Results
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£49.95Cornet Concerto (Brass Band - Score only) - Gregson, Edward
The Cornet Concerto was commissioned by Black Dyke Band for their principal cornet, Richard Marshall, and was premiered at the European Brass Band Festival's Gala Concert in Lille, France, on 30 April 2016 by the same performers, conducted by Nicholas Childs.It is challenging work, both musically and technically, and one that exploits the wide range of the instrument's capabilities. Lasting for some 17 minutes, it is in the usual three movements: Sonata, Intermezzo (subtitled 'Of More Distant Memories') and Rondo.The first movement presents four main ideas:Cadenzas (which recur throughout the movement, and indeed appear at the end of the work); a fast and rhythmically energetic motive; Bugle calls (echoing the ancestor of the cornet), and a lyrical and expressive melody, full of yearning. These four ideas are juxtaposed within the broad shape of a Sonata form structure, although here the word 'Sonata' is used in its original meaning of 'sounding together'.The second movement is music in search of a theme, which eventually comes at the end of the movement. In the middle section there are brief quotations, albeit mostly hidden, from three cornet solos written by the Swedish/American composer Erik Leidzen for the Salvation Army in the 1940s and 50s; these are solos I loved as a teenager, and my use of them is by way of tribute, not imitation - a sort of memory bank, just as the main theme of the movement, when it eventually comes, is reminiscent of the tune from my earlier work for brass band, 'Of Distant Memories'.The final Rondo, the shortest of the three movements, is a lively and 'fleet-of foot' Scherzo, its main theme full of cascading arpeggios, but with a contrasting lyrical second theme intertwined in the structure. There is much interplay between soloist and band in the development of the music, but eventually a brief reprise of the opening cadenzas leads to an exciting and climactic coda.Duration: 17.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£17.50
The Southern Cross (Brass Band - Score only) - Bowen, Brian
The Southern Cross is one of several excellent marches by Brian Bowen in which he carried on the more sophisticated pattern of British marches by Wilfred Heaton, Leslie Condon and Ray Steadman-Allen. It was written for the Box Hill (Australia) Corps jubilee celebrations in 1970 and formed part of the band's repertoire when it toured Great Britain in the same year. The first half of the march features part of the song, 'March on!' by Klaus Ostby, an early pioneer of Salvation Army music in Scandinavia. The contrapuntal layering of melodies in the trio, especially in the finale where 'March on!' sounds one more triumphant time, is notable, as is the shift to a slower, more stately tempo. The harmonic and rhythmic style also represents the more modern sounds of Salvation Army brass band music in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Right from the opening gestures, listeners at early performances knew that a page had turned in the evolution of the Salvation Army march.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£44.95Of Distant Memories (Music in an Olden Style) (Brass Band - Score only) - Gregson, Edward
Of Distant Memories pays homage to the brass band composers that form the backbone of the brass band repertoire, and their music, and in the process summons up a kind of subconscious memory bank of the musical languages, styles and forms used by them. The music is conceived in the form of a 'traditional' tone poem, reflecting certain aspects (e.g. melodic, harmonic, textural) of those early test pieces. Although fairly traditional concepts have been kept in planning the architecture of the work, certain aspects of the instrumentation, or scoring, are more contemporary in colouristic terms, as befits a composer writing in the 21st century. However, the percussion requirements are fairly modest, similar to those used in the works of that period. The brass band tradition owes much to the composers of that period, for through their music they established a truly homogenous 'British' brass band sound which has spread throughout many parts of the world. That tradition flourishes today and remains important for today's composers, even if their musical language is far removed from that of their predecessors. Of Distant Memories is the composers own way of repaying that gratitude.Duration: 15.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£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
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£12.50Brother 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
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£14.95
Wade In The Water (Brass Band - Score only) - Ballantine, Leonard
Wade in the Water is a Negro Spiritual made popular in 1962 by the Ramsey Lewis Trio. Further versions followed in 1968 by Big Mama Thornton and in 1997 by Eva Cassidy. The song is thought to be a coded message for slaves escaping to freedom and tells the fugitive to walk in the water, instead of on the land, where tracking dogs cannot follow human scent. This version for brass band is in swing style.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£49.95Of Men and Mountains (Brass Band - Score only) - Gregson, Edward
Of Men and Mountains was commissioned by the Netherlands Brass Band Championships for their 10th Anniversary Contest, held in Drachten in December 1990.The title of the work and its genesis came about as a result of a train journey the composer took in July 1989 across Canada from Toronto to Vancouver. The awe-inspiring journey through the Rocky Mountains, with its high peaks and shafts of sunlight breaking through the clouds, with its canyons and ferocious rapids, made the composer understand a little more about the majesty of nature and the fragility of humanity. The eternal struggle between man and nature was personified in the building of this incredible railway, hence the title (after Blake).The work is dedicated to the memory of Eric Ball, who died shortly before the writing of the work was commenced.Of Men and Mountains is in one continuous movement and lasts about 17 mins. Its form is difficult to describe because of its motivic and accumulative nature, but it is essentially a symphonic tone poem in search of a theme, which eventually comes in its final and complete state in the majestic ending after an ever-increasing paced scherzo.Duration: 17.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£23.99
Expressions Score Only
A suite in three movements by Ray Steadman-Allen, based on the Norwegian folk song "P? Kl?rfjell der kvelver seg borgi sa rein".The work opens with the melody in the flugel horn, and the theme is then developed and varied with many nuances throughout the work.The 2nd and 3rd movements are played continuously.The piece was commissioned by Manger Musiklag in 1988 and bears all the marks of the composer's masterly instrumentation. Een suite in drie delen door Ray Steadman-Allen, gebaseerd op de Noorse folk song ""P? Kl?rfjell der kvelver seg borgi sa rein"". Het werk opent met de melodie in de bugel, en het thema wordt vervolgens ontwikkeld en gevarieerd met veel nuances door het hele werk. Het tweede en derde deel worden zonder onderbreking gespeeld. Het stuk werd geschreven in opdracht van Manger Musiklag in 1988 en draagt alle kenmerken van de componist zijn meesterlijke instrumentatie. 12:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£11.99
Fanfare La Perie Score Only
In 1911 the Russian impresario Diaghilev commisioned Paul Dukas to compose music for the famous ballet fairy-tale 'La Perie'by Jean Coralli.Fokine was to make a new choreography, so that the Russian ballet company 'Ballet Russes' would be able to perform the piece in Paris that same year. Due to a quarrel between Diaghilev and Dukas about who should dance the title-part, however, the ballet was not performed by the 'Ballet Russes'but by another company in 1912.The ballet 'La Perie' is Dukas' last symphonic work. In 1911 gaf de Russische impresario Diaghilev Paul Dukas opdracht om muziek te componeren voor het beroemde ballet sprookje 'La Perie' van Jean Coralli. Fokine was gevraagd om een nieuwe choreografie te maken, zodat het Russische balletgezelschap 'Ballet Russes' in staat zou zijn om het stuk in Parijs op te voeren in datzelfde jaar. Door een ruzie tussen Diaghilev en Dukas over de vraag wie de hoofdrol mocht dansen, werd het ballet in 1912 echter niet uitgevoerd door het 'Ballet Russes' maar door een ander gezelschap. Het ballet 'La Perie' is het laatste symfonische werk van Dukas. 02:15
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£29.95The Plantagenets (Brass Band - Score only) - Gregson, Edward
A Symphonic Study for Brass BandThe Plantagenets was Gregson's first major test piece, written specially for the 1973 National Brass Band Championships.In this ambitious symphonic study he turned his attention to music which sets out to create a mood or atmosphere, in contrast to his earlier brass band works such as Essay and Partita where the underlying concerns are technical rather than expressive. However, Gregson is at pains to emphasise that The Plantagenets is not programme music. 'Symphonic' is the optimum word here. In its textural and harmonic complexity, its rhythmic and melodic variety, this was his most ambitious brass band piece so far. His language, with its roots in Hindemith and Bartok is further enriched here with the expressive language of Holst and Rachmaninov.As he says in his notes on the work: The Plantagenets attempts to portray the mood and feelings of an age - that of the House of Plantagenet which lasted from the middle of the twelfth century to the end of the fourteenth. To many it conjures up an age of chivalry and this is represented by fanfare motifs which occur throughout the work in varied form.Characteristically, the composer then goes on to describe not the atmosphere or mood he is trying to convey, but the means by which the music has been composed: the opening fanfares, based on the interval of the third, generating the musical material for the whole work; an exposition of two themes - one fanfare-like, one lyrical (on horns); a slow episode introducing a new melody on solo horn (answered by cornet and euphonium in canon); a little scherzo, fugal in character; and a recapitulation leading to a maestoso statement of the slow movement theme with a final reference to the fanfares as a triumphant conclusion.Duration: 11.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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