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£30.00Meanwhile - Jock McKenzie
Just imagine being free of stress, anxiety, time pressures, workload & the general 'busy-ness' of everyday life... For the lucky few that may find themselves in this position, the clock keeps ticking for the rest of us. "Meanwhile" seeks to represent the relentless challenges of the 'everyday'. It is a full-on, driving swing number, very much in the style of a big band chart. In my orchestration of this piece I have deliberately treated the brass dectet somewhat similarly to that of a big band / jazz orchestra. The two 'rows' of four trumpets and four trombones are employed in the typical way, with the horn representing a unison / octave saxophone section. The tuba busily walks around the harmonic foundation of the piece. This piece was conceived out of the chaos of an overcrowded school music department. In one room I was rehearsing a brass ensemble whilst the other side of a (very) thin wall was a saxophone group attempting to make themselves heard over our dulcet tones. The brass ensemble would stop regularly to receive pearls of wisdom from yours truly, MEANWHILE the saxes could be heard in these gaps, plodding through their material. This seemed to go on interminably. In this piece the independent horn line represents the work weary saxes; occasionally breaking through the textures of the other brass lines. J.M.
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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