King of Prussia, PA – Pulitzer Prize winning composer Ellen Zwilich was moved to contribute her Memorial for the Victims of the Sandy Hook Massacre (342-40201 - score - $1.95). The work for children's chorus and mixed chorus, a cappella, begins with the Requiem aeternam text in the mixed chorus, but soon introduces a sung recitation of the names of the child victims by the children's chorus. The effect of the overlay is heartfelt grief and a powerful evocation. The closing dona nobis pacem is especially effective. See sample pages of the score as PDF here. Duration.: 5'30" Theodore Presser Company is proud to make this tribute now available.

The Zwilich Memorial was premiered at Merkin Hall on March 3, 2013 by the New York Virtuoso Singers, conducted by Harold Rosenbaum, with The Canticum Novum Youth Choir, directed by Edie Rosenbaum. To be released on Soundbrush Records, the recording company has made a YouTube performance available here.

At a time when the musical offerings of the world are more varied than ever before, few composers have emerged with the unique personality of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. Her music is widely known because it is performed, recorded, broadcast, and – above all – listened to and liked by all sorts of audiences the world over. Like the great masters of bygone times, Zwilich produces music "with fingerprints," music that is immediately recognized as her own. In her compositions, 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. Her music first came to public attention when Pierre Boulez conducted her Symposium for Orchestra at Juilliard (1975), but it was the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for the Symphony No. 1 that brought her instantly into international focus. Commissions, major performances and recordings soon followed: the Symphony No. 2 (Cello Symphony), premiered by Edo de Waart and the San Francisco Symphony; Symphony No. 3, written for the New York Philharmonic’s 150th anniversary; and many more. To read more about Zwilich, click here.

Offering music by today’s greatest composers and teachers, Theodore Presser Company is the leader in publishing educational and recital music. Theodore Presser Company is a full-range music publisher and distributes the music of over 30 publishers from around the globe, with a combined sales catalog that features over 60,000 available works. For more information about new publications from Theodore Presser Company or to locate a dealer near you, log on to www.presser.com or e-mail us at sales@presser.com. For review copies of the publications listed in this release, please contact Heidi Vanderlee at (212) 777-0900, ext. 230 or send an e-mail to hvanderlee@presser.com.