Results
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£99.99The Divine Right (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Harper, Philip
At the time of composing this piece, the Arab Spring was sweeping through the Middle East. It seemed that almost every week a new country's people had risen up against the regimes and dictatorships which had prevailed for generations, leaving many nations at a defining crossroads in their history. There were so many possible ways ahead: so many hopes, yet so many uncertainties.This music is a depiction of these revolutionary times, and several musical themes are in turn presented, discussed, considered, fought over, altered, rejected or accepted.Most nations have had, or probably will have, their own Arab Spring, including the United Kingdom. Events of 17th Century Britain provide the context for this piece, particularly those following the execution of the tyrant King Charles I on 30 January 1649. The regicide was in part due to Charless steadfast belief in the Divine Right of Kings, and led to a tumultuous interregnum, where England stood at its own defining crossroads. The music begins turbulently, before King Charles appears and is led to the gallows outside Banqueting House in central London where he is brutally decapitated. From the assembled crowd rose, according to one observer,a moan as I never heard before and desire I may never hear again.The music descends to emptiness.The musical argument which follows is not strictly programmatic, but a number of musical themes are all thrown into the melting pot, representing ideas such as: religion; military force; reasoned Parliamentary debate; and the chattering, irrepressible voice of the people. Additionally, there are some quotations from the music of royalist composer Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656), who was often in tune with the feeling of the times.This defining episode in England's history was brought to a close with the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, and as the exiled King Charles II rode back into London the diarist John Evelyn wrote:Never was so joyful a day seen in this nation. I stood in the Strand and beheld it, and blessed God.At the end of the piece the bells ring out, and the musical appearance of the King has transformed from turbulent to triumphant.Duration: 17.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£24.95
The Pilgrim's Prayer (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Rouse, Sydney - Ball, Eric
Introduction - This could hardly be more simple. Inexperienced players may have some little difficulty in intonation, especially as they are starting 'cold', but a useful lesson can be learned in this connection when rehearsing these two bars. Section A - The music is hymn tune-like in character, but it should not become stilted. Close intonation is still a point to study, especially in view of the chromatic nature of some of the harmony. Section B - Aim to secure just balance in the accompanying parts, especially in the second phrase, where the 1st comets may be inclined to treat their moving part as an independent melody rather than part of the 'colour' background. Section C -This is a reprise of the first theme, with a different arrangement. The same comments apply, however. Section D - Here the music becomes more song-like in style, and provides an interesting contrast. The scoring, too, is more varied, and there are a number of points that call for attention. Note that the 1st and 2nd comets and 2nd trombone work as a team throughout; see that the pulsating, syncopated background adds to the movement of the music without giving a jerky effect; the new entries in the fourth and twelfth bars are to be made quite smoothly; and do not allow the texture of the music, especially in the last eight bars of the section, to overshadow the simplicity of the main tune. Section E - Here the first subject appears again. In the arrangement the colour contrasts are quite clear-cut. In order to secure true balance in the fifth and sixth bars, it may be necessary to adjust the amount of tone given by the bass trombone, as this part is not doubled as are the other parts. Section F -This section forms a simple but expressive coda.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£12.50
The Pilgrim's Prayer (Brass Band - Score only) - Rouse, Sydney - Ball, Eric
Introduction - This could hardly be more simple. Inexperienced players may have some little difficulty in intonation, especially as they are starting 'cold', but a useful lesson can be learned in this connection when rehearsing these two bars. Section A - The music is hymn tune-like in character, but it should not become stilted. Close intonation is still a point to study, especially in view of the chromatic nature of some of the harmony. Section B - Aim to secure just balance in the accompanying parts, especially in the second phrase, where the 1st comets may be inclined to treat their moving part as an independent melody rather than part of the 'colour' background. Section C -This is a reprise of the first theme, with a different arrangement. The same comments apply, however. Section D - Here the music becomes more song-like in style, and provides an interesting contrast. The scoring, too, is more varied, and there are a number of points that call for attention. Note that the 1st and 2nd comets and 2nd trombone work as a team throughout; see that the pulsating, syncopated background adds to the movement of the music without giving a jerky effect; the new entries in the fourth and twelfth bars are to be made quite smoothly; and do not allow the texture of the music, especially in the last eight bars of the section, to overshadow the simplicity of the main tune. Section E - Here the first subject appears again. In the arrangement the colour contrasts are quite clear-cut. In order to secure true balance in the fifth and sixth bars, it may be necessary to adjust the amount of tone given by the bass trombone, as this part is not doubled as are the other parts. Section F -This section forms a simple but expressive coda.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£74.99Oregon (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - De Haan, Jacob
This fantasy tells the story of Oregon, one of America's north-western states. Traveling by train on the Northern Pacific Railroad, the listener is taken through the fascinating Oregon landscape. Indians, cowboys, golddiggers and hooded wagons will file past on this adventurous journey. The piece has some similarities with a soundtrack of a movie. Various melodies, which could be the main themes of a movie, pass the review.The piece begins in a slow movement, introducing the first theme in minor. Then we hear in the following fast movement the trombones imitate the train, whistling the steam-flute. We hear the characteristic minor theme again, but now in different variants (also in major). The rhythmic structure of "western" stile and rock succeed each other. This is leading to the slow movement, where the signals of horns and trumpets introduce a wonderful vocal melody. After this characteristic melody, the fast movement appears shortly again, the trombones whistling the steam-flute again (now in major). We hear also some musical elements, that plays a part in the following Presto. Barchanges, jazzy chords, interesting rhythmic patterns (with bongo) and an original theme are the characteristics of this Presto. After this, the horns announce the last section of the piece. Interesting is the fact that we hear in this Allegro section a variant of the vocal melody in the slow movement. Also the Presto theme returns shortly, followed by the Allargando, which is a grand characteristic end of a soundtrack. The movie of our travelling fantasy has come to an end.Duration: 9:10
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£34.95
SLOW RIDE IN A STATIC MACHINE, A (Brass Band) - Lawrence, Phil
A Slow Ride in a Static Machine was inspired some time ago when my (late) Father came to visit me "down in London" as he put it. It was based not on one of his circular mishaps, but on several! He was always directed carefully, but refused to carry a map in the car! At one time when I lived in North London I would meet him outside the capital, and he would then follow be back to my place, but after I moved to East London I made him bite the navigational bullet and transverse the 'M25 Orbital'. His main problem seemed to be getting off this mesmerising circular cark park. He would often phone (in a weary tone) from the Dartford Tunnel (which is 5 junctions past the one he needed to get off at), asking me to, "bring him in" so to speak. I would always refuse. And then, he would do the opposite (especially when travelling at night), he would phone me up from near Cambridge (he'd gone the wrong way up the M11 away from London by 45 miles), and would ask where he was!The title is obviously a play on John Adams' composition, A Short Ride In A Fast Machine. This quirky tone poem starts as a wind-up by using those unwanted intervals of augmented 4th's and minor 9th's & 7th's in the main tune, before hearing the road works, the juggernauts multi horns, fender-benders, ambulance and police sirens! This then all works to a back beat on kit. The wind-up start gets to an almost Go-Go 1960's Disco middle section (the nostalgic hay-days of the open road), where our wind-up tune falls into place and we all relax as we can now drive at 42.1 mph! We DC, and then get into a right car mess in the Coda!Phil Lawrence.Duration:4:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£45.00strange geometry
Descriptionstrange geometrywas commissioned by Morgan Griffiths and the Hammonds Saltaire Band for their performance at the Brass in Concert Championships of 2015.As a bit of a space/sci-fi geek, as well as a musician, two events during the summer of 2015 had a particular effect on me. The first was the tragic early death in a plane crash of the famous film composer James Horner. Horner's music, particularly in films like 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan', 'Avatar', 'Apollo 13' and even his debut in Roger Corman's 1980 budget film 'Battle Beyond the Stars', defined for a generation the sound of sci-fi at the cinema. Along with John Williams he created the vocabulary for those who wish to express other-worldly wonder in music and his inventive talent will be much missed in an industry where originality has become something of a dirty word in recent years.The second event was the epic flyby of Pluto by the NASA New Horizons spacecraft. There are many reasons to find this mission inspiring - for example, the scientists and engineers behind it created a craft that has travelled at 37,000 mph for nine years and three billion miles to arrive within seventy-two seconds of the predicted time for the flyby. That they achieved this with such accuracy is an outstanding tribute to humanity's ingenuity and insatiable curiosity. However, the most exciting aspect of the mission was the clear, high resolution pictures of this unthinkably remote and inhospitable world beamed back to mission control. The best previous image of Pluto was an indistinct fuzzy blob - suddenly we could see mountains made of ice, glaciers of methane and carbon monoxide and nitrogen fog - features previously unimagined on a world thought to be a slightly dull ball of cold rock. The BBC's venerable astronomy programme 'The Sky at Night' waxed lyrical about these newly discovered features, referring to "the surprising discoveries of mountains and strange geometry on the surface of this cold distant world".I like to think that Horner would have been as inspired as I have been by this real-life science story, and this piece uses some of the vocabulary of the sci-fi movie soundtrack in a tribute to the memory of a great musician and to the inspirational geeks at NASA who have boldly taken us where no-one has gone before.Note: This work comes with a B4 portrait score. Listen to a preview and follow the music below!Performance Notes:The cornet section should play this piece standing up in a roughly semicircular arrangement around the outside of the band facing towards the audience, starting with solo cornets 1&2 to the conductor's left (roughy behind the normal repiano cornet seat) then 2nd cornets, repiano, soprano, 3rd cornets and finishing with solo cornets 3&4 standing roughly behind the normal 2nd trombone seat. If time and logistics permit, the trombones should occupy the first three solo cornet seats, although this is optional. A suggested band layout (with percussion) is given here.Solo cornets 1&2, repiano cornet, 2nd cornets, 3rd cornets, flugel, solo and 1st horn, 1st baritone and euphoniums will require fibre straight mutes - ideally NOT metal ones. Soprano cornet, all solo cornets, 3rd cornets and all trombones will require cup mutes - ideally the cornet mutes should be the adjustable cup type and these should have the cup adjusted quite tight to the bell to give a 'closed' sound. Soprano cornet, solo cornet 3&4 and repiano cornet will require harmon mutes - TE indicates 'Tube Extended', TR indicates 'Tube Removed'. Soprano and repiano cornets will also require metal straight mutes. Vibrato should only be used very sparingly throughout, and never in muted passages.Percussion Requirements:Percussion 1: tubular bells, concert bass drum (not a kit pedal drum), tam tam, clash cymbals, 3 x tom toms, 1 x suspended (clash) cymbal and snare drum.Percussion 2: vibraphone (bowed and with mallets), bass drum and tam tam (shared with perc. 1), additional suspended (clash) cymbal and snare drum.Percussion 3: glockenspiel, 4 x timpani (ideally 23", 25", 28" and 30")Approximate duration 5'50"
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£34.00Deus in Adjutorium
DescriptionMonteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine (Vespers for the Blessed Virgin) is a musical setting by Claudio Monteverdi of the evening vespers on Marian feasts, scored for soloists, choirs, and orchestra. It is an ambitious work in scope, style and scoring, and has a duration of around 90 minutes. Published in Venice with a dedication to Pope Paul V dated 1 September 1610 as Sanctissimae Virgini Missa senis vocibus ac Vesperae pluribus decantandae, cum nonnullis sacris concentibus, ad Sacella sive Principum Cubicula accommodata ("Mass for the Most Holy Virgin for six voices, and Vespers for several voices with some sacred songs, suitable for chapels and ducal chambers"), it is mercifully regularly shortened to Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610.Monteverdi was born and spent the first part of his working life in Cremona before moving to Mantua (where he composed the Vespers) and finally attaining one of the top jobs in Italian renaissance music as Maestro di Capella at the Basilica di San Marco in Venice. He is most famous for his vocal music, notably his madrigals and the earliest surviving opera, Orfeo.Performance notes:The opening "versicle" on euphonium should be declamatory, in a recitative style - i.e. in free tempo and not conducted. Ideally the player should stand for this.Where practical, the soprano and 1st & 2nd solo cornets should stand to the left of the band, and the repiano and 3rd & 4th solo cornets to the right. If three percussionists are available, the third player should double the Percussion 2 part, and in that event it is often effcetive to have the 2nd and 3rd percussion players stand to the left and right of the band with the cornets.Watch a preview video of the score below:
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£124.95Hyperlink - Peter Graham
Hyperlink was commissioned by the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain (funded by Arts Council England and the Department for Education) for its 70th Anniversary Year. Since the anniversary coincided with other significant celebrations in 2022 (including the Royal Albert Hall/Ralph Vaughan Williams 150th and the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II) it was requested that these also be recognised in some way.
Where better to begin this challenging brief but with a computer search for the NYBBGB founder Dr Denis Wright (coincidently born in Kensington, home of the RAH). The subsequent rabbit warren of hyperlinks led me to structure the work through a series of "associations":
Movement I - The Voice of Jupiter.
Alongside the discovery that Denis Wright had been a church organist was the realisation that while the RAH has hosted thousands of musical events the fabric of the building actually incorporates a musical instrument, the famous Henry Wills organ (aka The Voice of Jupiter).Organ and J S Bach are synonymous (e.g. Toccata in D min) and so both become fundamental to the content of the movement. An opening 7 note quote from the Toccata leads to a mammoth sound cluster, as if every note on the huge RAH organ is sustained. The material which follows is based upon the notes BACH (in German notation). The notes are manipulated in various ways in a 12 tone matrix; reversed, inverted and so on. Other techniques employed in the movement are ones of which Bach was master, including ground bass and fugue.
Movement II - Remember Me.
The lives of Salvationist composer Ray Steadman-Allen (born 1922) and Ralph Vaughan Williams are remembered here, with "RSA" in musical notation and fragments of RVWs famous Tuba Concerto providing the source material.While writing the movement my father passed away and to close his funeral service the family chose the uplifting Robert Lowry hymn They'll sing a welcome home. It seemed fitting to conclude the movement with a reflective setting of the chorus, the repeated phrase "Welcome, welcome home" eventually disappearing into the ether.
Movement III - Vivat.
The finale takes the form of a short fantasy upon Hubert Parry's marvellous coronation anthem I Was Glad, truly a celebratory note with which to conclude.The first performance of Hyperlink was given by the NYBBGB conducted by Martyn Brabbins at the Royal College of Music, London on August 6th 2022.
In stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 days
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£102.99Sinfonietta No. 1 - Marc Jeanbourquin
Sinfonietta No.1 won first prize in the 2023 Composition Competition organized by the Swiss Brass Band Association. Various melodic themes and rhythmic motifs develop throughout the work. They combine with the numerous dynamic effects to bring a certain unity, from the beginning to the end of this competition piece. The technical and melodic difficulties allow the different soloists to show their virtuosity and musical prowess over five uninterrupted parts. After a first slow and misterioso part, there is a contrast with the following energico sequence based on an ostinato, creatings both a progression and a tension, to drive everything towards the third part mesto (sad), then lento, where some cadenzas and numerous dissonnances can be heard. The energico transition announces the fifth part, a ternary and fast con fuoco. This last part will lead the audience to a final apotheosis.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£90.30Vidda - Ole Edvard Antonsen
I composed the song "Vidda" after I got my ultimate boy's dream fulfilled; To fly one of the Air Force's F-16 fighter jets! We flew out from Norwegian city Bodo on to the Finnmark plateau, where we flew so-called "low level" (at low altitude). It was such a great experience for me that I immediately wrote the song "Vidda" based on my experience of the trip. Here, I try to describe the meeting between the technical perfection of a machine that surpasses most of the various forces in it's escape through the magnificent scenery passing at great speed, and the pilot who is alone with both the adventure and responsibility. The drums which start the song is meant to describes theenergy in the power of the plane, while the lonely and kind of melancholy melody from the trumpet in the beginning describes the feelings of the pilot. As the song develop, we pass both the mountains and big beautiful plateaus with g-forces quivering body. Hopefully you will share some of my experiences through this song. Have a nice flight! Ole Edvard Antonsen
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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