Results
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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
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£29.50Eden (Score Only)
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
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£34.95Vissi d'arte - Christopher Bond
Vissi d'arte is a soprano aria from act 2 of the opera Tosca, by Giacomo Puccini. It is sung by Floria Tosca in total anguish, in the form of a prayer to God, asking 'why he rewards her thus?'. Just before the aria is performed (and the reason for its presence) Baron Scarpia, the chief of police, tells Tosca that in order to save her lover Cavaradossi's life, she must sleep with him. Vissi d'arte is Tosca's cry of anguish; she reasons that although she has never done anything wrong, she is still being faced with an impossible choice: either way, she will have to betray Cavaradossi, in the form of sleeping with another man, or not doing everything she could to save his life. This arrangement was made for Rose Hancock and City of Cardiff (Melingriffith) Brass Band for their performance at the 2020 Welsh Open Entertainment Contest.
Estimated dispatch 5-10 working days
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£34.95Behold the Power of God - Christopher Bond
Behold the Power of God (2010) was written for and premiered by the Cornwall Youth Brass Band in dedication to their Musical Advisor at the time; the late Cornish composer Goff Richards who later described the work as 'a remarkable piece of writing'. The work's title, while implying a religious meaning, actually references Goff's name, with his full name Godfrey translating as 'God-peace' and Richards meaning 'Power'. Two energetic outer sections fall either side of a more lyrical middle section featuring the solo cornet. The perfect opening item at any concert.
Estimated dispatch 5-10 working days
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£55.00
Thames Journey - Nigel Hess
Thames Journey is a 10-minute musical journey that follows the river Thames from its origins, as a few drops of water in Wiltshire, to the point where it meets the open sea at Greenwich. Along the way, Hess draws upon many musical links along the Thames, such as an old Wiltshire melody, morris dancing in Oxfordshire, boating songs from Berkshire and street songs in London. With such rich and diverse sources of music across several counties and centuries, this has quite understandably become one of Hess's most popular works to date.Brass Band Grade 4: Advanced Youth and 3rd SectionDuration: 10 minutes.This brass band arrangement, by Phillip Littlemore, has been recorded by the Leyland Band, conducted by Michael Fowles on the CD The Alchymist's Journal.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£40.00
Hedwig's Theme (Score & Parts) - John Williams
Hedwig's Theme, from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, is probably the most recognisable of all the themes from John Williams' score to the Harry Potter films. The music has been arranged for brass band by Andrew Duncan. Brass Band Grade 4: Advanced Youth and 3rd Section Duration: 5 minutes
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£40.00
A Christmas Festival - Leroy Anderson
Originally composed in 1950 for Arthur Fiedler's Boston Pops Orchestra, A Christmas Festival is the most famous Christmas medley of all. Leroy Anderson's sparkling selection includes Joy to the World, Deck the Halls, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Good King Wenceslas and Hark the Herald Angels Sing.Brass Band Grade 4: Advanced Youth and 3rd Section.Duration: 7 minutes.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£50.00
Keystone Kops - Carl Davis
The Keystone Kops was a series of silent comedies featuring an incompetent group of policemen. They first appeared in the 1912 film Hoffmeyer's Legacy but it was the 1913 feature The Bangville Police that confirmed their popularity. The Keystone Kops were renowned for making mistakes, particularly with a great deal of energy and activity, and all done with a major lack of coordination. Carl Davis's energetic theme provides a fitting musical portrait of a silverscreen phenomenen.Brass Band Grade 4/5: Premier Youth and 2nd Section.Duration: 3 Minutes.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£44.95Christmas Truce, The - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 7'30". DIFFICULTY: 2nd Section+. 'The Christmas Truce' was composed in 2018 for the Strata Brass Band and was used as part of their Christmas programme to mark 100 years since the end of the First World War. On the 24th December 1914, just a few weeks after war broke out, one of the most notable events of the 4-year conflict took place on the front line as the guns from both sides fell silent and soldiers came together on Christmas Eve. This composition for brass band and narrator tells the story of that night, painting a musical picture of the events as they unfolded. Using material from the carols 'In The Bleak Midwinter', 'O Tannenbaum' and 'Silent Night', the music weaves it's way around the events leading upto, during, and directly following the Christmas Truce, before culminating in a grand finale which incorporates the famous "the souls of the righteous are in the hands of God" quote from Eric Ball's 'Resurgam'. . .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£24.99The EATM March By Joseph Knight
This is a traditional Brass Band March written by Joseph Knight. It was commissioned by the East Anglian Transport Museum and 10% of the sales goes straight to that organisation. It was written with the concept of having each section reminiscent of the British comedy films of the 1950's and 60's culminating in a Ealing Comedy styled chase around London at the end of the trio! Good fun and always an audience pleaser.
Estimated dispatch 5-9 working days
