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£60.00Suite from 49th Parallel - Ralph Vaughan Williams arr. Phillip Littlemore
Vaughan Williams was in his late sixties when an opportunity to write for the cinema materialised. He was approached by his former pupil Muir Mathieson, the director of music for the Ministry of Information, to write the score for the film 49th Parallel .The plot for 49th Parallel is set in the early part of World War II, when a German U-Boat sinks allied shipping in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and then tries to evade capture by the Canadian Military by sailing up to Hudson Bay. A handful of crew disembark to look for supplies and no sooner have they reached shore when the U-Boat is spotted by the Canadian Armed Forces and sunk. Leaving the shore party stranded in Canada they have no other option but to head for the neutral United States and, as their ill-fated journey unfolds, they meet a variety of characters whom they alienate due to their reprehensible actions. They These include a pacifist in the Canadian wilds played by Leslie Howard, a Hutterite leader, and a French-Canadian fur trapper, played by Laurence Olivier. The film premiered in the UK in October 1941 and in March 1942 for the US, when it was retitled The Invaders .The brass band suite to 49th Parallel, devised by Paul Hindmarsh and arranged by Phillip Littlemore, takes the Prologue from the cinematic score as its starting point. Stretches of pastoral musical themes depict the Canadian landscape before the atmosphere is broken with a menacing rendition, albeit briefly, of the Lutheran chorale Ein Feste Burg depicting the surfacing of the German U-Boat in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This gives way to the mechanical, jaunty section Control Room Alert with its persistent drive and energy. A brief interlude of The Lake in the Mountains leads into the most recognised piece of music of from the film, the Prelude, which accompanied both the opening and closing credits, and adds a most fitting conclusion to this suite.The suite has been recorded by the Tredegar Town Band, under their musical director Ian Porthouse, on the Albion Records CD Vaughan Williams on Brass
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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£40.00Activate - Matthew Hall
ActivateTop to bottom in less than 2 minutes! Originally composed for Tredegar Town Band under the direction of Ian Porthouse, Activate is a fantastic way to start any programme in a concert or on the contest stage.The original conception of Activate occurred when Tredegar had 18 minutes of a 20 minute contest programme and couldn't find a piece to start the performance to fit in the time slot.With funky bass lines, percussion and melody lines as well as some devilish rhythmical elements in the inner parts, Activate is a sure fire way of getting the audience's feet tapping.The trombone solo in the middle section of the piece can be substituted on to any other Bb instrument should the need occur, and the piece can also be started with a drum kit rhythm rather than straight into the first bar.Activate
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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£40.00
Spanning Revolutions - Matthew Hall
Spanning RevolutionsSpanning Revolutions was commissioned by The Ironbridge Gorge Brass Band Festival in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Ironbridge Gorge being made a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The premiere performance was given at the Festival in 2011, based at the Museum of Iron, Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, performed by the combined bands of Tongwynlais Temperance and Wellington (Telford) under the direction of the composer.The Ironbridge Gorge is seen as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution; the section between G and I is a representation of a steam engine starting up.Spanning Revolutions
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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Eye Level - Jack Trombey - Len Jenkins
Eye Level was originally produced for the De Wolfe Music Library and selected by Thames Television for the theme tune to their Netherlands based detective series Van der Valk. Based on a German/Dutch nursery rhyme, which in turn takes its melody line from Mozart's Nozze di Figaro, Dutch composer Jan Stoeckart adapted it under the name Jack Trombey, and Simon Park arranged it for his own orchestra. In 1973 his single was top of the UK charts for 4 weeks and in the top 40 for 22 weeks. It gained the award of a platinum disc. Fully entitled 'Eye Level (Theme from the TV series Van der Valk)', the tune has also been used in various TV adverts for clients such as KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in the 70's and Oranjeboom lager in the 1980's. This new arrangement is straightforward and within the capabilities of most 4th section and village brass bands. The tune is instantly recognisable and ideally suited to fetes, concerts and programmes of light entertainment.
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Laughter In The Rain - Sedaka & Cody - Len Jenkins
In America, this was Neil Sedaka's comeback single. Whilst he had 11 Top-40 hits from 1960-1963, he could not score a hit after the British Invasion of the 60's. His fortunes were such in America that this song was at first released only in England, where it went to No. 15. However, whilst recording with 10cc in London, Sedaka reconnected with his friend Elton John who offered to put out a Sedaka single in America under his own record label, Rocket Records. Since "Laughter In The Rain" was already a hit in the UK, that was the choice, and anything with Elton John's name on it was sure to get some spins. So, later in 1974, "Laughter" was released on Rocket Records with liner notes and endorsements by Elton, and the song took off, becoming his second million-seller 12 years after his first, which was "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do."
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The Giddy Goat - Traditional Swiss - Daniel von Siebenthal
The Giddy Goat is a silly folk song that everyone knows in Switzerland. It is about a white goat that does not want to get milked, so she kicks the milker. Thinking that this is because the goat is white, the owner decides that he will buy a brown one instead. From there on, people make up their own verses in which the goat is often replaced with past loves, enemies, and anyone or anything worthy of ridicule. Daniel, the arranger, lives in Gstaad in the Saanen district and the "Saanen goat" is a breed of white goat known throughout the world. As a farm boy, he did his share of goat milking and received the occasional hoof under his chin for his trouble. So, this piece is a tribute to a local breed that became world-famous, especially in America where the tune also meets its counterpart Billy Grogan's Goat (a similar silly song). The Giddy Goat should always be played as a "silly song" reflecting the goat's nature; capricious and cantankerous. The low bass line is important in Swiss folk music and should approximate to a plucked string-bass whose strings are dampened, to give it a pulsating feel. For those who would like to yodel we include the following Swiss tongue twister:- Holeduli duliduli, holeduli duli duli duuli, Holeduli duliduli, holeduli duli duli duu
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Duet For Two Cats - G. Rossini - Len Jenkins
"Duet For Two Cats" is often performed as an encore to vocal recitals and operatic galas. It may be sung by two sopranos, male-female pairs, or even as a tomcat duet and can be accompanied by a piano or a full orchestra. The lyrics are simple; the single word 'Miaow', repeated with various styles of inflexion and attitude throughout the piece. Our arrangement is for a cornet and trombone. The piece is generally ascribed to Rossini, though there is some doubt as to its actual origins and whether it is an authentic work by that composer. It is believed that an English composer, Robert Lucas Pearsall under the pseudonym G. Berthold may have assembled the various elements from Rossini and perhaps other composers into the piece as we now know it. In order to achieve the correct balance between band and soloists, there is a need to mute most of the band instruments. Recognising that not all bands will have the larger mutes which are expensive and sometimes unwieldy, we suggest a form of muting made famous by a jazz trumpeter and which works well on most instruments. It consists of a circle of heat resistant padded table covering or felt, slightly larger than the bell diameter, with an elasticated edge like a 'mop-hat'. With 3 holes in it to let the sound out, the mute is then simply stretched over the bell to achieve the desired effect and folded up when not required.
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In Dreams - Roy Orbison - Len Jenkins
"In Dreams" is a song composed and sung by rock and roll performer Roy Orbison, and was released as a single on Monument Records in February 1963. Orbison later claimed that the origin for "In Dreams" came to him while he was sleeping, as many of his songs did. When he woke up the next morning, the entire composition was written in 20 minutes. Like many of Orbison's songs, but unlike the majority of rock and roll ballads, in under 3 minutes it goes through seven movements with distinct melodies and chord progressions without repeating itself. It was for that reason that I have always believed it was a suitable piece for brass where one does not have lyrics to distinguish changes between verses to avoid monotony. Graham Cooper
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Zat You, Santa Claus - Jack Fox - Len Jenkins
The Christmas song 'Zat You Santa Claus was written by Jack Fox and was first recorded and released by Louis Armstrong and The Commanders in 1953 by Decca Records. The studio orchestra was under the direction of Toots Camarata (who also made the big band arrangement) and Garth Brooks interpreted the song in the feature film "Nenn' mich einfach Nikolaus" (Just call me Nicholas) in 2001. More recently, the song was featured in the film Dr Seuss' "The Grinch" (2018) and sung by Buster Poindexter. This arrangement features the Bass Trombone.
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£57.50Erin's Isle - Philip Sparke
Erin's Isle was commissioned by euphonium player Micah Parsons and premiered by him in June 2024. The idea was to write a slow melody with an Irish flavour and the title is a romantic, 19th century name often used to refer to the island of Ireland itself. The work opens with fluttering, muted cornets, under which a tentative theme appears. This leads to an accompanied cadenza for the soloist, out of which the main theme emerges. This is a long and expansive melody, which winds through several related phrases with a folk-like flavour. A change of key heralds snatches of the theme by the band with interjections from the soloist, leading to a second cadenza. Eventually the band takes up the main theme again, over which the euphonium weaves an elaborate counter melody. The fluttering cornets return to allow the soloist to close the work with a brief and flowery coda.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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