Results
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£59.95Swedish Festival Music (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
This three-movement suite was commissioned by the Swedish Brass Band Association as the test piece for the Championship Section of their 2008 National Contest. The first movement is inspired by the magnificent Swedish hymn 'How Great Thou Art'. Indeed the influence of that hymn can be traced in all three movements. The declamatory style of the opening gives way to other, more reflective expressions of awe and wonder. A more animated section develops before a final, triumphant statement of the 'How Great' idea returns to finish the movement. The slow second movement features another much-loved Swedish hymn. The music provides plenty of scope for expressive playing, and a feeling of intimacy should be created by the use of several short solo passages. The third movement Allegro brings a totally different, dance-like mood with frequent references to a reel from the region of Uppland. This eventually brings a return to the opening subject and a final, triumphant reference to 'How Great Thou Art'.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£89.95Diversions for Brass Band, Op.97 (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
This work was commissioned in1985 by Skellerup, Christchurch, New ZealandMovements:Allegro VivaceAndante Con Moto Molto ExpressivoAllegro VivaceDerek Bourgeois wrote Diversions in the summer of 1985 to a commissioned from the Skellerup Brass Band.Bourgeois previous test piece, Blitz, was aggressive and forceful, therefore the composer decided to write a work of a completely different character, which although technically very demanding, is light-hearted in style, and easy on the ear, as the title suggests.The first and third movements share the same tempo, but are rather different in character. The first movement is a sonata allegro contrasting two main themes. The first is bold and jaunty and is heavily scored, the second announced by the solo horn is more lyrical in character. The development section and recapitulation are merged into a continuous interplay of the two themes.The second movement is an expressive andante in free rondo form. It is lightly scored for the most part with a lot of solo passages that make demands on the musicianship of the players and conductor alike. The very simplicity of its textures and the breadth of its melodic writing demand firm control of vibrato, phrasing and rubato.The brief finale is nothing short of a romp. Its ternary structure is highly rhythmic in character and only rarely do the performers enjoy the luxury of two consecutive bars in the same time signature!Duration: 11.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£29.95Ballet for Band (Score Only)
Ballet for Band was written as the test-piece for the Championship section finals of the National Brass Band Championships, held at the Royal Albert Hall in October 1983.Although the work is not programmatic, within the space of ten minutes, the composer uses a form which might be considered to be the form of a ballet. Therefore there is a fanfare at the beginning which might be the overture, different characters appear, and scenes are quite clearly marked by, for instance, baritones or by muted trombone, although the listener is encouraged to use his own imagination.Thematically the work is tightly controlled, with the same material re-appearing in many different guises, as a flugel horn solo, as a waltz on the horns, and on the euphonium. Horovitz employs a rich harmonic pallet, but the work is most definitely rooted in a tonal language, with hints of Straussian richness later in the work.The work is notable for its middle section, in which the music gets slower and slower, providing a real test of control throughout the band.Ballet for Band was by no means Joseph Horovitz's first work for the medium: his fine "Concerto for Euphonium and Band" is frequently played, and he has also written a cantata entitled "Samson" for choir and band.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£23.50Blitz (Score Only)
The dictionary definition of Blitz is any sudden, overwhelming attack, particularly from the air. It is shortened form of the German word Blitzkrieg, literally meaning a lightning war.The piece is a test of skill, nerve and stamina, culminating in an aural 'Blitz' of great ferocity.The tempo markings in this piece are intended merely as a guide to performers. The composer is particularly anxious that they should not be considered inviolate.Commissioned with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain for the finals of National Brass Band Championships held in the Royal Albert Hall, London, on the 3rd October, 1981.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£18.99
Samson (Score Only)
Samson takes inspiration from a well-known biblical character from the Old Testament. In its form, it refers to the style of the great 19thCentury symphonic poems. The piece expresses different aspects of the main character, resulting in a technical, expressive, colourful and impressive test piece, composed for the European Brass Band Championships.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£95.00Daphnis and Chloe (The Second Suite) (Score and Parts)
This revised (2012) version of the complete Second Suite from RAVEL's DAPHNIS & CHLOE arranged by Howard Snell, has been chosen as the test piece for the Championship Section of the NATIONAL BRASS BAND CHAMPIONSHIPS OF GREAT BRITAIN of 2012 at the Roya
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£34.50Daphnis and Chloe (The Second Suite) (Score only)
It is produced especially in A3 large format due to the complexity of some passages of the arrangement. This revised (2012) version of the complete Second Suite from RAVEL's DAPHNIS & CHLOE arranged by Howard Snell, has been chosen as the test piece fo
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£74.95Eden (Score and Parts)
This work was commissioned by the Brass Band Heritage Trust as the test piece for the final of the 2005 Besson National Brass Band Championship, held at the Royal Albert Hall, London.The score is prefaced by the final lines from Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (completed in 1663), in which Adam and Eve, expelled from Paradise, make their uncertain way into the outside world:"...The world was all before them, where to chooseTheir place of rest, and providence their guide:They hand in hand with wandering steps and slow,Through Eden took their solitary way."My work is in three linked sections. In the first, the characters of Adam, Eve and the serpent guarding the Tree of Knowledge are respectively represented by solo euphonium, cornet and trombone. The music opens in an idyllic and tranquil mood and leads into a duet between euphonium and cornet. Throughout this passage the prevailing mood darkens, though the soloists seem to remain oblivious to the increasingly fraught atmosphere. A whip-crack announces the malevolent appearance of the solo trombone who proceeds to engage the solo cornet in a sinister dialogue.The second section interprets the Eden story as a modern metaphor for the havoc mankind has inflicted upon the world, exploiting and abusing its resources in the pursuit of wealth. Though certainly intended here as a comment on the present-day, it is by no means a new idea: Milton himself had an almost prescient awareness of it in Book I of his poem, where men, led on by Mammon:"...Ransacked the centre and with impious handsRifled the bowels of their mother earthFor treasures better hid. Soon had his crewOpened into the hill a spacious woundAnd digged out ribs of gold."So this section is fast and violent, at times almost manic in its destructive energy. At length a furious climax subsides and a tolling bell ushers in the third and final section.This final part is slow, beginning with an intense lament featuring solos for tenor-horn, flgel-horn and repiano cornet and joined later by solo baritone, soprano cornet, Eb-bass and Bb-bass.At one stage in the planning of the work it seemed likely that the music would end here - in despair. Then, mid-way through writing it, I visited the extraordinary Eden Project in Cornwall. Here, in a disused quarry - a huge man-made wound in the earth - immense biomes, containing an abundance of plant species from every region of the globe, together with an inspirational education programme, perhaps offer a small ray of hope for the future. This is the image behind the work's conclusion and the optimism it aims to express is real enough, though it is hard-won and challenged to the last.John Pickard 2005
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days