Results
-
£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
-
£15.00Perseverance
DescriptionPerseverance was commissioned by Middleton Band to mark their 140th anniversary in 2016, supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, and featured on Middleton Band's CD of the same name.The title is taken from the original name of the 1876 band, the Middleton Perseverance Drum and Fife Band. According to the band's historical records, the Drum and Fife band was formed by six Middleton youngsters eager to learn music but short of funds. Following a whip round, they visited a music shop in Oldham where they purchased a 'one key flute' for six shillings and sixpence, and ('later on') a drum.This determination to make music despite the odds has been a characteristic of the band ever since; at the end of the second world war the band was again down to six players, who rebuilt the 'Middleton Borough Band' back to twenty-six players. After a period of some considerable success throughout the sixties and seventies culminating in winning the National Third Section title in 1983 the band hit hard times again in the late eighties and was down to only four members in 1987 before again being brought back to life. In recent decades the band has built a strong relationship with the East Lancashire Railway, another organisation which has battled sometimes mighty obstacles in its struggle to survive, and has maintained a thriving and successful youth band.The band's will to survive through adversity is reflected in the music, which builds from a sextet of four brass and two percussion players three times, only to fall back to the sextet twice. In the central slow movement the bass drum plays a 'heartbeat' rhythm as the remaining players remember those lost in the war. The relentless pace of the final section culminates in the band triumphing over the adversity which has curtailed the previous two sections. As a former member of Middleton Band (and one of the team that regained the National Third Section title in 2007) it is my pleasure to dedicate this work to the 'Pop and Ale Boys', Middleton Band.You can read more about the piece here.To view the accompanying video by Andy Marshall, designed to precede the piece, clickhereand find out more about the link between the video and the music here.Recording with Score VideoPerformance NotesIn performance the four brass members of the sextet (soprano, solo horn, solo trombone and solo euphonium) should stand at the sides of the band - soprano and horn behind the cornets, trombone and euphonium behind the trombones. Percussion may stand with them at the conductor's discretion, but only if the band has TWO snare drums and TWO concert bass drums available, as these are also needed at the back of the band in the tutti sections. In the second sextet snare drum should be muffled with a heavy cloth OR have the snares turned off (not both).Percussion and mutesPercussion required:snare drum (muffled with a heavy cloth at one point)concert bass drum, kit bass drum, hi-hat, suspended (crash) cymbal2 x tom-tomswood blockclash cymbals3 x timpanitam-tamglockenspielSoprano cornet, repiano and 2nd cornets, flugel and all trombones require metal straight mutes. Soprano, Solo Cornet 3/4, Repiano 2nd and 3rd cornets require cup mutes. Solo Cornet 1/2, Repiano, 2nd and 3rd cornets require harmon mutes.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£54.95Cornish Pastiche (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Wiffin, Rob
A three movement suite depicting aspects of Cornish life and culture.The first movement, Sea Shanties, uses two contrasting call-and-response melodies. The second of these is playful in nature and appears in a number of guises, some more discordant than others, reflecting the crew's use of the shanty to let the captain know what they thought of him! Having passed by, the ship disappears into the sea mist. Laments were traditionally reserved for occasions of the death of a member of the clan. In forming the melody for Celtic Lament I had in mind the type of sorrowful song that would suite the elegiac nature of such an occasion.The last movement of the suite attempts to catch the spirit of the Furry Dance, the ancient dance that heralds the coming of spring. It resembles a farandole but is probably better described as an unashamed romp.My intention was to make Cornish Pastiche readily accessible to both players and listeners. The language is unashamedly tonal but is treated with some harmonic twists to add occasional piquancy. The technical demands on the players are meant to be moderate but conductors and players are asked to observe the different layers, especially in the Basse Dance, and not overload the texture with over-zealous weight on the melodic line.- Rob WiffinDuration: 11.15
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£64.95Dance Spirit (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Wiffin, Rob
Dance Spirit is a three movement suite of dances comprising Stomping Dance, Waltz Interlude and Duende linked by solo dancer cadenzas. It started life as the wind band piece Spirit of the Dance. In it I attempted to capture some of the elements of this most fundamental of human activities, the urge to move our bodies to the rhythm of the music. In re-working it for brass band I extended the duration of the Waltz Interlude and increased the technical level in some areas with the intention of making it a suitable test piece.Stomping Dance - The suite starts with perhaps the most basic dance feeling, the desire to stomp our feet to the music, unrefined, no knowledge of steps needed. The heavy stomp is not always present in the music here, and sometimes you can sense the dancers trying something a little more refined, but it is always lurking in the background, ready to draw us back to the elemental rhythm of the beat.Waltz Interlude - Of course, dance does not always have to have heat, it can be elegant and restrained, emphasising fluidity of line and movement. In the waltz it is occasionally suspended by the held poses before the motion starts again. Unlike the outer movements, the Waltz Interlude is cool, danced in moonlight rather than under the sun. The two dancers sometimes move as one and at other times the man provides a frame for the more intricate arabesques of his partner.Duende - During my time living in Spain I went to watch some flamenco dancing. I was expecting the normal tourist cliches but the dancers were serious students of Flamenco Nuevo y Viejo (new and old). They performed with passion to some pounding asymmetric rhythms and their performance was the inspiration for Duende. Duende as a term is hard to define. It is a spirit of performance - that moment when you are right in the middle of the creative spirit of the music. It is about soul and a heightened state of emotion. Federico Garcia Lorca wrote: I have heard an old maestro of the guitar say, The duende is not in the throat; the duende climbs up inside you, from the soles of the feet. Meaning this: it is not a question of ability, but of true, living style, of blood, of the most ancient culture, of spontaneous creation.- Rob WiffinDuration: 13.45
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£35.00We Three Gypsy Kings (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - McKenzie, Jock
The arranger had a dream..... The three wise men were looking for the baby Jesus to give him their gifts. This was done somewhat in the manner of the scene of Monty Python's 'Life of Brian'. The search was not successful - Sir Alan Sugar ('The 'Apprentice') made an appearance ordering the three wise men to "get off my land". Meanwhile, the baby Jesus slept peacefully on, unaware of the nearby disturbance. Bizarrely, this dream sequence was played out at high speed, as in the closing scene from each episode of 'The Benny Hill Show' of the 1970s. This arrangement attempts to portray this comical caper. Duration: 4.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£124.95Dynasty (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Graham, Peter
Dynasty takes the form of a Symphonic Poem, a musical form first introduced to a contest audience at the Crystal Palace in 1913 by Percy Fletcher in his work Labour and Love.Using key passages from the autobiography of Harry Mortimer, On Brass, as the source for the narrative, the work opens with a four-note leitmotif (Harry's theme, "as if descending from the heavens"), and the timeline unfolds as follows:Harry - One's destiny decided at birth "I'll make him the best cornet player in England"War - Why do the nations so furiously rage together? Fred volunteers for military serviceTheatre - And suddenly "I dashed to the rescue like a hero in the silent movies I was about to get to know so well"Journey - Comfort Ye A new life and new challengesTogether - Come unto me "A golden age"Farewell - For behold, darkness "Fred's death surely marked the passing of an era"Amen - The Trumpet shall soundListeners familiar with brass band repertoire will recognise a few pertinent quotes within the piece.In my imagination Harry is joined by Fred on cornet and the euphoniums of Alex and Rex for the quartet cadenza from Sovereign Heritage by Jack Beaver in Together.The Amen section from Handel's Messiah provides the basis for a contrapuntal flight of fancy as the work moves towards a conclusion. Other less overt fragments contribute to the story.Dynasty was co-commissioned by the British Open Brass Band Championships for the September 2019 contest, and the Brass Band Committee VLAMO for the Belgian Brass Band Championships 2019.- Peter GrahamDuration: 17.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£59.95
The Long Cloud of Witnesses (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Downie, Kenneth
This music was written for the Amsterdam Staff Band's 50th Anniversary. The idea for using this theme in appreciation of the pioneers of the band who had gone before came to me during the thanksgiving service for my own mother's life. She was a life-long Salvationist, and the large crowd that gathered for her thanksgiving in Winchester gave such an inspiring rendition of this hymn at the end of the service that it moved me to write the music. In the closing pages of the score I have tried to suggest that final parade when those who loved the Lord join the 'long cloud of witnesses' in procession to their eternal home. - Kenneth Downie
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£29.95
The Long Cloud of Witnesses (Brass Band - Score only) - Downie, Kenneth
This music was written for the Amsterdam Staff Band's 50th Anniversary. The idea for using this theme in appreciation of the pioneers of the band who had gone before came to me during the thanksgiving service for my own mother's life. She was a life-long Salvationist, and the large crowd that gathered for her thanksgiving in Winchester gave such an inspiring rendition of this hymn at the end of the service that it moved me to write the music. In the closing pages of the score I have tried to suggest that final parade when those who loved the Lord join the 'long cloud of witnesses' in procession to their eternal home. - Kenneth Downie
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£24.95Brother James' Air (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Bain, James - Downie, Kenneth
The 'brother James' who wrote this beautiful tune was James Leith Macbeth Bain. He was born in Scotland in 1840 and died in Liverpool in 1925. Besides being a musician, he was a poet, mystic and had a great interest in healing. He published a book called 'The brotherhood of healing' in 1906 and spent the latter years of his life working with the underprivileged in Liverpool. He wrote this simple but charming tune to accompany the familiar paraphrase of Psalm 23 which comes from the Scottish Psalter of 1650; 'The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want'.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£12.50
Brother James' Air (Brass Band - Score Only) - Bain, James - Downie, Kenneth
The 'brother James' who wrote this beautiful tune was James Leith Macbeth Bain. He was born in Scotland in 1840 and died in Liverpool in 1925. Besides being a musician, he was a poet, mystic and had a great interest in healing. He published a book called 'The brotherhood of healing' in 1906 and spent the latter years of his life working with the underprivileged in Liverpool. He wrote this simple but charming tune to accompany the familiar paraphrase of Psalm 23 which comes from the Scottish Psalter of 1650; 'The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want'.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
View Music