Superbrass, page 3 |

£30.00

Gull Dances - Terry Johns

The composer, who lives and works at the edge of the Forth estuary in Edinburgh has been inspired here by the intriguing "tap" dance that the gulls perform on the grass at certain times to encourage worms to break the surface. The middle movements describe the birds' "dancing" in flight, with a waltz and a slow soaring melody. The piece was written for the COOP Glasgow Brass Band on the occasion of their winning the Scottish brass band championship in 2009 and was broadcast on BBC Scotland's "Classics Unwrapped" in November of that year.
£30.00

Hard Hats and Cornets - Terry Johns

This lively and melodic piece was commissioned by Maltby Colliery Band in 2000. It was written as a feature for solo cornet and the cornet section. For its first broadcast performance on Radio Scotland, from Edinburgh in 2009 Mark O'Keefe played the solo part with the band of COOP Glasgow. This piece makes an impressive encore or opening to a band concert and is also available in a version for ten brass.
£30.00

Homage to Bach - Chris Houlding

Inspired by the master of counterpoint, Homage to Bach was written by Chris as an exercise in simplicity itself, designed to not only test the musicians playing skills and sense of style, but to encourage them to develop their "ensemble radar" through carefully listening, fine tuning, subtle dynamics and variation in articulation. The brass band has a long tradition of using chorales and hymns as a training exercise. As an alternative to existing hymn tunes, I have composed this simple chorale melody in three verses with a short introduction and links to specifically develop a quality 'tutti' band sound. Certain parts are doubled allowing performances by incomplete bands while presenting full outfits with an intonation and stylistic challenge. The printed phrasing is to be adhered to at all times regarding breaths, thus producing a seamless counterpoint. Simple yet satisfying for a quieter and atmospheric concert interlude.
£30.00

Home Coming - Jock McKenzie

This was written with the intention of creating a 'feel good' piece with a particular emphasis on chilling out; music for a late summer evening after the barbecue embers have finally stopped glowing. The piece is unashamedly influenced by the slower, lazy-tempo numbers of the South African greats Hugh Masekela and Abdullah Ibrahim.
£30.00

I Saw Three Ships - Traditional

This is a traditional English carol rumoured to have originated in Derbyshire. The earliest printed version is from the 17th century and the familiar version was later published in William Sandys' collection of 'Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern' in 1833. There are numerous theories as to the meaning of the carol's words; after all, Bethlehem, the place of Jesus' birth is not a coastal location. It has been suggested that the ships are actually camels (ships of the desert) used by the Magi for their visit to the baby Jesus. My arrangement takes advantage of the traditional 'jig' style of this carol to add a little 'Celtic' flavour.
£30.00

Icebreaker - Tom Harrold

Icebreaker was originally scored for brass dectet and percussion and was completed in March 2012. The work begins with tumultuous fanfare written for the four trumpets, shrouded by thick chords in the lower brass. This fanfare-like material leads to a biting statement from the trombones. An 'icy' gritty section, once again played by the trombones grows in energy, punctuated by the return of the trumpets' fanfares. The horn, providing a little respite, emerges in a quiet restrained solo line, which is coloured by the rest of the ensemble. Before fully coming to fruition, the horn is quickly cut-short and subsumed by the sudden return of the energetic material from the instruments, which grows to the end of the piece.
£30.00

In Dulci Jubilo - Traditional German Carol

In Dulci Jubilo (In Sweet Rejoicing) is a German Christmas carol. Its melody has appeared in various significant historic collections. The first of these was 'Codex 1305', a manuscript from Leipzig. Subsequently it appeared in publications in and beyond Germany including those of Michael Praetorius (Germany) and Piae Cantiones (Finland). In England the settings of both J. M. Neale and Robert Pearsall are well known under the title 'Good Christian Men Rejoice'.
£30.00

Inchcolm - Terry Johns

The island of Inchcolm was visited by St Columba in 567 and is mentioned in Shakespeare's Macbeth. It lies on the stretch of water beyond my balcony, known locally as "Mortimer's deep", and on short winter days, the ruins of Columba's abbey are shrouded in the mists of the estuary and bring a flavour of mystery and legend to my morning coffee. Music comes easily here amidst the crying of the seabirds, and the horn has given its distinctive voice to history, myth and folklore for centuries. Its sound was born in the wide-open spaces and can paint a broad seascape with ease.
£30.00

Is That The Time ? - Paul Mottram

Is That The Time ? was written in 2014 for UK national award winning band 'Youth Brass 2000'. It's a showpiece in a jazzy fusion idiom with a full and central role for the kit drummer and percussionists. The temptation must be resisted to play the piece too quickly and in so doing losing the 16th note syncopations inherent within the rhythmic groove. The challenge is not so much one of getting the notes, although there are a few harmonic surprises along the way, as one of playing as a cohesive rhythmic unit.
£30.00

It Came Upon the Midnight - Traditional

The English version of this carol is set to the tune 'Noel'. This was adapted from an older English melody by the composer Arthur Sullivan in 1874. However, the lyrics were composed in the USA by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Wayland, Massachusetts in 1849.