Bücher der Reihe Collected Works

Composer Gary Lloyd Noland's COLLECTED PIANO WORKS: Volume 2 includes his epic-length 39 VARIATIONS ON AN ORIGINAL THEME IN F MAJOR Op. 98, his super-virtuosic GRANDE RAG BRILLANTE Op. 15, his GOLDEN GATE RAG Op. 123, and several other heretofore unpublished works for piano.39 VARIATIONS ON AN ORIGINAL THEME IN F MAJOR Op. 98 is, at approximately two hours duration, one of the lenghiest and most challenging sets in the history of the genre. It has been described by composer Ernesto Ferreri as "an historical variation set for piano, a true descendant of the Goldbergs and Diabellis, beautifully targeted to an apotheosis of supreme grandeur." Composer/pianist Ludwig Tuman described it as "an astounding tour de force. In its far-reaching, systematic exploration of the theme's creative possibilities, as well as in the inexhaustible imagination brought to bear, it reminds one of the Goldberg and the Diabelli. But in its monumental dimensions it goes far beyond them both, and in the large number of historical styles referenced and integrated into the work ... I am unaware of any parallel. I especially enjoyed the consistent use of certain features of the theme, regardless of the style or the type of tonality, pantonality or atonality employed-among them the melodic turn, the phrases ascending by whole steps, and others. I offer my humble congratulations on a titanic achievement!" Ragtime pianist Mark Lutton once described GRANDE RAG BRILLANTE Op. 15 as "the most difficult ragtime piece of all time ... The audience needs to have Attention Hyperabundance Disorder. (It's fine if, like me, your idea of a nice short little piece is a tone poem by Richard Strauss.)" The Canadian pianist and composer Max Keelyside described it as "the work of a musician's musician." GRANDE RAG BRILLANTE received its official world premiere on KPFA Radio on 4 October, 1991 in celebration of the inauguration of Pacifica Radio's (then) sparkling new facility in Berkeley, California. It was "performed" on a computer-driven Yamaha Disklavier. This historic premiere, paired with the premiere of a (then) new work by Lou Harrison, was later written up in Nicolas Slonimsky's MUSIC SINCE 1900 (an encyclopedic compendium that chronologically lists premieres of compositions that its author deems to be among the most significant and noteworthy of the 20th century). Ernesto Ferreri wrote, "Only a musical maniac could push something this far ... at times the rags fugue and the fugues rag into waves of improbable climaxes ... noticed a double fugue with the rag theme ... and you gotta love how it detours around atonality ... brillante indeed!" The late Slovak composer and conductor Ladislav Kupkovic (1936-2016) once wrote to Noland: "...Ihre Musik ist wunderschön, 'Grande Rag Brillante' ist ein Meisterwerk; als auch Komponist bin ich voll Neid, dass ich so etwas nicht schreiben kann. Ich wünsche Ihnen viel Erfolg! Ich komponiere schon viele Jahre europäisch tonal und es ist nicht leicht, so zu komponieren in einer Welt, die noch in der atonalen Ideologie denkt. Ich hoffe, Ihr Weg wird leichter." Here is a link to a rendition of GRANDE RAG BRILLANTE: https://soundcloud.com/gary- noland/grande-rag-brillante-for-piano-op-15.GOLDEN GATE RAG Op. 123 was originally sketched out in 1974 and underwent significant revisions in 2021. This is the first time it has appeared in publication.THREE MEDLEYS from VENGE ART comprise a series of strung-together musical excerpts from various works by Richard Strauss, Mahler, Korngold, Schönberg, Berg, Beethoven, J.S. Bach, Brahms, Karol Szymanowski, Mozart, and Hugo Wolf. The recently revised THREE INCONGRUISMS Op. 122 (2021) are derived from various unfinished compositions by Noland dating back to the late 1970s and mid 1980s.

This book is the second in Carol Robinson’s Collected Works series.  Her penetrating and original analysis of the modern world show the fruit of a mind absorbed in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas – her life-long companion. We hope that these essays will help Catholics understand how the Faith has importance for the totality of their lives which must not be hidden away from the public square.Excerpt from the Foreword"Christianity, when it is orthodox, is a religion of the heart, but not one of sentimentality.  Catholicism in all its tradition has been a religion illuminating the mind so that the spirit might find dwelling with God.Confusion and discomfort: this is the prospect of embracing the Gospel in the modern world.  Add to these the incomprehension or enmity from others, and you have a potent source of discouragement to living an integral and integrated Catholic life today.Must it be so?The Good One of course remains ever the same in charity and omnipotence, so the root and source of all holiness is still sound.  The unknown factor then must lie in the hearts of men if Christianity is to be put into action.  There will always be some – “the world” – who will consistently resist the grace and action of the Almighty.  Holding this book, it must be otherwise with us.  Faith has been given, grace has taken root, and so must the flourishing of fidelity and holiness.  Is this the happiness we seek?....The Beatitudes act as a defibrillator to these lethal conditions, should we choose to listen.  They re-animate the soul by enkindling charity and warmth within a heart that has grown cold.  And everyone knows that without a healthy heart one eventually dies for good."  - Fr. James DoranExcerpt from the Introduction"Carol Jackson Robinson’s Eightfold Kingdom Within is a noteworthy attempt to communicate Thomas’ developed thought of the Beatitudes to a non-academic audience, and while she does eschew any discussion of the intricacies of doctrinal development, subjects of undoubted interest to the historical theologians, nonetheless her series of remarkable articles reveal that Robinson was a careful and highly insightful reader of Aquinas. Over the course of her essays, Robinson rightly focuses on the task of placing the Beatitudes and their attendant Gifts once again at the center of Christian spiritual life. Perhaps Robinson’s insightfulness is most evident in the way she grasps that for Thomas, and indeed for much of the Christian tradition both East and West, the purpose and aim of the spiritual life is deification, what she refers to as the ongoing process of “being supernaturalized.” Moreover, Robinson stresses that this process of conversion, of becoming progressively more deiform, perforce requires our adoption as earthly children of the heavenly Father. If truth be told, that the process cannot proceed at all unless, like obedient children, we meekly receive the divine instigation of the Spirit, for only in this manner will we be established “firmly in the family of God our Father.” - Gregorio Montejo, PhD (Assistant Professor of Historical Theology, Boston College)

Originally published in 1942 this book brings together contributions from some of the finest thinkers and philosophers of the 20th Century such as Boas, Croce, Einstein, Haldane, Mann, and Russell. The volume discusses the problem of Freedom from diverse points of view and offers a synthesis of issues and conclusions as a basis for action.