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£15.00Harrison's Dream (Brass Band - Study Score) - Graham, Peter
At 8.00pm on the 22nd of October 1707, the Association, flagship of the Royal Navy, struck rocks off the Scilly Isles with the loss of the entire crew. Throughout the rest of the evening the remaining three ships in the fleet suffered the same fate. Only 26 of the original 1,647 crew members survived. This disaster was a direct result of an inability to calculate longitude, the most pressing scientific problem of the time. It pushed the longitude question to the forefront of the national consciousness and precipitated the Longitude Act. Parliament funded a prize of �20,000 to anyone whose method or device would solve the dilemma.For carpenter and self-taught clockmaker John Harrison, this was the beginning of a 40 year obsession. To calculate longitude it is necessary to know the time aboard ship and at the home port or place of known longitude, at precisely the same moment. Harrison's dream was to build a clock so accurate that this calculation could be made, an audacious feat of engineering.This work reflects on aspects of this epic tale, brilliantly brought to life in Dava Sobel's book Longitude. Much of the music is mechanistic in tone and is constructed along precise mathematical and metrical lines. The heart of the work however is human - the attraction of the �20,000 prize is often cited as Harrison's motivation. However, the realisation that countless lives depended on a solution was one which haunted Harrison. The emotional core of the music reflects on this, and in particular the evening of 22ndOctober 1707.- Peter GrahamJuly 2000 Recorded on Polyphonic QPRL219D Master Brass (Volume Fifteen). Duration: 14'30"
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£15.99A Road Less Travelled By (Brass Band - Study Score) - Sparke, Philip
A Road Less Travelled By was commissioned by Palangos Orkestras for the Championship Section of the 2020 European Brass Band Championships held in Palanga, Lithuania.The following was written by the composer, Philip Sparke:The title alludes to a poem by American author, Robert Frost, which appeared in his 1916 collection, Mountain Intervals: The Road Not Taken.In common with most of my larger works, this piece in not programmatic, but purely abstract; there is no extrinsic musical story. The choice of title shares my view of how composers can often develop. There can be no 'destination' in a composer's career, but rather a continuing journey to an unknown place. From piece to piece a composer needs to decide his or her next steps, never really knowing where they might lead. As Frost so eloquently describes, these sorts of instinctive decisions guide all our lives.Set in three movements, which play without a break, A Road Less Travelled By opens with a Moto Perpetuo firmly rooted in classical language, form and syntax. A continuous river of semiquavers, veering from melody to accompaniment and back again, adds drive, every and motion. The second movement, Nocturne, is in the form of a free fantasia; solos for vibraphone, flugel horn and euphonium set the stage for a central cornet solo, quietly echoed by the full band. A triumphal climax is reached before the movement dissolves into a Scherzo Finale. Mercurial and quixotic in nature, this third movement starts jovially until trios for trombones and horns darken the atmosphere. A change of mood and meter leads to a reprise of the opening and a return of the cornet melody, this time accompanied by figures derived from the scherzo theme. A brief coda based on earlier material drives the piece to a close.Duration: 15.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£12.00Of Men and Mountains (Brass Band - Study Score) - Gregson, Edward
Of Men and Mountains was commissioned by the Netherlands Brass Band Championships for their 10th Anniversary Contest, held in Drachten in December 1990.The title of the work and its genesis came about as a result of a train journey the composer took in July 1989 across Canada from Toronto to Vancouver. The awe-inspiring journey through the Rocky Mountains, with its high peaks and shafts of sunlight breaking through the clouds, with its canyons and ferocious rapids, made the composer understand a little more about the majesty of nature and the fragility of humanity. The eternal struggle between man and nature was personified in the building of this incredible railway, hence the title (after Blake).The work is dedicated to the memory of Eric Ball, who died shortly before the writing of the work was commenced.Of Men and Mountains is in one continuous movement and lasts about 17 mins. Its form is difficult to describe because of its motivic and accumulative nature, but it is essentially a symphonic tone poem in search of a theme, which eventually comes in its final and complete state in the majestic ending after an ever-increasing paced scherzo.Duration: 17.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£29.95Ben-Hur 1925 (Brass Band - A4 Study Score) - Graham, Peter
Lew Wallace's Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ has inspired numerous adaptations for film, television and radio, each distilling the vast eight-part novel while preserving its enduring themes of compassion and forgiveness.Using the 1925 silent film as a starting point, I have reimagined the story as Ben-Hur, late in life, looks back on its defining moments, his memories coming alive before him.Part I: Ben-Hur's life unfolds in epic flashes: from Rome's splendour and tyranny to the haunting strains of Veni, Veni Emmanuel hinting at Christ's coming; a family betrayed, the galleys, heroic battles, and a chariot triumph--yet even victory offers no peace.Part II: Ben-Hur is torn by inner turmoil as he discovers his suffering family. In desperation he turns to Christ whose message of compassion and forgiveness transforms him, his thirst for vengeance giving way to healing and reconciliation.The work also acknowledges the profound influence of Eric Ball, whose biblical tone poems -- including King of Kings (1931) and Exodus (1937) -- helped shape the brass band repertoire of their time.The hymn Veni, Veni Emmanuel, symbolising the parallel narrative of Christ within this story, was likewise central to Ball's epic The Kingdom Triumphant.The work concludes with the well-known Dresden Amen, also heard in the closing bars of The Kingdom Triumphant.Ben-Hur 1925 was commissioned by The Whitburn Band, MD Nicholas Childs, and is dedicated to the memory of Derek Smith.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£12.00Heroes (Brass Band - Study Score) - Broughton, Bruce
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing.Dedicated to Nicholas Childs and the Black Dyke Band, Heroes pays tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and the incredible achievements of astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.The piece is cast in three continuous sections:Ignition, which launches the work, propels us into orbit with dynamic rhythmic writing before transitioning into the second section...Tranquility, provides the soloists an opportunity to revel in a contrasting sound world, reflecting the remarkable quiet and stillness of The Sea of Tranquility.Return, the find section is a technical tour de force, developing material from the earlier sections before a reprise of the Tranquility theme brings the work to a resounding conclusion.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£13.99Where Angels Fly (Brass Band - Study Score) - Houben, Kevin
Where Angels Fly was commissioned by VLAMO (Flemish Band Association). Kevin Houben wrote this work for the 2017 European Brass Band Championships in Ostend, Belgium. This is a very technical, powerful and virtuosic work with a rather fragile and soft introduction in which the main motif - derived from the Belgian composer Paul Gilson's (1865-1942) La Prire from Le Retour au Pays - is developed and also includes Houben's own musical signature 'HBE(N)'. Where Angels Fly is a challenging, impressive and virtuosic contest piece.Duration: 16.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£13.99Fraternity (Brass Band - Study Score) - Deleruyelle, Thierry
This piece by Thierry Deleruyelle is based on one of the most significant events in the history of coal mining; the catastrophe at Courrieres, Northern France. It took place on 10th March 1906 and is considered the most momentous mining accident in Europe and the second most significant in the world. This work is both emotional and spectacular and tells in 7 contrasting sections the catastrophe that occurred. Fraternity was the test piece in the Champion category at the European Brass Band Competition 2016 in Lille, thus commemorating 110 years since the disaster at Courrieres.Duration: 15.40
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£12.50Of Distant Memories (Music in an Olden Style) (Brass Band - Study Score) - Gregson, Edward
2013 Finals of the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain - Championship Section.Of Distant Memories pays homage to the brass band composers that form the backbone of the brass band repertoire, and their music, and in the process summons up a kind of subconscious memory bank of the musical languages, styles and forms used by them. The music is conceived in the form of a 'traditional' tone poem, reflecting certain aspects (e.g. melodic, harmonic, textural) of those early test pieces. Although fairly traditional concepts have been kept in planning the architecture of the work, certain aspects of the instrumentation, or scoring, are more contemporary in colouristic terms, as befits a composer writing in the 21st century. However, the percussion requirements are fairly modest, similar to those used in the works of that period. The brass band tradition owes much to the composers of that period, for through their music they established a truly homogenous 'British' brass band sound which has spread throughout many parts of the world. That tradition flourishes today and remains important for today's composers, even if their musical language is far removed from that of their predecessors. Of Distant Memories is the composers own way of repaying that gratitude.Duration: 15.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£21.95Helvetia (Brass Band - Study Score) - Wood, Gareth
I first went to Switzerland in the early 1970's and regularly played at the Lucerne Festival with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It is a beautiful city, one of my favourite European cities.In writing Helvetia (the Roman name for Switzerland) I wanted to encapsulate the moods that remind me of this wonderful place. The work is in four distinct sections and is on the whole, self-explanatory.It opens with An Alpine Dawn and sunrise, the tubas and euphoniums substituting for the Swiss Alphorns. Next The Clock Shop at Mid-day, a loud ticking, chiming and the sad sound of a cuckoo, builds into the cacophony of the mid-day chimes. The third section is A Walk to Wagner's House. Just along the lake from the centre of town is Tribschen. This walk I have done many times, and it is here that Wagner wrote 'Tristan'. I have quoted the Dresden Amen (written by J.G. Naumann) which is much used in Parsifal. The final section is The Cesta Run, the most famous bob-sleigh run in the world. As we take each corner, the feeling of speed is demonstrated as only a brass band can do!The work is dedicated to the Cory Band and also to the memory of James Watson, a great cornet player, trumpeter and conductor. It was he who got me into writing for brass band and I hope this piece is worthy.- Gareth Wood (Feb. 2011)Duration: 11.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£13.99Sketches from Nowhere (Brass Band - Study Score) - Doss, Thomas
Sketches from Nowhere is the second composition that Thomas Doss has written for brass band. The title was inspired by various images the composer saw in his mind's eye while working on this piece: pictures of foreign places; pictures of the creation of our world. The main motif that weaves its way from the beginning to the end of the work is meant to parallel humanity's great evolution: from its humble beginnings as mere stardust to the present day.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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