Schirmer edition of 24 Italian Songs & Arias of the 17th and 18th Centuries has introduced millions of beginning singers to serious Italian vocal literature. Offered in two accessible keys suitable for all singers, it is likely to be the first publication a voice teacher will ask a first-time student to purchase. The classic Parisotti realizations result in rich, satisfying accompaniments which allow singers pure musical enjoyment. For ease of practice, carefully prepared accompaniments are also recorded on CD by John Keene, a New York-based concert accompanist and vocal coach who has performed throughout the United States for radio and television. Educated at the University of Southern California, Keene has taught accompanying at the university level and collaborated with Gian Carlo Menotti and Thea Musgrave on productions of their operas.

    Contents: Two-Part Inventions: Invention in C Major, BWV 772 * Invention in C minor, BWV 773 * Invention in D Major, BWV 774 * Invention in D minor, BWV 775 * Invention in E-flat Major, BWV 776 * Invention in E Major, BWV 777 * Invention in E minor, BWV 778 * Invention in F Major, BWV 779 * Invention in F minor, BWV 780 * Invention in G Major, BWV 781 * Invention in G minor, BWV 782 * Invention in A Major, BWV 783 * Invention in A minor, BWV 784 * Invention in B-flat Major, BWV 785 * Invention in B minor, BWV 786 * Three-Part Inventions (Sinfonias): Sinfonia in C Major, BWV 787 * Sinfonia in C minor, BWV 788 * Sinfonia in D Major, BWV 789 * Sinfonia in D minor, BWV 790 * Sinfonia in E-flat Major, BWV 791 * Sinfonia in E Major, BWV 792 * Sinfonia in E minor, BWV 793 * Sinfonia in F Major, BWV 794 * Sinfonia in F minor, BWV 795 * Sinfonia in G Major, BWV 796 * Sinfonia in G minor, BWV 797 * Sinfonia in A Major, BWV 798 * Sinfonia in A minor, BWV 799 * Sinfonia in B-flat Major, BWV 800 * Sinfonia in B minor, BWV 801

    Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) ranks as one of the most original French composers of his time, a consummate craftsman who continually sought perfection of form and style, and whose unique harmonic language was unmistakably his own. Along with Debussy, he stands in the front rank of great modern composers for the piano and his piano music includes a number of masterpieces considered vital to the repertoire of any serious pianist. This handsome, affordable volume reprints a rich selection of his compositions: "Pavane pour une infante défunte," "Jeux d'eau," "Sonatine," "Miroirs," "Menuet antique," "Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn," "Gaspard de la nuit," and more.From the dazzling "Jeux d'eau," whose inventiveness and harmonic ingenuity opened a whole new era in sound, to the beloved "Pavane pour une infante défunte," to the suite "Gaspard de la nuit," music of legendary difficulty that every serious pianist eventually attempts, the piano music of Ravel is among the most recorded and performed in the repertoire. This inexpensive Dover edition makes that music available, at a reasonable price, to pianists who wish to play and study the works of a composer in the vanguard of "the new order of post-Lisztian piano writing."

    It is a purely instrumental composition, both hopeful and romantic in feeling. The restrained mood and thematic economy of the symphony make it one of the least extravagant of the composer's works; it is also one of the most enjoyable.Despite the lack of a "program" for the 7th, some critics profess to find that "a good case can be made out for the symphony as a whole having been consciously built round the poetic idea of nocturnal nature, progressing through various shades of darkness" (New Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians). Now musicians and music lovers can make their own determination by studying this inexpensive edition of the complete score, reprinted from the authoritative German edition of 1909.