Overview

Eb Tenor Horn recording

Kyle Ritenauer (conductor) Sheona, Jeffrey Kaufman at Power Station Recording

Sheona, Joe Turrin, Jeffrey Kaufman at Powerstation Recording

Eb Tenor Horn recording 2

NOTICE

If you would like to purchase this CD and you live in the UK or Europe, you may purchase it directly from Sheona (Wade) White at: https://www.sheonawhite.co.uk/ For direct  USA sales: jeffkauf@yahoo.com Downloads and Streams are available from all preferred vendors.

Jeffrey Kaufman

In late 2021 I was in the process of composing two works, the first a Sonata for Piano and bass instrument, the other a Concerto for a bass instrument and String Orchestra. In February of 2023 I attended a concert of the Imperial Brass New Jersey, which featured Sheona White. Up until this point I had not heard Ms. White’s name, nor had I ever heard solos performed on an Eb Tenor Horn, an instrument of which I was equally ignorant. By the end of the concert and Sheona’s performance I knew that the two works I was in the midst of creating had to be totally revised for Eb Tenor Horn. I sent them to Sheona to see if she might find them of interest. I was so pleased when she responded most enthusiastically.

I told her that The Concerto in three movements (entitled ESSAY), might receive a performance in early August. Well, that performance never materialized but I was able to put together a string orchestra in New York for a recording. This recording would include other new works for Eb Tenor Horn by Joseph Turrin and Dorothy Gates.

My Sonata would be completed by the time of Sheona’s visit for the recording. I asked her if she would be interested in recording it as well. She said yes. I immediately contacted my good friend and colleague pianist Ron Levy who also enthusiastically agreed.

The ESSAY is in three movements

1. Sempre Agitato e Aggressivo. As the title implies, it is from the outset, restless and aggressive. Filled with strong, somewhat violent string accents also utilizing a sting technique known as col legno in which the player strikes the strings with the wooden part of the bow, creating a percussive effect.
2. Berceuse. A berceuse simply put is a lullaby. Here, a simple tune played by the horn is accompanied by muted strings playing undulating harmonies in 3/4 time.
3.  Moto Perpetuo. As in the first movement, this too is aggressive and virtually non stop. Strong pizzicato accents and powerful violin quadruple stops bring the movement to a seven bar String Bass pizzicato solo which is accompanied by soft eerie harmonies in the high strings. This exact solo is then taken up by the Horn leading to the next driving section featuring a string technique known as saltando or richochet. There is then a repeat back to the beginning of the movement a jump to the Coda, and a final solo statement by the Horn.

          The Sonata is in three movements.

The first, Introduction Serioso and Song. A dramatic opening then leads to a strange tune (Vaudeville), not at all in keeping with the style of the opening, however, the dramatic opening returns to close out the movement.

The second movement: Lento Arioso and Elegy, is a work predominantly in 4/4 with a harmonically lush piano accompaniment. An elegiac middle section develops with a secondary theme, followed by a return to the opening motif concluding with a final statement of the elegy.

The last movement is a Capriccio Molto Vivace featuring an unrelenting piano acompaniment in 6/8. The middle section does however slow to manageable 2/4 until returning to the original 6/8 tempo, a brief pause, then finishing Prestissimo.

Romance for Tenor Horn and string orchestra

Joseph Turrin

I wrote Romance for Sheona White after I heard a concert she did in Montclair, NJ. I told her I was interested in writing something for her and the result off that conversation was Romance which I scored for solo horn and brass band. She was in the process of putting a recording project together in England and mentioned that she was interested in recording the piece. A few weeks later my good friend Jeffery Kaufman approached me and mentioned he would be interested in producing a recording on his label Phoenix USA featuring Sheona with string orchestra and asked if Romance could be transcribed for strings. After carefully looking at the brass band score I saw that it could work perfectly for horn and strings.

Vespera

The composition Vespera is the second movement from my Symphony Celestium for chamber orchestra. Each of the movements is based on celestial terms and events. The middle movement of the Symphony is titled Vespera which is derived from the word Vesper meaning evening and sometimes associated with the planet Venus, making its appearance as a evening star, but actually in reality a planet. Vespera is an ethereal movement conjuring up the quiet and peaceful mood of the evening.

Dorothy Gates

“You use a mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul”
– George Bernard Shaw.

Michelle Baker, (a long time friend), commissioned me to write Imaginings for her performance in recital at the International Women’s Brass Conference, June 2017. Michelle asked me for a “low” solo which would play to her strengths. The recital coincided with her retirement from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the title Imaginings is a nod towards her imagining her new life in retirement with her husband Charlie.

Dorothy Gates was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Like her fellow countryman, George Bernard Shaw, she believes in the power of art to see your soul and transform the world. Dorothy received her Bachelor of Music degree in Composition and Trombone Performance from Queens University Belfast, Master of Music degree in Trombone Performance from the University of Michigan and her PhD in Composition from the University of Salford. Her principal composition teachers were Kevin Volans, George Wilson, Joseph Turrin and Peter Graham. Dorothy spent twenty years as the Senior Music Producer for The Salvation Army’s Eastern Territory in New York and the Composer-in-Residence for the New York Staff Band. She was the first woman Composer/Editor to be employed by The Salvation Army in this role. Currently Dorothy, and her husband Mark live in Staunton, VA where they serve as Salvation Army officers.