Results
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£30.00I Vow To The, My Country - Gustav Holst/Geoff Knorr arr. Phillip Littlemore
Gustav Holst wrote his suite The Planets during the early years of the first world war. The expansive movement, Jupiter, contained a tune that Holst later used to set the poem by Cecil Spring-Rice, I Vow To Thee, My Country. Originally set for unison voices with orchestra, Holst adapted it as a hymn tune and called it Thaxted, named after the village where he lived for many years.The American composer, Geoff Knorr, incorporated Holst's music into his score for the strategy-based video game Civilisation V, where it is used to depict the England of Elizabeth I. It is from this music that this transcription is made.Although originally written in 1908 and entitled Urbs Dei, Spring-Rice revisited the text of his poem in January 1918 and significantly altered both the first and second verses to reflect his feelings about the war, and those that gave the ultimate sacrifice. He also renamed the poem with the title we know today. Because of its sentiment, it has now become a staple of Remembrance services.A video of this arrangement can be found here: I Vow To Thee, My CountryDuration: 5'40"Difficulty: Suitable for all
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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£35.00March to the Scaffold - Hector Berlioz arr. Phillip Littlemore
The March to the Scaffold is the fourth of five movements from Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. The symphony tells the story of a troubled young man and his quest to find his true love. This true love is depicted in the music by a melody known as a idee fixe (fixed idea) and appears in every movement.The fourth movement takes on a nightmarish character as having taken opium, the young man dreams that he has killed his true love and is about to be executed for his crime. The music is an unrelenting forced march to the scaffold. The idee fixe appears only once in this movement, as a sudden reminiscence just before the guillotine strikes the young man's head before the movement comes to an end with a perversely joyous conclusion.Duration: 4'30"Difficulty: 3rd Section and above
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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£30.00Stars and Stripes Forever, The - John Philip Sousa arr. Phillip Littlemore
The patriotic American march The Stars and Stripes Forever is the official National March of the United States of America, as decreed by a 1987 act of the U.S. Congress. It is probably Sousa's most famous composition.While on vacation in Europe with his wife, Sousa received word that his good friend and band manager, David Blakely, had died. Sousa quickly returned to the States aboard the S.S. Teutonic, and whilst aboard he began to form the music that was to become his most famous march. According to his Sousa's autobiography, Marching On, he composed the majority of the work on Christmas Day 1896: "I did not transfer a note of that music to paper while I was on the steamer, but when we reached shore, I set down the measures that my brain had been playing for me, and not a note of it has ever changed." For twenty-five years Sousa's Band played the march at almost every concert it held.Duration: 3'50"Difficulty: Suitable for all
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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£40.00Carnival 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
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£60.00Music from the Royal Fireworks - G. F. Handel arr. Don Blakeson
Handel's Music For The Royal Fireworks was composed in 1749 to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and the end of the War of the Austrian Succession. The site chosen was the fashionable upper part of St. James Park, which was becoming known at that time as Green Park. The Green Park 'Machine', which housed the pyrotechnics was an elaborate affair adorned with "statues and other figures, festoons of flowers, and other lustres".It was announced that there would be some 10,000 rockets and other devices to be let off, all culminating in a grand, burning sun with 'Vivat Rex' at its centre. There were also rumours that the event was to be accompanied by an impressively large band of military music and mention was made of "40 trumpets, 20 french horns, 16 hautboys (oboes), 16 bassoons, 8 pairs of kettle drums, 12 side drums, a proper number of flutes and fifes; with 100 cannon to go off singly at intervals". It is unlikely that Handel had ever conceived such forces and it was merely the promoter's hyberbole, not least because it was unlikely that there were sufficient numbers of extra military musicians available that could read music, as most played from memory. It is also likely that Handel, and his publisher, were conscious that future performances would be hindered by such forces. The autographed score lists the instrumentation as 9 trumpets, 9 french horns, 24 hautboys, 12 bassoons, 3 pairs of kettle drums and up to 4 side drums.The work is in five movements, although Handel's original score did not indicate in which order they should be played. However, in this score they are arranged to be played as follows: Overture, Bouree, La Paix, Minuets I & II and La Rejouissance.Duration: c. 19 minutesDifficulty: Suitable ofr all
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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£30.00Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies - Pyotr Tchaikovsky arr. Phillip Littlemore
Dance of the he Sugar Plum Fairy needs no introduction as it is one of the most recognisable pieces of music. Tchaikovsky began writing his ballet The Nutcracker in 1891. It received its premiere in St. Petersburg, the following year. The Sugar Plum Fairy is the ruler of the Land of Sweets although she only dances in Act 2 of the work.This arrangement, retitled The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies, has the slightest of twists in that it features the four members of the bass section. There is no need for the players to dress as ballet dancers, but it does add to the spectacle!Duration: 3'00"Difficulty: 3rd Section and above
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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£35.00Trumpet Shall Sound, The - G. F, Handel arr. Phillip Littlemore
Along with the Hallelujah Chorus, the bass aria (and mini trumpet concerto) The Trumpet Shall Sound is one of the most recognisable movements from Handel's Messiah, which was composed in 1741 and received it's premiere in Dublin a year later. Written in three parts, the The Trumpet Shall Sound appears in the middle of the third and final part.The aria is rarely performed 'live' with the full repeat, as it is a particularly taxing part for the trumpet player. However, in this arrangement, the extended middle section is intact and can therefore be played at the trumpet soloists discretion!Duration: 10'30" (4'20" playing the first section only)Difficulty: Suitable for all (band accompaniment)Also available from Messiah:Hallelujah ChorusAnd The Glory, The Glory of the Lord
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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Galloping Home (The theme from TV's Black Beauty) - Dennis King - Len Jenkins
"The Adventures of Black Beauty" was a British children's television drama series produced by London Weekend Television and shown by ITV in the United Kingdom between 1972 and 1974. The theme tune, "Galloping Home", written by Denis King and performed by the London String Chorale, was released as a single and peaked at number 31 in the UK charts in the week of 2 February 1974. It was later used at the climax of the first series of Absolutely Fabulous, with Edina Monsoon dreaming of running through a field as Black Beauty does in the series' title sequence. The piece has been arranged for both Full Brass Band and Brass Ensemble, in this case a Quintet with optional percussion. Both arrangements are well within the capabilities of most bands.
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The Wombles Song - Mike Batt - Len Jenkins
The Wombles are fictional pointy-nosed, furry creatures that live in burrows, where they aim to help the environment by collecting and recycling rubbish in creative ways. They were created by author Elisabeth Beresford, and originally appeared in a series of children's novels from 1968 that featured the inhabitants of a burrow on Wimbledon Common in London, England.The characters gained a higher national profile in the UK in the mid-1970s as a result of a BBC commissioned children's television show, and a number of spin-off novelty songs also became hits in the British music charts. The Wombles pop group was the idea of British singer and composer Mike Batt who wrote the series' theme tune, and who went on to perform and produce a number of successful albums and singles with 'The Wombles'.This is a brass band arrangement of that well-known theme tune. Caution! This may provoke a sing-along.
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The Giddy Goat - Traditional Swiss - Daniel von Siebenthal
The Giddy Goat is a silly folk song that everyone knows in Switzerland. It is about a white goat that does not want to get milked, so she kicks the milker. Thinking that this is because the goat is white, the owner decides that he will buy a brown one instead. From there on, people make up their own verses in which the goat is often replaced with past loves, enemies, and anyone or anything worthy of ridicule. Daniel, the arranger, lives in Gstaad in the Saanen district and the "Saanen goat" is a breed of white goat known throughout the world. As a farm boy, he did his share of goat milking and received the occasional hoof under his chin for his trouble. So, this piece is a tribute to a local breed that became world-famous, especially in America where the tune also meets its counterpart Billy Grogan's Goat (a similar silly song). The Giddy Goat should always be played as a "silly song" reflecting the goat's nature; capricious and cantankerous. The low bass line is important in Swiss folk music and should approximate to a plucked string-bass whose strings are dampened, to give it a pulsating feel. For those who would like to yodel we include the following Swiss tongue twister:- Holeduli duliduli, holeduli duli duli duuli, Holeduli duliduli, holeduli duli duli duu