Results

• 
  £21.68

  

  Coconut Dance - Traditional - Andi Cook

  The Rochdale coconut dance is a traditional Morris dance, often used by the dancers who accompany the rush-cart during the Rochdale rushbearing festival. It probably dates from the 1850s, and though the dancers were said to have half a coconut shell on each knee and in each hand, the term 'coconut' is also used as local slang for the wooden end of a wool bobbin, so nobody can be sure if they were always real coconuts. Written for the Milnrow band's 150th birthday celebrations (1869-2019) this arrangement uses a combination of Caribbean rhythms and a disco groove for a modern take on an old favourite that's impossible to sit still to. Enormously catchy, great fun to play and with something for everyone to enjoy, your audiences will be whistling this one all the way home.

  In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
  

    View Music

• 
  £38.25

  

  The Sword and the Star

  DescriptionThe Sword and the Star was written in 2006 for the Middleton Band at the request of their Musical Director, Carl Whiteoak. The inspiration for the work was the band's badge, which features a medieval archer. The town of Middeton's historical link with the symbol of the Archer came from the English victory at the Battle of Flodden in September 1513, where bowmen from Middleton and Heywood under the command of Sir Richard Assheton played a vital part in crushing the invading Scottish army. Sir Richard captured one of the Scottish commanders and presented the prisoner's sword to the St Leonard's church in Middleton in recognition of the town's contribution. As long time Lords of the Manor, the Assheton family crest was for centuries featured in the coat of arms of Middleton council, and when Middleton became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale the black star from the Assheton crest was used to represent Middleton in the new borough's coat of arms. Hence the title The Sword and the Star, for a piece which attempts to give an impression of the town as it was then and as it is now.The music is in three short sections - a fanfare, a lament and a bright scherzo - and simply aims to contrast the medieval hamlet of Middleton with the bustling urban centre it has now become. The central lament features a Scottish song called "The Flowers of the Forest", written to mourn the loss of so many of Scotland's young men on the field of Flodden; the song returns in a much more positive form at the end of the piece.

  Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days