Archive for the ‘Publishing’ Category

Scores Published: honey cadence

Larget-Caplan’s Debut Compositions “honey cadence” Published

Boston, MA — Celebrated guitarist and composer Aaron Larget-Caplan announces the inaugural collection of compositions, “honey cadence,” published by the New York publisher American Composers Alliance (ACA). This groundbreaking collection of six captivating meditative guitar solos showcases Larget-Caplan’s exceptional musicality and introduces audiences to a new side of the celebrated performer.

The compositions featured on “honey cadence” were meticulously crafted by Larget-Caplan during the latter part of 2021 and early 2022. Each piece reflects his profound connection to the guitar as a medium for expressing emotions and evoking introspective journeys. The album’s meditative nature is designed to envelop listeners in a tranquil and contemplative sonic landscape, offering moments of serenity in an increasingly fast-paced world.

Released as an EP in 2022, “honey cadence” has since garnered extraordinary acclaim, amassing over 3-million streams since its debut on the label Tiger Turn, a testament to Larget-Caplan’s ability to resonate with a wide range of listeners. Produced by multi-Grammy winner Kabir Sehgal, the album exemplifies a harmonious collaboration between two brilliant minds in the world of music.

Commenting on the creative process behind “honey cadence,” Larget-Caplan expressed, “I started sketching melodies and gestures that were floating in my head with the intent of creating an album of meditative intimacy, which though on the quiet side, would be able to keep one’s attention. Improvisations highlighting my preferred qualities of the guitar: tone and timbre variation, note doubling, harmonics, pitch bends, and percussion gave me the confidence and freedom to explore. Each of the six titles has a connection to music, as well as general language, i.e., ‘anticipation’ is a musical ornament and linguistically expresses expectation or prediction.”

Physical scores or PDFs of the 32-page publication are available. They include notes and instructions about each of the compositions, as well as inspiring quotes by composer John Cage, Toru Takemitsu, and Larget-Caplan.

As a respected figure in the world of classical and contemporary guitar, Aaron Larget-Caplan has continuously pushed the boundaries of his craft, garnering recognition for his innovative approach to both performance and composition. “honey cadence” stands as a testament to his artistic evolution and serves as a testament to his dedication to enriching the world of music.

For further information and to explore the mesmerizing sounds of “honey cadence,” please follow Aaron Larget-Caplan on social media platforms.

***** 

honey cadence Links:

ACA (PDF & physical) • Score Collection: Bandcamp (autographed and includes free download of album)

AUDIO:
Amazon  • Apple • Spotify 

About Aaron Larget-Caplan:

Aaron Larget-Caplan is an acclaimed guitarist, composer, and educator known for his pioneering approach to classical and contemporary guitar music. With a career spanning decades, Larget-Caplan has established himself as a dynamic and innovative artist, captivating audiences with his emotive performances and groundbreaking compositions. His work has been recognized globally, earning him a reputation as a trailblazer in the world of music.

Socials: fb/ig/x: @alcguitar, yt/tt: @aaronlcguitar

About American Composers Alliance:

The American Composers Alliance (ACA) is a renowned organization dedicated to the promotion and preservation of American contemporary classical music. Founded in 1937 by such luminaries as Aaron Copland, ACA has played a pivotal role in nurturing the work of composers across generations, fostering a vibrant community of creators and performers who shape the landscape of modern composition.

Composers.com 

AWARD Publishing: Cage’s Bacchanale

LARGET-CAPLAN’S JOHN CAGE ARRANGEMENT WINS NATIONAL AWARD

The Music Publishers Association of the United States presented a Paul Revere Award for Graphic Excellence in June to Aaron Larget-Caplan for his arrangement of Bacchanale by John Cage, for two prepared guitars published by Edition Peters. The Bacchanale publication was issued in the fall of 2022 and won second prize in Music for Fretted Instruments category.

It is the third in a series of John Cage arrangements for guitar done by Larget-Caplan. The first ‘Six Melodies’ for violin and guitar from 2015 were followed by a collection of seven solos by Cage titled ‘Piano Music for Guitar’ in 2017. They are the first arrangements to receive permission from the Cage estate for publication, and have been widely acclaimed for their inventiveness, quality, and playability.

Larget-Caplan recorded all these compositions on his extensively praised album, ‘John. Cage. Guitar.’ It was issued by Stone Records (UK) in 2018. Classical Guitar Magazine said, “Aaron Larget-Caplan is fast becoming perhaps the greatest guitar advocate for the music of John Cage.”

Originally a solo work for prepared piano written in 1948 for dancer and choreographer Syvilla Fort, Bacchanale requires the performer to “prepare” the piano. Fort asked Cage for a work for percussion ensemble, but there was not enough room on stage, so Cage experimented by putting items in the piano itself like screws, bolts, washers and insulation. Bacchanale is the first of his works to do such preparations, and he would go to win a Guggenheim Fellowship and an Award from the National Academy of Arts and Letters for his invention of the prepared piano.

Established in 1964 in honor of the 200th anniversary of the first music engraving in America by the famous silversmith Paul Revere, Paul Revere Awards for Graphic Excellence were initially given as a means of alerting the music industry to the advantages of providing the best possible publication from the viewpoint of engraving, graphic arts and production standards. Today the awards still recognize outstanding examples of graphic design, with an emphasis on usability for orchestras, educators, libraries and individuals.

This is the second publication of Larget-Caplan’s to have received Paul Revere Awards for Graphic Excellence from the MPA. In 2021, Larget-Caplan’s Nights Transfigured, Volume 1 of the New Lullaby Project Anthology published in partnership with the American Composers Alliance won multiple awards: 1st prize for Guitar Music Notesetting, and 2nd prize for Book Design and Cover Design.

*See blog post on Nights Transfigured award

Award Information (click)

MUSIC FOR FRETTED INSTRUMENTS
1st Prize: Two Sides (Pierre Jalbert) Schott Music Corporation
Notesetter: Philip Rothman
Production Coordinator: Scott Wollschleger

2nd Prize: Bacchanale (John Cage, Arr. Aaron Larget-Caplan) Edition Peters USA
Notesetter: Aaron Larget-Caplan
Book Design: Héctor Colón
Production Coordinator: Owen Summers

PURCHASE THE SCORE:

Bandcamp (autographed by Larget-Caplan) • Alfred Music

QUOTES:

“John. Cage. Guitar. is an excellent introduction to those who want to approach [Cage] for the first time. Highly recommended.” ~ NeuGuitars (Italy)

“John. Cage. Guitar., quite properly, knows no fear in its blend of delicacy, complexity and amiable simplicity.” ~ Music Web International

AUDIO LINKS:

Stone Records • Spotify • Amazon • Apple

VIDEO:

 

Published Composer – American Composers Alliance

I am very proud to announce that I am now affiliated as a composer with the American Composers Alliance (ACA):

https://www.composers.com/composers/aaron-larget-caplan

My first collection of compositions, honey cadence, are officially published today and available worldwide!

Purchase the physical score through the ACA or on my Bandcamp page HERE. PDFs of the scores area also available HERE.

Based in NYC, the ACA is a nonprofit composer service organization dedicated to the publishing and promoting of American contemporary classical music through concerts, grants, collaborations, and recordings.

Founded in 1937 by Aaron Copland, I am humbled to join this historic organization with its powerful and inclusive vision, and to be affiliated with such a truly fantastic group of composers, a few of whom I am honored to have forged friendships with through music. Learn more about the ACA.

I was introduced to the organization in 2015 by Thomas L. Read. I have since had the pleasure of working as a performer, grant recipient, and curator with their fearless director Gina Genova.

In 2020 and 2021 the ACA co-published two volumes of scores by 30 composers from my New Lullaby Project in the anthologies: Nights Transfigured and Hushed. The first winning multiple Revere Publishing Awards.

The first collection of my own compositions: honey cadence – six meditations for guitar solo are available today! Gratitude to Simon Berry for his excellent work and patience in bringing this publication to life.

The collection, recorded on the honey cadence album has earned over 3-million streams since its release by Tiger Turn in April 2022.

Amazon Music • Spotify • Apple Music

 

A few of the ACA composers I have performed:

Will be playing:

  • Richard Cameron-Wolfe – Heretic – micro-opera (2024)
  • John Anthony Lennon* 
  • Darleen Mitchell*
  • David Liptak*

I look forward to continued collaborations and more musical creations.

*To be rescheduled from 2020

PUBLICATION – Cage’s Bacchanale for 2 Guitars

NEWS!

My arrangement of John Cage’s prepared piano work Bacchanale for 2 prepared guitars is now available through Edition Peters Group !!!

Guitar Preparations

 
Written in 1940, Bacchanale is the earliest of John Cage’s prepared piano works, which was originally written for choreographer and fellow faculty member at Cornish College, Syvilla Fort, who was one of the earliest black choreographers of modern dance in the US.
 
 
From John. Cage. Guitar.

“A rhythmically riotous piece, polyrhythms are created through the music’s consistently adjusting groupings and meters. Bacchanale was first conceived by Cage as a dance work for percussion ensemble by fellow Cornish College faculty choreographer Syvilla Fort, who asked for a composition of African inspiration. The space of the performance was not large enough to allow for the battery of percussion instruments, so Cage decided to fix weather stripping, bolts, screws and nuts into the strings of the piano to create a percussion ensemble, and the first work for prepared piano was born. Its large form being Fast-Slow-Fast, the outside sections are also broken into smaller sections of various levels of Fast-Faster-Fast. The middle section is marked Very Slow-Slow-Slower and has only one dynamic triple piano (ppp). The preparation of the guitars consisted of paper woven through strings 6-2, and an alligator clip on the first string with two washers around it. It is as close to rock and roll as one can get in 1940 or with classical guitars.”

It is the closing track of John. Cage. Guitar, Recorded with Adam Levin on Stone Records.

The score comes with preparation instructions and photos.

Score from Edition Peters: HERE

Signed score directly from Aaron via Bandcamp: HERE

Hear it on John. Cage. Guitar. : SPOTIFY 

Here it live on November 5 at Pomona College in Claremont, California with Aaron Larget-Caplan and Buzz Gravelle

 

Syvilla Fort

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
VIDEO:

2021 – Year in Review

2021 was many things, boring wasn’t one of them!

I’m not great at reflecting on the year, so I made a little list of some accomplishments as this year felt extra special:

  • 13 premieres
  • 2 albums issued
  • 2 anthologies published
  • 12 radio and podcast appearances
  • 6 concerts
  • 4 festivals
  • 3 awards
  • 1 article
  • 450K+ streams!

Not bad for barely leaving home 🙂

May 2022 be all that you wish for and need. I’m preparing for some recordings, concerts (fingers crossed), and a surprise or two.

Thank you for being safe and sharing in my music.


Aaron Larget-Caplan

Year In Review

Premieres

Lainie Fefferman – Carousel – guitar + electronics
Tom Flaherty – Steps and Leaps – guitar + electronics
Alejandro Rutty – Down with those guitars
David Warrin Solomons – Passacaglia
UNC Greensboro Students: Joshua Weitz, Noah Marney, A.J. Lyon – 3 Pieces

New Lullaby Project Premieres

Curtis Hughes – lullibule
John Johnstone – Blue Lullaby
Tom Nazziola – Lull-a-by-the-sea
Ronald Pearl – Berceuse Inquiète
Štěpán Rak – Lullaby
Brian Schober – A Winter Lullaby


L->R top: Johnston, Pearl, Schober
L->R bottom: Nazziola, Rak, Hughes

RECORDINGS ISSUED

A Guitar Holiday – Tiger Turn Records (450K streams!)
Drifting, Volume 3 of the New Lullaby Project – Stone Records
Passacaglia by David Warin Solomons, digital single
Discography of 6 Albums from 2006-2021 issued online by Stone Records

PUBLICATIONS

Nights Transfigured, Volume 1 of the New Lullaby Project, Pub. American Composers Alliance
Hushed, Volume 2 of the New Lullaby Project, Pub. American Composers Alliance 

RADIO & PODCASTS (click–>Podcast)

All Things Cage with Laura Kuhn (3x!)
Café Classicale with Felice Coral
Conducting Conversations with Mike Maino
Exploring Music with Tigran Arakelyan
Classical Guitar Around the World with Kevin Collins (2x)
Guitaromanie! with Karl Wohlwend
All Things Six Strings with Rick Cox
Is That Really Legal with Eric Ruben
Jay Talking with Bradley Jay

FESTIVALS

New Music Gathering, Portland, Oregon
21st Century Guitar Festival – Portugal
Guitar Foundation of America – Denver, Colorado
‘Institute for Effective Training International Conference’ – Russia

AWARDS

Three Revere Awards from the Music Publishers Associations – Nights Transfigured
Grant Southbridge Cultural Council
Small Business Association Grants

CONCERTS

Tew Recital Hall, UNC Greensboro, North Carolina
First Congregation Church Camden, Maine
Robbins Library, Arlington, MA
Zalon, Philadelphia, PA
Jacob Edwards Library, Southbridge, MA
Windhover, Rockport, MA w/ amazing Dancers: Michael Trusnovec, Xin Ying, Annmaria Mazzini,, Thryn Saxon

ARTICLES (click–>articles)

Dorchester Reporter – Larget-Caplan’s new album explores Christmas classics

 

 

Album Review – Nights Transfigured

Nights Transfigured by Aaron Larget-Caplan

“Nights Transfigured, Volume 2 of the New Lullaby Project by Aaron Larget-Caplan is an album filled with creativity, virtuosity, and beauty. It’s more than an album release, it’s a creative project that encourages interaction between the performing artist and composers but also between the compositions themselves. Each composer approaches the lullaby in a new creative way allowing the listener to engage with the album as a conceptual whole. From colourful sensitive phrasing to virtuosic execution of soothing new music textures, Aaron Larget-Caplan’s playing is exquisite. Highly recommended.”

The link includes a few words from me about the album.

Read the complete review at: https://www.thisisclassicalguitar.com/nights-transfigured-aaron-larget-caplan/

 

Year of the New Lullaby!

Happy New Year Fans of the New Lullaby Project!

Thank you for redeeming a bit of 2020. I hadn’t planned on 2020 being the year of New Lullabies for me. I had planned a year of Cage, chamber music and touring, but a chance New Lullaby collaboration at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity with performance artists Laura Sofía Pérez & Jasmine Yeh in January planted a seed that would blossom into two new creations as the pandemic decimated the performing arts.
 
The prospect of recording close to 50 New Lullabies still to be recorded had been a major financial hurdle. Catherine and I had spent the prior 18-months re-organizing our basement with plans to rent short-term, but the Boston Housing Gods decided in June that we had too many rooms for a single family, so no rentals would be allowed in the basement. With Catherine’s blessing, some advice from engineer friends and mentors, I began building a home studio. As the saying goes, If I can’t make money on it, at least I can deduct it for business!
 
At this time, I had a conversation with the director of the American Composers Alliance, Gina Genova, regarding my longtime dream of publishing scores from the New Lullaby Project in an anthology; btw, a collection is different than an anthology. I had received grants from the ACA for the performance of multiple pieces by Thomas L. Read, and the ACA introduced me to the music of Tom Flaherty, so I knew they were a legit organization of awesomeness. They rest, as they say, is history.
 
I’m extremely happy with the album and anthology. I have plans for another album and anthology volume to be released in early 2021.
 
To all of the patient composers and longtime audience members who have expressed support of the project through attending concerts this year online, purchasing the albums and anthology, and writing me directly: THANK YOU!!
 
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
May we Dream Well!
Aaron
 
Lullabies Performed in 2020 (+/-)
Scott Wheeler – Nachtlied
Ken Ueno  – Ed è subito sera
Jacob Mashak – Lulubye
Ian Wiese – Seeketh Not Its Own
Michael J Veloso – Little Dancer
Patricia Julien – After Many Days Without Rain
Jim Dalton – A World of Your Own
Garrett Shatzer – Lullaby for D—
Laurie Spiegel – Watching Rain – world premiere
Stefanie Lubkowski – Drifting – world premiere
Anthony R. Green – Counting Backwards – world premiere
 
Kincaid Rabb – Water Lilies – world premiere
Francine Trester – Lullaby for Our Time – world premiere
Roger Éon – Berceuse
Stephanie Ann Boyd – Esperanza

New Lullaby Concert, 12/10/11, Francine Trester, Hayg Boyadjian, John McDonald, Martin Schreiner, Demetrius Spaneas, Patricia Julien and Jacob Mashak

John McDonald – Upward
Thomas L. Read – The moon through the window shines down
Thomas Schuttenhelm – Wiegenlied
Barnaby Oliver – The Pillow That You Dream On
Agustín Castilla-Ávila – Perseiden
Charles Turner – White Potatoes
Eric Schwartz – Song Softly Sung, In Trying Times
Tim Pence – The Sleeping Guitar
 
New Lullabies Received
Curtis K Hughes – Lullibule
Stepan Rak – Lullaby
 
Special Thanks to Your Heaven Audio, Steve Hunt, Groupmuse, Alex Fedorov, Jeffrey Means, and Simon Berry.
 
 
Listen to all of the New Lullaby Project Releases and order the Anthology: https://alcguitar.bandcamp.com/

New SCORE Anthology Published!

Nights Transfigured, 15 solos for guitar
Dec. 21, 2020

Published by the American Composers Alliance (ACA), ‘NIGHTS TRANSFIGURED’ is the 1st of a multi-volume endeavor exploring  the over 60 compositions written for my New Lullaby Project since 2006. These compositions assert that the sonic boundaries of the guitar are only limited by the composer’s imagination and physical abilities of the player. Whether a student, amateur, or professional there is a lullaby for you. Recordings of works featured are on the 2010 ‘New Lullaby’ and the just released ‘Nights Transfigured’.

  • Download the PDF HERE via the ACA website
  • Physical scores are avaialble on BANDCAMP, the ACA website, or order it from your local music dealer (local is great!)
  • Institutional orders with a discount must be made via the ACA website

Nights Transfigured features new lullabies inspired by composers’ children, song and the intimacy of singing to another, the end of night, poetry, longing for sleep, our troubled times, gentle motion, and of course, the melding of stars and moonbeams. They are lullabies of passage and being, longing and loneliness, marking time, memory, and yet these sonorous landscapes are also inhabited by warmth, hope, and peace.

There is a variety of musical languages–tonal, 12-tone, contrapuntal, North Indian, minimalist, and quasi-improvisational, with many using a mix of them while requiring many extended instrumental techniques. American Composers Alliance is honored to publish and distribute this collection of scores, in partnership with curator, guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan.

One of the leading classical guitarists of his generation; Aaron Larget-Caplan is an enthusiastic ambassador for new music. Following his groundbreaking 2015 release ‘John. Cage. Guitar.’ (Stone Records), Aaron returned to his New Lullaby Project with première recordings, available on Bandcamp and iTunes, and the publication of the score collection.

The score volume includes the following pieces:

3    Francine Trester          my darling’s slumber
6    Agustín Castilla-Ávila   Perseiden
10  Stephanie Ann Boyd    Esperanza
15  Carson Cooman           Unfolding the Gates of Dawn
18  Scott Wheeler               Nachtlied
23  Alan Fletcher                 Lullaby in Three Voices
27  Thomas L. Read           The Moon Through The Window Shines Down
31  Patricia Julien               After Many Days Without Rain
34  Barnaby Oliver             The Pillow That You Dream On
36  David Leisner               Disturbed, A Lullaby
41  John McDonald             You Are Alone To Sleep
45  David McMullin             Sleeping Light, Spinning World
48  Vineet Shende              Reva’s Lullaby
52  Eric Schwartz               Song Softly Sung, in Trying Times
54  Demetrius Spaneas      A Child Sings at Thanksgiving

60 pages, with composer notes on the works and biographies.

Curator’s note (excerpt):

The solos found in this first volume give an introduction to the more than 60 compositions written between 2006-2020 by over 50 composers from nine countries. Volume one contains compositions from Austria, Australia and the USA, and have lullabies inspired by composers’ children, song and the intimacy of singing to another, the end of night, poetry, longing for sleep, our troubled times, and of course, the melding of stars and moonbeams. On a theoretical level there are a variety of musical languages: tonal, 12-tone, contrapuntal, North Indian, First Nation, additive, minimalist, and quasi-improvisational. A few will stand out for their use of extended techniques, only three require scordatura, and harmonics abound!

These compositions assert that the sonic boundaries of the guitar are only limited by the composer’s imagination and physical abilities of the player. Whether a student, amateur, or professional there is a lullaby for you.

American Record Guide: REVIEW John. Cage. Guitar

CAGE: A Room; 3 Easy Pieces; Dream; 6 Melodies; In a Landscape+

Aaron Larget-Caplan, Adam Levin, g; Sharan Leventhal, v

Stone 8083—54 minutes

Aaron Larget-Caplin and Sharan Leventhal both live in my neck of the woods, the north- east—possibly Mr Levin too. Noting that Cage never wrote for the guitar, Larget-Caplin has resolved to make some suitable arrangements of his piano music, which have been issued by Cage’s publisher, CF Peters. They are very effective, though from time to time I miss the resonance of the piano. The best performances are of the 6 Melodies; Larget-Caplan and Leventhal seem to bring a degree of expression and nuance to the music missing in the earlier solo pieces here. But in the marvelous arrangement of Bacchanale, for two prepared guitars, the raucous sounds of the instruments work very well for this exuberant work. The recording sounds a little harsh to me—as if the microphones are too close to the instruments—but that might appeal to listeners who like their CDs to have a little crossover appeal.

HASKINS
p. 83, April 2019

NeuGuitars of Italy features Aaron

Neuguitars, a blog dedicated to contemporary guitar music (classical, jazz and experimental) featured Aaron’s most recent work in a December triple treat:

1 – Album Review – John. Cage. Guitar.
“An excellent introduction to those who want to approach [Cage] for the first time. Highly recommended.”

2 – Interview – “I am a product of consistent work, listening, and collaboration. I have forged my path.”

3 – Video Playlist – John Cage & Elliott Carter

Thanks to Andrea Aguzzi for including me on his wonderful site, and spreading the good sounds far and wide.