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£45.00The Pilgrim - Josiah Walters
Josiah describes his composition'The Pilgrim' as a journey of development and emotion, encompassing three key stages of emotional state: from the opening sounds which are full of anticipation and uncertainty, through to a passage of disillusionment and frustration, then moving on to a concluding stage which reintroduces the positive elements of the opening optimism, yet closing quietly, symbolizing an inner peace and contentment at the end of the musical journey.The composer's emotive approach to the creation of the work embraces a wealth of passion, anguish and enlightenment. Through his use of imaginative melody, themes and harmonic texture, Josiah has represented a collection of powerful emotions. Essentially non-programmatic, the piece opens in a contemplative manner, building with enthusiasm, and first introducing the use of bells and bell effects as a musical metaphor which is used throughout the piece to signify the journey's destination.As the sentiment continues, the music evolves in to an Allegro Furioso section, opening up a strong sense of frustration. At this section's climax, the symbolic use of the bells is reintroduced to create an over-tone of hope and purpose, although this does not last long as they fade into the Misterioso Molto Rubato section.As the melodies and harmonies develop onwards, 'The Pilgrim' evolves into a more reflective phase, reintroducing the sounds and motifs of the more strident opening.This closing section symbolizes the realisation that everything needed was already available to The Pilgrim, but travelling the journey, confronting and overcoming all of the challenges was the only route of discovery - peacefulness prevails, bringing the work to a close with a sense of contentment and enlightenment.'The Pilgrim', highly emotive in its creation, offers a wealth of musical imagery.Even to the uninformed listener, this fascinating, powerful and beautiful work stirs and stimulates a variety of emotional reactions - offering each listener an opportunity to apply the music to their own journey, their own personal pilgrimage.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£30.00The St Louis Blues - Sandy Coffin, W C Handy
Two-Step MarchCommissioned by John Wallace, this arrangement of The St Louis Blues has been crafted by Sandy Coffin through close listening of the available recordings of the Harlem Hellfighters Band. Sandy had been heavily involved with the Historic Brass Society symposium 2017 held in New York and assisted John with his research on this fascinating band and the style of music it generated.Eye-witness accounts refer to the 369th band 'dancing' rather than 'marching'. Above all, in modern performance, finding a 'dancing beat' is crucial to a successful performance of this Ragtime march in order to do justice to the great pioneering work of James Reese Europe.Note the flutter-tonguing and use of muting, the counter-melody in soprano cornet, and the wilder and yet wilder nature of each repetition of the Chorus.Look and Listen:Background to the Harlem HellfightersThe US Army 369th Regiment, made up largely of African-Americans from New York, became known as the Harlem Hellfighters because of the heroic reputation which accrued to them during the actions they engaged in during the First World War in Europe.James Reese Europe was one of the most active African-American composer/musical directors in the pre-war American music scene. The legendary Harlem Hellfighters Band, which he assembled in 1917 from African-American and Puerto Rican musicians, came at an important transitional point in musical history. A new form of music called jazz was emerging from Ragtime and the performing style of Europe's band was immersed in the flow of this new direction.Europe's Harlem Hellfighters influenced and inspired everyone who heard them, including the welcoming crowd when they disembarked in France, bowled over by their swinging rendition of La Marseillaise. Reese Europe became a war hero, commanding a machine-gun unit as well as the band.On return from War in 1919 the band led a ticker-tape parade along Fifth Avenue in New York and soon made about 30 shellac recordings. These recordings display some of the fingerprints of their performing style: ragging, improvising, muting, wailing, smearing (their word for glissando) - and from the evidence of their recordings they took the printed page as a blueprint for individuality.In May 1919 during the Hellfighters' triumphant coast-to-coast tour after their return, James Reese Europe was tragically murdered, bringing to premature close, at the age of 39, the work of a great musical innovator.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£137.703 Movements for Brass Band - Oskar Abel Valand Halvorsen
3 Movements for Brass Band is written with the intent to explore concise, but intention-lled musical forms. Even though each movement is a clearly dened part, there are still many similarities and unifying elements throughout. One of them can be characerized as a focus on musical initiatives that perpetually intensies the interplay between them. Furthermore, nearly all chords and melodic gestures in all the movements are based on the same three-note cell (e.g. Eb-F-Ab) in constant transposing versions. This structure of threes also nds expression in the rhythmical elements (e.g. in the lightly syncopated gures in the opening of the second movement). Lastly, there is also a signal in snare drum and whip, that ends each movement.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£159.99Other Lives - Oliver Waespi
Other Lives is works perfectly for a competition but can also be programmed as concert work. The dark chords at the beginning of the piece are derived from "Der Doppelganger", one of Franz Schubert's late songs. After a short development the music begins to accelerate and find its own shape, gradually moving away from the introduction. The entire first part, "Rage", has an intensely agitated character. The ensuing "Reflection" turns back to the initial chord progression, before a series of interspersing solos explore time and space at a slower pace. After another musical surge, the music is brought close to silence and then gives way to the third part, "Redemption".Here, a widely spaced sound field contains a remote allusion to another work by Schubert "Ruckblick". After this farewell, an abstract musical transformation triggers an emotional change, as the initial motifs are now presented in their inversed form in order to create a much brighter harmonic landscape. Moreover, in the last part of the piece, "Renewal", the grim, tense atmosphere of the first part is transformed into a great energy. Other Lives was commissioned by the Valaisia Brass Band.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£154.99Hypercube - Oliver Waespi
Hypercube is a musical narrative partly inspired by the architecture of the Grande Arche de la Dfense in Paris whose shape has been compared to a hypercube.With this landmark building as a starting point, the piece explores the poetry and reality of urban landscapes. In the course of the piece, these contrasting elements are being torn into a dramatic and virtuosic development in extended sections named 'Le Vertige' (Vertigo).The Clouds theme returns later in a series of lyrical solos. In the final part of the piece, both the Vertigo and the Hypercube themes become the background for an ongoing acceleration, which conveys theimpression of some sort of musical Penrose stairs. Hypercube was commissioned by the Paris Brass Band and the association ADIAM 94 in 2015.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£137.99Metamorphosis - Jan de Haan
The opening of this three-movement work features an initial appearance of the thematic material that returns in various guises later on in the work. The leitmotiv centres on a minor second.A range of thematic variations is heard in the lively and energetic Metamorphosis One. This movement is interrupted by an atmospheric meno mosso, containing melodic passages that return to the opening theme. Metamorhosis Two is characterised by various changes in tempo and musical character. Seven different soloists transform the thematic material each in their own way. This eventually culminates in a passionate tutti passage.The source of inspiration for Metamorphosis Three isthe so-called BACH-motif, a musical autograph consisting of the notes B flat, A, C and B. This distinctive motif arises from the leitmotiv (here a descending minor second), which continues to evolve through various transpositions and transformations. For the composer, this spectacular last movement is an homage to one of the greatest and most influential composers in the history of music: Johann Sebastian Bach.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£57.50To a Wild Rose - Edward MacDowell
Edward MacDowell can be regarded as the first great American composer, although he disliked the idea of being classified as any sort of musical nationalist. He composed a large number of orchestral works but it is the charming and unpretentious suite of musical miniatures, Woodland Sketches, that has survived as his best-known work, with To a Wild Rose being the most popular. Philip Sparke has expertly arranged this simple work for brass band.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£59.99
Charming Salzburg - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Salzburg, birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, inspired Dutch composer Henk Hogestein to write this musical tribute. Mozart was born in this charming Austrian town in January 1756. He was a musical prodigy - at the age of four he began receiving lessons from his father Leopold and at the age of six he was composing smart minuets and other short pieces. The composition Charming Salzburg is based on a theme from Mozart's opera Die Zauberflote, which he completed in 1791. The greatest composer of his day - the greatest of all time according to some - the brilliant Mozart wrote some of the world's best operas with Die Zauberflote was his last.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£59.99Campus Intrada - Jacob de Haan
This work was composed for a series of concerts that were characterised by a variety of musical directions. These musical directions are captured in Campus Intrada, which was named after the Cultuurcampus in which the concerts took place. A typical fanfare-like section, a jazzy section and a section reminiscent of pop music are contained in this three-minute work.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£54.99Chester's Chase - John Emerson Blackstone
Chester's musical pursuit has been depicted so well that it is a feast to perform and to listen to this composition. In his typical manner Blackstone succeeds in transforming an apparently musical phenomenon into a valuable orchestral piece which is attractive to everyone.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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