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£20.00Xmas Ditty - Tim Paton
Seasonal 'fun' for the band, (and the audience of course).Robert Childs commented:It begins with yet another rendition of Jingle Bells, "Wait a minute though, is someone out of tune somewhere? Who is that who some of the band are shouting at? Why am I thinking of Les Dawson? ... Back to the music - it's Good King Wenceslas, how did Rule Britannia get in there? ... and I'm sure that was the end of God Save the Queen".After an unadulterated version of O Come, all ye faithful, the final section features Jingle Bells and Good King Wenceslas claiming the last spot together.The piece ends with the well known 'AMEN' cadence - but there's still a little surprise on the last chord! "..is subtitled 'seasonal fun for band and audience', and it certainly is just that!"
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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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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£40.00Mars, The Bringer of War - Gustav Holst arr. Phillip Littlemore
Holst first became interested in astrology around 1912/13 and so began the gestation for a series of pieces that would ultimately become the suite The Planets.The suite itself was written between 1914 and 1916 and with the exception of Mercury, which was written last, Holst wrote the music in the sequence we now know them, and thus did not present the inner planets of Mercury, Venus and Mars in their planetary order. So, in 1914, came the insistent rhythmic tread of Mars, The Bringer of War. It is widely known that the sketches were completed prior to the outbreak of the First World War, so the music is less a reaction the the declaration of war itself, but more an impending sense of inevitability of a war to unfold. Even though Holst would not have known whether war would be declared as he wrote the music, it is almost certain that the news at the time would have had some influence on the music itself. Its insistent 5/4 rhythm, coupled with the winding melody line, the juxtaposition of keys such as D flat and C major all point to a sense of foreboding.Duration: 7'20"Difficulty: 2nd Section and above
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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£35.00Pomp & Circumstance March No.2 - Edward Elgar arr. Phillip Littlemore
Following the spectacular success of his Pomp & Circumstance March No. 1, which received over 100 performances in its first year, it was almost inevitable that Elgar would write a second. However, what is not commonly known is that the initial sketches for what was to become the Pomp & Circumstance March No. 2 were written first!Due to the successes of the first march, not least because it now features at every Prom concert, it is forgotten that not only did Elgar submit the manuscript for both marches to his publisher at the same time, but both marches were premiered at the same concert and both performed a few days later at the same Promenade Concert.Duration: 5'00"Difficulty: Suitable for all grades
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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£25.00O Mio Babbino Caro - vocal solo (Giacomo Puccini arr. Phillip Littlemore
O Mio Babbino Caro (Oh My Dear Papa) is taken from the opera Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini. It is sung by Schicchi's daughter, Lauretta. after tensions between Schicchi and his prospective in-laws have reached a breaking point that threaten to separate her from Rinuccio, the boy she loves.The story of Gianni Schicchi concerns a rich old man who dies leaving all his possessions to the local monastery. His outraged relatives agree to Gianni Schicchi impersonating the dead man so that he can dictate a new will. In doing so, Schicchi manages to bequeath himself the dead man's most hotly contested possessions - his mule, his house and his mills. This means that Schicchi can now provide a full dowry to enable his daughter to marry. It is the second opera of Puccini's operatic triptych, which also includes Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica .Duration: c.2'00"Grade: Suitable for all
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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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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Bernie's Song - Miller/Leiber/Stoller ver.Mulligan, arr.John Dankworth - Len Jenkins
Bernie's Tune is a 1953 jazz standard with music written by Bernie Miller and lyrics by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was popularised through a recording by the quartet of the American saxophonist and composer Gerry Mulligan, and the tune was a popular choice for musicians jamming at the time. Information about the composer is scarce. All that people really know of him is that he was a piano player from Washington DC. Gerry Mulligan's version was subsequently arranged by the late, legendary John Dankworth and this arrangement for brass band has been faithfully based on it to evoke the atmosphere of that golden era.
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Duet For Two Cats - G. Rossini - Len Jenkins
"Duet For Two Cats" is often performed as an encore to vocal recitals and operatic galas. It may be sung by two sopranos, male-female pairs, or even as a tomcat duet and can be accompanied by a piano or a full orchestra. The lyrics are simple; the single word 'Miaow', repeated with various styles of inflexion and attitude throughout the piece. Our arrangement is for a cornet and trombone. The piece is generally ascribed to Rossini, though there is some doubt as to its actual origins and whether it is an authentic work by that composer. It is believed that an English composer, Robert Lucas Pearsall under the pseudonym G. Berthold may have assembled the various elements from Rossini and perhaps other composers into the piece as we now know it. In order to achieve the correct balance between band and soloists, there is a need to mute most of the band instruments. Recognising that not all bands will have the larger mutes which are expensive and sometimes unwieldy, we suggest a form of muting made famous by a jazz trumpeter and which works well on most instruments. It consists of a circle of heat resistant padded table covering or felt, slightly larger than the bell diameter, with an elasticated edge like a 'mop-hat'. With 3 holes in it to let the sound out, the mute is then simply stretched over the bell to achieve the desired effect and folded up when not required.
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In Dreams - Roy Orbison - Len Jenkins
"In Dreams" is a song composed and sung by rock and roll performer Roy Orbison, and was released as a single on Monument Records in February 1963. Orbison later claimed that the origin for "In Dreams" came to him while he was sleeping, as many of his songs did. When he woke up the next morning, the entire composition was written in 20 minutes. Like many of Orbison's songs, but unlike the majority of rock and roll ballads, in under 3 minutes it goes through seven movements with distinct melodies and chord progressions without repeating itself. It was for that reason that I have always believed it was a suitable piece for brass where one does not have lyrics to distinguish changes between verses to avoid monotony. Graham Cooper
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£113.00Me and Mrs. Jones - Kenneth Gamble
Me and Mrs. Jones was written by Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Cary Gilbert in 1972, and was first recorded by Billy Paul on the album 360 Degrees of Billy Paul. The song is about a man who has an affair with Mrs. Jones, and how the two secretly meet every day in the same cafe, even though they may know it's not quite right: "We got a thing going on/we both know that it's wrong/but it's much too strong/to let it go now." Paul has stated that he was sure the song was going to be a hit even before it was released, as "it's a song everyone can relate to", but already from the start the lyrics were considered somewhat controversial and the song were banned from several radio stations. Nevertheless, it became one of the best-selling singles of 1972 and Paul received a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.Well known is also Michael Buble's version of the song, released on the album Call Me Irresponsible in 2007. It is his version that has been the inspiration for this arrangement, which brings out even more of the jazz elements Buble has found in the song. The arrangement is quite demanding for the ensemble, and requires great rhythmic precision in particular.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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