Results
-
£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
-
£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
-
£40.00Hymn at Sunrise (Score only) - Ray Steadman-Allen
The idea for this work was prompted by a poem - Hymn Before Sunrise - which describes the majesty of a mountain in darkness, the sounds of a nearby waterfall and so on. Nothing came of the exposure to these pictures except for general thoughts about the dawn of day and a series of movements expressing a personal response to the wonder of creation in an imaginary moment in time. The movement titles, which were added later, are intended to underline a prevailing sense of worship, wonder and exaltation. The music is pure, not pictoral, though listeners may conjure their own images. An actual hymn - Tallis' Cannon - is incorporated. There are five movements: 1. Thanksgiving: A short prelude in two parts. First a brief passage of 'dawn music' before things become more vigorous: fanfare-like music ushers in the trombone section's presentation of the Tallis tune. A broad band version concludes the movement. 2. De Profundis: A slow movement shot through with anxious questionings featuring flugel and trombone. The mood lightens a little in the centre where the soprano cornet is featured and the movement ends serenely. 3. Celebration is characterised by rhythmic drive, this is buoyant with plenty of incident pointed up by the percussion. 4. Invocation: Melodic in nature and sober in mood, the first section is a series of short solos mingled with chorale-like statements. Central to the movement is a chorale-prelude style presentation of the Tallis tune. The third section reintroduces the earlier solo music by the full ensemble. Dissolving, the music enters the last movement without a break. 5. Paean: Marked allegro con spirito there is, quite rightly, a fair amount of fun in the rejoicing. Snatches of Tallis are heard, then comes a gentle passage with a cornet solo leading to fanfare music and recapitulation. Two recitatives are succeeded by a coda which brings the work to a sonorous and exultant conclusion.
Estimated dispatch 7-9 working days
-
£50.00Hymn at Sunrise (Parts only) - Ray Steadman-Allen
The idea for this work was prompted by a poem - Hymn Before Sunrise - which describes the majesty of a mountain in darkness, the sounds of a nearby waterfall and so on. Nothing came of the exposure to these pictures except for general thoughts about the dawn of day and a series of movements expressing a personal response to the wonder of creation in an imaginary moment in time. The movement titles, which were added later, are intended to underline a prevailing sense of worship, wonder and exaltation. The music is pure, not pictoral, though listeners may conjure their own images. An actual hymn - Tallis' Cannon - is incorporated. There are five movements: 1. Thanksgiving: A short prelude in two parts. First a brief passage of 'dawn music' before things become more vigorous: fanfare-like music ushers in the trombone section's presentation of the Tallis tune. A broad band version concludes the movement. 2. De Profundis: A slow movement shot through with anxious questionings featuring flugel and trombone. The mood lightens a little in the centre where the soprano cornet is featured and the movement ends serenely. 3. Celebration is characterised by rhythmic drive, this is buoyant with plenty of incident pointed up by the percussion. 4. Invocation: Melodic in nature and sober in mood, the first section is a series of short solos mingled with chorale-like statements. Central to the movement is a chorale-prelude style presentation of the Tallis tune. The third section reintroduces the earlier solo music by the full ensemble. Dissolving, the music enters the last movement without a break. 5. Paean: Marked allegro con spirito there is, quite rightly, a fair amount of fun in the rejoicing. Snatches of Tallis are heard, then comes a gentle passage with a cornet solo leading to fanfare music and recapitulation. Two recitatives are succeeded by a coda which brings the work to a sonorous and exultant conclusion.
Estimated dispatch 7-9 working days
-
£94.95An Age of Kings (Mezzo-Soprano Solo with Brass Band and optional choir - Score and Parts) - Gregson, Edward
The origins of this work date back to 1988, when I was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company to write the music for The Plantagenets trilogy, directed by Adrian Noble in Stratford-upon-Avon. These plays take us from the death of Henry V to the death of Richard III. Later, in 1991, I wrote the music for Henry IV parts 1 and 2, again in Stratford. All of these plays are concerned with the struggle for the throne, and they portray one of the most turbulent periods in the history of the British monarchy.Much of the music used in these productions was adapted into two large symphonic suites for wind band - The Sword and the Crown (1991) and The Kings Go Forth (1996). An Age of Kings is a new version for brass band incorporating music from both the symphonic suites for wind band. It was specially composed for a recording made by the Black Dyke Band, conducted by Nicholas Childs, in 2004.An Age of Kings is music on a large-scale canvas, scored for augmented brass band, with the addition of harp, piano, mezzo-soprano solo, male chorus, as well as two off-stage trumpets. The music is also organized on a large-scale structure, in three movements, which play without a break - "Church and State", "At the Welsh Court", and "Battle Music and Hymn of Thanksgiving".The first movement, "Church and State", opens with a brief fanfare for two antiphonal trumpets (off-stage), but this only acts as a preface to a Requiem aeternam (the death of Henry V) before changing mood to the English army on the march to France; this subsides into a French victory march, but with the English army music returning in counterpoint. A brief reminder of the Requiem music leads to the triumphal music for Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, father of Edward IV and Richard III (the opening fanfare transformed). However, the mood changes dramatically once again, with the horrors of war being portrayed in the darkly-drawn Dies Irae and Dance of Death, leading to the final section of the first movement, a funeral march for Henry VI.The second movement, "At the Welsh Court", takes music from the Welsh Court in Henry IV part 1 with a simple Welsh folk tune sung by mezzo-soprano to the inevitable accompaniment of a harp. This love song is interrupted by distant fanfares, forewarning of battles to come. However, the folk song returns with variation in the musical fabric. The movement ends as it began with off-stage horn and gentle percussion.The final movement, "Battle Music and Hymn of Thanksgiving", starts with two sets of antiphonally placed timpani, drums and tam-tam, portraying the 'war machine' and savagery of battle. Trumpet fanfares and horn calls herald an heroic battle theme which, by the end of the movement, transforms itself into a triumphant hymn for Henry IV's defeat of the rebellious forces.- Edward GregsonDuration - 22'00"Optional TTBB available separately.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£29.95Kingdom of Dragons (Brass Band - Score only) - Harper, Philip
The 'Kingdom of Dragons' is Gwent in South Wales, known in ancient times as the Kingdom of Gwent, and more recently home to the Newport Gwent Dragons Rugby Union team.This piece was commissioned by the Gwent Music Service with additional funding from Ty Cerdd - Music Centre Wales to celebrate the 50th anniversary in 2010 of the formation of the Gwent Youth Brass Band.Although the music is continuous, it is divided into four distinct sections, each one representing one of the unitary authorities which make up the County of Gwent.Monmouthshire, which has a large number of ancient castlesBlaenau Gwent, an historic area of iron and coal miningTorfaen, where Pontypool Park is a notable landmarkNewport, the largest city in the regionThe music begins with a two-bar fanfare, which sets out all the thematic material of the piece. The mood of pageantry that follows describes some of the ancient castles in Monmouthshire, with rolling tenor drums and fanfaring cornets. After a majestic climax the music subsides and quite literally descends into the coal mines of Blaenau Gwent. The percussion provides effects that suggest industrial machinery clanking into life, and the music accelerates to become a perilous white-knuckle ride on the underground railroad. There is a brief respite as a miner's work-song is introduced and, after a protracted build-up, this is restated at fortissimo before the music comes crashing to an inglorious close, much like the UK's mining industry itself. The middle sonorities of the band portray the tranquillity of Pontypool Park, a place of great natural beauty. Brief cadenzas for cornet and euphonium lead to a full band reprise of the pastoral mood. At the end of this section we find ourselves at the top of the park's 'Folly Tower' from which the distant castle turrets of Monmouthshire are visible. Pontypool RFC was one of eleven clubs in the first Welsh league in 1881 and a brief but bruising musical portrayal of the formidable Pontypool front-row, the 'Viet Gwent' leads into the work's final section. This portrays Newport, a symbol for progress and optimism for the future, ideals shared by the Gwent Youth Band itself. The music is a vigorous fugue which advances through various keys and episodes before the final triumphant augmented entry which brings the work to a magnificent conclusion.Duration: 12:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£69.99
Kingdom of Dragons (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Harper, Philip
The 'Kingdom of Dragons' is Gwent in South Wales, known in ancient times as the Kingdom of Gwent, and more recently home to the Newport Gwent Dragons Rugby Union team.This piece was commissioned by the Gwent Music Service with additional funding from Ty Cerdd - Music Centre Wales to celebrate the 50th anniversary in 2010 of the formation of the Gwent Youth Brass Band.Although the music is continuous, it is divided into four distinct sections, each one representing one of the unitary authorities which make up the County of Gwent.Monmouthshire, which has a large number of ancient castlesBlaenau Gwent, an historic area of iron and coal miningTorfaen, where Pontypool Park is a notable landmarkNewport, the largest city in the regionThe music begins with a two-bar fanfare, which sets out all the thematic material of the piece. The mood of pageantry that follows describes some of the ancient castles in Monmouthshire, with rolling tenor drums and fanfaring cornets. After a majestic climax the music subsides and quite literally descends into the coal mines of Blaenau Gwent. The percussion provides effects that suggest industrial machinery clanking into life, and the music accelerates to become a perilous white-knuckle ride on the underground railroad. There is a brief respite as a miner's work-song is introduced and, after a protracted build-up, this is restated at fortissimo before the music comes crashing to an inglorious close, much like the UK's mining industry itself. The middle sonorities of the band portray the tranquillity of Pontypool Park, a place of great natural beauty. Brief cadenzas for cornet and euphonium lead to a full band reprise of the pastoral mood. At the end of this section we find ourselves at the top of the park's 'Folly Tower' from which the distant castle turrets of Monmouthshire are visible. Pontypool RFC was one of eleven clubs in the first Welsh league in 1881 and a brief but bruising musical portrayal of the formidable Pontypool front-row, the 'Viet Gwent' leads into the work's final section. This portrays Newport, a symbol for progress and optimism for the future, ideals shared by the Gwent Youth Band itself. The music is a vigorous fugue which advances through various keys and episodes before the final triumphant augmented entry which brings the work to a magnificent conclusion.Duration: 12:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£89.95Four Etudes (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Gregson, Edward
This work was written during August and September 2016. In it, I wanted primarily to explore the elements of timbre, rhythm, texture and colour. The first three tudes (or studies) are based on a set of piano pieces I composed in 1982, whilst the last, the longest of the set, was composed specially. My reference point was the Four tudes for orchestra of 1928 by Stravinsky, a work I have always admired, and of which the first three also happen to be based on a set of earlier pieces, in his case for string quartet, with the last being a re-arrangement of a work for pianola. I have also borrowed the titles he gave to the individual studies as they seemed to fit the mood of my pieces.However, the exception is the final study, where instead of the exuberant mood of his colourful portrayal of Madrid, mine was influenced by the terrible human tragedy that was unfolding in Aleppo at the time I was writing it, and thus reflects the violence and barbarism of those events; yet towards the end it does offer a glimmer of hope for humanity with a return to the Canticle (Song) of the first study, and concludes quietly with the chords and bells that began the work. The titles of the tudes are Canticle, Dance, Excentrique, and Aleppo. Like Stravinsky's, the set is relatively short, lasting around 8 minutes.The Four tudes were commissioned by Black Dyke Band and were written specially for the recording marking the conclusion of my year as Composer-in-Residence. The concert premiere will be given by Black Dyke Band, conducted by the composer, at the RNCM Festival of Brass in January 2017.- Edward GregsonDuration: 8.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£37.95Four Etudes (Brass Band - Score only) - Gregson, Edward
This work was written during August and September 2016. In it, I wanted primarily to explore the elements of timbre, rhythm, texture and colour. The first three tudes (or studies) are based on a set of piano pieces I composed in 1982, whilst the last, the longest of the set, was composed specially. My reference point was the Four tudes for orchestra of 1928 by Stravinsky, a work I have always admired, and of which the first three also happen to be based on a set of earlier pieces, in his case for string quartet, with the last being a re-arrangement of a work for pianola. I have also borrowed the titles he gave to the individual studies as they seemed to fit the mood of my pieces.However, the exception is the final study, where instead of the exuberant mood of his colourful portrayal of Madrid, mine was influenced by the terrible human tragedy that was unfolding in Aleppo at the time I was writing it, and thus reflects the violence and barbarism of those events; yet towards the end it does offer a glimmer of hope for humanity with a return to the Canticle (Song) of the first study, and concludes quietly with the chords and bells that began the work. The titles of the tudes are Canticle, Dance, Excentrique, and Aleppo. Like Stravinsky's, the set is relatively short, lasting around 8 minutes.The Four tudes were commissioned by Black Dyke Band and were written specially for the recording marking the conclusion of my year as Composer-in-Residence. The concert premiere will be given by Black Dyke Band, conducted by the composer, at the RNCM Festival of Brass in January 2017.- Edward GregsonDuration: 8.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£73.00Bass Trombone Concerto (Bass Trombone Solo with Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Wood, Gareth
Written in 2006 for Roger Argente, Gareth Wood brings his considerable experience of writing for brass, and brass bands in particular, to an instrument not often blessed with opportunities for solo exposure. It is scored for soloist accompanied by traditional brass band line-up, including timpani and two percussion, and follows the standard three-movement pattern. In the first movement, the soloist launches straight into the musical argument with a low-lying repeated quaver figure punctuated by the band. A lyrical second subject in the high register is also entrusted to the soloist, and the movement comes to a thrilling conclusion. The slow movement opens softly with the percussion, and a mournful bass line sets the mood for a thoughtful long melody. It reaches a powerful climax, which subsides to a return of the opening mood. In the march-like finale, the soloist is pitted against a number of solo instruments from the band and a driving ostinato carries the momentum through to the blazing ending. Duration: 13.00. Suitable for 1st Section Bands and above.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
View Music