Results
-
£10.00Endurance
DescriptionMen wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success. - Ernest Shackleton, 4 Burlington StreetEndurance takes its title from the ship used by Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1914-15. After many months of fundraising (and reputedly running the above advert in The Times) the Endurance set sail from Plymouth on 6 August 1914. Whilst at sea news of the outbreak of war led Shackleton to put his ship and crew at the disposal of the Admiralty, but their services were not required and they were encouraged to continue. On October 26 1914 they left Grytviken on South Georgia for the Antarctic continent, hoping to find the pack ice shrinking in the Antarctic spring. Two days later, however, they encountered unseasonable ice which slowed their progress considerably. On 15 January 1915, when Endurance was only 200 miles from her intended landfall at Vahsel Bay, the ship became beset by ice which had been compressed against the land to the south by gale force winds. Trapped in the ice of the Weddell Sea, the ship spent the Antarctic winter driven by the weather further from her intended destination until, on 21 November 1915 Endurance broke up forcing the crew to abandon ship and set up camp on the ice at a site they named "Patience Camp".The crew spent several weeks on the ice. As the southern spring started to reduce the extent of the ice shelf they took to their three lifeboats, sailing across the open ocean to reach the desolate and uninhabited Elephant Island. There they used two of the boats to build a makeshift shelter while Shackleton and five others took the largest boat, an open lifeboat named the 'James Caird' and sailed it for 800 terrifyingly dangerous miles across the vast and lonely Southern Atlantic to South Georgia - a journey now widely regarded as one of the greatest and most heroic small-boat journeys ever undertaken. After landing on the wrong side of the island and having to climb over a mountain range in the dark with no map, Shackleton and his companions finally stumbled back into the Grytviken whaling station on 19 May 1916.After resting very briefly to recover his strength, Shackleton then began a relentless campaign to beg or borrow a ship to rescue the rest of his crew from Elephant Island; whaling ships were not strong enough to enter polar ice, but on 30 August 1916, over two years after their departure from Plymouth, Shackleton finally returned to Elephant Island aboard a steam tug borrowed from the Chilean government. Although some were in poor health, every member of the Endurance crew was rescued and returned home alive.Endurance is dedicated to the memory of my mum, who passed away in September 2017.Listen to a computer generated preview and follow the score below:
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£35.00
The Pohutukawa Stands - Peter Meechan
The earthquake that hit Christchurch in February 2011 took the lives of 181 people. Being asked to write this work in their memory was an honour, but I didn't want it to simply be performed as a memorial. I wanted to compose a work that conveyed the sadness and grief for those lost - a work of remembrance - but also a piece of music that represented peace, hope and strength.The title and dedication come direct from the commissioners of the work, Woolston Brass Band. The Pohutukawa Trees stay standing and secure, defiant of the earthquake, in Christchurch's 'Garden City', and the Pohutukawa tree also has special significance beyond their physical appearance.According to Maori mythology, the spirits of the dead travel to Cape Reinga on their journey to the afterlife to leap off the headland and climb the roots of the 800 year old Pohutukawa tree and descend to the underworld to return to their traditional homeland of Hawaiiki-a-nui, using the Te Ara Wairua, the 'Spirits' pathway'.The Pohutukawa Stands is dedicated to the lives lost in the Christchurch earthquake.
Estimated dispatch 12-14 working days
-
£89.95In Many Lands - The Adventures of Mary Seacole - Paul Saggers
In Many Lands - The Adventures of Mary Seacole was commissioned by The Royal Marines Band Service for The National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain. The first performance of the piece was on 16 April 2022 in Huddersfield Town Hall to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the NYBBGB. It was next performed in Birmingham Town Hall (on 28 April 2022) at a joint charity concert of the NYBBGB and The Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, Collingwood, for the European Brass Band Association Prelude Concert. The work is a musical account of the life of Mary Seacole who was a British-Jamaican nurse and businesswoman who set up the "British Hotel" behind the lines during the Crimean War. The work takes inspiration from Seacole's biography Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands. The work is divided into three movements:I Leave Kingston for Isthmus of PanamaIn 1851, Seacole travelled to Cruces to visit her brother. Shortly after her arrival, the town was struck by cholera, a disease which had reached Panama in 1849. Seacole was on hand to treat the first victim, who survived, which established Seacole's reputation and brought her a succession of patients as the infection spread. The rich paid, but she treated the poor for free. She avoided opium, preferring mustard rubs and poultices, the laxative calomel (mercuric chloride), sugars of lead, and rehydration with water boiled with cinnamon. While her preparations had moderate success, she faced little competition, the only other treatments coming from a "timid little dentist", who was an inexperienced doctor sent by the Panamanian government, and the Roman Catholic Church.The Predatory Tribes of BalaclavaSeacole was in London in 1854 when reports of the lack of necessities and breakdown of nursing care for soldiers in the Crimean War began to be made public. Despite her experience, her offers to serve as an army nurse were refused, and she attributed her rejection to racial prejudice. In 1855, with the help of a relative of her husband, she went to Crimea as a sutler, setting up the British Hotel to sell food, supplies, and medicines to the troops. After transferring most of her stores to the transport ship Albatross, with the remainder following on the Nonpareil, she set out on the four-day voyage to the British bridgehead into Crimea at Balaclava. Lacking proper building materials, Seacole gathered abandoned metal and wood in her spare moments, with a view to using the debris to build her hotel. The hotel was completed in July 1855 at a total cost of �800. Seacole's hotel was constantly targeted by thieves, she lost many resources and livestock.NYBBGB YOUTUBE PERFORMANCEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCGzYWiKsqY
-
£19.95The Falcon in the Snow for Brass Band - Paul Saggers
The Falcon in the Snow is a musical depiction of British explorer Robert Falcon Scott's expedition to reach the South Pole, the work is divided into five sections, using quotes from Falcon Scott's own journal:Saturday November 26, 1910 - "We advertised our start at 3.P.M., and at three minutes to that hour the Terra Nova pushed off from the jetty".Robert Falcon Scott led the British Antarctic Expedition from 1910 to 1913, aiming to be the first to reach the South Pole. Leaving from Cardiff, Wales, in June 1910, the expedition arrived at the Ross Ice Shelf in January 1911. Scott's team established base camp at Cape Evans on Ross Island and began preparations for the push to the Pole.Thursday February 2, 1911 - "The Blizzard, Nature's protest-the crevasse, Nature's pitfall".The expedition faced numerous challenges, including harsh weather, difficult terrain, and the logistics of transporting supplies and equipment over long distances. Scott divided his men into different teams for the Pole attempt, with one led by himself and the other by Ernest Shackleton, who was eventually sent home due to illness.Tuesday January 16, 1912 - "The Norwegians have forestalled us and are first at the pole. It is a terrible disappointment, and I am very sorry for my loyal companions".Scott's team set out for the South Pole, enduring extreme conditions and struggling with low food supplies. They reached the Pole on January 17, 1912, only to discover that the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had beaten them to it by 34 days.Thursday January 18, 1912 - "We have turned our back now on the goal of our ambition and must face our 800 miles of solid dragging".Disheartened, the team began the long and arduous journey back to base camp. Tragically, Scott and his companions-Edward Wilson, Henry Bowers, Lawrence Oates, and Edgar Evans-perished during their return journey. They were slowed by extreme weather and suffering from exhaustion and malnutrition.Thursday March 29, 1912 - "For God's sake look after our people".Their final camp, found in November 1912, became their tomb. Scott's journal, recovered with his body, provides a poignant record of their struggles.Despite the tragic outcome, Scott's expedition contributed significantly to the understanding of the Antarctic region. The scientific research and specimens collected during the journey provided valuable insights into the continent's natural history and biology. Additionally, the expedition stimulated public interest in polar exploration and science, leaving a legacy in the chronicles of exploration.
Watch video