A Tribute to Henk Badings - Rob Goorhuis

The motivation for composing this test piece for the Concert Division Brassband of the 2001 WMC was Rob Goorhuis's deep respect for one of the greatest Dutch composers of the 20-th century who also enlarged the wind band repertoire in a most valuable way. Goorhuis wanted to light up the "soft and kind" side of the brassband and wrote about this composition : "The basis is a theme of twelve tones wich Badings once played at an International Organ Improvisation Contest in Haarlem.My organ teacher participated in that contest and so the theme remained somehow in the back of my mind." The composer worked out a series of variations and clustered them into bundles of three and so the melody kept its diversity while remaining easy to recognise.

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A Tribute to Lionel - Andre Waignein

A Trip To Romance - Vic Lingo

A View at the Zoo - Carl Wittrock

Everybody is familiar with the zoo. Remember all those animals? Big ones, small ones. Water dwellers, air-bound birds, long legged hoppers, creeping bugs. All animals seem to have their own peculiarities. Now, Carl Wittrock (who also composed the world-famous master piece 'Lord Tullamore') invites you to join him in a musical exploration of the animal kingdom. An invitation you must not reject! In his 'A view at the Zoo', Wittrock presents ten distinctly different animals as compositions of music. You may be familiar with some of those animals, such as the white swan or the butterfly, but there are also more exotic breeds, like the lion, the monkey, or the elephant. The composition as a whole is built around a structure of shorter fragments reminiscent of 'The Paintings Exhibition' by Moussorgsky. The parts are decorated with recognizable illustrations of the different animals. At each composition, Wittrock looks for something that can fascinate both musicians and listeners. In this he succeeded extremely well.

A View to a Kill - John Barry - Ted Parson

A Welsh Lullaby (Suo-Gan) - Traditional - Peter Graham

A Western Suite - Andreas Schulte - David Well

The atmosphere of the Wild West is caught in a striking and most imaginative way by young composer Andreas Schulte in this work. A caravan of gold- and fortuneseekers launch themselves into a big adventure and begin their rush westward. The first movement desciribes these first days of buoyancy and optimism in a crisp march. Near the campfire the pioneers rest themselves, and the music expresses feelings of romance, nostalgia for the past and hopes for the future. A wistful melody very characteristically communicates these feelings. Relaxation takes place in the third movement which is a musical characterization of a rodeo and its attendant festivities. It is obvious that sometimes something goes wrong and this aspect can also be heard. Nevertheless, the valiant rider wins in the end. With a flashback to the beginning, the journey is completed musically, thus giving the composition a dignified finale. Let the mystic Wild West entrance you. (Wagons ho ....!!) De sfeer van het Wilde Westen wordt door de jonge componist Andreas Ludwig Schulte op een uiterst treffende en beeldende wijze geschetst. Een karavaan van goud- en gelukzoekers stort zich in het grote avontuur en begint de grote reis naar het westen. Het eerste gedeelte beschrijft de eerste dagen van opgewektheid en optimisme in een vlotte mars. Bij het kampvuur komen de pioniers tot rust en worden gevoelens van romantiek, heimwee (verleden) en hoop (toekomst) muzikaal weergegeven. Een weemoedige melodie verwoordt die gevoelens op een zeer kenmerkende wijze. De ontspanning vindt plaats in het derde deel waarin een rodeofeest muzikaal wordt verklankt. Met een flashback van het begin wordt de tocht voltooid en de compositie waardig afgesloten. Raak in de ban van het wilde westen!

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A Whiter Shade of Pale - Brooker - Rob Ares

The large collection of pop music from earlier years gives us a fantastic repertoire. The Scherzando series Pop Classics makes use of these great tunes to allow bands the opportunity to play big hits of yesteryear. A Whiter Shade of Pale, with which the British band Procal Harem had a big success in the 1960s, is a good example of this type of material. This classic song is arranged by Rob Ares.

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A Winter Sunday Night - Gilles Rocha

Abaddon - Kevin Houben

Abaddon was commissioned by the NLBB (Noord-Limburgse Brassband - North Limburg Brass Band) from Belgium. Abaddon is the demon reigning over the underworld. In the New Testament - in the Book of Revelation by John (9:11) - he is called the angel of the bottomless pit. The work Abaddon lives up to its name. Technically and physically, it holds an enormous challenge for every band in the champions division. The composition has a traditional form structure (fast-slow-fast), and it consists of ornamentations around the letters IVAN, after Ivan Meylemans, the conductor who since 2001 has obtained great successes with the NLBB, and who in this case has also been essential in taming the demon in Abaddon.

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