King of Prussia, PA – Theodore Presser Company proudly announces the release of a new DVD, Peanuts® Gallery � the making of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich�s suite for piano and orchestra (448-00001 � DVD with Booklet � $19.99).
In 1990, Ellen Zwilich was surprised and delighted to see a salutation to her Flute Concerto in the October 13th daily Peanuts® comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. This led to a fast friendship between the two talents and Zwilich�s masterwork Peanuts® Gallery, a six-movement piano concerto, in which each movement illustrates a favorite character from the comic strip. Schulz again lauded Zwilich, this time featuring Peanuts® Gallery in a full Sunday color strip.*
Florida State University produced a documentary, featured many times on PBS, of the collaboration that led to the creation of Peanuts® Gallery. Interviews with Charles M. Schulz, Jean (Mrs. Charles M.) Schulz, and composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich about their creative processes are included. “Although I'm sad that Sparky (Schulz) didn't live to see this video project, he is very much a part of it, not only in spirit but in the wonderful footage we have of him and his characters, and in the on-camera participation of his beloved Jeannie,” Zwilich said.
The video also features a live performance by the Florida State University Orchestra with piano soloist James Nalley, conducted by Alex Jim�nez (including Snoopy dancing the Samba!).
Peanuts® Gallery DVD is available now through Theodore Presser Company or your favorite music retailer.
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich composes music “with fingerprints,” music that is immediately recognized as her own. Ms. Zwilich combines craft and inspiration, reflecting an optimistic and humanistic spirit that gives her a unique musical voice. A prolific composer in virtually all media, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich�s works have been performed by most of the leading American orchestras and by major ensembles abroad, including the Detroit Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke�s, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the IRIS Orchestra.
Ms. Zwilich has won numerous awards, including the 1983 Pulitzer Prize in Music (Symphony No. 1), the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Chamber Music Prize, the Arturo Toscanini Music Critics Award, the Ernst von Dohn�nyi Citation, an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and four Grammy nominations. To read more about Zwilich, see her Composer Page.
Offering music by today�s greatest composers and teachers, Theodore Presser Company is the oldest continuing music publisher in the United States, dedicated to carrying out the aims and goals its founder established more than a century ago: service, with integrity, to music and musicians, commitment to quality, and a vision for the future. Theodore Presser Company is a full-range music publisher that also distributes the works of more than 70 American and foreign publishers, with a combined sales catalog that features over 60,000 titles.
For review copies of this publication or more information about Theodore Presser Company, please contact Elizabeth Holub at (212) 777-0900, ext. 230 or send an e-mail to [email protected].
