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£25.00

Accolade - Phillip Littlemore

Accolade - meaning an award, an honour or a laudatory notice. This fanfare for brass band literally builds from the bottom up as a battery of percussion leads to the lower band's statement of the theme before passing through the middle of the band that builds with a series of interjections. The theme is then restated in the upper band before the battery of percussion returns to end.The fanfare was written for Regent Brass as the title track for their 1990 recording to celebrate both their 5th anniversary and to being crowned 3rd Section Champion Band of Great Britain in 1988 - an accolade indeed!Duration: c.1'00"Diffiiculty: Suitable for all grades
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
£25.00

Air from the Suite in D - J. S. Bach arr. Phillip Littlemore

Johann Sebastian Bach's Suite No. 3 in D, from a set of four such suites, was recreated from a set of autographed parts from around the 1730s, as no score has survived. The music is believed to date from some years prior to that and is possibly derived from an even earlier work than that.The Air, perhaps the most famous movement from all the Suites, has been arranged as a tenor horn feature, although there is no part for cornets, bass trombone, euphoniums or percussion in this transcription.Duration: c. 3 minutesDifficulty: Suitable for all
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
£55.00

Ancient Airs and Dances - Ottorino Respighi arr. Phillip Littlemore

Ancient Airs and Dances is a set of three orchestral suites written in 1917, 1924 and 1932 respectively. In each, Respighi borrows melodic material from the 16th and 17th centuries, and then applies his own distinct voice to create something at once new and old. This arrangement takes four separate movements from two of the three sets. Balletto detto "Il Conte Orlando" by Simone Molinaro, was a popular piece from the beginning of the 17th century. Its noble rhythmic gestures in the opening and closing sections are answered by a more reflective mood in the middle. Gagliarda, by Vincenzo Galilei (father of the famous astronomer) was originally called Polymnia, after one of the muses of song. Arie di Corte (Courtly Airs), is based on a set of songs by Jean-Baptiste Besard, where sprightlier dances are enveloped by a stately dance. The finale is a clever alternation of two anonymous dances of the late 16th century. There are several variations on a passa-mezzo with interjections of a mascherada. The suite arrives at a brilliant finish with the mascherada's fanfare theme.A recording of this work can be found here: Ancient Airs and Dances.Duration: c. 9'30"Grade: 4th Section and above
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
£35.00

And The Glory Of The Lord - Messiah

Handel's Messiah was composed in 1741, receiving it's premiere in Dublin a year later. And The Glory, The Glory Of The Lord is the fourth movement of the oratorio, and the first in which the choir sings. This arrangement, for chorus and brass band, works with all the major editions of the vocal score.Duration: 3'30"Difficulty: 3rd Section and above
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
£30.00

Ave Maria - Franz Schubert arr. Phillip Littlemore

Franz Schubert wrote his Ave Maria in 1825. It is the third of three song settings from Sir Walter Scott's poem The Lady of the Lake, itself written in 1810. It's proper title is Ellen's Song, named after the heroine of Scott's poem, Ellen Douglas.It has been suggested that the opening two words of the original song may have led to the idea of it being arranged for the full text of the Roman Catholic Prayer. It is now most often performed in this latter adaptation, thus leading to the misconception that it was originally set with the prayer in mind.Even in Schubert's own brief lifetime, he was only thirty-one when he died, this song was considered a masterpiece. It acquired greater popularity when it was used in the 1940 Walt Disney film Fantasia where its beauty and simplicity offered calm and respite following the tempestuous strains of Mussorgsky's A Night on Bare Mountain .Duration: 3'40"Difficulty: Suitable for all
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
£35.00

Bolero - Maurice Ravel arr. Phillip Littlemore

Ravel's one-movement orchestral piece Bolero was written in 1928. It epitomises Ravel's preoccupation with restyling and reinventing dance movements. It was also one of the last pieces he composed before illness forced him into retirement. The original version has a duration of between 15 and 18 minutes, depending on the tempo set by the conductor. This brass band arrangement is significantly shorter, lasting a mere 4 minutes or so. There is also an 'extra' ending, similar to that used in the musical sensation Blast! which almost guarantees additional applause at a concert!Duration: c.4'30"Dofficulty: 3rd Section and above
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
£35.00

By The Beautiful Blue Danube - Johann Strauss II arr. Phillip Littlemore

The Blue Danube or, to be more precise, By The Beautiful Blue Danube was composed by Johann Strauss II in 1866. It has remained one of the most consistently popular pieces of music in the classical repertoire although its initial performance was considered only a mild success. Duration: c. 8'00" (5'30" without repeats)Difficulty: Suitable for all grades
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
£30.00

Can-Can from Orpheus In The Underworld - Jacques Offenbach arr. Phillip Littlemore

Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld is an opera bouffon, and first performed in 1858. The operetta is an irreverent parody and scathing satire on Gluck and his Orfeo ed Euridice and culminates in the risque 'Infernal Galop'. The 'Infernal Galop' from Act II, is famous outside of classical music circles as the music for the Can-can. This brass band version is a straight-forward transcription directly from the orchestral original.Duration: 2'30"Difficulty: Suitable for all grades
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
£40.00

Carmen Suite - Georges Bizet arr. Phillip Littlemore

Incredible as it seems today, Bizet's opera Carmen was met with a lukewarm reception at its premiere at the Paris Opera-Comique in 1875; critics condemned its subject matter as lurid and its music overly Wagnerian, and it ran for a mere 37 performances. Bizet died with a few days of it opening at the tragically early age of just thirty-six. Now hailed as the composer's supreme achievement, this colourful, passionate work continues to delight listeners around the world with its emotional, atmospheric music and the originality of its conception. Two orchestral suites were created in the latter part of the 19th Century each containing six pieces.This brass band arrangement brings together three of these pieces, the Aragonaise , the Habanera and Les Toreadors .Duration: c.7'00"Difficulty: 3rd Section and above
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
£40.00

Carnival of the Animals

Saint-Saens composed The Carnival of the Animals in 1886. He regarded the work as a piece of fun and was adamant that the work would not be published in his lifetime. It was published in the year following the composer's death and the first public performance was given on 25th February 1922. It was well-received and has since become one of Saint-Saens's best-known works.This brass band transcription contains six of the original fourteen movements and opens with Introduction and The March of the Royal Lion a brief, dramatic beginning is followed by a stately march for the 'King of Beasts' that is interrupted from time to time by the lions' formidable roar, depicted by ferocious, low chromatic scales. In The Elephant, a solo B flat Bass sings a doleful song made from melodies 'borrowed' from Mendelssohn and Berlioz without apology. Next comes the relentless descending third of A Cuckoo in The Deep Woods. Fossils are clearly not animals, but some of them undoubtedly were at some point, so Saint-Saens has some fun with the xylophone rattling around like a box of old prehistorix bones. Among some little musical quotes you can listen out for 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and some references to his own 'Dance Macabre' whilst opera buffs may recognise Rossini's
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days