"The Pied Piper of Hamelin" a Children's Operetta by Marjorie Otis Gifford

SOMERVILLE, Mass. - Feb. 22, 2018 - PRLog -- Noteworthy Sheet Music, LLC (NSM) is an online sheet music publishing enterprise with a catalog of >165 editions, most of which are unavailable from other sources.  NSM specializes in, but is not limited to, sheet music for flute and alto flute.  They offer original contemporary works by distinguished composers, facsimile editions of rare historical scores, and unique transcriptions of pieces from the classical repertoire.  Selected NSM publications are offered as professionally-printed hard copy versions, and most of NSM's catalog listings are available as convenient pdf downloads from the NSM website.  Visit www.NoteworthySheetMusic.com for additional information about the new release mentioned below and other NSM editions.  New sheet music selections are uploaded often, along with preview pages, contributing composer biographies, useful links, reviews and articles.

Marjorie Otis Gifford (1909-2003) was a composer, choirmaster, and long-time music and piano teacher in Connecticut and New York.  At age 24, she put music to Robert Browning's classic poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin, creating a children's operetta for her students.  In her preface to the operetta, Mrs. Gifford states that perhaps the best performance of The Pied Piper was at the Lenox School in New York City, where she was teaching in 1938; that production was directed by Antoinette Perry, who later became known as 'Tony' of the Tony Awards.  Indeed, there are other famous personalities and much fascinating history associated with the remarkable life of Marjorie Otis Gifford.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin children's operetta has finally been published, by Noteworthy Sheet Music, LLC.  The work was brought to NSM's attention by Gale Finlayson, daughter of composer Walter Finlayson, some of whose superb instrumental compositions also have been published by NSM.  Marjorie Otis Gifford and Walter Finlayson were great friends, and in her preface Mrs. Gifford credits Mr. Finlayson with putting her operetta down on paper.  NSM has published The Pied Piper of Hamelin in its entirety as a facsimile edition, including the composer's preface and the full text of Robert Browning's poem.  The operetta's internal pages are graced with delightful illustrations created by artist Deborah O'Conner, adding to the overall charm of the publication.  The editors at NSM hope that, in publishing this new facsimile edition, they can contribute to sustaining the music legacy of Marjorie Otis Gifford and enabling future generations of young students to perform and enjoy her work.  School music programs across the country may want to consider staging a production of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, which will surely be great fun for the children to perform and highly enjoyable for their audiences to experience as well.

The newly-published facsimile edition of The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a total of 78 pages and available in PDF format.  To view a few preview pages, learn additional details, or place an order for the edition, visit the listing page for the operetta on the NSM website at https://www.noteworthysheetmusic.com/sheet-music/ensemble-tags/voice/580-gifford-the-pied-piper-of-hamelin-an-operetta, or search the NSM online catalog (https://www.noteworthysheetmusic.com/sheet-music/category...) under Voice.  The operetta currently is undergoing a revival, with an upcoming production scheduled in March in Rutland, VT; it is expected that audio or video samples from that staging will be posted shortly after the performance.