Results
-
£35.00Symphonic Dance No.3 - Sergei Rachmaninov arr. Phillip Littlemore
Completed in 1940, the set of Symphonic Dances was Sergei Rachmaninov's last composition. The work is fully representative of the composer's late style with its curious, shifting harmonies, the almost Prokofiev-like outer movements and the focus on individual instrumental tone colours throughout. Rachmaninov composed the Symphonic Dances four years after his Third Symphony, mostly at the Honeyman Estate, 'Orchard Point', in Centerport, New York, overlooking Long Island Sound. The three-movement work's original name was Fantastic Dances, with movement titles of 'Noon', 'Twilight' and 'Midnight'. When the composer wrote to the conductor Eugene Ormandy in late August, he said that the piece was finished and needed only to be orchestrated, but the manuscript for the full score actually bears completion dates of September and October 1940. It was premiered by Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, to whom it is dedicated, on 3rd January, 1941.This arrangement is of the last dance and is a kind of struggle between the Dies Irae theme, representing Death, and a quotation from Rachmaninov's own Vespers (also known as the All-night Vigil, 1915), representing Resurrection. The Resurrection theme proves victorious in the end as the composer actually wrote the word 'Hallelujah' at the relevant place the score (one bar after Fig. 16 in this arrangement). Duration: 3'45"Diffiuclty: 2nd Section and above
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
-
£40.00Finale from Symphony No. 1 - Sergei Rachmaninov arr. Phillip Littlemore
Rachmaninov composed his First Symphony in 1895, at the age of just 22 years. It received its first performance on March 27, 1897, at a Russian Symphony Society concert in St. Petersburg with Alexander Glazunov conducting. The premiere was not well-received, and Rachmaninov himself blamed Glazunov for a lacklustre approach for beating time rather than finding the music. Some contemporary reports even suggested that Glazunov was inebriated when he took to the stage!Despite the disappointment of the premiere performance, Rachmaninov never destroyed the score but left it behind when he left Russia to settle in the West, eventually it was given up for lost. After the composer's death, a two-piano transcription of the symphony surfaced in Moscow, followed by a set of orchestral parts at the conservatory in Saint Petersburg. In March 1945, the symphony was performed in Moscow for the first time since its 1897 premiere. It was a grand success, and this led to a new and more enthusiastic evaluation of the symphony. In March 1948 it received a similarly successful American premiere and the work proceeded to establish itself in the general repertory.The final movement (Allegro con fuoco) is colourful and grand but not without its darkly contrasting, menacing episodes that intensifies its malevolence. It is a work overflowing with ideas demonstrating a strong, highly individual, and self-assured young talent.Duration: 5'40"Difficulty: 2nd Section and above
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
-
£40.00Finale from Symphony No. 4 - Pyotr Tchaikovsky arr. Phillip Littlemore
Tchaikovsky began work on his Symphony No.4 in F minor in the early part of 1877, about the time he began his relationship with his long-term benefactor Nadezhda von Meck. The bulk of the composition was completed by the May of that year, although Tchaikovsky's hastily arranged marriage in the following July to Antonina Miliukova put further work on hold for a while.He returned to working on the symphony in the latter half of the same year, agonising over the orchestration of the much meatier first movement, yet finding the following movements less taxing. The Finale itself erupts with a fortissimo explosion before giving way to the Russian folk song, The Little Birch Tree , which offers much of the thematic material for the movement, until the return of the 'fate' theme from the opening of the symphony itself, which acts as a disturbing presence amongst the more carnival atmosphere of an otherwise buoyant Finale.Duration: 6'00"Difficulty: 2nd Section and above
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
-
£40.00Carnival of the Animals
Saint-Saens composed The Carnival of the Animals in 1886. He regarded the work as a piece of fun and was adamant that the work would not be published in his lifetime. It was published in the year following the composer's death and the first public performance was given on 25th February 1922. It was well-received and has since become one of Saint-Saens's best-known works.This brass band transcription contains six of the original fourteen movements and opens with Introduction and The March of the Royal Lion a brief, dramatic beginning is followed by a stately march for the 'King of Beasts' that is interrupted from time to time by the lions' formidable roar, depicted by ferocious, low chromatic scales. In The Elephant, a solo B flat Bass sings a doleful song made from melodies 'borrowed' from Mendelssohn and Berlioz without apology. Next comes the relentless descending third of A Cuckoo in The Deep Woods. Fossils are clearly not animals, but some of them undoubtedly were at some point, so Saint-Saens has some fun with the xylophone rattling around like a box of old prehistorix bones. Among some little musical quotes you can listen out for 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and some references to his own 'Dance Macabre' whilst opera buffs may recognise Rossini's
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
-
£40.00
Creative Dreams - Matthew Hall
Creative Dreams was written for the opening of the new Abraham Darby Academy in Telford, Shropshire. This jubilant piece can be performed as a Brass Band work, a Wind Orchestra work, or the forces can be combined.
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
-
£37.95Toccata Brillante - Philip Wilby
Written for the composer's daughter this energetic work involves some four-mallet work and will be enjoyed by capable soloists and audiences alike.
Estimated dispatch 7-9 working days
-
£32.00Coventry Variations (Score only) - Bramwell Tovey
A work which has quickly found a place in the repertoire of many brass bands - it is so full of invention, glorious melodies, energy, and exciting sounds. Players will enjoy both rehearsal and performance, and while there are technical demands, they always serve the music. The famous Coventry Carol is used as a basis - and it appears triumphantly at the work's conclusion, like the new city of Coventry rising, Phoenix-like, from the ashes of the old.
Estimated dispatch 7-9 working days
-
£42.00Coventry Variations (Parts only) - Bramwell Tovey
A work which has quickly found a place in the repertoire of many brass bands - it is so full of invention, glorious melodies, energy, and exciting sounds. Players will enjoy both rehearsal and performance, and while there are technical demands, they always serve the music. The famous Coventry Carol is used as a basis - and it appears triumphantly at the work's conclusion, like the new city of Coventry rising, Phoenix-like, from the ashes of the old.
Estimated dispatch 7-9 working days
-
£40.00Hymn at Sunrise (Score only) - Ray Steadman-Allen
The idea for this work was prompted by a poem - Hymn Before Sunrise - which describes the majesty of a mountain in darkness, the sounds of a nearby waterfall and so on. Nothing came of the exposure to these pictures except for general thoughts about the dawn of day and a series of movements expressing a personal response to the wonder of creation in an imaginary moment in time. The movement titles, which were added later, are intended to underline a prevailing sense of worship, wonder and exaltation. The music is pure, not pictoral, though listeners may conjure their own images. An actual hymn - Tallis' Cannon - is incorporated. There are five movements: 1. Thanksgiving: A short prelude in two parts. First a brief passage of 'dawn music' before things become more vigorous: fanfare-like music ushers in the trombone section's presentation of the Tallis tune. A broad band version concludes the movement. 2. De Profundis: A slow movement shot through with anxious questionings featuring flugel and trombone. The mood lightens a little in the centre where the soprano cornet is featured and the movement ends serenely. 3. Celebration is characterised by rhythmic drive, this is buoyant with plenty of incident pointed up by the percussion. 4. Invocation: Melodic in nature and sober in mood, the first section is a series of short solos mingled with chorale-like statements. Central to the movement is a chorale-prelude style presentation of the Tallis tune. The third section reintroduces the earlier solo music by the full ensemble. Dissolving, the music enters the last movement without a break. 5. Paean: Marked allegro con spirito there is, quite rightly, a fair amount of fun in the rejoicing. Snatches of Tallis are heard, then comes a gentle passage with a cornet solo leading to fanfare music and recapitulation. Two recitatives are succeeded by a coda which brings the work to a sonorous and exultant conclusion.
Estimated dispatch 7-9 working days
-
£50.00Hymn at Sunrise (Parts only) - Ray Steadman-Allen
The idea for this work was prompted by a poem - Hymn Before Sunrise - which describes the majesty of a mountain in darkness, the sounds of a nearby waterfall and so on. Nothing came of the exposure to these pictures except for general thoughts about the dawn of day and a series of movements expressing a personal response to the wonder of creation in an imaginary moment in time. The movement titles, which were added later, are intended to underline a prevailing sense of worship, wonder and exaltation. The music is pure, not pictoral, though listeners may conjure their own images. An actual hymn - Tallis' Cannon - is incorporated. There are five movements: 1. Thanksgiving: A short prelude in two parts. First a brief passage of 'dawn music' before things become more vigorous: fanfare-like music ushers in the trombone section's presentation of the Tallis tune. A broad band version concludes the movement. 2. De Profundis: A slow movement shot through with anxious questionings featuring flugel and trombone. The mood lightens a little in the centre where the soprano cornet is featured and the movement ends serenely. 3. Celebration is characterised by rhythmic drive, this is buoyant with plenty of incident pointed up by the percussion. 4. Invocation: Melodic in nature and sober in mood, the first section is a series of short solos mingled with chorale-like statements. Central to the movement is a chorale-prelude style presentation of the Tallis tune. The third section reintroduces the earlier solo music by the full ensemble. Dissolving, the music enters the last movement without a break. 5. Paean: Marked allegro con spirito there is, quite rightly, a fair amount of fun in the rejoicing. Snatches of Tallis are heard, then comes a gentle passage with a cornet solo leading to fanfare music and recapitulation. Two recitatives are succeeded by a coda which brings the work to a sonorous and exultant conclusion.
Estimated dispatch 7-9 working days