Below you will find pieces written / arranged for orchestra by
Daniel Laubacher. Scores / Parts as well as extracts are available
at
Magic Bubble Music - Laubacher Edition (MBM-LE), a secure eStore of
SibeliusMusic.com. Click the desired link:
"The Snow Queen" is a symphonic poem for orchestra inspired by the
story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. It was written as
incidental music to my young daughter's school production in
Switzerland.
The evil Snow Queen lures the young boy Kay to stay with her at her icy
home in the most northern part of Finland (Lapland). Gerda, Kay's best
friend, takes it upon herself to find him. She meets a princess and
prince (who she thought might be Kay), an old woman who shows her a
wonderful garden, a robber girl with a flying reindeer, and two women
from Finland and Lapland. In the music one can hear the Snow Queen
represented by a rather agressive theme in the low instruments. The
great hall of the Snow Queen's Palace is represented in the middle of
the symphonic poem. Voices (singing "ah") are used to add colour to the
"icy" part of the piece.
Gerda succeeds in finding her friend, sneaking him away from the Snow
Queen who had left Kay alone and frightened. They make their way back
home but not before saying goodbye to the friends who helped them.
Melodic material representing each of the characters is brought back to
accomplish a sense of closure to the form.
"The Essence of Simplicity within an Entity" is based on a 12-tone
row: A-Eb-F-Ab-B-E-D-G-Bb-Db-C-F#. Four main sections of the piece
present the original, retrograde, inversion and retrograde inversion.
The presentation of the "hope" trumpet motive from my symphonic poem
"Within the Walls..." appears (it sounds more "normal"). In addition a
quote of Bach's chorale No. 185: "Nun freut euch, Gottes Kinder all" is
played by the brass. A bit later, one hears the strings performing a
slowly moving Bach harmony while other instruments play motives heard
earlier in the piece. The ending attempts to resolve the tension (the
"entity") by hinting at the second half of the "hope" theme.
This is the "Ricercar a 6" from Book I J.S. Bach's Musical Offering
for harpsichord, BWV 1079. It has been arranged for fl, ob, cl in Bb,
hrn, tbn or bsn, timp and strings. I first arranged and performed this
work in 1993 for the Southbank International Youth Orchestra (SIYO) in
London. After years sitting in storage, I decided to work on it again,
making quite a number of significant changes.
A symphonic poem for orchestra, soloists (Soprano, Tenor, Descant),
childrens choir. It was dedicated to "all prisoners of conflict
around the world" and written for a benefits concert for the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Kuwait.
Zärtliche Liebe(Tender Love) by Ludwig von Beethoven, arr. for string
Quartet by Daniel J. Laubacher
This is a string quartet arrangement of the Lied "Zärtliche Liebe"
(Tender Love) - music by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), text by K. F.
Herrosee. It was composed around 1797, originally in the key of G. This
arrangement is in the Key of C in order to utilise the higher range
potential of the first violin, which carries the main (vocal) melody.
Bowings are suggestive and may be altered as needed. The piece may also
be repeated, perhaps even doubling the cello with a double bass.
The Essence of Simplicity within an Entity
Ricercar a 6 by J.S. Bach,
Within the Walls...
Zärtliche Liebe