Results
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£30.00Finale from Tosca, Act 1 (Te Deum)
DescriptionPuccini's opera Tosca, one of his most successful and popular works is set in 1800 in Rome, as Napoleon's invading army is approaching. There are rebels in Rome who see Napoleon as a liberator from Neapolitan rule and are plotting secretly. One of those is the young firebrand artist Cavaradossi. He and his lover, the beautiful and tempestuous Tosca, are being pursued by the evil chief of the secret police, Scarpia. At the end of Act 1, Scarpia is revelling in his plot to capture Cavaradossi and trick Tosca into sleeping with him to buy her lover's freedom, all inside a church in Rome while a Te Deum service is being sung; in the background the bells are tolling and we hear distant cannonfire from the approaching army.In this arrangement the part of Scarpia is played mostly by the solo trombone. There is an optional organ part, although all of the organ part is covered in the band parts.This arrangement was first performed by the Harrogate Band conducted by Andrew Baker in 2022. Watch a video preview of the score below!
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£10.00Endurance
DescriptionMen wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success. - Ernest Shackleton, 4 Burlington StreetEndurance takes its title from the ship used by Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1914-15. After many months of fundraising (and reputedly running the above advert in The Times) the Endurance set sail from Plymouth on 6 August 1914. Whilst at sea news of the outbreak of war led Shackleton to put his ship and crew at the disposal of the Admiralty, but their services were not required and they were encouraged to continue. On October 26 1914 they left Grytviken on South Georgia for the Antarctic continent, hoping to find the pack ice shrinking in the Antarctic spring. Two days later, however, they encountered unseasonable ice which slowed their progress considerably. On 15 January 1915, when Endurance was only 200 miles from her intended landfall at Vahsel Bay, the ship became beset by ice which had been compressed against the land to the south by gale force winds. Trapped in the ice of the Weddell Sea, the ship spent the Antarctic winter driven by the weather further from her intended destination until, on 21 November 1915 Endurance broke up forcing the crew to abandon ship and set up camp on the ice at a site they named "Patience Camp".The crew spent several weeks on the ice. As the southern spring started to reduce the extent of the ice shelf they took to their three lifeboats, sailing across the open ocean to reach the desolate and uninhabited Elephant Island. There they used two of the boats to build a makeshift shelter while Shackleton and five others took the largest boat, an open lifeboat named the 'James Caird' and sailed it for 800 terrifyingly dangerous miles across the vast and lonely Southern Atlantic to South Georgia - a journey now widely regarded as one of the greatest and most heroic small-boat journeys ever undertaken. After landing on the wrong side of the island and having to climb over a mountain range in the dark with no map, Shackleton and his companions finally stumbled back into the Grytviken whaling station on 19 May 1916.After resting very briefly to recover his strength, Shackleton then began a relentless campaign to beg or borrow a ship to rescue the rest of his crew from Elephant Island; whaling ships were not strong enough to enter polar ice, but on 30 August 1916, over two years after their departure from Plymouth, Shackleton finally returned to Elephant Island aboard a steam tug borrowed from the Chilean government. Although some were in poor health, every member of the Endurance crew was rescued and returned home alive.Endurance is dedicated to the memory of my mum, who passed away in September 2017.Listen to a computer generated preview and follow the score below:
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£15.00Perseverance
DescriptionPerseverance was commissioned by Middleton Band to mark their 140th anniversary in 2016, supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, and featured on Middleton Band's CD of the same name.The title is taken from the original name of the 1876 band, the Middleton Perseverance Drum and Fife Band. According to the band's historical records, the Drum and Fife band was formed by six Middleton youngsters eager to learn music but short of funds. Following a whip round, they visited a music shop in Oldham where they purchased a 'one key flute' for six shillings and sixpence, and ('later on') a drum.This determination to make music despite the odds has been a characteristic of the band ever since; at the end of the second world war the band was again down to six players, who rebuilt the 'Middleton Borough Band' back to twenty-six players. After a period of some considerable success throughout the sixties and seventies culminating in winning the National Third Section title in 1983 the band hit hard times again in the late eighties and was down to only four members in 1987 before again being brought back to life. In recent decades the band has built a strong relationship with the East Lancashire Railway, another organisation which has battled sometimes mighty obstacles in its struggle to survive, and has maintained a thriving and successful youth band.The band's will to survive through adversity is reflected in the music, which builds from a sextet of four brass and two percussion players three times, only to fall back to the sextet twice. In the central slow movement the bass drum plays a 'heartbeat' rhythm as the remaining players remember those lost in the war. The relentless pace of the final section culminates in the band triumphing over the adversity which has curtailed the previous two sections. As a former member of Middleton Band (and one of the team that regained the National Third Section title in 2007) it is my pleasure to dedicate this work to the 'Pop and Ale Boys', Middleton Band.You can read more about the piece here.To view the accompanying video by Andy Marshall, designed to precede the piece, clickhereand find out more about the link between the video and the music here.Recording with Score VideoPerformance NotesIn performance the four brass members of the sextet (soprano, solo horn, solo trombone and solo euphonium) should stand at the sides of the band - soprano and horn behind the cornets, trombone and euphonium behind the trombones. Percussion may stand with them at the conductor's discretion, but only if the band has TWO snare drums and TWO concert bass drums available, as these are also needed at the back of the band in the tutti sections. In the second sextet snare drum should be muffled with a heavy cloth OR have the snares turned off (not both).Percussion and mutesPercussion required:snare drum (muffled with a heavy cloth at one point)concert bass drum, kit bass drum, hi-hat, suspended (crash) cymbal2 x tom-tomswood blockclash cymbals3 x timpanitam-tamglockenspielSoprano cornet, repiano and 2nd cornets, flugel and all trombones require metal straight mutes. Soprano, Solo Cornet 3/4, Repiano 2nd and 3rd cornets require cup mutes. Solo Cornet 1/2, Repiano, 2nd and 3rd cornets require harmon mutes.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£16.00Coventry Carol
DescriptionCoventry Carol is a traditional English Christmas carol dating back to at least the sixteenth century, where it formed part of the Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors, one of the Coventry mystery plays. The plays themselves date back to at least 1392, but the earliest surviving record of the music is in a manuscript writen in 1534. Religious suppression put a stop to the plays by the end of the sixteenth century, but the manuscript recording the Coventry Carol survived and was published in 1817 as part of a revival of interest in the medieval and renaissance periods. The carol refers to the 'Massacre of the Innocents' from chapter two of the Gospel of Matthew, in which Herod orders the massacre of all Hebrew children under the age of two.This arrangement was first performed by the Blackley Band conducted by Andrew Baker in 2004.You can follow the score with and audio preview below: Duration approximately 3'05".Playable by all standards of band.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£25.00Ring'd with the Azure World
DescriptionRing'd with the Azure World was commissioned by the Harmonia Brass quintet for their final recital at the University of Huddersfield in 2016.He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; He watches from his mountain walls, And like a thunderbolt he falls.- The Eagle by Alfred, Lord TennysonThe music was inspired by Tennyson's poem reproduced above; it seeks simply to reflect the spirit of the poem. It opens in sparse, lonely mood as the eagle surveys the world beneath. The work quickens in three bursts using metrical modulation to disguise the actual moment of acceleration, reflecting the lazy energy stored in the circling raptor before concluding dramatically in a fall 'like a thunderbolt'. Tennyson's poem, although brief, has inspired much analysis and writing, and is notable for being written in the (then somewhat unfashionable) iambic tetrameter, indicating a foursquare emphasis reflected in the main theme of the music. This is heard first in an octatonic version and later in a purely tonal (if somewhat modal) version. The instrumentation reflects that of Harmonia Brass, a quintet composed of brass band instruments (two B flat cornets, an E flat tenor horn, tenor trombone and E flat tuba). However the music is also available for the more conventional brass quintet of two trumpets, french horn, trombone and tuba.To listen to an audio export preview and follow the music, click play on the video below!Performance Notes1st cornet/trumpet requires a cup mute, ideally with an adjustable cup (the marking "tight" denotes that the cup should be adjusted closer to the bell), and a harmon mute with the tube removed (denoted by "TR" in the score). 2nd cornet/trumpet requires a fibre straight mute and a harmon mute with the tube removed. Tenor horn require a fibre straight mute and a practice mute (any sort) - in the orchestral brass version the french horn requires a stop mute. Trombone requires a cup mute (only). Tuba requires a fibre straight mute and a practice mute (of any sort).Metronome marks should be closely observed - starting either too fast or too slow will have a disproportionate effect on the tempi later in the piece due to the metrically controlled tempo changes.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£132.00
Myte - Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen
Commissioned by Radoy Brass for their 20 years anniversary.This version was first performed by Manger Skulemusikklag in 2005.The Work is devided into Five Scenes:1. Sverdet (The Sword) 3:452. Advarsel - fra en vis mann (Warning - from a Wise Man) 2:303. Dragen (The Dragon) 3:004. Advarsel II - fra syngende fugler (Warning II - from singing birds) 1:355. Gull - forbannelsen (Gold - The Curse) 2:50Total durata 13:30This work is based on five scenes from the tale about "Sigurd Favnesbane" (Sigurd the dragonslayer). Moods and atmospheres in the piece represent my way of retelling the old myth.1. The SwordThe dwarf blacksmith Regin is hammering and sharpening the edges of the magical sword Gram. After three attempts the sword is finally sharp enough to kill a dragon. 2. Warning - from a Wise manRichard Wagners opera Sigfried is based on the same story. In the opera the hero get warned by a wise man. He tells the secret of how to survive an attack of the dragon by hiding in a hole in the pathway and then kill the dragon with the sword as the dragon passes on its way to the river to drink water.3. DragonThe Dragon (Favne) guards a fantastic treasure, but he is also the brother of the blacksmith Regin. Favne get killed and his blood flows slowly while he laments (trombone/bass trombone).4. Warning II - from singing birdsWhile frying the heart, Sigurd burns his thumb and put it into his mouth to cool it down. Then he swallow a drop of fresh magic dragon blood which transfers the ability to understand the birdlanguage. The birds sing warnings to Sigurd telling him that Regin will betray him and later kill him. Sigurd then kills Regin instead.5. Gold - the CurseSigurd takes the gold treasure and escapes on the horseback of Grane. But his robbery of the gold lead him into trouble: The gold is banned and a curse will hit everyone whotakes it...Myth is a programmatic work where the story is quite clearly illustrated throughout the piece:In the first movement you can hear the blacksmith working with hammer on ambolt while the heat is intense from the glows. The dwarf has got his own theme i lower brass (bar 4-5). The hero Sigurd has his own identifying chord (2 bars before F). The chord is also a symbol of the sword.In the second movement the warning from the wise man is expressed in the lyric bass line.The airblow in instruments illustrate the dragon Favne on his way out of his cave, and later the blood flows slowly. The dragon takes his last deep breath after a painful duet in trombones. The birds sing their motifs (lightly, but not cheerful though), until Sigurd cuts the head off Regin and it hits the ground.The last movement describes the atmosphere andstate of mind as the curse infects the obsessed thief.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£44.00
A Holly Jolly Christmas - Johnny Marks - Jan Utbult
"A Holly Jolly Christmas" was written by Johnny Marks in 1962. It was the title song of the Quinto Sisters' first album "Holly Jolly Christmas", recorded in June 1964 by Columbia Records, featuring guitarist Al Caiola with arrangements by Frank Hunter and Marty Manning.After it's first success, it has been recorded many times by a numerous artists representing various generes.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£86.00
Minnen fran Holmen - Jerker Johansson
The first theme played by the solo clarinet was written by Jerker Johansson the summer 1997, when he was composing in Swedish folk music style for an intended radio programme in which his father should participate reading poems in local dialect. Unfortunately, the project was discontinued. In the spring 2015 Mr. Johansson however started to work on the theme again, this time adding a song theme of broader character. Holmen is the name of the homestead where Mr. Johansson's father Arne grew up. It is beautifully located in the parish of Skarv, situated east of Skara, one of the oldest towns in Sweden. At Holmen, the composer spent his childhood summers and his recollections are filled with many bright moments and happy memories. The piece was premiered May 22, 2015 by the Goteborg Wind Orchestra conducted by the composer.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.95
ON RATCLIFF HIGHWAY (Brass Band Set) - Ray Steadman-Allen
Written for the centenary of Salvation Army bands in 1978, On Ratcliff Highway was premiered by The International Staff Band (and simultaneously by Melbourne Staff Band in another venue). It was inspired by a sketch on the front page of a copy of The War Cry from 1886 which depicted the Whitechapel Salvation Army band marching through the notorious highway, surrounded by crowds, with the masts of ships seen beyond the East London slums.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.95
PLANTAGENETS, The (Brass Band Set) - Edward Gregson
The Plantagenets was composed for the Championship Section of the Regional contests of the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain 1973. The work is not intended to be programme music but rather it tries to portray the mood and feelings of an age, that of the House of Plantagenet, which lasted from the middle of the 12th century to the end of the 14th century. To many, it conjures up an Age of Chivalry and this is represented by fanfare motifs which occur throughout the work in varied form. The opening thematic figure, rising through the band in thirds and followed by the fanfares, is important as nearly all the subsequent material is based upon it. There follows two themes, the second of which is lyrical and introduced by horns. In the long, slow middle section, a new theme is introduced by a solo horn (recurring on cornet and euphonium in canon) and is developed at some length. A lively fugato scherzino, however, leads to a recapitulation of the opening section music and the work ends with a maestoso statement of the slow movement theme. A final reference to the fanfares ends the work.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days