{"title":"Sheet music composed by Ailsa Dixon (1932-2017)","description":"Ailsa Dixon (1932-2017) was a composer from United Kingdom.","products":[{"product_id":"a-dixon-variations-on-love-divine-composers-edition","title":"A. Dixon: Variations on Love Divine","description":"\u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eComposer\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003ca href=\"\/fr\/collections\/ailsa-dixon\"\u003eAilsa Dixon (1932-2017)\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e \u003cstrong class=\"original-instrumentation-title\"\u003eInstrumentation\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cspan class=\"original-instrumentation\"\u003eString Quartet (Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello)\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWork\u003c\/strong\u003e: Variations on Love Divine (1991)\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli class=\"binding hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBinding\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSize\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cspan class=\"book-width\"\u003e8.3\u003c\/span\u003e x \u003cspan class=\"book-length\"\u003e11.6\u003c\/span\u003e inches\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli class=\"book-pages hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePages\u003c\/strong\u003e: None\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"row\"\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c!-- split --\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"row\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"one-half columns\"\u003e \u003ch4\u003eDescription\u003c\/h4\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"feature_divider\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cp\u003eWritten in 1991-2, Ailsa Dixon's final work for string quartet, Variations on Love Divine, represents an unusual foray into religious chamber music. One source of inspiration may have been Haydn's Seven Last Words from the Cross (suggested in the penultimate variation's echo of its final tremolando earthquake). Woven around Stainer's familiar Anglican hymn tune, the Variations offer a musical exploration of the meanings of divine love, from the opening of St John's Gospel ‘In the beginning was the Word' through the nativity, passion and ascension, to a culminating vision of heavenly joy. in a private recording made by the Rasumovsky Quartet in the mid-1990s, the titles or short texts heading each variation were spoken (by the viola player Christopher Wellington), allowing the listener to follow a kind of musical meditation. This spiritual journey takes us through a sound-world that is by turns mysterious, lyrical, dramatic, poignant, and finally exultant in ‘The Song of Praise and the Dance of Joy'.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Composers Edition","offers":[{"title":"Score \u0026 Set of Parts","offer_id":45119559434319,"sku":"ce-ad1vld1-pr-sp","price":65.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Full Score","offer_id":45119559467087,"sku":"ce-ad1vld1-pr-s","price":21.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0900\/1828\/files\/45a0d0b8fab70e0dd79ea74146bc60dd.jpg?v=1776804692"},{"product_id":"a-dixon-nocturnal-scherzo-composers-edition","title":"A. Dixon: Nocturnal Scherzo","description":"\u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eComposer\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003ca href=\"\/fr\/collections\/ailsa-dixon\"\u003eAilsa Dixon (1932-2017)\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e \u003cstrong class=\"original-instrumentation-title\"\u003eInstrumentation\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cspan class=\"original-instrumentation\"\u003eString Quartet (Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello)\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWork\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003ca href=\"\/fr\/collections\/a-dixon-nocturnal-scherzo-1986\"\u003eNocturnal Scherzo (1986)\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli class=\"binding hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBinding\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSize\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cspan class=\"book-width\"\u003e8.3\u003c\/span\u003e x \u003cspan class=\"book-length\"\u003e11.6\u003c\/span\u003e inches\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli class=\"book-pages hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePages\u003c\/strong\u003e: None\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"row\"\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c!-- split --\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"row\"\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Composers Edition","offers":[{"title":"Score \u0026 Set of Parts","offer_id":45149241835599,"sku":"ce-ad1ns1-pr-sp","price":57.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Full Score","offer_id":45149241966671,"sku":"ce-ad1ns1-pr-s","price":16.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0900\/1828\/files\/ee528db36386596f356e857c08badc6f.jpg?v=1777327482"},{"product_id":"a-dixon-sohrab-and-rustum-composers-edition","title":"A. Dixon: Sohrab and Rustum","description":"\u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eComposer\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003ca href=\"\/fr\/collections\/ailsa-dixon\"\u003eAilsa Dixon (1932-2017)\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e \u003cstrong class=\"original-instrumentation-title\"\u003eInstrumentation\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cspan class=\"original-instrumentation\"\u003eString Quartet (Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello)\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWork\u003c\/strong\u003e: Sohrab and Rustum (1987)\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli class=\"binding hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBinding\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSize\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cspan class=\"book-width\"\u003e8.3\u003c\/span\u003e x \u003cspan class=\"book-length\"\u003e11.6\u003c\/span\u003e inches\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli class=\"book-pages hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePages\u003c\/strong\u003e: None\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"row\"\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c!-- split --\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"row\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"one-half columns\"\u003e \u003ch4\u003eDescription\u003c\/h4\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"feature_divider\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSohrab and Rustum\u003c\/em\u003e, written in 1987-88 and premiered in London in 1992 by the De Beauvoir Quartet, is the most ambitious of Ailsa Dixon's works for string quartet. A substantial through-composed piece, it was inspired by Matthew Arnold's narrative poem of 1853, drawn from a Persian epic, which tells the story of the fatal encounter between an estranged father and son on opposite sides of a battle between the Tartar and Persian armies. Arnold was among the composer's favorite poets, and in later life she recalled reading his works to her father as he was dying. The music is a vivid response to the poem's human drama and atmospheric setting.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Composers Edition","offers":[{"title":"Score \u0026 Set of Parts","offer_id":45149245014095,"sku":"ce-ad1sar1-pr-sp","price":65.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Full Score","offer_id":45149245046863,"sku":"ce-ad1sar1-pr-s","price":18.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0900\/1828\/files\/a466764df504d1712d52b9d747571ec5.jpg?v=1777327783"},{"product_id":"a-dixon-shining-cold-composers-edition","title":"A. Dixon: Shining Cold","description":"\u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eComposer\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003ca href=\"\/fr\/collections\/ailsa-dixon\"\u003eAilsa Dixon (1932-2017)\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e \u003cstrong class=\"original-instrumentation-title\"\u003eInstrumentation\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cspan class=\"original-instrumentation\"\u003eCello, Soprano, Viola, Ondes Martenot\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWork\u003c\/strong\u003e: Shining Cold (1986)\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli class=\"binding hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBinding\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSize\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cspan class=\"book-width\"\u003e8.3\u003c\/span\u003e x \u003cspan class=\"book-length\"\u003e11.6\u003c\/span\u003e inches\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli class=\"book-pages hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePages\u003c\/strong\u003e: None\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"row\"\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c!-- split --\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"row\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"one-half columns\"\u003e \u003ch4\u003eDescription\u003c\/h4\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"feature_divider\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cp\u003eWritten in 1986, \u003cem\u003eShining Cold\u003c\/em\u003e is a haunting vocalise exploring the different sonorities of the high soprano voice, strings (viola and cello) and the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument best known for its role in Messiaen's Turangalîla symphony. It was premiered along with Ailsa Dixon's \u003cem\u003eNocturnal Scherzo\u003c\/em\u003e for string quartet at the Little Missenden Festival in 1986, by members of the Brindisi Quartet, with soprano Sally Harrison, and Cynthia Millar, Britain's foremost classical performer on the ondes Martenot.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Composers Edition","offers":[{"title":"Score \u0026 Set of Parts","offer_id":45149256351823,"sku":"ce-ad1sc1-pr-sp","price":57.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Full Score","offer_id":45149256384591,"sku":"ce-ad1sc1-pr-s","price":18.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0900\/1828\/files\/2f53e13194784ed9ead6aeb7fe3857e5.jpg?v=1777328323"},{"product_id":"a-dixon-the-lost-scherzo-composers-edition","title":"A. Dixon: The ‘lost' Scherzo","description":"\u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eComposer\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003ca href=\"\/fr\/collections\/ailsa-dixon\"\u003eAilsa Dixon (1932-2017)\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e \u003cstrong class=\"original-instrumentation-title\"\u003eInstrumentation\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cspan class=\"original-instrumentation\"\u003eString Quartet (Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello)\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWork\u003c\/strong\u003e: The ‘lost' Scherzo (1955)\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli class=\"binding hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBinding\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSize\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cspan class=\"book-width\"\u003e8.3\u003c\/span\u003e x \u003cspan class=\"book-length\"\u003e11.6\u003c\/span\u003e inches\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli class=\"book-pages hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePages\u003c\/strong\u003e: None\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"row\"\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c!-- split --\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"row\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"one-half columns\"\u003e \u003ch4\u003eDescription\u003c\/h4\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"feature_divider\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe revival of Ailsa Dixon's music has been a story of rediscovery. Many previously unheard works were discovered in manuscript in her archive after she died in 2017 and premiered posthumously, but it was not until several years later that the manuscript of a work for string quartet believed to have been lost turned up in an attic. The ‘lost' Scherzo is her earliest surviving work, written in 1955 at Durham University, where it earned her the Kisch Prize.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis lively, mercurial piece features frequent changes of time signature, possibly hallmarks of her early interest in Bartók, whom she cited in later life as an inspiration for his ‘elasticity of musical motifs'. The work's free and playful counterpoint shows the beginning of her compositional style, with a tonality suggesting influences from 20th-century British composers. The work received its first performance 70 years after it was written, by the Villiers Quartet on their recording of Ailsa Dixon's chamber music, The Spirit of Love, released on the Resonus Classics label in 2025.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e© Josie Dixon\u003c\/p\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Composers Edition","offers":[{"title":"Score \u0026 Set of Parts","offer_id":45149259038799,"sku":"ce-ad1tls1-pr-sp","price":57.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Full Score","offer_id":45149259563087,"sku":"ce-ad1tls1-pr-s","price":16.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0900\/1828\/files\/ac6554d1269f1fd9f1302c590d651e84.jpg?v=1777328563"},{"product_id":"a-dixon-the-spirit-of-love-composers-edition","title":"A. Dixon: The Spirit of Love","description":"\u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eComposer\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003ca href=\"\/fr\/collections\/ailsa-dixon\"\u003eAilsa Dixon (1932-2017)\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e \u003cstrong class=\"original-instrumentation-title\"\u003eInstrumentation\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cspan class=\"original-instrumentation\"\u003eSoprano, String Quartet (Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello)\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWork\u003c\/strong\u003e: The Spirit of Love (1987)\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli class=\"binding hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBinding\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSize\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cspan class=\"book-width\"\u003e8.3\u003c\/span\u003e x \u003cspan class=\"book-length\"\u003e11.6\u003c\/span\u003e inches\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli class=\"book-pages hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePages\u003c\/strong\u003e: None\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"row\"\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c!-- split --\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"row\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"one-half columns\"\u003e \u003ch4\u003eDescription\u003c\/h4\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"feature_divider\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe performance history of Ailsa Dixon's music is one such story of rediscovery, and The Spirit of Love was among the works found in manuscript in her musical archive after she died in 2017. Composed in 1987-88 for German soprano Christiane Bracher, the songs were never publicly performed in the composer's lifetime. After her death, the score was digitised by the Savo Music Society's women composers project in Finland. The work was given its posthumous premiere in 2020 at St George's Bristol by soprano Lucy Cox with the Villiers Quartet, and appears as the title work on their 2025 release of Ailsa Dixon's chamber music on the Resonus Classics label.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Composers Edition","offers":[{"title":"Score \u0026 Set of Parts","offer_id":45149262512207,"sku":"ce-ad1sol1-pr-sp","price":73.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Full Score","offer_id":45149263724623,"sku":"ce-ad1sol1-pr-s","price":21.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0900\/1828\/files\/43552053346449e6c23f6b5a58650a47.jpg?v=1777328863"},{"product_id":"dixon-songs-to-medieval-latin-lyrics-composers-edition","title":"A. Dixon: Songs to Medieval Latin Lyrics","description":"\u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eComposer\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003ca href=\"\/fr\/collections\/ailsa-dixon\"\u003eAilsa Dixon (1932-2017)\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e \u003cstrong class=\"original-instrumentation-title\"\u003eInstrumentation\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cspan class=\"original-instrumentation\"\u003ePiano, High Voice\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWork\u003c\/strong\u003e: Songs to Medieval Latin Lyrics (1991)\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli class=\"binding hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBinding\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSize\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cspan class=\"book-width\"\u003e8.3\u003c\/span\u003e x \u003cspan class=\"book-length\"\u003e11.6\u003c\/span\u003e inches\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli class=\"book-pages hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePages\u003c\/strong\u003e: None\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"row\"\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c!-- split --\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"row\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"one-half columns\"\u003e \u003ch4\u003eDescription\u003c\/h4\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"feature_divider\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cp\u003efor soprano or tenor and piano\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCuckoo, come!\u003c\/em\u003e and the two \u003cem\u003eSongs for Sarah\u003c\/em\u003e are settings of poetry from Helen Waddell's 1929 translation of Medieval Latin Lyrics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe lines set in \u003cem\u003eCuckoo, Come!\u003c\/em\u003e are from the end of ‘The Strife Between Winter and Spring' by Alcuin, a Carolingian writer and scholar originally from York. The contest between the two seasons is focused on the song of the cuckoo as the harbinger of spring. At the outset of the poem, winter had done his worst to hold the cuckoo's song at bay (‘Let him not come'), but eventually ‘Old Palemon spake from his high seat' to adjudicate the contest, and pronounces spring the victor with this lyric.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe two \u003cem\u003eSongs for Sarah\u003c\/em\u003e were written for the composer's elder daughter, setting a short lyric by the 9th-century Benedictine monk and scholar, Walafrid Strabo. The poem is headed ‘To a friend in absence' and imagines the moon's radiance shining down on two friends or lovers separated by distance, so that ‘in one splendour foldeth gloriously Two that have loved, and now divided far, Bound by love's bond, in heart together are'.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Cum Splendor Lunae' sets the Latin original in recitative style, while ‘When the moon's splendour' gives a more lyrical setting of Helen Waddell's English translation of the same lines. They join a long tradition of love songs setting poetry addressed to or musing on the moon, including many German lieder and Dvořák's famous ‘Song to the Moon' from his opera Rusalka. While most are settings of Romantic poets such as Heine and Goethe, the words of this striking and tender lyric by a medieval monk predate them by almost a millennium.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e© Josie Dixon\u003c\/p\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Composers Edition","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45176480890959,"sku":"ce-ad1stml1-pr-s","price":18.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0900\/1828\/files\/c1477a00e742835db54ddf9cd0f369c9.jpg?v=1785416569"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.ficksmusic.com\/fr\/collections\/ailsa-dixon.oembed","provider":"Ficks Music","version":"1.0","type":"link"}