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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£30.00Silent Night - Franz Gruber
This carol (one the most popular in the world) was composed in 1818 by Franz Gruber to words by Joseph Mohr. It was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818. This took place in St Nicholas parish church in the village of Oberndorf near Salzburg, Austria. A popular (but spurious) tale tells how the priest Joseph Mohr, whilst making preparations for the Christmas Eve mass, found the church organ to be not working. This supposedly was caused by rats having chewed through the leather bellows of the organ. Joseph Mohr, having previously written the words presented them to Franz Gruber (a local schoolmaster and organist) in the hope that he could set them to music ready for use that same day, but on guitar rather than the broken organ. It is Gruber's distinctive melody and simple harmonic accompaniment that has allowed this carol to become so enduring.
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£40.00Night On Bare Mountain - Modeste Mussorgsky arr. Phillip Littlemore
Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky claimed to have been inspired by the confession of a witch who was burned at the stake in the 1660s. Bare Mountain is in fact Mount Triglav near Kiev, and the music depicts the legendary Sabbath celebrations of Russian witches held on the eve of St. John's Feast. Preliminary sketches for the piece date back as early 1858 when he was planning an opera on Gogel's tale. However, in 1867 he completed a work he called St. John's Eve of St. John's Night on Bare Mountain.Following Mussorgsky's death in 1881, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov reimagined the work and gave it the name we know today as Night on Bare Mountain. Duration: 10'00"Difficulty: First Section and above
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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£56.00Concerto for Euphonium - Philip Wilby
Completed on New Year's Eve 1995, Philip Wilby's concerto has already established itself as one of, if not the, greatest concerto for the instrument written so far. Its extended length seeks to explore that fine combination of sustained lyricism and explosive virtuosity which typifies the modern euphonium in the most expert hands. There are two parts which divide into four movements. Part One opens with a sonata structure movement which alternates between a melodic style and some rapid passage work. The intention of the music is a firm and cerebral development of the opening fourth-based motifs. At the tranquil conclusion of this music the second movement bursts in - Zeibekikos - a rapid and extrovert Greek Island dance complete with plate smashing! Part Two re-examines some of the opening material surrounded by cadenzas, and centred upon a short and sustained adagio. The final movement opens with a rapid fugal section which moves inexorably towards a climactic return of the music and tonality of the open
Estimated dispatch 7-9 working days
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£70.00Concerto for Euphonium (Parts only) - Philip Wilby
Completed on New Year's Eve 1995, Philip Wilby's concerto has already established itself as one of, if not the, greatest concerto for the instrument written so far. Its extended length seeks to explore that fine combination of sustained lyricism and explosive virtuosity which typifies the modern euphonium in the most expert hands. There are two parts which divide into four movements. Part One opens with a sonata structure movement which alternates between a melodic style and some rapid passage work. The intention of the music is a firm and cerebral development of the opening fourth-based motifs. At the tranquil conclusion of this music the second movement bursts in - Zeibekikos - a rapid and extrovert Greek Island dance complete with plate smashing! Part Two re-examines some of the opening material surrounded by cadenzas, and centred upon a short and sustained adagio. The final movement opens with a rapid fugal section which moves inexorably towards a climactic return of the music and tonality of the open
Estimated dispatch 7-9 working days
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£14.95Instrumental Album No.9 - Four Quartettes
Includes: Triumph; Calvary; The Battle Eve; The Hallelujah CornerInstrumentation: 3 Trombones (TC) & Bass Trombone (BC)
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£34.95Judd: My Hope - Roger Trigg
'My Hope' was written for, and premiered by Enfield Citadel Band (Bandmaster Jonathan Corry) on 11th October, 2013. The work formed part of the band's annual pre-contest festival on the eve of the National Brass Band Championships which are held in the august surroundings of the Royal Albert Hall, London each year. The words 'my hope' appear in both hymns that are referenced in the music. The notes 'E', 'C', 'B' also feature throughout the work as homage to Enfield Citadel Band. The verse of 'My hope is built on nothing less' (S.A.S.B. 662), to the tune 'Solid Rock' (T.B. 446), is then introduced and forms the basis of the end of the first section - set in the minor, unlike the usual setting of the melody. The more sedate middle section that follows features an original theme, again using the notes 'E', 'C', 'B' as a melodic stimulus.The tune 'Michael' (Herbert Howells), to which the text 'All my hope on God is founded' (S.A.S.B. 530) is sung, provided the original impetus for this work. The song features as a new addition to The Salvation Army's 2015 iteration of its song book. It is a noble tune and there are big majestic, organ-like sounds utilised in its final treatment which brings the work to a climactic end.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£44.95Judd: Song of Courage
Inspired by his own song 'A prayer for courage' (which forms the central movement of the Tone Poem) written on the eve of war in 1939, this is music that would merit close inspection by any band able to play it, whether Army or non-Army.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£27.00Auld Lang Syne (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
It is a tradition in most English-speaking countries to sing this song at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve to usher in the New Year. The words are at least partially written by Robert Burns and the words "Auld Lang Syne" literally mean "old long ago" or "the good old days", providing a moment of reflection before moving forwards into the New Year.The tubular bells, although pitched, sound midnight when they enter at bar 10.This arrangement was prepared for Brass Band of the Western Reserve, musical director Keith M Wilkinson, to perform at First Night, Akron, Ohio, December 31st, 2007. The following choreography is suggested:Commence the performance with all the cornets scattered around the auditorium.At the end of bar 18 invite the audience to sing along with the band.At bar 27 the cornets move to stand in front of the other members of the band to lead to the stirring conclusion. Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne?For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne,We'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days