Results
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£40.00Variations on a Theme of Michael Tippett (Brass Band - Score only) - Hindmarsh, Paul
A Centenary Tribute by Michael Ball, Edward Gregson, Elgar Howarth, Bramwell Tovey and Philip WilbyThis unique 'pice d'occasion' arose out of a telephone conversation in 2004 with Alan Wycherley, who was the soprano cornet player of the Foden's Richardson Band at the time. He indicated that the band would like to include an original birthday tribute for Edward Gregson (60) and Elgar Howarth (70) in its concert at the 2005 RNCM Festival of Brass in Manchester. I have been Artistic Director of Manchester's Festival of Brass since it was established in 1990 as a BBC Radio 3 series, As the centenary of the birth of Sir Michael Tippett fell on 5 January 2005, I devised this collective work as a way of embracing all three anniversaries in a novel way.The idea of joint compositions is not a new one in the classical music world. In the 1860s, Verdi was joined by a number of his contemporaries in a Requiem Mass for Rossini. In this country there have been a number of orchestral examples over the past fifty years, but never before for the brass band. Although Tippett composed only one work for brass band, Festal Brass with Blues, his orchestral works and operas are full of idiomatic brass writing. The theme I chose for this celebration is one of Tippet's most memorable miniatures featuring wind and brass. In the opera Midsummer Marriage it marks the entry of the Ancients. It is also included in the orchestral Suite in D (1948), for the Birthday of Prince Charles.I invited five of the leading contemporary voices in brass band music to add their own creative perspectives to the little Tippett theme, with it's characteristic rhythms, embellishments and modality - the Lydian mode. Each contribution was designed to fit into a tonal and formal template to give the whole work a flow and continuity. In Danse des Amis, Bramwell Tovey has composed a jazzy, humorous variation. Inspiration came from Tippett's love of jazz and, more personally, from the characteristically syncopated gait of the distinguished music critic John Amis, who Tovey once observed leaving a performance of Tippett's opera King Priam before the end. Incidentally, that performance was conducted by Elgar Howarth.We hear Edward Gregson in lyrical mode. His Midsummer Song is redolent of the sound world of Tippett's opera A Midsummer Marriage and it ends with a brief reference to a favourite of Gregson's, Tippett's Concerto for Orchestra. Michael Ball provides a brief moment of light, airy activity bringing to mind perhaps Tippett's love of Shakespearian fantasy, especially The Tempest. Elgar Howarth juxtaposes a slowed down version of the processional theme with distant recollections of fanfares from King Priam. Philip Wilby has rounded the tribute off with a spectacular fugue. During its inexorable progress Wilby ingeniously introduces the two other birthday references - the three-note musical signature that Elgar Howarth includes in much of his music and the characteristic theme which begins Edward Gregson's substantial work for brass an organ The Trumpets of the Angels. An elaborated reprise of Tippett's little theme is followed by a dynamic coda.- Paul HindmarshDuration: 13.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£34.95Chalk Farm No.2 (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Gregson, Edward
Like so many of the best composers for brass band - Eric Ball, Wilfred Heaton, Elgar Howarth and Robert Simpson - Edward Gregson's youthful talents came to the fore in the Salvation Army. In 1975 Gregson was commissioned by the Chalk Farm Band of the Salvation Army to write a march for the centenary of the birth of the band's most long-serving bandmaster Alfred W Punchard, who conducted the band from 1894 to 1944. In 1909 the Salvation Army published a march called Chalk Farm featuring the old Army chorus 'March on, we shall win the day'.Gregson uses the same tune in his Chalk Farm No 2 march, but this is a symphonic march clearly to be played sitting down. He includes irregular bars of 5 and 7 beats as well as a tongue-in-cheek treatment of the tune, complete with bongos (in the march) and bi-tonality (in the trio). Chalk Farm No 2 imaginatively composed. Gregson's own main theme 'fits' the chorus as a counter-subject. The playful irreverence of the style has more in common with Wilfred Heaton's Praise or Glory, than the conventional Salvation Army March.Duration: 4.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£74.99Cantilena (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
Philip Sparke was commissioned to compose a gentle chorale, a style typical of Philip's writing, and Cantilena was the result. Enthuse your dedicated performers hunger for great music with this masterpiece.Duration: 5:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£60.99A Baroque Triptych (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Beringen, Robert van
In his own distinctive style, Robert van Beringen has composed a very unique fantasy on three themes by the famous Baroque composers Johann Sebastian Bach and George Friedrich Hndel. Van Beringen used Bach's chorale Brich an, o schnes Morgenlicht ('Break forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light') from his Christmas Oratorio and the recitative Behold, a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, God with Us from Hndel's Messiah. A perfect way to say Merry Christmas in music!Duration: 5:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£50.00Whirlegigg (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Hesketh, Kenneth
Whirlegigg is the middle English word for a contraption that continuously spins. A great fascination with many inventors of the medieval period was to develop a perpetual motion machine constantly turning and giving off energy. This idea is particularly apt for this piece. A simple ternary structure gives ample opportunity for both boisterous and reflective material with gyrating accompaniment figures never far away. The machine almost stops near the end, but finally musters one last burst of excitement and energy to bring the work to its close. Suitable for 1st Section Bands and above. Duration: 5.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£60.99So in Love (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Porter, Cole - Morita, Kazuhiro
Cole Porter was one of the great masters of Broadway musicals during the thirties, forties and fifties, with So in Love, from the musical Kiss Me Kate, being one of his best loved works. It has been recorded by many artists including Bing Crosby, Lulu, Shirley Bassey and Julie Andrews, however it is the Ella Fitzgerald version that is best known. This jazzy musical classic can now be enjoyed by your brass band with this excellent new arrangement.Duration: 5:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£60.99The Mayor's Blues (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Blanken, John
Why should rock musicians have all the fun? Now your band can experience the thrill of playing a piece in a classic 12-bar blues style. Many players are given the chance to show off their skills as a soloist before the work builds to a grand fortissimo finale with the whole band playin' the blues!Duration: 5:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.99Sheep May Safely Graze (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Bach, Johann Sebastian - Sparke, Philip
The Hunt Cantata (No.208) is one of more than 20 secular cantatas. It contains the famous aria 'Sheep May Safely Graze', originally written for a rather large orchestra and mixed choir. Bring a little of the Baroque era to your concert with this first class arrangement by Philip Sparke.Duration: 5:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£54.99Proud Mary (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Oud, Thijs
At the end of the 1960s the group Creedence Clearwater Revival wrote many successful numbers, many of which were covered by various artists. Proud Mary - one of their best known songs was covered many times and this arrangement by Thijs Oud is based on Tina Turner's performance. For the musicians this is a fantastic piece to play. Each section has a challenging, yet satisfying part. For the audience this well-known and stirring number is a smash! Duration: 5.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.99Ballad for Benny (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
The birth of Philip Sparke's second son, Benjamin, was the inspiration for composing Ballad for Benny. A short calm introduction leads to the main ballad theme, a gentle waltz melody. Following the work's climax in which the complete band plays the main theme the sound fades and the piece ends in calm and serenity.Duration: 5:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
