...and the winter moon rises

Description...and the winter moon riseswas inspired by a winter's evening car journey across the Pennines from Manchester to Huddersfield, through the brass band heartland of Saddleworth. There was recent snow on the ground, and the sun had just set. A bright clear moon was rising into a sky coloured with orange from the setting sun, and the moonlight made all the snow and ice sparkle.The work is the fourth movement of a larger 5 movement suite entitled "North!", but can be (and has been) performed in isolation. This work was a finalist in the 2012 Ohio Brass Arts Festival composition competition.Performance NotesThe percussion parts should be playable by three players; the "arco" parts of the vibraphone parts should be played by drawing a cello or double bass bow up the side of the bar. Motors should be left off throughout.Three of the brass players are asked to double on triangles for the first part of the piece; ideally these should be of different sizes giving clearly different sounds. The easiest solution is to tie a triangle to the music stand, rather than try to hold it and then swap instruments later in the piece.Click below to watch a playback preview of the score!

A Short Ride in a Brass Machine

DescriptionA Short Ride in a Brass Machine was written in 2006 to mark the 140th anniversary of the Brighouse and Rastrick Band and first performed in the Central Methodist Church in Brighouse by Brighouse and Rastrick conducted by James Gourlay. The title refers to the orchestral composition A Short Ride in A Fast Machine by the American composer John Adams which provided some of the inspiration for the work. The music is a simple celebratory prelude consisting of two main ideas, an expansive melody full of open fifths (giving the music a slightly "American" feel) and a short fanfare figure. After these are both heard for the first time a brief development of the fanfare material leads to a broader, warm harmonisation of the opening melody and the pulse relaxes a little before tension builds to a reiteration of the fanfare and a final triumphant version of the opening theme.Performance Notes:Percussion instruments required are 4 Timpani, Snare Drum, Bass Drum, 3 Tom-toms, 3 Wood Blocks, Suspended Cymbal, Clash Cymbals, Tubular Bells, Glockenspiel, Tam-tam.Soprano, repiano, 2nd solo cornet, 2nd and 3rd cornets will require metal straight mutes; 2nd and 3rd cornets will require harmon mutes with the tubes removed (indicated by 'TR').Duration approximately 3'30"Follow the score in the preview video below!

Ariel

DescriptionAll hail, great master! Grave sir, hail! I comeTo answer thy best pleasure, be 't to fly,To swim, to dive into the fire, to rideOn the curled cloud. To thy strong bidding, taskAriel and all his quality.- William Shakespeare: The Tempest, Act 1, Scene 2Ariel was written for the Hammonds Band to open their programme at the 2019 Brass in Concert Championships at The Sage Concert Hall in Gateshead, where it received its premiere. The title is taken from the character in Shakespeare's play 'The Tempest'. Ariel is an immensely powerful "air spirit" or demon bound to serve Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, after being released by Prospero from imprisonment in a tree. In the play Ariel's magical abilities are used to help Prospero revenge himself on his enemies and reclaim his dukedom, whereupon Ariel finally regains his freedom.You can hear an audio preview and follow the score below:Performance notes:The cornets and horns are split into two "choirs" to be placed left and right of the band. It may be possible for the choirs to play their opening flourish offstage, and the optional repeated sections in the opening are to accommodate stage movement if required. Trombones form a third "choir" which should ideally stand centrally between basses and percussion, and the euphoniums and baritones should sit in front of the basses. The work requires four percussionists, although if four are not available the 2nd part may be omitted.Percussion 1: Kit - bass drum, snare, 3 x toms, hi-hat, suspended cymbal - and 3 x temple blocksPercussion 2: Tam tam and orchestral bass drum.Percussion 3: Glockenspiel and timpaniPercussion 4: Tubular bellsSoprano, solo cornets and 3rd cornets require cup mutes. Solo trombone requires a cup mute, second trombone requires a metal straight mute.

Ascend the Brightest Heaven...

DescriptionThe band's uniform badges feature a significant local landmark, a transmission tower officially known as The Arqiva Tower but known more colloquially to locals as 'Emley Moor mast'. The current elegantly tapered concrete sculpture, the tallest freestanding structure in the UK at 1084 feet, is the third mast on this site and was built between 1969 and 1971 after the catastrophic collapse of the previous structure.On 19 March 1969 a combination of extreme icing and strong winds caused the tubular mast to collapse across Jagger Lane and the chapel opposite - fortunately, despite the fact that the organist was in the chapel practising, nobody was injured. Several million people lost their BBC2 and ITV signals, until the Independent Television Authority managed to set up a temporary transmitter nearby!Just over two years later the new mast was operational, and despite initial opposition from some locals who feared another, potentially worse, collapse, Emley Moor Mast is now a popular local landmark and a grade II listed building. In 2015 the mast was illuminated with coloured lights at night to mark the 'Grand Depart' of the Tour de France coming to Yorkshire.You can listen and follow the score in the video below:

atrium phase

Descriptionatrium phase was inspired by listening to works performed at the 2013 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in the atrium of the Huddersfield University Creative Arts Building. The atrium, despite being a functional area incorporating meeting areas and a cafe, has almost coincidentally evolved into a fantastic (if somewhat resonant) performance space. Performers can be positioned on three different sides and three different levels, making the atrium ideally suited to spatially separated performances of a variety of music from Gabrieli to Christian Wolff.In atrium phase the band is separated into four groups - ideally these should be positioned around the audience as follows: group A to the left of the audience, group B in front of the audience, group C to the right of the audience and group D (the four basses) behind the audience. The music "phases" between the groups in the manner of contemporary electroacoustic music, with the bass group acting as a kind of "subwoofer". Starting very slowly, the music accelerates using metrical modulations to finish at considerable speed.The music is intended to be performed without a conductor wherever possible - the three percussionists should set and control the tempo, and there are clear points of overlap for percussionists to allow synchronisation between groups.atrium phase won the inaugural Foden's Band Composition Competition in 2014 and the first performance was given on 24 January 2015 at the RNCM Festival of Brass by Foden's Band.NOTE: This work comes with a B4 score; click here to view a sample PDF score.Performance Notes:The band is separated into four groups - ideally these should be positioned around the audience as follows: group A to the left of the audience, group B in front of the audience, group C to the right of the audience and group D (the four basses) behind the audience. The music "phases" between the groups in the manner of contemporary electroacoustic music, with the bass group acting as a kind of "subwoofer". Starting very slowly, the music accelerates using metrical modulations to finish at considerable speed.Instruments in group A require cup mutes (soprano, 2 x cornets, horn, baritone, trombone, euph), group B harmon mutes (4 x cornets, baritone and trombone - the baritone should use a trombone mute) and group C require fibre straight mutes (3 x cornets, flugel, 2 x horns, euph., bass trom - NOT metal mutes if possible).Percussion instruments required are claves, wood block and 2 x temple blocks. The music is intended to be performed without a conductor wherever possible - the three percussionists should set and control the tempo, and there are clear points of overlap for percussionists to allow synchronisation between groups.Approximate duration 6'17"

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Ave Maria

DescriptionJohann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. Bach's compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two Passions, and over three hundred cantatas of which approximately two hundred survive. His music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth. Bach's abilities as an organist were highly respected during his lifetime, although he was not widely recognised as a great composer until a revival of interest in and performances of his music in the first half of the 19th century. He is now generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.Charles-Francois Gounod (1818 - 1893) was a French composer, best known for his Grand Operas, most famously 'Faust', written in 1859 and his 'St Cecilia Mass' written in 1854. However possibly his most performed work is his arrangement of the latin text Ave Maria based on a work by Bach.You can listen to a computer realisation of the score while following the music below:

Canzona XIII

DescriptionCanzona XIII, also known as Canzon Septimi Octavi Toni a 12, was first published in 1597 as part of a collection entitled 'Symphoniae Sacrae' - this collection was a mixture of instrumental and choral pieces, and also included the famous Sonata Pian'e Forte, probably his best known work.Gabrieli was born in Venice sometime between 1554 and 1557 and studied with the renowned Dutch composer Orlando di Lassus. He also studied with his uncle, Andrea Gabrieli, and eventually succeeded him as the organist and composer at St Mark's Basilica in Venice. Already renowned as a musical centre, Venice became a magnet for composers wishing to study with Gabrieli after 'Symphoniae Sacrae' was published.Like many of his works, this Canzona was written to take advantage of the unique layout of St Mark's, which had galleries on three sides where the musicians could be placed to create novel spatial effects - utterly new and exciting for sixteenth century listeners. Canzona XIII has three different antiphonal 'choirs' and in this arrangement the band is split into three groups to reflect Gabrieli's innovative idea. Ideally the three groups should be clearly separated so the the antiphonal effect comes across clearly, although this will of course depend on the performance space. On no account should the band remain in its normal seated formation!As Gabrieli didn't have any percussionists (and percussion was widely thought inappropriate for music performed in church anyway) there are no percussion parts in this music.This arrangement was first performed by the Coppull and Standish Band conducted by Andrew Baker in 2009.You can follow a preview of the score while listening to an audio export of the music below!

Canzonetta

DescriptionCanzonetta is a tenor horn solo with optional brass band or piano accompaniment.Canzonetta was one of my earliest compositions, written in my early days as an undergraduate. Along with a companion piece called Caprice it was written for an old friend, Louise Hunt (now Louise Skillander), to whom it is dedicated. We had both been in the Northop Youth Band together, and both pieces were the result of a conversation about the lack of 'good tenor horn solos' for lower section and youth players at the time.With more mature consideration the Caprice has been consigned to the dustbin of history, but the simplicity of Canzonetta has allowed it to stand the test of time with a few minor scoring revisions.Performance Notes:Percussion instruments required are 2 x timpani, glockenspiel, suspended cymbal, concert bass drum (NOT a kit/pedal bass drum) and tam-tam. All cornets will require cup mutes.Duration approximately 3'40"You can follow the score while listening to an audio preview below:

Christmas Concerto

DescriptionThis arrangement of Corelli's famous "Christmas Concerto" features soprano cornet, two solo cornets and solo euphonium. Arcangelo Corelli was one of the first masters of the baroque period, a skilled violinist much admired by fellow composers like Bach and Handel. He was born in Fusignano, near Ferrara in Northern Italy in 1653. He studied in nearby Bologna where he became an extremely competent violinist. By the 1670s he was working in Rome and building a reputation as a composer at the important and powerful Papal court. By the late 1600s he was widely famous all over Europe, regularly invited to important courts and palaces. Although he had a huge influence on the virtuoso writing of later composers, his writing for string instruments was designed to be playable by average, often amateur players.His set of Concerti Grossi known as Opus 6 was not published in his lifetime. We think they were written around 1690, and they were first published in Amsterdam in 1714, a year after Corelli's death. A 'Concerto Grosso' is a concerto for a group of soloists (the "concertino" group) accompanied by an ensemble (the "ripieno" group) and was an important form in the Baroque era. Handel's very successful examples were modelled on Corelli's example. Number 8 from the Opus 6 set was commissioned by the Venetian Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni and bears the inscriptionFatto per la notte di Natale('made for the night of Christmas'). It was used as part of the soundtrack for the 2003 film 'Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World".Performance Notes.In this arrangement the 'Concertino' group are the soprano cornet, solo cornets 1 & 2 and the solo euphonium. If logistics allow they should stand either at the front of or some distance away from the band. There is no percussion in this arrangement. All tutti cornets will require cup mutes.Duration approximately 3'15".You can listen to a preview while following the score below:

Coventry Carol

DescriptionCoventry Carol is a traditional English Christmas carol dating back to at least the sixteenth century, where it formed part of the Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors, one of the Coventry mystery plays. The plays themselves date back to at least 1392, but the earliest surviving record of the music is in a manuscript writen in 1534. Religious suppression put a stop to the plays by the end of the sixteenth century, but the manuscript recording the Coventry Carol survived and was published in 1817 as part of a revival of interest in the medieval and renaissance periods. The carol refers to the 'Massacre of the Innocents' from chapter two of the Gospel of Matthew, in which Herod orders the massacre of all Hebrew children under the age of two.This arrangement was first performed by the Blackley Band conducted by Andrew Baker in 2004.You can follow the score with and audio preview below:Duration approximately 3'05".Playable by all standards of band.