Results
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£99.95Malcolm Arnold Variations (Score and Parts)
MALCOLM ARNOLD VARIATIONS was commissioned by Philip Biggs and Richard Franklin for the 20th All England Masters International Brass Band Championship held in the Corn Exchange, Cambridge on 25 May 2008. The work is dedicated to Anthony Day, long time carer of Sir Malcolm Arnold in his final years. I first met Malcolm and Anthony in 1990 and remained in constant touch until Malcolm's passing in 2006. Anthony, of course, remains a friend and plays his own role subliminally in this piece. The work is not based on any of Malcolm Arnold's own themes, rather it is a portrait of him (and by association Anthony Day) through my eyes and as a result of my friendship with both parties over some 18 years. If there is any theme as such it is the personalities of the players, the protagonist and his carer placed together by my own efforts coloured and influenced by aspects of Arnold's style and technique without recourse to direct quotation but through allusion and parody. It is of course designed as a brass band test piece but in my eyes is first and foremost a musical challenge. The pyrotechnical elements are there but always secondary to the musical thrust of the work's structure. I have long beforehand submerged myself in Malcolm Arnold's music and ultimately delivered this tribute. Music Directors will be advised to acquaint themselves with the composer's personal music, particularly the film scores, symphonies, concertos and ballets: the solutions towards a successful interpretation of my piece are all in there - and YES, I want, and sanction, this piece to be interpreted, and therein lies the challenge for those of you 'up front'! The challenge for players is that of virtuosity, ensemble and careful attention to where they are individually in relation to their colleagues - a question of balance, taste and insight. With regard to tempi, as is my usual custom, I have indicated all metronome marks with the prefix circa. I would suggest that the fast music is played at these tempos but that the more rubato moments can be allowed some freedom in expression and fluidity of line. With regard to the type of mutes to be employed - this decision I leave to the discretion of players and conductors. Structurally the work is cast as an Introduction, 20 Variations and a Finale. Some variations are self contained, others run into each other as sequences in the same tempo. In other variations, segments are repeated and developed. I could describe the overall concept as a miniature ballet or a condensed film score - there is much drama and character and the repeated elements assist this in driving the action forward. I have deliberately avoided the more extremely dark qualities of Malcolm's own music in this, my celebration of this master-composer, as I have always viewed (and evidenced by my previous Masters scores Tristan Encounters and Chivalry) that the Cambridge contest is a 'sunshine- affair' and firmly believe that Malcolm Arnold would have had it no other way too!
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£49.95Malcolm Arnold Variations (Score Only)
MALCOLM ARNOLD VARIATIONS was commissioned by Philip Biggs and Richard Franklin for the 20th All England Masters International Brass Band Championship held in the Corn Exchange, Cambridge on 25 May 2008. The work is dedicated to Anthony Day, long time carer of Sir Malcolm Arnold in his final years. I first met Malcolm and Anthony in 1990 and remained in constant touch until Malcolm's passing in 2006. Anthony, of course, remains a friend and plays his own role subliminally in this piece. The work is not based on any of Malcolm Arnold's own themes, rather it is a portrait of him (and by association Anthony Day) through my eyes and as a result of my friendship with both parties over some 18 years. If there is any theme as such it is the personalities of the players, the protagonist and his carer placed together by my own efforts coloured and influenced by aspects of Arnold's style and technique without recourse to direct quotation but through allusion and parody. It is of course designed as a brass band test piece but in my eyes is first and foremost a musical challenge. The pyrotechnical elements are there but always secondary to the musical thrust of the work's structure. I have long beforehand submerged myself in Malcolm Arnold's music and ultimately delivered this tribute. Music Directors will be advised to acquaint themselves with the composer's personal music, particularly the film scores, symphonies, concertos and ballets: the solutions towards a successful interpretation of my piece are all in there - and YES, I want, and sanction, this piece to be interpreted, and therein lies the challenge for those of you 'up front'! The challenge for players is that of virtuosity, ensemble and careful attention to where they are individually in relation to their colleagues - a question of balance, taste and insight. With regard to tempi, as is my usual custom, I have indicated all metronome marks with the prefix circa. I would suggest that the fast music is played at these tempos but that the more rubato moments can be allowed some freedom in expression and fluidity of line. With regard to the type of mutes to be employed - this decision I leave to the discretion of players and conductors. Structurally the work is cast as an Introduction, 20 Variations and a Finale. Some variations are self contained, others run into each other as sequences in the same tempo. In other variations, segments are repeated and developed. I could describe the overall concept as a miniature ballet or a condensed film score - there is much drama and character and the repeated elements assist this in driving the action forward. I have deliberately avoided the more extremely dark qualities of Malcolm's own music in this, my celebration of this master-composer, as I have always viewed (and evidenced by my previous Masters scores Tristan Encounters and Chivalry) that the Cambridge contest is a 'sunshine- affair' and firmly believe that Malcolm Arnold would have had it no other way too!
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£104.99Variations on a Chord (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - De Haan, Jan
Variations on a Chord was composed on the occasion of the second lustrum of the Dutch Brass Band Championships celebrated in 1990. The piece is the immediate sequel to Contrasten a piece which was composed in 1986, and which is performed all over the world. Not only was the final chord of this previous work used as a starting point for the new composition, but Variations on a Chord is also the first concert piece for brass band composed by Jan de Haan since then. The several variations are based on a solemn theme. The so-called minor-major seventh chord is easily detectable. The structure of the piece is such that the lyrical theme is preceded by a majestic introduction, and is followed by eight variations each strongly contrasting in character. The piece finishes in a short but extremely spectacular coda.Duration: 11:45
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£104.99Variations on a Chord - Jan de Haan
Variations on a Chord was composed on the occasion of the second lustrum of the Dutch Brass Band Championships celebrated in 1990. The piece is the immediate sequel to Contrasten a piece which was composed in 1986, and which is performed all over the world. Not only was the final chord of this previous work used as a starting point for the new composition, but Variations on a Chord is also the first concert piece for brass band composed by Jan de Haan since then. The several variations are based on a solemn theme. The so-called minor-major seventh chord is easily detectable. The structure of the piece is such that the lyrical theme is preceded by a majestic introduction, and isfollowed by eight variations each strongly contrasting in character. The piece finishes in a short but extremely spectacular coda.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£37.95Connotations (Brass Band - Score only) - Gregson, Edward
Connotations was commissioned for the 1977 National Brass Band Championship finals, held in the Royal Albert Hall, London (the winner, incidentally, of that particular competition was the famous Black Dyke Mills Band).At the age of 32 Gregson was the youngest composer to have received the honour of such a commission. It came at the end of a productive five years writing for the brass band publisher R Smith. Some of those works - The Plantagenets, Essay and Patterns for example, with their direct and tuneful style, have remained popular with brass bands the world over.For Gregson, these were the means by which he sharpened the tools of his trade, preparing the ground, as it were, for his finest work to date - Connotations. He thought of calling the piece Variations on a Fourth, but with due deference to Gilbert Vinter perhaps (Variations on a Ninth), he chose a more appropriate one. As Gregson has written, 'Connotations suggests more than one way of looking at something, an idea, and this is exactly what the piece is about'.Writing a competition piece brought its own problems. 'It has to be technically difficult and yet musically satisfying. I didn't like being kept to an eleven-minute maximum. The inclusion of short cadenzas for less usual solo instruments seems to signify a certain test-piece mentality'.Gregson solved the problems admirably by adopting a symphonic approach to variation form: Introduction - fanfares, a call to attention, in effect Variation 1; Theme - a six-note motif, given a lyrical and restrained first statement; Variation 2 - a delicate toccata; Variation 3 - typically robust in melody and rhythm; Variation 4 - lyrical solos; Variation 5 - a scherzo; Variation 6 - cadenzas; Variations 7-9 - an introduction, fugato and resounding restatement of the theme.Duration: 10.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£74.95
Connotations (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Gregson, Edward
Connotations was commissioned for the 1977 National Brass Band Championship finals, held in the Royal Albert Hall, London (the winner, incidentally, of that particular competition was the famous Black Dyke Mills Band).At the age of 32 Gregson was the youngest composer to have received the honour of such a commission. It came at the end of a productive five years writing for the brass band publisher R Smith. Some of those works - The Plantagenets, Essay and Patterns for example, with their direct and tuneful style, have remained popular with brass bands the world over.For Gregson, these were the means by which he sharpened the tools of his trade, preparing the ground, as it were, for his finest work to date - Connotations. He thought of calling the piece Variations on a Fourth, but with due deference to Gilbert Vinter perhaps (Variations on a Ninth), he chose a more appropriate one. As Gregson has written, 'Connotations suggests more than one way of looking at something, an idea, and this is exactly what the piece is about'.Writing a competition piece brought its own problems. 'It has to be technically difficult and yet musically satisfying. I didn't like being kept to an eleven-minute maximum. The inclusion of short cadenzas for less usual solo instruments seems to signify a certain test-piece mentality'.Gregson solved the problems admirably by adopting a symphonic approach to variation form: Introduction - fanfares, a call to attention, in effect Variation 1; Theme - a six-note motif, given a lyrical and restrained first statement; Variation 2 - a delicate toccata; Variation 3 - typically robust in melody and rhythm; Variation 4 - lyrical solos; Variation 5 - a scherzo; Variation 6 - cadenzas; Variations 7-9 - an introduction, fugato and resounding restatement of the theme.Duration: 10.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£69.99
Variations on a Shaped Note Melody Brass Band (Score & Parts) - Curnow, James
Based on the American 'shaped-note' melody Saints Bound for Heaven, Variations on a Shaped Note Melody by James Curnow captures a feeling of joyful celebration through a series of unique and skilfully adapted variations. The opening strains are actually fragments of the first variation and occur before the main tune is introduced by low brass. The second variation features a euphonium solo and builds to a glorious climax with the full ensemble. The final variation is joyful and filled with energy, using flourishes and fanfares throughout the band for a grand conclusion to this marvellous work. 05:25
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£29.95St. Andrew's Variations (Score Only)
This piece, written for the East Anglian Brass Band Festival in 1998, takes the form of eight variations and a finale, loosely based on the descending third motif heard in the initial theme. It was initially composed for junior band, and expanded and rescored for full band in 2006. There is no significance in the title, other than the fact it was written by a Scotsman to be played in the St Andrew's Hall, in Norwich!Alan Fernie was born and brought up in the Scots mining village of Newtongrange. From the age of 13 he learned to play the trombone both at school and with the local brass band, going on to study music in Glasgow and London. After a short period working as an orchestral musician, Alan moved into instrumental education, spending over 20 years teaching brass in schools all over the East of Scotland. It was during this time that he began to conduct and he has since directed bands at all levels, winning many awards. He first wrote for brass whilst still a student, and his music is now played, recorded and published throughout the world.In 2009, Alan was honoured with the "President's Award" from the Scottish Brass Band Association for services to banding. He is also proud to be associated as composer in residence with the acclaimed charity "Brass for Africa", with whom he spent two months recently teaching in Kampala, Uganda. Living in the Scottish Borders, Alan now works as a freelance musician, finding time to write, teach, conduct, judge, perform and act as compere throughout the UK and beyond.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£69.99
Variations on a Shaped Note Melody - James Curnow
Based on the American 'shaped-note' melody Saints Bound for Heaven, Variations on a Shaped Note Melody by James Curnow captures a feeling of joyful celebration through a series of unique and skilfully adapted variations. The opening strains are actually fragments of the first variation and occur before the main tune is introduced by low brass. The second variation features a euphonium solo and builds to a glorious climax with the full ensemble. The final variation is joyful and filled with energy, using flourishes and fanfares throughout the band for a grand conclusion to this marvellous work.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£89.95Cambridge Variations - Philip Sparke
Cambridge Variations was commissioned by Philip Biggs and Richard Franklin with funds provided by All England Masters Brass Band Championship Ltd for their 1992 contest. The basis of the variations are the six musical notes in the word"Cambridge", (CABDGE), used mostly in reverse. The work falls into five sections (variations), which are all (to some extent) derived from the six-note row.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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