YouTube: 'Songs of Haiti / Chansons d'Haiti' Orchestrated by Julio Racine

[Julio Racine]

The Haitian composer and arranger Julio Racine (b. 1945) is profiled at AfriClassical.com. On July 17, 2011 a collection of songs of Julio Racine was posted on YouTube. The accompanying information was posted in French, which we have translated as follows:

Songs of Haiti Orchestrated by Julio Racine

Songs of Haiti, or Chansons d'Haiti, is a compilation of folk songs, traditional songs and classical songs of Haiti, presented in the form of collections. The First Volume for guitar chords and voice contains 20 songs. The Second Volume for piano and voice contains 10 songs. The CD attached to the second collection contains songs sung by K. Margron and Ricot Mazarin, orchestrated by Julio Racine as well as piano accompaniments of Werner A. Jaegerhuber and guitar accompaniments of Frantz Casseus.

These collections will soon be available on the Internet.

'wind quintet arrangement' of 'Fig Leaf' rag of Scott Joplin on YouTube in 'electronic reproduction'

[Joplin Piano Rags; Roy Eaton, piano; Sony SBK 833 (1995)]

The Symphonic Garden offers a wind quintet arrangement of the Fig Leaf rag of Scott Joplin (1868-1917), the African American composer and pianist of Ragtime and Classical Music. Scott Joplin is profiled at AfriClassical.com. The time of the work is just under 4 minutes, at 3:52:

“This is a wind quintet arrangement I made of 'Fig Leaf' rag, originally written for piano by Scott Joplin in 1908. This piece is more complex and intricate than many other rags, and I've woven the melody throughout the various instrument parts so that each player is challenged.

“The sound file in this video is an electronic reproduction of what the piece is supposed to sound like, although I am hoping to obtain a live recording in the future. The instrument parts are represented on the 'piano roll' as follows:

flute - orange

oboe - green

clarinet - blue

French horn - purple

bassoon - pink

“Please visit http://thesymphonicgarden.com to order sheet music and hear additional compositions and arrangements.”

GuitArt Quartett Oldenburg & Trio Scorsonère play 'Frevo' by Celso Machado on YouTube

[Celso Machado]

Celso Machado (b. 1953) is an Afro-Brazilian classical guitarist and composer who is profiled at AfriClassical.com and has a personal website, http://www.CelsoMachado.com A YouTube video which was posted September 26, 2010 presents a delightful live performance of Celso Machado's Frevo (1:52) by a total of seven musicians. They belong to two ensembles, the Classical GuitArt Quartett and Trio Scorsonère, a clarinet trio:

“September 26, 2010

Classical GuitArt Quartett Oldenburg (Germany) and Clarinet Trio play 'Frevo' by Celso Machado, arranged by GuitArt Quartett and Trio Scorsonère / live 9/25 2010

Trio Scorsonére: Mira Grotke, Kirsten Wagener, Christiane Fiedler;

GuitArt Quartett: Norbert Fischer, Andreas Hölzer, Raphael Grotke, Werner Bornhorst

YouTube: 1924 Edison Recording of 'La Bella Cubana' by José Silvestre White (1835-1918)

[José Silvestre White (1835-1918); photo from http://www.guije.com/libros/musical/white/f1.jpg]

'La Bella Cubana' (6:13) by the Afro-Cuban composer José Silvestre White (1835-1918) can be heard on a YouTube video: “An experimental recording in 1924 by Thomas Alva Edison.” "La Bella Cubana ‐ José White (composer)”. "La bella cubana", a Habanera, was originally written for two violins and piano."

"La Bella Cubano- Habanera

Performed by: El Trio Cubano - violins and piano 

Record format: Edison Diamond Disc test pressing 

Matrix number: 9717-A-1-1 

Recording date: September 18, 1924 

NPS object catalog number: EDIS 77575

This item is part of the collection: Open Source Audio

Author: El Trio Cubano

Date: 1924-00-00 00:00:00

Source: National Park Service

Creative Commons license: Public Domain"

[José Silvestre White, or José Silvestre White y Lafitte, was an Afro-Cuban violinist who became a composer and professor after graduating from the Paris Conservatory. He is profiled at AfriClassical.com. A full catalogue of José White's surviving compositions has been compiled by Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma, Professor of Music at Lawrence University. It was published in Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2, Fall 1990, and can also be found on the José Silvestre White page of the website.]

Girma Yifrashewa's Work “Ambassel” From CD “Elilta” Is On YouTube

[Elilta: Ethiopian Classical Music By Girma Yifrashewa; Girma Yifrashewa, piano; Doroteya Dimitrova, violin; Lyubomir Nikov, cello; Mikhail Zhivkov, clarinet; Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra; Dian Tchobanov, Conductor; Balkan Multimedia Center (2006)]

“Elilta”, which means “Cry of Joy”, is the second classical recording of the Ethiopian pianist and composer Girma Yifrashewa (b. 1967). As we reported recently, individual tracks can now be purchased for download at Girma's website. AfriClassical has learned that Track 2, “Ambassel” (9:40) can be heard in its entirety on a YouTube video.

Comment on Jonathan Cambry, African American Pianist (b. 1982)

On April 24, 2008 AfriClassical posted “Jonathan Cambry (b. 1982), African American Pianist in Chicago, Performs on YouTube”. Today we received this appreciative comment from Jay: “Jonathan Cambry is one of the best classical pianist minds that I've ever seen in person. Anyone who has seen his YouTube videos has to be surprised with what they see, not just as an African American, but as an accomplished pianist. Thanks for covering him!”