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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£29.95Badinerie - 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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£34.95By 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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£44.95Christmas Truce, The - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 7'30". DIFFICULTY: 2nd Section+. 'The Christmas Truce' was composed in 2018 for the Strata Brass Band and was used as part of their Christmas programme to mark 100 years since the end of the First World War. On the 24th December 1914, just a few weeks after war broke out, one of the most notable events of the 4-year conflict took place on the front line as the guns from both sides fell silent and soldiers came together on Christmas Eve. This composition for brass band and narrator tells the story of that night, painting a musical picture of the events as they unfolded. Using material from the carols 'In The Bleak Midwinter', 'O Tannenbaum' and 'Silent Night', the music weaves it's way around the events leading upto, during, and directly following the Christmas Truce, before culminating in a grand finale which incorporates the famous "the souls of the righteous are in the hands of God" quote from Eric Ball's 'Resurgam'. . .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£34.95Eternal Source of Light Divine (Euphonium Solo) - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 4 minutes. DIFFICULTY: 1st+. 'Eternal Source of Light Divine is a new Euphonium solo in the style of a set of theme and variations on the famous aria by Handel. The song was most recently performed to a global audience at the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018, which ties into Foden's Band's 'Kings & Queens' theme for Brass in Concert. The solo itself is a virtuosic showpiece for the soloist, showcasing extremes of range throughout, technical flexibility and dexterity and a demanding yet lighthearted cadenza passage - all based on melodic fragments from the original Handel theme.'. .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£79.95Grieg Variations - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 12'30". DIFFICULTY: 2nd+. . 'Grieg Variations' is a through-composed work in the traditional style of a 'theme & variations'. The work opens with the main melodic fragment featured throughout Grieg Variations which comes from Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No.2; the final movement - 'Solveig's Song'. . This theme is followed by a set of 9 variations, each taking inspiration from various melodies and styles found within the Peer Gynt Suite. The first variation, a light-footed scherzo based upon the tonal line of Solveig's Song is followed by an 'Alla marcia' variation - in which the music is inspired by the 2nd movement - 'Arab Dance' - of the original suite. The 3rd variation takes a far darker and more aggressive turn in a variation set around the music of the 1st movement of the Peer Gynt Suite before a relaxation into a solemne revisiting of the original theme. Opening with a sombre and longing solo for Flugel horn, the focal point of this 4th variation is an extended solo for the Solo Euphonium, marked 'molto espressivo'. The new material here is used as a theme throughout this variation, being reprised by the full band immediately after as the music builds to a climax point at the top of the musical line. . Following this, there are 2 cadenzas for the Solo Horn and Solo Cornet respectively; the former inspired by the thematic material of Solveig's Song, and the latter from the Oboe cadenza at the beginning of Grieg's '2 Lyric Pieces, Op.68'. These cadenzas lead swiftly into the 7th variation, a bustling rhyhm-driven movement set in complex time. The 3rd movement of the Peer Gynt Suite No.2 - 'Peer Gynt's Homecoming' - makes it's first appearance in variation 8 in a triumphant battle-like setting before a combination of both this material and the Solveig's Song combine to bring Grieg Variations to it's close -not without a little nod to potentially Grieg's most famous work - In The Hall of the Mountain King. . .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£34.95I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free - Jonathan Bates
DIFFICULTY: 1st+. DURATION: 3 minutes. This spiritual is one of the most popular anthems to come out of the civil rights movement in the US, and became an almost unofficial anthem for the movement when Nina Simone took on the song in the 1960's. This arrangement plays on the more positive and hopeful nature of achieving true freedom and peace. This piece was composed for Jaren Hornmusikkforening as part of their programme for the 2018 SIDDIS Championships held in Stavanger, Norway. .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£29.95March: Salisbury Plain - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 4'30". DIFFICULTY: 2nd+. 'Salisbury Plain' is a march composed for the British Army Band Tidworth as a leaving gift from their Euphonium player LCpl Lucas Lockley. The title is inspired by the vast historic land near to Tidworth's base and notably one of the most iconic iconic landmarks in Great Britain - Stonehenge - which sits upon the plain.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£34.95Night Flight! - Jonathan Bates
'Night Flight' was composed for the Foden's Band's appearance at the 2021 Brass in Concert Championships held at The Sage, Gateshead. The band's theme encompassed a large range of monsters and creatures and this work depicts one of the most notorious monsters in folklore; Count Dracula. Throughout this short, virtuosic showpiece for Soprano Cornet and Euphonium, you can hear multiple strains of Mussorgsky's 'Night on a Bald Mountain' (with which Foden's Band opened their programme). . .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£19.95Corrido - Jonathan Bates
Corrido music is a popular narrative song from Mexico most commonly in poetry form or as a ballad. Various themes are . featured in Mexican corridos, and corrido lyrics are often old legends and ballads about a famed criminal or hero in the rural . frontier areas of Mexico. The songs are often about oppression, history, daily life for peasants, and other socially relevant . topics. It is still a popular form today in Mexico and was widely popular during the Mexican Revolutions of the 20th century. .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days