Results
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£30.00Fantasia on themes by Purcell - Ian Shepherd
Fantasia consists of three distinct sections that use thematic material from three separate pieces by Henry Purcell. The first section is based on the march from Funeral Music for Queen Mary which is dramatically dark and powerful but also uplifting. The Second section uses the devastatingly beautiful aria Dido's Lament or When I am laid in earth from the opera Dido and Aeneas as its basis and builds to enormous proportions, unlike the original aria. The third section begins with a haunting reference to the Rondo from Abdelazer. Gradually, this builds towards an exciting re-statement of the theme in the first section to the finale.
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£30.00Flanfayre - Stephen Deazley
I was asked by Music for Youth to write a flexibly scored fanfare for the school proms at the Royal Albert Hall and at their National Festival in Birmingham in 2013. At its first performance at the National Festival, over 200 young brass players performed Flanfayre in Birmingham Town Hall, directed by Roger Argente, members of Superbrass and myself. The score is a progressive romp through some increasingly dance-like grooves, borrowing some of its swing from South America, from marches and big band, moving from a really quite straight opening to a "let-go" moment at the end. It is more like a flan full of different flavours, than a fanfare, hence the title. I set myself a challenge to write 100 bars but ended up with 102, which, after the introduction, can be broken down into 10 easily discernible sections each with their own mini-musical narrative. If you have time feel free to teach the audience the clapping groove. I also modelled the slow moving melody of the final section on the following words; "nothing beats a nice big cheesy, nothing beats a nice big cheesy, nothing beats a nice big cheesy, nothing beats a cheesy flan". Feel free to incorporate these too, and perform only under the strict instruction that you have fun ! - Programme Note copyright of Stephen Deazley
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£30.00Homage to Bach - Chris Houlding
Inspired by the master of counterpoint, Homage to Bach was written by Chris as an exercise in simplicity itself, designed to not only test the musicians playing skills and sense of style, but to encourage them to develop their "ensemble radar" through carefully listening, fine tuning, subtle dynamics and variation in articulation. The brass band has a long tradition of using chorales and hymns as a training exercise. As an alternative to existing hymn tunes, I have composed this simple chorale melody in three verses with a short introduction and links to specifically develop a quality 'tutti' band sound. Certain parts are doubled allowing performances by incomplete bands while presenting full outfits with an intonation and stylistic challenge. The printed phrasing is to be adhered to at all times regarding breaths, thus producing a seamless counterpoint. Simple yet satisfying for a quieter and atmospheric concert interlude.
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£30.00Joy to the World - George Frideric Handel
"Joy to the World" is a popular Christmas Carol with words by Isaac Watts. As of the late 20th century, "Joy to the World" was the most published Christmas hymn in North America. The words of the hymn are by the English writer Watts are based on Psalm 98, 96:11-12 and Genesis 3: 17-18. The version of this carol usually heard today is from an edition by Lowell Mason and is named "Antioch" and attributed as "arranged by Handel". This tune has the first four notes in common with the chorus "Lift up your heads" from the Messiah and the third line recalls "Comfort ye" from the same work. But this resemblance is often dismissed as a chance resemblance by Handel scholars today. Another theory is its similarity to a tune called "Comfort" and associated with Charles Wesley's hymn "O Joyful Sound", which was written some three years earlier than Lowell Mason's "Antioch" in 1833. This carol has been recorded by many artists such as Andy Williams, The Supremes, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Cash, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Vic Damone and Mariah Carey.
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£30.00La Perla Negra - Colin Skinner
For this brooding piece the composer has used the following storyline. "A sad elderly man sits alone in a bar whilst an accordionist plays a slowtango. A beautiful woman walks in wearing a single black pearl necklace and proceeds to dance with the old man. Gradually the music becomesmore and more spirited and the dance faster as the old man becomes youthful again. With a passionate kiss he passes out in thegirl's arms and when he awakens he is back in the bar alone save for the accordionist. As he contemplates his dream he notices a single black pearlleft behind on the bar. The sombre mood is lightened in the middle section by a deliberately trite and stylised trumpet duet, but we soon returnto the opening material for a slow fade-out"
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£40.00Last Night of the Proms Medley - Traditional
The quintessential most English of English classical music concerts and the self-styled world's largest and most democratic musical festival". The "Proms", originally known as The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts are an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London. Founded in 1895, each season now consists of more than 70 concerts in the Albert Hall, a series of chamber concerts at Cadogan Hall, additional Proms in the Park events across the United Kingdom on the last night, and associated educational and children's events. Often held as outdoor concerts in London's pleasure gardens, where the audience was free to stroll around while the orchestra was playing, this tradition has once again been revived in parks and stately homes not only in the UK, but across the world. The first series of promenade concerts were held indoors at the Queen's Hall in Langham Place. The idea was to encourage an audience for concert hall music who, though not normally attending classical concerts, would be attracted by the low-ticket prices and more informal atmosphere. In addition to "promenading" or "promming"; eating, drinking and smoking was all allowed. Many people's perception of the "Proms" is taken from the "Last Night", although this concert is very different from the others. The concert is traditionally of a lighter vein, with popular classics being followed by a series of British patriotic pieces in the second half of the concert. This second half sequence traditionally includes most of the works included in this medley. Many in the audience use the occasion for an exuberant display of Britishness. Union Jack Flags are carried and waved by the "Prommers", especially during "Rule, Britannia!". Balloons and party poppers are also in abundance.
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£30.00Leviathan - Paul Denegri
Leviathan began its evolution as a workshop work inspired by the poem written by Heathcote Williams entitled; Whale Nation. At the time of this workshop the tentet brass repertoire existed of extremely well written original or arranged works of a lighter nature but there was a shortage of works with a greater emotional depth and edge, hence Leviathan's early conception as an atmospheric and emotive work. The workshop piece explored whale sound and song and was a 25-minute work in two parts. After many years of the workshop sketches sitting dormant the new work Leviathan is a much shorter and concise work. It contains only one of the original melodic themes of the workshop work. Leviathan is driven and underpinned by melodic and rhythmic elements. It is a programmed work following the awe inspiring majestic might and beauty of whales through to a hunt scene, the chase and the ultimate demise of earth's largest mammal.
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£30.00Red Hot Pepper Stomp - Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, professionally known asJelly Roll Morton, was an Americanragtimeandearly jazzpianist, band leader andcomposer who started his career inNew Orleans,Louisiana. Widely recognised as a pivotal figure in earlyjazz, Morton is perhaps most notable as jazz's first arranger, proving that a genre rooted in improvisation could retain its essential spiritand characteristics when notated. His composition "Jelly Roll Blues" was the first published jazz composition in 1915. Morton is also notable for writing suchstandardsas "KingPorter Stomp", "Wolverine Blues", "Black Bottom Stomp", and "I Thought I HeardBuddy BoldenSay". Notorious for his arrogance and self-promotion, Morton claimed to have invented jazz outright in 1902, much to the derisionof fellow musicians and the critics. At the age of fourteen, Morton began working as a piano player in a brothel (or, as it was referred to back then, a sporting house). In that atmosphere,he often sang smutty lyrics and took the nickname "Jelly Roll". While working there,he was living with his religious, church-going great-grandmother; who he convinced that he worked as a night watchman in a barrel factory. After Morton's grandmother found out that he was playing jazz in a local brothel, she kicked him out of her house and told him that "devil music" would surely bring about his downfall. Born in downtown New Orleans,Louisiana, his exact birth date differs depending to whichever source you want to believe; his half-sisters claimed he was born in September 1885 but his World War 1 draft card showed September 1884 and his California death certificate listed his birth as September 1889. He died in 1941 in Los Angeles.
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£30.00The Moose on the Loose - Mark Hamlyn
I had a dream of a moose that escapes captivity and heads towards the city. At first, he has a ball with all the new things to see but as he approaches the centre he gradually despairs at the chaos of the crowds of people and traffic. In the end he flees desperately out of the city and slams himself back into his cage. The piece is clearly a homage to Shostakovich and perhaps shouldn't be taken too seriously. Mark Hamlyn.
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£40.00Tientos y Danzas - Gareth Wood
Tientos y Danzas is a suite in four movements and was written especially for Superbrass. It is not literally descriptive, but conjures up a breezy, festive atmosphere. The title Tientos stems from the fact that a lot of the brass writing is reminiscent of virtuosic Renaissance keyboard finger-work (a "Tiento" is the Spanish equivalent of a toccata). Only later did we discover that the word is also the name of a style of flamenco dancing, which links nicely with Danzas (dances). The first movement is an extended fanfare, with military rhythms on the tenor drums and dramatic trumpet and horn calls. Next comes a witty waltz featuring the French horn. The music builds in complexity; the main horn theme returns before a playful coda. The following Andante makes effective use of the mutes, both in the haunting opening "pyramid" chords, and in the elaborate, recurrent trumpet duets; the two trumpets have the last word. After a couple of false starts, the finale sets off at a cracking pace, with dislocated accents creating an irregular rhythmic pulse. There are opportunities for every instrument to shine (metaphorically) and the music gets even faster for a thrilling conclusion.