include sample tracks (including, in the case of shorter tracks, full-length samples). As for sheet music, a full performance is provided wherever possible, so as to allow visitors to get a good sense of the entire piece. A Speaker and Notes icon is used to indicate pieces that have associated sound samples; either alongside the titles in tabular listings or as badges on covers, as in the following example:
Fand is pleased to release two versions of Peter Thompson’s Capriccio for Violin and Orchestra, composed in 2007. As well as the orchestral version (which itself is available to buy as a regular-sized score or in a conductor-score edition), a reduction for violin and piano is also available.
We are delighted to be able to offer this double-CD box set of M. S. Sharifian’s monumental Islamic oratorio.
Eclipse is the first symphonic work based on a religious subject ever to be written in the 1400-year history of Islamic culture. As such, it is surely “crossover” music at its most pertinent, blending, as it does, so many different aspects of East and West. The result is a powerful and moving statement, the music combining elements of both traditions into one, thereby mirroring one of the most important issues facing contemporary mankind. It is performed, fittingly, by a truly international cast: a Romanian orchestra, the Oltenia Philharmonic Choir, a Persian traditional singer and Western soloists, including the British soprano, Florence Lippett.
This is a unique opportunity to purchase the first edition of a landmark recording. Translated explanatory notes are included with the CD, which has original booklet notes in Persian.
After a long period of preparation, Fand Music Press is very excited to launch its landmark event of the year: AN ENTIRE NEW WEB SITE! This isn’t just a superficial makeover; it’s a completely new database-driven site, planned afresh and written from scratch.
We hope you will enjoy exploring the features of the new site, which is far more detailed than ever before. The new database underlying the site contains just about everything you might want to know about the products in the Fand catalogue, and the site can now automatically cross-reference and catalogue pieces by instrument, by composer and so on. Use the tabs at the top of the page to explore what’s available. The buttons in the left column bring you back to this News page or provide additional information about Fand.
You will also notice that we now have online ordering for all items, accomplished through PayPal. This should make ordering items immeasurably easier than it was previously, as well as being a quicker and more secure process. (However, you can still send us a cheque through the post if you would really prefer to use the old ordering method!)
There’s still more to come, too. Although this new site is fully working and complete in itself, it will be expanded over the coming weeks and months to include further new features, such as:
As if the new Web site weren’t enough, Fand has also produced two exciting new musical issues:
Sir Arnold Bax’s A Rabelaisian Catechism was written in 1920, and was one of a set of seven arrangements of French folksongs that Bax wrote at that time, but the only one never to be published until now. Set for baritone and piano, it takes the form of a chanson de série in which a question is put twelve times and the answer given cumulatively, in the manner of The Twelve Days of Christmas. Peter Thompson’s The Oblation is a delicate new setting of a poem by A. C. Swinburne for medium voice and piano.
Welcome to Fand’s latest news. We must draw your attention to new items in our catalogue. You will possibly already be aware of our edition of Gary Higginson’s Shadows for piano; it is a set of pieces of Grades 3–4 level, and is a great introduction to different styles of composition. Here Higginson ‘shadows’ various composers, from Machaut to George Lloyd, from Bach to Peter Warlock. The volume has been welcomed enthusiastically by both Music Teacher and Piano magazines. And now, new this summer, comes Scenes from Shakespeare, again by Gary Higginson. It is a follow-up volume to Shadows, and is a set of eight pieces for pianists of higher grade, each prefaced by a quotation from Shakespeare.
Next, the first ever edition of Sir Arnold Bax’s Salzburg Sonata in B flat for piano. This piece, written by Bax in his 50s, is tremendous fun both to play and to listen to. It was never published in his lifetime, yet Bax clearly liked it, incorporating the second movement into his Violin Concerto, and, as the manuscript shows, devoted a lot of time and care into its composition. It is a great rarity, and will get you chuckling with delight as the ‘brazen romantic’ puts the ‘classical sonata’ through its paces. It includes an introductory note from Graham Parlett.
Another volume we must mention is the Fand Grade 5 Piano Album. Here is a varied selection of pieces from Sir Arnold Bax (the Minuet from the Salzburg Sonata) to Roger Eno; from Francis Pott to Warlock and Fauré tributes by Gary Higginson; from … well, discover for yourself—that’s Fand’s motto! There’s nothing above Grade 5 level here; 13 pieces, 31 pages.
Regular visitors to our site will know that we are constantly bringing out new sheet music titles, books and CDs. New publications in 2009 were Peter Thompson’s Roundels for violin and ’cello duo, and John Barton Armstrong’s 24 Preludes for piano, an exciting new exploration of the 24 keys. Following on from the latter, and now available, is Composer Interview no 2 with John Barton (Barry) Armstrong (born 1923), providing an insightful view into his long composing life.
Other publications that you might have missed include Notes to Myself for piano by Roger Eno, Pagodas for piano duet by John Mitchell, Sonatina for bass clarinet (or bassoon) and ’cello by Peter Thompson, When most I wink with words by William Shakespeare, set to music by Gary Higginson, The Bishop’s Prayer with words by Bishop Graham of Carlisle, also set by Gary Higginson, and Three Lieder on Poems by Hafez by M. S. Sharifian, an old friend of Fand Music Press but our first publication of his work.
Now also newly available: Et Omnes Eandem, a short motet for SATB by Gary Higginson, Three Pieces for solo oboe by Martin Read, a piano miniature, Kimberley, by David Llewellyn Green and, also for piano, Peter Thompson’s Suite no 7.
We would also like to remind you of our very prestigious earlier book publication, the collected poems of Dermot O’Byrne (Sir Arnold Bax’s literary pseudonym) in a large volume entitled IDEALA. This fascinating book, edited and introduced by Bax’s first biographer, Colin Scott-Sutherland, contains much other source material from the young Bax, including love letters, music and writings by those who knew him intimately. A significant treasure trove indeed!
A companion volume, The Collected Poems of Clifford Bax, also edited by Colin Scott-Sutherland, is well into preparation. Watch this space!
Returning to sheet music, our recently published Fand Left-Hand Piano Album has provoked enormous interest worldwide! Take a look at its page on this site for further details, plus a selection of the published reviews.
Much more is in the pipeline, so please bookmark our site and come back regularly!
