Here’s a link to a YouTube of “Blue Merengue,” one of the five Latin dances with percussion from Dances for Harp and Flute. When I made this video, I was thinking of the approach of summer and of my friend and neighbor Martha Wilson, cook and gardener extraordinaire, who makes the best salsa in the world from ingredients she grows in her garden. There is no better way to spend a summer evening  than sitting on her deck, surrounded by her flowers, drinking mojitos, and eating her delicious food.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KTSNRsLIEs

Here’s the information for ordering Dances for Flute and Harp from Afghan Press:

http://www.afghanpressmusic.com/en/513-dances-for-harp-and-flute.html

“Blue Merengue” comes in two versions in the collection, for harps tuned in E flat and for harps tuned in C.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, Dances for Flute and Harp comes with an optional CD with tracks for the Five Latin Dances–a full performance of each, the percussion tracks, and music-minus-one type practice tracks for both harp and flute.

Susan grows beautiful houseplants (I kill them almost as easily as she grows them), and one of her pets is a gorgeous hibiscus (a houseplant here in Vermont!)  So after I wrote the piece for her, I made it into a video featuring images of hibiscus flowers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqI2Wwlat7w

Below is the Afghan Press page with ordering information about Dances for Harp and Flute.

http://www.afghanpressmusic.com/en/513-dances-for-harp-and-flute.html

The collection, as noted in an earlier post here, includes “Waltz in E Minor” and a group of five Latin dances.  The five dances include percussion parts, and an optional CD comes with the book which contains the tracks of the complete pieces, the percussion tracks alone (which my flute partner and I have enjoyed playing along with) and “music-minus-one” type practice tracks for both the harp and the flute.

Dance Suite in Eb: Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue for lever harp tuned in Eb or any pedal harp.  Original music composed in a dance style by Darhon Rees-Rohrbacher.

This collection of four dances is reminiscent of the classic Baroque dance suite – with a contemporary touch – arranged for lever and pedal harps. It is designed primarily for recital, background or wedding use. However, it may be used to accompany actual dancing by repeating each selection several times. Chord symbols are provided so that the right-hand melody may be played by any C instrument accompanied by harp, lute, guitar or keyboard. Suggested fingering are provided as a convenience. However, the harpist should use whatever fingerings best facilitate performance, on an individual basis. The range is C which is 2 octaves below middle C, up to the first ledger line G above treble staff. If you play an octave up, you can use a smaller harp which goes to the C below middle C.

The four movements are as follows:

• Allemande
• Courante
• Sarabande
• Gigue

For more information, or to purchase, visit the following link:

http://www.folkharp.com/dev/index.php?id_product=3015&controller=product

Price: $12.50

SKU: 93236

For the harper or harpist who does a lot of weddings and worship services, this book is a must-have! It contains the accompaniment to Ave Maria in several different keys so that you can find one to suit any vocalist. In addition, there is a solo harp version – one for lever and one for pedal.

For more information, or to purchase, go to the following link:

http://www.folkharp.com/dev/index.php?id_product=706&controller=product

One of the most lyrical yet technically skilled of poets, Wilbur writes in sophisticated verse forms filled with wit and learning.  His long career has been filled with honors and awards, including two Pulitzer prizes and a tenure as the Poet Laureate of the United States.  He might be best known to musicians and music lovers as the lyricist for many of the songs in Leonard Bernstein’s Candide:  “Glitter and Be Gay” and “We’ll Make Our Garden Grow” are two of the pieces from that opera/musical with lyrics by Wilbur.

I am deeply honored that he has allowed me to set “The Catch,” a charming and elegant poem describing that moment when a wife returns from a successful shopping trip.

“From the dress box’s plashing tissue paper

She pulls out her prize . . .”

The speaker in the poem, the husband, doesn’t appreciate the dress until she puts it on, with jewelry and

“A light perfume,

Whose subtle field electrifies the room.”

Now satisfied that her husband realizes the value of her purchase, the wife puts the dress away,

“. . . hung now in the fragrant dark

Of her soft armory.”

That last word, armory, with its layers of suggestion and its reference to the historical origins of the word armoire, is a small but typical example of the learning and wit of Wilbur’s poetry.

Musically, the setting oscillates its rhythm between the opening tango and a waltz (when , for example, the wife models the dress for her husband).

“The Catch” is available in Songs for Married Lovers, from Afghan Press, Melody’s Traditional Music, and other fine music stores.

http://www.afghanpressmusic.com/en/502-songs-for-married-lovers.html