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£64.95Adam Zero, Suite from (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Bliss, Arthur - Childs, Robert
Selected as the Section 2 test piece for the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain 2025Following his ballet Checkmate, Bliss composed another score for the, by then, Sadler's Wells Ballet, Miracle in the Gorbals, which was choreographed by Robert Helpmann, to a scenario by Michael Benthall. Premired in 1944, the ballet made a considerable impact and was a box-office success. It was followed in turn by a further collaboration with Helpmann and Benthall, Adam Zero. This would serve Helpmann, in the eponymous role, as a vehicle in two respects: demonstrating his gifts as a dancer-actor and as a choreographer. First performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 8 April 1946, Adam Zero was conducted by Constant Lambert, the work's dedicatee. Bliss considered it 'his most varied and exciting ballet score'. Benthall provided a synopsis for the programme:There is a philosophy that life moves in an endless series of timeless cycles. As Nature passes through Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, so man is born, makes a success in his own particular sphere, loses his position to a younger generation, sees his world crumble before his eyes and only finds peace in death. This age-old story is told in terms of a Company creating a ballet and calling on the resources of the theatre to do so. Lighting, stage mechanism, dance conventions, musical forms and costumes and scenery of all periods are used to symbolize the world of 'Adam Zero'.Apart from Adam, as the Principal Dancer, other main roles included the Stage Director (representing Omnipotence), and Adam's Fates (Designer, Wardrobe Mistress, and Dresser). 'The Woman in this allegory', wrote Bliss, 'under the symbol of the Choreographer, was both the creator and destroyer of Adam: his first love, his wife, his mistress, and finally the figure of beneficent Death.' When the curtain rose, the 'audience saw the Covent Garden stage right back to the wall, completely empty except for the protagonists, 'the Company poised, still and expectant, as they await the birth of... Adam Zero.'Unfortunately, soon after the premire, Helpmann injured himself and had to withdraw from the remaining performances. Despite generally positive reviews, the ballet did not capture the imagination of audiences and, to Bliss's considerable disappointment, was not revived. Seventy years would elapse before its first major return to the stage, in 2016, performed by the ballet company of Stadttheater Bremerhaven with choreography by Sergei Vanaev.Bliss extracted a concert suite from the ballet, conducting its first performance with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra on 28 October 1948. For his own suite, arranged for brass band in 2023, Dr Robert Childs chose three dances linked to the seasons, book-ending them with the ebullient 'Fanfare Overture' and 'Fanfare Coda'. After Adam has grown to manhood, his Fates clothe him in a costume synonymous with confident youth, appropriate for the virile, ardent 'Dance of Spring'. In the 'Approach of Autumn', Adam, now wearing a sombre costume, has grown older: his Fates have streaked grey in his hair and put lines on his face. But they had earlier raised Adam to the zenith of his power, and the 'Dance of Summer' depicts him in the prime of life, in music of sweeping grandeur. The 'Fanfare Coda' signals that the next cycle of life is about to begin.Duration: 10.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£56.00ENGLISH PASTORALE (Brass Band Set) - Jones, Dean
2015 National Championships Regional Testpiece - 4th Section. Score and Parts. This piece realises a long-time ambition of the composer to write a descriptive piece in a pastorale style. The idea of depicting the seasons and reflecting some of the grandeur of the English scenery proved an inspiring source to write this 4 movement piece. After the dignified initial theme Heralding the Dawn is established, the piece moves naturally into Autumn on the Plaines, a light, joyful scene. Winter in the Dales has a more mysterious and contains a somewhat darker feel in the minor key while Spring on the Lakes is a flowing, scenic movement. Summer on the Quays starts with some exciting fanfare-like qualities initially from the Cornets and Trombones, but then extra impetus is provided from the whole band. The music moves then into a dynamic and resounding conclusion. Duration: 11:40
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.95Seasons, The (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.95
SEASONS, The (Brass Band Set) - John Carr
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£60.99
The Four Seasons - Johan Nijs
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£90.00SEASONS, The (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Wilby, Philip
2012 Butlins 4th Section
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£40.00
SEASONS, The (Brass Band - Score only) - Wilby, Philip
2012 Butlins 4th Section
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.95SEASONS, The (Brass Band Set)
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.99
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