Results
-
£35.00
In Pitch Black - Lucy Pankhurst
An extremely emotional and poignant work for brass band composed by Lucy Pankhurst, in memory and tribute to those affected by the Pretoria Pit disaster in Lancashire on 21st December 1910. The piece is chilling in its depiction of the tragic story, sensitively conveying the atmosphere and emotions as perceived before, during and after the event. Through its use of playing techniques, effects, sound combinations and even silences, In Pitch Black offers a powerfully reflective piece.Pritoria Pit DisasterLancashire's worst pit disaster and Britain's third largest loss of life from a single mining accident happened at the No. 3 Bank Pit belonging to the Hulton Colliery Company, just 4 days before Christmas 1910. The pit known as the 'Pretoria Pit' was situated on Hulton Parkland on the border of Atherton and Westhoughton. An explosion occurred at 7.50 am on Wednesday, 21 December 1910, resulting in the death of 344 men and boys, including many members of The Wingates Band.The Writing ExperienceDuring Lucy's research for this work, she acknowledges that she found the harsh reality from the shocking images and historical accounts of the event most disturbing, and is not embarrassed to disclose that it was wholly a very emotional experience in creating the composition. Consequently, she chose to create something to illustrate the true emotion of the situation. She wanted to pay tribute to the lives lost and the devastation which remained in their absence, by creating a piece of music which begins in darkness; desolate and claustrophobic, whilst still leaving the audience feeling uplifted and thoughtful in the final bars.The significance and musical appreciation for the creation of In Pitch Black was formally recognised by BASCA in 2011, when Lucy Pankhurst won the internationally acclaimed British Composer Award (the first time a brass band work had received the award, and the first time a female composer had won the category).Full programme notes are included in the product images.Look and Listen (performance courtesy of Manchester University Brass Band):
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
-
£24.95
Lest We Forget - Christopher Bond
Lest We Forget is a phrase added as a final line at the end of the Ode of Remembrance, taken from Laurence Binyon's poem For the Fallen, first published in The Times newspaper in September 1914. Providing the title for this work for brass band, the piece aims to combine both the acoustic nature of the brass band medium alongside narrated passages and pre-recorded extracts to provide a moving tribute. The words originally spoken by Prime Minister Herbert Asquith in 1914 can be narrated in performance. However, a free audio download, manipulated to sound like a 1914 radio broadcast is available from Prima Vista. Lest We Forget received its premiere at The Sage, Gateshead, on November 17th 2014, performed by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, conducted by Robert Childs. The work opened their winning Brass in Concert programme, and has since been performed by bands all over the world as a fitting tribute to the Great War.
Estimated dispatch 5-10 working days
-
£42.95
Shining Sword (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Wiffin, Rob
This extended fanfare was written for the Royal Air Force Bomber Command Commemorations, 2012. The prototype Avro Lancaster bomber was launched into the skies in 1941 and proved to be a significant factor in winning the Second World War. Its slender silvery outline led it to be known as the Shining Sword.This musical tribute has featured extensively in Bomber Command commemorations especially at the opening of their Memorial, in London's Green Park, a fitting tribute to the 55,573 crew member who lost their lives during WW2.Duration: 2:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£69.44
Armistice at Flanders Fields (Brass Band) Dwayne Bloomfield
This poignant and powerful work for brass band by Dwayne Bloomfield describes the day peace was announced to end World War I. The piece was written in 2023 to be played by bands around the world to mark Armistice Day. The composer writes: 'Unless you were there, it's impossible to imagine what it must have been like the day peace was announced ending World War I. The feelings soldiers experienced, who after years of fighting and suffering, to know it was over and they would return home to see family and loved ones again. This piece tries to tell their story. The work begins by approaching the front, distant artillery and battle sounds heard while the carnage and loss of lives was already known to the world. The band builds as we enter the thick of battle, the death and destruction, the conditions faced and the loss of hope of ever surviving. The next section, in 7/8 time, reflects the two sides fighting - both sides attacking and defending with mostly little result, but for the loss of more lives. Two euphoniums then depict the news and hope of peace talks. However, fighting did continue right up to the very end and on the last day there would be another 2,738 casualties. The Canadians were still battling to capture the town of Mons that morning. A song is sung in reflection of the estimated 5.5 million allied soldiers who lost their lives during World War I, then a clock ticks down the final minutes. The last three known casualties are depicted with French soldier Augustin Trebuchon, killed at 10:45am by a single shot as he rushed down the trenches to spread the news of coming peace; Canadian George Lawrence Price killed by a sniper round at 10:58am at the battle of Mons, and lastly a machine gun burst that killed American Henry Gunther, who is believed to have fallen on the 11th hour. Bells then toll ringing around the world announcing the end of the war. After years of war, it must have been jubilation for the families at home knowing their loved ones would be returning to them. The band builds with a hymn for peace as a final tribute to those who fought, before the piece resides with one of the most dreaded sounds at that time, the knock on the door from a telegram delivery boy or better known then as the Angels of Death. It wasn't just the 2,738 families from the casualties of the last day who would receive such a knock, but many more who expected their loved ones to be returning home would instead find out they were instead killed in the last weeks. So close. Driving around the battlefields today one comes across many intersections in the countryside which have cemetery signposts pointing in every direction. While the last post sounds in ceremonies today, this last bugle call instead depicts the horrors, devastation and death the soldiers faced during the war and right up the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Armistice at Flanders Fields.' To view a video of Dallas Brass Band performing the work please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljfyVz3cMgk Duration: Approx. 15.00 minutes Difficulty Level: 3rd Section + PDF download includes parts and score. Sheet music available from www.brassband.co.uk Instrumentation: Soprano Cornet Eb Solo Cornet Bb Repiano Cornet Bb 2nd Cornet Bb 3rd Cornet Bb Flugel Horn Bb Solo Horn Eb 1st Horn Eb 2nd Horn Eb 1st Baritone Bb 2nd Baritone Bb 1st Trombone Bb 2nd Trombone Bb Bass Trombone Euphonium Bb Bass Eb Bass Bb Percussion 1-3
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
-
£70.00
Origins - Peter Meechan
Origins is in three movements, with each movement having a different subject matter, all linked by the idea of origins: the first movement refers to musical origins; the second to the origins of life; and the final movement to the space exploration - the research of all origins. The first movement is based on a short motif, heard in the first three notes the soloist plays. These three notes cover the interval of a minor third (an interval that often plays a crucial role in my music) on which the whole concerto is built. The soloist and accompaniment interplay freely throughout the opening section, before an ostinato accompaniment appears - over which the soloist sounds a long legato melody. A short cadenza follows and a return to the opening material leads the movement to an end. The second movement, titled Harryas Song, is - as tradition dictates - a slow movement. Happy and reflective in nature, the main melody was written on the evening that my closest friend, Mark Bousie (a fine euphoniumist himself), and his wife Jayne, had their first child - Harry Bousie. It seemed only fitting that this song should be written for Harry in celebration. The final movement brings me back to a lifelong fascination with space, and in this particular movement, the Space Shuttle Discovery. Having completed 39 missions (including flying the Hubble telescope in to orbit), and spent a total of 365 days in space, SS Discovery made its final voyage in 2011 and was taken to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. in April 2012. This final movement, titled Discovery, pays tribute to the great shuttle whose missions inspired millions across the generations. Origins was commissioned by Marco Schneider, Adrian Schneider and the Dunshan Symphonic Wind Orchestra, Beijing, China.
Estimated dispatch 12-14 working days
-
£84.95
Turbulence, Tide and Torque (Baritone Solo with Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Graham, Peter
Concerto for BaritoneTurbulence, Tide and Torque can be considered to be a companion piece to my 2008 Euphonium Concerto In League with Extraordinary Gentlemen, and indeed can be performed on Euphonium (vintage or medium bore instrument preferred). Whereas the gentlemen in question in the latter work were fictional (e.g. Sherlock Holmes and Phileas Fogg), the former pays tribute to three real life women who were very much true pioneers and heroines of their age.Turbulence: Harriet Quimby (b. 1875) was one of the world's best woman aviators, her significant and historic achievement being the first woman to fly across the English Channel. Sadly, in her lifetime very few people were aware of her 1912 accomplishment; potential press coverage was dominated by the sinking of The Titanic only two days before.Grace Darling (b. 1815) is a name much more familiar to the public today, and in her lifetime she was lauded as a national heroine. A humble lighthouse keeper's daughter from Northumberland, her participation in the rescue of survivors from the wrecked paddle-steamer Forfarshire is well documented (a museum dedicated to her achievements located in Bamburgh, the town of her birth). This movement, Tide, develops a main theme from my large scale work Harrison's Dream, reflecting on the souls lost in the disaster.The final movement Torque, opens with a sudden gear change such as might have been undertaken by Dorothy Levitt (b. 1882), the woman's world land speed record holder, in her Napier racing car. Levitt, who following her 1906 record-breaking achievement was described as the Fastest Girl on Earth, went on to write extensively about her experiences, encouraging females to take up motoring through her articles in The Graphic newpaper.Turbulence, Tide and Torque was commissioned by and is dedicated to Katrina Marzella as part of an Arts Council of England funded residency I was awarded with the Black Dyke Band in 2018.- Peter GrahamDuration: 15.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£82.95
The Flowers of the Forest (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Bennett, Richard Rodney - Hindmarsh, Paul
In a preface to the score, the composer explains that 'the folk song The Flowers of the Forest is believed to date from 1513, the time if the battle of Flodden, in the course of which the archers of the Forest (a part of Scotland) were killed almost to a man'. Bennett had already used the same tune in his Six Scottish Folksongs (1972) for soprano, tenor and piano, and it is the arrangement he made then that forms the starting-point for the brass-band piece. A slow introduction (Poco Adagio) presents the folk song theme three times in succession - on solo cornet, on solo cornets and tenor horns, and on muted ripieno cornets in close harmony - after which the work unfolds through five sections and a coda. Although played without a break, each of these five sections has its own identity, developing elements of the tune somewhat in the manner of variations, but with each arising from and evolving into the next. The first of these sections (Con moto, tranquillo) is marked by an abrupt shift of tonality, and makes much of the slow rises and falls characteristic of the tune itself. The tempo gradually increases, to arrive at a scherzando section (Vivo) which includes the first appearance of the theme in its inverted form. A waltz-like trio is followed by a brief return of the scherzando, leading directly to a second, more extended, scherzo (con brio) based on a lilting figure no longer directly related to the theme. As this fades, a single side drum introduces an element of more overtly martial tension (Alla Marcia) and Bennett says that, from this point on, he was thinking of Debussy's tribute to the memory of an unknown soldier (in the second movement of En Blanc et noir, for two pianos). Bennett's march gradually gathers momentum, eventually culminating in a short-lived elegiac climax (Maestoso) before the music returns full-circle to the subdued melancholy of the opening. The work ends with a haunting pianissimo statement of the original tune.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£44.95
The Flowers of the Forest (Brass Band - Score only) - Bennett, Richard Rodney - Hindmarsh, Paul
In a preface to the score, the composer explains that 'the folk song The Flowers of the Forest is believed to date from 1513, the time if the battle of Flodden, in the course of which the archers of the Forest (a part of Scotland) were killed almost to a man'. Bennett had already used the same tune in his Six Scottish Folksongs (1972) for soprano, tenor and piano, and it is the arrangement he made then that forms the starting-point for the brass-band piece. A slow introduction (Poco Adagio) presents the folk song theme three times in succession - on solo cornet, on solo cornets and tenor horns, and on muted ripieno cornets in close harmony - after which the work unfolds through five sections and a coda. Although played without a break, each of these five sections has its own identity, developing elements of the tune somewhat in the manner of variations, but with each arising from and evolving into the next. The first of these sections (Con moto, tranquillo) is marked by an abrupt shift of tonality, and makes much of the slow rises and falls characteristic of the tune itself. The tempo gradually increases, to arrive at a scherzando section (Vivo) which includes the first appearance of the theme in its inverted form. A waltz-like trio is followed by a brief return of the scherzando, leading directly to a second, more extended, scherzo (con brio) based on a lilting figure no longer directly related to the theme. As this fades, a single side drum introduces an element of more overtly martial tension (Alla Marcia) and Bennett says that, from this point on, he was thinking of Debussy's tribute to the memory of an unknown soldier (in the second movement of En Blanc et noir, for two pianos). Bennett's march gradually gathers momentum, eventually culminating in a short-lived elegiac climax (Maestoso) before the music returns full-circle to the subdued melancholy of the opening. The work ends with a haunting pianissimo statement of the original tune.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£89.95
TRUMPETS OF THE ANGELS - 2016 Edition (Gregson) (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Gregson, Edward
The Trumpets of the Angels is a large-scale work, scored for seven solo trumpets (or cornets), brass band and percussion (deploying 'dark' instruments such as three tam-tams, bass drum and two sets of timpani). The genesis of the work is a quotation from the Book of Revelation ... and I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.Thus the idea behind the work is highly dramatic and I have tried to achieve this by the spatial deployment of seven solo trumpets around the band. Trumpet 7 remains separate from the band throughout and, indeed, has the most dramatic and extended cadenza, representing the words of the seventh angel ... and time shall be no more.The work opens with a four-note motif announced by off-stage horns and baritones and answered by fanfare figures on four solo trumpets. In turn, each then play cadenzas before joining together, independently playing their own music. This leads to a sung Kyrie Eleison with accompanying solos for Flugel Horn and Baritone, after which we hear the entry of solo trumpets 5 and 6 with music that is more urgent and rhythmic, describing the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.The music reaches another climax, more intense this time, with the horns and baritones (now on-stage) again sounding the transformed motif, before subsiding into what might be described as a lament of humanity - slow, yearning music, which builds from low to high, from soft to loud, with a melody that is both simple and poignant. At its climax, Trumpet 7 makes a dramatic entry, playing the opening four-note motif, but expanded to almost three octaves. This cadenza (to the partial accompaniment of 3 tam-tams, representing the Holy Trinity) introduces new material and foreshadows the ensuing Scherzo, introduced by antiphonal timpani before the band enters with music that is fast and foreboding. Despite the somewhat desolate and 'unstable' mood of this music, it slowly moves towards an optimistic conclusion, transforming the 'humanity' music into an affirmative and triumphant statement.The original version of The Trumpets of the Angels was commissioned by the Fodens Band for their centenary concert at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, in 2000, and contained an important part for organ. In 2015 I was asked by Nicholas Childs to create a New Performing Edition for the Black Dyke Band; without organ, and including newly composed material. This New Performing Edition was given its first performance at the European Brass Band Festival in Lille in April 2016. The work is dedicated In tribute to Olivier Messiaen.- Edward Gregson
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£44.95
TRUMPETS OF THE ANGELS - 2016 Edition (Gregson) (Brass Band - Score only) - Gregson, Edward
The Trumpets of the Angels is a large-scale work, scored for seven solo trumpets (or cornets), brass band and percussion (deploying 'dark' instruments such as three tam-tams, bass drum and two sets of timpani). The genesis of the work is a quotation from the Book of Revelation ... and I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.Thus the idea behind the work is highly dramatic and I have tried to achieve this by the spatial deployment of seven solo trumpets around the band. Trumpet 7 remains separate from the band throughout and, indeed, has the most dramatic and extended cadenza, representing the words of the seventh angel ... and time shall be no more.The work opens with a four-note motif announced by off-stage horns and baritones and answered by fanfare figures on four solo trumpets. In turn, each then play cadenzas before joining together, independently playing their own music. This leads to a sung Kyrie Eleison with accompanying solos for Flugel Horn and Baritone, after which we hear the entry of solo trumpets 5 and 6 with music that is more urgent and rhythmic, describing the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.The music reaches another climax, more intense this time, with the horns and baritones (now on-stage) again sounding the transformed motif, before subsiding into what might be described as a lament of humanity - slow, yearning music, which builds from low to high, from soft to loud, with a melody that is both simple and poignant. At its climax, Trumpet 7 makes a dramatic entry, playing the opening four-note motif, but expanded to almost three octaves. This cadenza (to the partial accompaniment of 3 tam-tams, representing the Holy Trinity) introduces new material and foreshadows the ensuing Scherzo, introduced by antiphonal timpani before the band enters with music that is fast and foreboding. Despite the somewhat desolate and 'unstable' mood of this music, it slowly moves towards an optimistic conclusion, transforming the 'humanity' music into an affirmative and triumphant statement.The original version of The Trumpets of the Angels was commissioned by the Fodens Band for their centenary concert at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, in 2000, and contained an important part for organ. In 2015 I was asked by Nicholas Childs to create a New Performing Edition for the Black Dyke Band; without organ, and including newly composed material. This New Performing Edition was given its first performance at the European Brass Band Festival in Lille in April 2016. The work is dedicated In tribute to Olivier Messiaen.- Edward Gregson
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days