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Euphoria | Chris Ellis
Opening with a slow minor-key melody, the theme develops tonally before the tom-toms herald a faster, more rhythmic section, developing into a toe-tapping jig-like tune, finally slowing back into the almost meditative motif mirroring the original passage. An original style to add variety to your band concerts. The Minor key adagio opening bars of this number has an uplifting 'choral like' orchestration with an almost 'what's coming next' undertone, with Euphoniums leading the way. The pace and feel changes totally at the Allegro with the tom toms taking the tempo up with a toe tapping jig like rhythm and a move to the Major Key. A clever contrast in the next section has the rhythmic triplet pattern played against a quaver melody, before full band join in with the dance quality of this section. The end section of Euphoria returns to the adagio with an uplifting and real sense of reaching a goal.Skill Level: Intermediate
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£35.00Edward Gregson: Fanfare for a New Era (for Brass Band)
DescriptionComposer's NoteThe Fanfare has been designed to be partly antiphonal, with four separate brass 'choirs' initially playing their own music, and so some spatial separation is desirable. Soprano and solo cornets should be placed centrally, standing behind the rest of the band - or in some venues could even be placed off-stage in a side balcony, but still close to the band. If the Fanfare is played by a contesting size band, one of the solo cornets should play the 1st cornet part together with the usual player ie the number of players on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd cornet parts should be equal. Otherwise the number of players in each of the two cornet 'choirs' is at the discretion of the conductor. The Tubular Bells accompanying the cornets 1-3 group should be placed close to that group. See inside back cover for suggested band formation.The style of playing should replicate that of symphonic brass, with a minimum of vibrato and with long notes being sustained without decaying.Programme NoteCommissioned in 2020 by Youth Brass 2000, Fanfare for a New Era was designed to be partly antiphonal - thus the separation of the band into four brass 'choirs', each with their own percussion accompaniment. First, soprano and solo cornets, rather like heraldic trumpeters, announce the main idea, majestic in character. Then horns, baritones, and euphoniums, with timpani, enter with stately figurations. Next, the heraldic trumpeters usher in trombones and tubas, to the accompaniment of tom-toms and snare drum, presenting a faster and rhythmic dance-like theme. Finally, the remaining cornets amplify the pealing of bells. All four elements then come together, surrounding the audience with a 'joyful noise' of festive brass and percussion.The original symphonic brass version of this fanfare can be purchased as part of a set of Three Fanfares HERE.For more information on Edward Gregson's music please visit the composer's website: www.edwardgregson.com
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£27.00Edward Gregson: Birthday Prelude for Brass Band
DescriptionThis short work for brass band was written in 1982 for a concert to celebrate the 80th birthday of Harry Mortimer, one of the great figures in the world of brass bands. Not surprisingly, it references the well-known song Happy Birthday, in a breezy, up-tempo, short concert prelude.The premiere was given at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester by the Fodens Band, conducted by Howard Snell.In 2014 the composer revised it for a trip to the North American Brass Band Championships, where it was performed, also as an 80th birthday tribute, this time to the composer's brother Bram; it was subsequently dedicated to both Harry Mortimer and Bram Gregson.For more information on Edward Gregson's music please visit the composer's website: www.edwardgregson.com
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£35.00Ascend the Brightest Heaven...
DescriptionThe band's uniform badges feature a significant local landmark, a transmission tower officially known as The Arqiva Tower but known more colloquially to locals as 'Emley Moor mast'. The current elegantly tapered concrete sculpture, the tallest freestanding structure in the UK at 1084 feet, is the third mast on this site and was built between 1969 and 1971 after the catastrophic collapse of the previous structure.On 19 March 1969 a combination of extreme icing and strong winds caused the tubular mast to collapse across Jagger Lane and the chapel opposite - fortunately, despite the fact that the organist was in the chapel practising, nobody was injured. Several million people lost their BBC2 and ITV signals, until the Independent Television Authority managed to set up a temporary transmitter nearby!Just over two years later the new mast was operational, and despite initial opposition from some locals who feared another, potentially worse, collapse, Emley Moor Mast is now a popular local landmark and a grade II listed building. In 2015 the mast was illuminated with coloured lights at night to mark the 'Grand Depart' of the Tour de France coming to Yorkshire.You can listen and follow the score in the video below:
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£22.50Edward Gregson: Celebration Fanfare
DescriptionThe premiere of the Fanfare was given at the band's 50th Anniversary concert on 24 September 2023 at the Gladstone Theatre, Port Sunlight, Wirral, Merseyside, UK.For more information on Edward Gregson's music please visit the composer's website: www.edwardgregson.com
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£18.00Scarborough Fair
DescriptionScarborough Fair is a traditional English ballad about the Yorkshire town of Scarborough. The song relates the tale of a young man who instructs the listener to tell his former love to perform for him a series of impossible tasks, such as making him a shirt without a seam and then washing it in a dry well, adding that if she completes these tasks he will take her back. Often the song is sung as a duet, with the woman then giving her lover a series of equally impossible tasks, promising to give him his seamless shirt once he has finished.As the versions of the ballad known under the title Scarborough Fair are usually limited to the exchange of these impossible tasks, many suggestions concerning the plot have been proposed, including the theory that it is about the Great Plague of the late Middle Ages. The lyrics of "Scarborough Fair" appear to have something in common with an obscure Scottish ballad, The Elfin Knight which has been traced at least as far back as 1670 and may well be earlier. In this ballad, an elf threatens to abduct a young woman to be his lover unless she can perform an impossible task.As the song spread, it was adapted, modified, and rewritten to the point that dozens of versions existed by the end of the 18th century, although only a few are typically sung nowadays. The references to the traditional English fair, "Scarborough Fair" and the refrain "parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme" date to 19th century versions. A number of older versions refer to locations other than Scarborough Fair, including Wittingham Fair, Cape Ann, "twixt Berwik and Lyne", etc.The earliest notable recording of it was by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, a version which heavily influenced Simon and Garfunkel's later more famous version. Amongst many other recordings, the tune was used by the Stone Roses as the basis of their song "Elizabeth my Dear".
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£30.00The Sword and the Star
DescriptionThe Sword and the Star was written in 2006 for the Middleton Band at the request of their Musical Director, Carl Whiteoak. The inspiration for the work was the band's badge, which features a medieval archer. The town of Middeton's historical link with the symbol of the Archer came from the English victory at the Battle of Flodden in September 1513, where bowmen from Middleton and Heywood under the command of Sir Richard Assheton played a vital part in crushing the invading Scottish army. Sir Richard captured one of the Scottish commanders and presented the prisoner's sword to the St Leonard's church in Middleton in recognition of the town's contribution. As long time Lords of the Manor, the Assheton family crest was for centuries featured in the coat of arms of Middleton council, and when Middleton became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale the black star from the Assheton crest was used to represent Middleton in the new borough's coat of arms. Hence the title The Sword and the Star, for a piece which attempts to give an impression of the town as it was then and as it is now.The music is in three short sections - a fanfare, a lament and a bright scherzo - and simply aims to contrast the medieval hamlet of Middleton with the bustling urban centre it has now become. The central lament features a Scottish song called "The Flowers of the Forest", written to mourn the loss of so many of Scotland's young men on the field of Flodden; the song returns in a much more positive form at the end of the piece.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£12.00Canzonetta
DescriptionCanzonetta is a tenor horn solo with optional brass band or piano accompaniment.Canzonetta was one of my earliest compositions, written in my early days as an undergraduate. Along with a companion piece called Caprice it was written for an old friend, Louise Hunt (now Louise Skillander), to whom it is dedicated. We had both been in the Northop Youth Band together, and both pieces were the result of a conversation about the lack of 'good tenor horn solos' for lower section and youth players at the time.With more mature consideration the Caprice has been consigned to the dustbin of history, but the simplicity of Canzonetta has allowed it to stand the test of time with a few minor scoring revisions.Performance Notes:Percussion instruments required are 2 x timpani, glockenspiel, suspended cymbal, concert bass drum (NOT a kit/pedal bass drum) and tam-tam. All cornets will require cup mutes.Duration approximately 3'40"You can follow the score while listening to an audio preview below:
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£10.00The Once and Future King
DescriptionThe Once and Future King is a suite of three movements; each movement was inspired by an Arthurian legend. The first movement, 'Tintagel', concerns the famous Cornish promontory said to be the birthplace of King Arthur. In Arthur's time, Tintagel was part of the court of King Mark of Cornwall and the music imagines a visit by the King of the Britons to his Cornish neighbour and the place of his birth, reflecting the ceremony and drama of such an occasion; the music is strongly antiphonal, contrasting the more strident fanfares of the cornets and trombones with the warmth of the saxhorns and tubas.The second movement, 'Lyonesse', takes its inspiration from the mythical land which once joined Cornwall to the Isles of Scilly. One legend claims that after the disastrous battle of Camlan where Arthur and Mordred were both killed, the remnants of Arthur's army were pursued across Lyonesse to Scilly, whereupon Merlin cast a spell to sink Lyonesse behind them and drown the pursuers. Some say the bells of the 140 churches inundated that day can still be heard ringing. All the material in this movement derives from two short motifs heard in counterpoint at the very beginning, which are intentionally dissonant and bitonal in character.The final movement, 'Badon Hill', takes its title from the legendary site of Arthur's last battle with the Saxons and is a lively toccata based on the medieval secular song L'Homme Armee ('The Armed Man'). The music uses a number of medieval devices including "hocketing" (passing melody from one voice to another). The actual site of Badon Hill is unknown but it has been associated with Badbury Rings in Dorset and a lot of evidence now points towards the town of Bath. Arthur's victory at Badon Hill was the last great victory for Celtic Britain over the Saxon invaders, but in the end only set the conquest back by a few decades. Arthur himself was dead by then, betrayed and defeated by his nephew Mordred, but it is said that Arthur only sleeps and will return in a time of dire need - hence the legend that Arthur's dying words were: Bury me in Britain, for I am the Once and Future King.Performance NotesWhere space and practicality permits the opening movement should be played with cornets and trombones standing behind the band facing the audience; they should retake their seats for the second and third movements.PercussionConcert Bass Drum (ideally NOT Kit/Pedal Bass Drum), Suspended Cymbal, pair of Clash Cymbals, Glockenspiel, Snare Drum, Tambourine, 2 x Timpani (Eb-G, Bb-D), 2 x Tom-toms, Triangle, Tam-Tam* (only if available), Tubular Bells *(only if available).MutesBaritones, all cornets and trombones will require metal straight mutes; all trombones and cornets will require cup mutes.*The Once and Future King was set as the test-piece for the 3rd section of the Swiss National Championships in 2007. The score was then slightly revised in July 2008, the main alteration being the exclusion of the tubular bells part for the Regional Championships of Great Britain in 2009. Some parts which were optional (or cued on other instruments) at the request of the Swiss Brass Band Association were restored to their original octaves and instruments. In 2015 the tubular bells part was restored in the optional Percussion 3 part; all parts in Percussion 3 are optional, although some are cued in the percussion 1 & 2 parts (and the cues should be played if only two players are available).Listen to a preview and follow along with the score below!
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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