Results
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£40.00Variations on a Theme of Michael Tippett (Brass Band - Score only)
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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£29.95
The Land of the Long White Cloud (Score Only)
Dating from 1979, The Land of the Long White Cloud (Aotearoa) was Philip Sparke's first test-piece. It was commissioned by the New Zealand Brass Band Association for their 1980 National Championships (their centenary year) and set for the European Brass Band Championships, the same year, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Aotearoa was the name given to New Zealand by its Polynesian settlers whose first sight of the islands was a long, flat cloud lying low over the land. The work has no specific programme although many have seen pictures of the surging ocean in the opening bars. A faster dance-like section leads to a slow, haunting solo for soprano cornet; this is taken up by the whole band before earlier material returns. The dance-like tune is, this time, given a fugal treatment and the opening bars return to close the work.Philip Sparke was born in London and studied composition, trumpet and piano at the Royal College of Music, where he gained an ARCM. It was at the College that his interest in bands arose. He played in the College wind orchestra and also formed a brass band among the students, writing several works for both ensembles.At that time, his first published works appeared - Concert Prelude (brass band) and Gaudium (wind band). A growing interest in his music led to several commissions, his first major one being this featured piece for the Centennial Brass Band Championships in New Zealand - The Land of the Long White Cloud. He has written for brass band championships in New Zealand, Switzerland, Holland, Australia and the UK, including three times for the National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall.In September 2000, he was awarded the Iles Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians for his services to brass bands and in 2005 Music of the Spheres won the National Band Association/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest. In 2011, he received the BUMA International Brass Award for his contribution to brass music.His conducting and adjudicating activities have taken him to most European countries, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Canada and the USA. In May 2000, he took the major step of becoming a full-time composer by founding his own publishing company, Anglo Music Press. The company is devoted to publishing his brass band, concert band, fanfare band and instrumental publications as well as recordings dedicated to his latest works.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£15.00Symphony in Two Movements (Study Score Only)
Selected as the Championship Section test piece for the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain 2025This work was jointly commissioned by the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain (NYBBGB) and the National Youth Brass Band of Wales (NYBBW), the latter with funding from T Cerdd (Music Centre Wales), to celebrate their 60th and 30th anniversaries respectively. The first performances were given at Cadogan Hall, London, in April 2012, by the NYBBGB, conducted by Bramwell Tovey; and at the Great Hall, Aberystwyth University, in July 2012, by the NYBBW, conducted by Nicholas Childs.When I was approached about a joint commission to write a new work to celebrate the anniversaries of these two outstanding youth bands I was delighted to accept, and decided to respond by writing a work apposite for the magnitude of these special occasions, namely a 'symphony for brass'.Through a long journey of writing music for brass band, which commenced with Connotations (1977), and continued with Dances and Arias (1984), Of Men and Mountains (1991), The Trumpets of the Angels (2000) and Rococo Variations (2008), I arrived at what I regard as the most important work of the cycle to date, combining as it does serious musical intent with considerable technical demands. It is perhaps my most abstract work for brass band, avoiding any programmatic content.The symphony lasts for some 19 minutes and is structured in two linked movements. The form is based on that used by Beethoven in his final piano sonata (Op.111), which is in two movements only: a compact sonata-form allegro, followed by a more expansive theme and four variations. Prokofiev also adopted this model in his 2nd Symphony of 1925.The opening Toccata of this Symphony is highly dramatic but compact, whilst still retaining the 'traditional' structural elements of exposition, development and recapitulation; indeed, it also has the 'traditional' element of a contrasting second subject - a gentle, lyrical modal melody first heard on solo cornets.In contrast, the longer and more substantial second movement Variations is built around a theme and four variations. The slowly unfolding chorale-like theme accumulates both added note harmony and increasing instrumentation, whilst the four variations which follow are by turn mercurial (fast, starting with all the instruments muted), march-like (menacing, with short rhythmic articulations underpinning an extended atonal melody), serene (a series of 'romances' for solo instruments alongside echoes of the chorale) with an emerging theme eventually bursting into a climax of passionate intent; whilst the final variation is a dynamic scherzo (concertante-like in its series of rapid-fire solos, duets, trios and quartets) with the music gradually incorporating elements of the main ideas from the first movement, thus acting as a recapitulation for the whole work. It reaches its peroration with a return to the very opening of the symphony, now in the 'home' tonality of F, and thus creating a truly symphonic dimension to the music.Most of the melodic material of the symphony is derived from the opening eleven-note 'row', which contains various intervallic sets, and although the work is not serially conceived it does use some typical quasi-serial procedures, such as canons, inversions, and retrogrades. The symphony uses somewhat limited percussion, in line with a 'classical' approach to the sound world of the brass band, alongside a use of multi-divisi instrumentation, whereby each player has an individual part rather than the traditional doubling within certain sections of the band.- Edward GregsonDuration: 19.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£39.99All Tuned Up - Full Score
120 Famous Tunes for All Occasions for Flexible Ensembles of Brass and WoodwindAll Tuned Up is designed to cater for ensembles for occasions throughout the year. Tunes are drawn from genres including Classical, Hymns, Folk and Patriotic amongst many others to form a comprehensive book that will cover a wide variety of events such as Weddings, Funerals, Graduation Ceremonies, Parties, Proms, Remembrance, Street Playing and Thanksgiving.Playable by as few as five players but also designed to work for full brass band or wind band, it features flexible parts in a wide variety of transpositions. These excellent arrangements have been expertly created by Andrew Wainwright, David E. Jones, Dean H. Jones and Steven Ponsford.The general harmonic format of All Tuned Up is in five parts, although additional notes have been included to thicken the harmony where more players are available. Therefore, the book will work equally well with larger groups, including full brass bands and wind bands.The following parts are available (in both A4 and Marchcard sizes):Part 1 in Bb: Cornet/Trumpet, Clarinet, Flugel Horn, Soprano SaxophonePart 1 in C: Piccolo, Flute, OboePart 1 in Eb (optional part): Soprano Cornet/Eb Trumpet, Eb ClarinetPart 2 in Bb: Cornet/Trumpet, Clarinet, Flugel HornPart 2 in Eb: Tenor Horn, Alto Saxophone, Alto ClarinetPart 2 in F: French Horn, Cor AnglaisPart 3 in Bb: Baritone TC, Trombone TC, Euphonium TC, Tenor SaxophonePart 3 in C BC: Baritone BC, Trombone BC, Euphonium BCPart 3 in Eb: Tenor Horn, Alto Saxophone, Alto ClarinetPart 3 in F: French Horn, Cor AnglaisPart 4 in Bb: Euphonium TC, Baritone TC, Tenor SaxophonePart 4 in C BC: Euphonium BC, Baritone BC, BassoonPart 5 in Bb: Bb Bass, Bass ClarinetPart 5 in C BC: Tuba, Bassoon, String BassPart 5 in Eb: Eb Bass, Baritone SaxophonePercussion (optional part)
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£29.95Flourish for the RCM (Brass Octet - Score and Parts)
Instrumentation:1 Trumpet in E flat3 Trumpets in B flat3 Tenor Trombones1 Bass TromboneFlourish for the RCM was specially composed for a concert the composer conducted of his music for brass ensembles at London's Royal College of Music (RCM). It is dedicated to his friend and colleague Professor Colin Lawson, Director of the RCM.It was first performed on 5 July 2023 by brass students of the College, conducted by the composer, at the RCM's Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall.Duration: 1.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£55.00Mr Shilkret's Maggot (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
This short piece was composed in 1932 during a visit Gustav Holst was making to the USA. He was invited by the band leader Nathaniel Shilkret to contribute to a series of piece for concert jazz band based on a folk song. Rather than using a traditional tune, Holst invented one of his own in folk song style and therefore the piece was not performed. Holst considered various titles for the piece including Mr. Shilkret's Dump, Folly and Maggot. On the manuscript he described it as a Jazz Band Piece. When the composer's daughter Imogen re-scored the piece for the English Chamber Orchestra to record under her direction in 1967, she changed decided to use the title Capriccio.Her re-orchestration involved removing the saxophone quartet, adding cor anglais and a second bassoon and changing cornet parts to trumpets. She retained the harp, extensive percussion, piano and celesta. My brass band version is based on the composer's manuscript, held at the British Library. It retains the composer's cornet parts, re-voices the woodwinds and strings, and places keyboards and harp onto glockenspiel, marimba, vibraphone and xylophone.I have selected the title Mr. Shilkret's Maggot for my scoring of Jazz Band Piece, which was first performed by The Cory Band, conducted by Philip Harper, at the Royal Northern College of Music Brass Band Festival, 29 January 2017.- Paul HindmarshDuration: 5.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£45.00Two Herefordshire Carols (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
The two traditional tunes that comprise this straightforward setting were sung to Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) by Mrs. Esther Smith of Dilwyn, near Hereford, during one of the great composer's folk song collecting tours of England in the early years of the twentieth century. They were included in Twelve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire, edited by E.M. Leather and Vaughan Williams. The words to which Mrs. Smith sung the first tune were probably drawn from eighteenth century evangelical sources. The editors replaced these with six of the 16 verses of a traditional seventeenth century carol text, Joseph and Mary.The second melody, which appears as the centre piece of this arrangement, was sung to a carol that tells of a farmer who ploughed on Christmas Day. It is in fact a translation of a German traditional carol Gelobet seist du Jesu Christ that was published in Goodly Psalmes and Spiritualle Songes (1546) translated by Miles Coverdale. Vaughan Williams used the title Coverdale's Carol.The brass band settings follow the settings made by Vaughan Williams in 1920 for the Oxford Book of Carols. Since his simple harmonic approach is similar in both settings, three verses of his haunting version of Coverdale's Carol have been folded inside four verses of the slightly more animated treatment of Joseph and Mary. The harmonisations of Vaughan Williams have been given some brass band colour, with some verses taken by soloists from the ensemble. The accompaniment figuration that embellishes the second verse of Joseph and Mary has been used to open and close this arrangement and to bind the verses together.- Paul HindmarshDuration: 5.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£30.00Birthday Prelude (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
This short work for brass band was written specially for a concert to celebrate the 80th birthday of Harry Mortimer, one of the great figures in the world of brass bands. Not surprisingly, it references the well-known song Happy Birthday Song, in an up-tempo, Latin-American-inspired style.Duration: 2.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£40.00Fanfare for a New Era (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
Fanfare for a New Era is the most substantial of Edward Gregson's fanfares and was the result of a private commission by Lady Sheila Stoller to celebrate the opening in April 2017 of the Stoller Hall at Chetham's School of Music, Manchester. Gregson dedicated it to Sir Norman Stoller, who donated the funding for the new concert hall. The Fanfare was designed to fill the whole space, with separate brass choirs - trumpets, horns, trombones and tuba - playing their own music. A solo trumpeter playing 'on high' announces first the four horns and timpani, who enter with a stately measure. Next the herald trumpeter ushers in trombones, tuba and drums, with a faster dance. Finally, the remaining three trumpets amplify the peeling of bells. All four elements then come together, surrounding the audience with a 'joyful noise' of festive brass and percussion.Duration: 3.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£50.00Solemn Procession (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949) was a famous conductor and composer when he wrote Feierlicher Einzug der Ritter des Johanniter-Ordens (Solemn Entrance of the Knights of the Order of Saint John) in 1909. One of only a handful of his works written exclusively for winds, Strauss composed Feierlicher Einzug for the investiture ceremonies of the Order of St. John, a Christian military order that was founded in Jerusalem in 1023 to care for poor, sick, or injured pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land.Strauss scored Feierlicher Einzug (TrV 224) for a large ensemble of fifteen trumpets, four horns, four trombones, two tubas and timpani. He saw enough potential in its stately character and majestic conclusion to produce a version for symphony orchestra with organ and it has been arranged for a variety of brass ensembles with or without organ since then.This version for British style brass band was adapted from the original in 1990 by Paul Hindmarsh for the exclusive use of Besses o' th' Barn Band, of which he was then the musical director. Now that the music of Richard Strauss published in his lifetime is in the public domain, Solemn Procession, as it has been rendered in English, can be enjoyed by all brass bands and their audiences.- Paul HindmarshDuration: 6.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days