Results
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£79.95Amundsen - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 14'00". DIFFICULTY: 1st+. 'Amundsen' was commissioned by rskog Brass, Norway for their winning performance at the 2020 Norwegian National Championships held at the Grieghallen in Bergen. In December 1911, Norwegian Roald Amundsen gained global fame by becoming the first explorer to lead a team to the geographic South Pole. Amundsen and 4 other members of his team arrived 5 weeks ahead of a rival team from the UK led by Robert Falcon Scott, all of which perished on their attempted return from the pole. Initially when Amundsen's team set out in 1910, they were under the impression that they would be making the far shorter journey to the arctic drift to attempt to reach the North Pole, but Amundsen had received news that American explorers Peary and Cook had beaten them to this goal, and so Amundsen's focus changed southward. 'Fram, Forward' - 'Fram' (translating to English as "forward") was the name of the ship Amundsen used for this particular polar expedition. Amundsen had only informed 2 people of his real intentions of conquering the South Pole when the ship first left port in Kristiansand before heading south to the Portuguese island of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean. After weeks at sea - causing the uninformed members of the crew to raise a number of questions and produce a general feel of uncertainty and low spirits - it was here that Amundsen announced his true plans to the rest of his crew. They were asked whether they wished to continue with their expedition, to which all - some begrudgingly - agreed to sail on to the South Pole, through the great Ice Barrier before docking in the Bay of Whales on the Ross Ice Shelf. 'Ross Ice Shelf' - Upon Amundsen's arrival in the Bay of Whales, the team were greeted by the sight of the enormous ice plateau's and glaciers, towering into the Antarctic sky. In 1907, Ernest Shackleton had attempted - and failed - to reach the South Pole, but his route and mapping was by now well documented. Scott and the UK team were to follow this route, whereas Amundsen and his men forged their own way to the pole through unchartered territory and deadly terrain littered with deep crevasses and canyons. The music here though, is a picture of tranquility. The eerie silence of total emptiness with only the heavy snow falling around Amundsen as Fram and the Bay of Whales disappears into the distance, faced by the maginute of the expedition ahead. 'Advance to Polheim' - The first new challenge Amundsen discovered on this route was a rough, sharp and extremely steep glacier (which was later named the Axel heiberg Glacier after the Norwegian monarch who funded much of the expedition), which would take his team up from sea level to an altitude of over 9,000ft in just 20 miles, with most of this over just 7 miles. Once scaled, only the vast Antarctic Plateau stood between Amundsen and the pole. Here the race began, with only one aim - victory for himself, his team, and for the whole of Norway. .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£29.95Attack of the Fighting Machines - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 3 minutes. DIFFICULTY: Championship. 'Attack of the Fighting Machines' was composed for the City of Bradford Brass Band in 2022 as part of a set of music inspired by H.G Wells' world-renowned 'War of the Worlds' book. . As the first part of the story nears an end, the mass evacuation of mankind begins as a crowd races toward an already packed steamer. Bedlam ensues as the steamer pulls away from port and heads toward the horizon. Just moments later, the silhoutte of a fighting machine appears, followed by another, and another, as the next battle of Man v Martin rages on to afiery conclusion.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£89.95BLOCH-Party - Jonathan Bates
DIFFICULTY: Champ. DURATION: 18'00". . 'BLOCH-Party' is music inspired by and attributed to the Swiss-born composer Ernest Bloch and was composed for the own-choice section of the 2022 Swiss National Brass Band Championships held in the Stravniski Auditorium, Montreux on the banks of Lake Geneva. Bloch was born and raised in Geneva itself to Jewish parents in 1880 before emigrating permanently to the United States in 1916. His Jewish heritage never ledft him though, and much of his writing and titling of works remained heavily influenced by his upbringing. This work is divided into 5 through-composed sections, culminating in a rip-roaring multi-metre dance inspired by traditional Yiddish and Klezmer rhythms and harmonies.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£29.95Badinerie - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 2'00". DIFFICULTY: Difficult. J.S Bach originally composed 'Badinerie' as part of his Orchestra Suite No. 2 in B Minor, and quickly became one of the most popular virtuoso show-pieces for flute players due to it's quick pace and complexity. In more modern times, the melody has become synonymous with the Nokia mobile phone ringtone, one of 2 famous early ringtones based on the music of Bach (alongside his Prelude to Cello Suite No.1). One lesser known take on the classic Badinerie is by Italian drummer Andrea Vadrucci (alias Vadrum) who has made a global reputation for himself by taking various well-known classical works and re-imagining them into a rock/metal style, and it is this interpretation which acts as the inspiration for this showy, yet tongue-in-cheek feature for percussion. .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£34.95Bah Humbug! - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 3'00". DIFFICULTY: 3rd+. Composed for Strata Brass in 2020 as part of their COVID-19 induced, virtually recorded 'A Christmas Carol' (a new suite for brass band lasting around 30 minutes in total), 'Bah Humbug!' is a tongue-in-cheek yet showy solo composed for Bass Trombone. Throughout the work, the solo line is used to depict Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly old man with little-to-no compassion or generosity and this grumpiness is portrayed throughout the solo. Often there will be moments of lightness and hoy, quickly banished by the misery of the Bass Trombonist!.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£29.95Boy King, The - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 3'00". DIFFICULTY: 4th+. . 'THE BOY KING' is a short concert work for brass band inspired by the life and times of the ancient Egyptian Pharoah, . Tutankhamun. It was believed he was between the ages of 8 and 9 years old when ascending to the throne of Egypt and. reigned for a decade until his premature death aged only 18 or 19. The music utilises a number of typical middle-eastern. modes and scales accompanying a heavy yet lively rhythmic pulse driven by the percussion. .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£34.95By Water and the Word - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 4'00". DIFFICULTY: 4th+. 'By Water and the Word' was composed for 2020 Brass Band Summer School in memory of it's long-standing course administrator Philip Biggs, who passed away in 2019. Aside from his work with BBSS, Philip was also the renowned administrator for the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain where my first opportunities as a writer of brass music were presented. It's a certainty to say that without Philip's work at the head of this organisation, there's zero chance I would be able to do what I do today as a musician, and for that it was a huge honour to write this short work in his memory. Under Maestro Bramwell Tovey, each course would conclude with an encore of The Day Thou Gavest (St. Clements) and one of the most used hymn tunes throughout the week was The Church's One Foundation (Aurelia). Since then, these two tunes have become synonymous with the NYBBGB and in turn Philip's life & work, so I felt it fitting to combine these two wonderful sacred melodies into a new work paying homage to those memories. .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£29.95Cafe 1719 - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 2'30". DIFFICULTY: 1st Section+. 'Caf 1719' was composed for the Wantage Silver Band as part of their entertainment contest sets based on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach in 2019. This particular short, jazz-inspired work is composed in tribute to the great French Pianist Jacques Loussier (1934-2019) who received global acclaim for his jazz interpretations of Bach's music, along with many other classical composers. Despite being born in the same year and living in the same country, Bach and Handel never actually met, but what if they had? Cafe 1917 acts as a musical meeting point - in a fictional Jazz Cafe by the Rhine, with the tenor horn section performing a 'Loussier-esque' version of Bach's 'Prelude No.2 in C Minor' whilst on the other side of the cafe, the trombone section follow suit with their take on Handel's 'Bourree from Music for the Royal Fireworks'. Eventually the two meet, share ideas and incorporate them into each other's melodies. Amongst the 2 main featured works by Bach and Handel, the tutti interludes are constructed on music from Bach's 'Toccata and Fugue in D Minor'. .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£69.95Ceremony - Jonathan Bates
DIFFICULTY: 2nd+. DURATION: 10'00". 'Ceremony' was commisioned by Musica da Domat, Switzerland and their Musical Director Gian Stecher in 2019. The concept of the work revolves around a number of religious processions which take place around the mountainous region of Graubunden in the south of the country and in more musical terms, a specific setting of the 'Stabat Mater' (heard in fragments throughout the piece, but only at the finale is it heard in it's entirety) which is traditionally the ceremonies around this area. Through-composed yet in 4 clear sections, 'Ceremony' opens with 3 fanafare trumpets/cornets positioned antiphonally across the back of the stage, each paired with a different pitched tenor drum, and in a different key - inspired by the idea of being able to hear the different ceremonies from all regions of Graubunden echoing up the valley in equal strength. Following this opening fanfare section, the procession around the hills begins with a tongue-in-cheek quasi-march in a far more upbeat and jovial mood. The centrepiece of the work is simply entitled 'Echoes', and once again returns to the idea of music breaking the almost eerie-silence as it reverberates around the vast valleys, before the culmination of the piece returns to material from the opening 'Ceremony' section in a more grandioso and bold style. . .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£34.95Charles Dickens Christmas, A - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 4'00". DIFFICULTY: 4th+. Composed for Strata Brass in 2020 as part of their COVID-19 induced, virtually recorded 'A Christmas Carol' (a new suite for brass band lasting around 30 minutes in total), 'A Charles Dickens Christmas' was used as the opening number for the event. The work utilises a number of instantly recognisable fragments of much-loved Christmas carols but acts more as a quasi-premonition into the original Charles Dickens novel which follows. Each section is marked with the point in the story which the music refers to and ends in a celebratory manner. .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days