Results
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£31.95Adam Zero, Suite from (Brass Band - Score only)
Selected as the Section 2 test piece for the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain 2025Following his ballet Checkmate, Bliss composed another score for the, by then, Sadler's Wells Ballet, Miracle in the Gorbals, which was choreographed by Robert Helpmann, to a scenario by Michael Benthall. Premired in 1944, the ballet made a considerable impact and was a box-office success. It was followed in turn by a further collaboration with Helpmann and Benthall, Adam Zero. This would serve Helpmann, in the eponymous role, as a vehicle in two respects: demonstrating his gifts as a dancer-actor and as a choreographer. First performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 8 April 1946, Adam Zero was conducted by Constant Lambert, the work's dedicatee. Bliss considered it 'his most varied and exciting ballet score'. Benthall provided a synopsis for the programme:There is a philosophy that life moves in an endless series of timeless cycles. As Nature passes through Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, so man is born, makes a success in his own particular sphere, loses his position to a younger generation, sees his world crumble before his eyes and only finds peace in death. This age-old story is told in terms of a Company creating a ballet and calling on the resources of the theatre to do so. Lighting, stage mechanism, dance conventions, musical forms and costumes and scenery of all periods are used to symbolize the world of 'Adam Zero'.Apart from Adam, as the Principal Dancer, other main roles included the Stage Director (representing Omnipotence), and Adam's Fates (Designer, Wardrobe Mistress, and Dresser). 'The Woman in this allegory', wrote Bliss, 'under the symbol of the Choreographer, was both the creator and destroyer of Adam: his first love, his wife, his mistress, and finally the figure of beneficent Death.' When the curtain rose, the 'audience saw the Covent Garden stage right back to the wall, completely empty except for the protagonists, 'the Company poised, still and expectant, as they await the birth of... Adam Zero.'Unfortunately, soon after the premire, Helpmann injured himself and had to withdraw from the remaining performances. Despite generally positive reviews, the ballet did not capture the imagination of audiences and, to Bliss's considerable disappointment, was not revived. Seventy years would elapse before its first major return to the stage, in 2016, performed by the ballet company of Stadttheater Bremerhaven with choreography by Sergei Vanaev.Bliss extracted a concert suite from the ballet, conducting its first performance with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra on 28 October 1948. For his own suite, arranged for brass band in 2023, Dr Robert Childs chose three dances linked to the seasons, book-ending them with the ebullient 'Fanfare Overture' and 'Fanfare Coda'. After Adam has grown to manhood, his Fates clothe him in a costume synonymous with confident youth, appropriate for the virile, ardent 'Dance of Spring'. In the 'Approach of Autumn', Adam, now wearing a sombre costume, has grown older: his Fates have streaked grey in his hair and put lines on his face. But they had earlier raised Adam to the zenith of his power, and the 'Dance of Summer' depicts him in the prime of life, in music of sweeping grandeur. The 'Fanfare Coda' signals that the next cycle of life is about to begin.Duration: 10.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£21.95
Adam Zero, Suite from (Brass Band - Study Score)
Selected as the Section 2 test piece for the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain 2025Following his ballet Checkmate, Bliss composed another score for the, by then, Sadler's Wells Ballet, Miracle in the Gorbals, which was choreographed by Robert Helpmann, to a scenario by Michael Benthall. Premired in 1944, the ballet made a considerable impact and was a box-office success. It was followed in turn by a further collaboration with Helpmann and Benthall, Adam Zero. This would serve Helpmann, in the eponymous role, as a vehicle in two respects: demonstrating his gifts as a dancer-actor and as a choreographer. First performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 8 April 1946, Adam Zero was conducted by Constant Lambert, the work's dedicatee. Bliss considered it 'his most varied and exciting ballet score'. Benthall provided a synopsis for the programme:There is a philosophy that life moves in an endless series of timeless cycles. As Nature passes through Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, so man is born, makes a success in his own particular sphere, loses his position to a younger generation, sees his world crumble before his eyes and only finds peace in death. This age-old story is told in terms of a Company creating a ballet and calling on the resources of the theatre to do so. Lighting, stage mechanism, dance conventions, musical forms and costumes and scenery of all periods are used to symbolize the world of 'Adam Zero'.Apart from Adam, as the Principal Dancer, other main roles included the Stage Director (representing Omnipotence), and Adam's Fates (Designer, Wardrobe Mistress, and Dresser). 'The Woman in this allegory', wrote Bliss, 'under the symbol of the Choreographer, was both the creator and destroyer of Adam: his first love, his wife, his mistress, and finally the figure of beneficent Death.' When the curtain rose, the 'audience saw the Covent Garden stage right back to the wall, completely empty except for the protagonists, 'the Company poised, still and expectant, as they await the birth of... Adam Zero.'Unfortunately, soon after the premire, Helpmann injured himself and had to withdraw from the remaining performances. Despite generally positive reviews, the ballet did not capture the imagination of audiences and, to Bliss's considerable disappointment, was not revived. Seventy years would elapse before its first major return to the stage, in 2016, performed by the ballet company of Stadttheater Bremerhaven with choreography by Sergei Vanaev.Bliss extracted a concert suite from the ballet, conducting its first performance with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra on 28 October 1948. For his own suite, arranged for brass band in 2023, Dr Robert Childs chose three dances linked to the seasons, book-ending them with the ebullient 'Fanfare Overture' and 'Fanfare Coda'. After Adam has grown to manhood, his Fates clothe him in a costume synonymous with confident youth, appropriate for the virile, ardent 'Dance of Spring'. In the 'Approach of Autumn', Adam, now wearing a sombre costume, has grown older: his Fates have streaked grey in his hair and put lines on his face. But they had earlier raised Adam to the zenith of his power, and the 'Dance of Summer' depicts him in the prime of life, in music of sweeping grandeur. The 'Fanfare Coda' signals that the next cycle of life is about to begin.Duration: 10.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£0.99New Christmas Praise Song Book 1 - 95
These books are now an archive publication and, although are still available, have been superseded by Christmas Collection (available in marchcard size: https://www.sps-shop.com/cc-marchcard or A4 size https://www.sps-shop.com/cc-largeprint). Christmas Collection includes 46 new carols and songs as well as 10 extended carols (originally seen in the Sounds of Christmas books).Ideal for congregational singing.CONTENTS 1. A child this day is born 2. A Christmas Lullaby 3. A great and mighty wonder 4. A starry night 5. A virgin most pure 6. All my heart this night rejoices 7. Angels from the realms of Glory (Come and worship) 8. Angels from the realms of Glory (Iris) 9. Angels, sing again? 10.Angels we have heard on high 11.As with gladness men of old 12. Away in a manger 13. Away in a manger (The manger scene) 14. Bethlehem 15. Brightest and best 16. Brightest and best (Spean) 17. Child of Mary 18.. Calypso Carol 19. Carol for the Nativity 20. Carol of the bells 21.Carol of the drum 22. Christ was born on Christmas Day 23. Christians Awake 24. Come, children, come quickly 25. Coventry carol 26. Do you hear what I hear 27. Ding dong! merrily on high 28. Gabriels message 29. Glory in the highest 30. Go, tell it on the mountain 31. God of God, the uncreated 32. God rest you merry, gentlemen 33. Good Christian men, rejoice 34. Good King Wenceslas 35. Hark the glad sound! 36. Hark! the herald angels sing 37. How far is it to Bethlehem 38. I saw three ships come sailing in 39. I wonder as I wander 40. Il est n 41. Immanuel Appears 42. In the bleak mid-winter 43. Infant Holy 44. It came upon the midnight clear (Traditional) 45. It came upon the midnight clear (Willis) 46. Jesus, good above all other 47. Joy to the world 48. Little baby Jesus 49. Little Jesus, sweetly sleep. 50. Little donkey 51. Long, long ago 52. Marys boy child 53. Masters in this hall 54. Noel 55. o come, all ye faithful 56. o come, Immanuel 57. O come with me to Bethlehem 58. O little town of Bethlehem (Christmas Carol) 59. O little town of Bethlehem (Forest Green) 60. O little town of Bethlehem (St Louis) 61. O Heaven-sent King 62. O holy night 63. Once, in royal Davids city 64. Past three oclock 65. Personent hodie 66. Praise ye the Lord 67. Rise up, shepherd! 68. Sans day carol 69. See, amid the winters snow 70. Silent night! 71. Sleep, holy Babe 72. Softly the night is sleeping 74. Stars are shining 73. Sussex carol 76. Sweet chiming bells 75. Sweet chiming Christmas bells 77. The angels sang the story 78. The first Nowell 79. The holy Boy 80. The holly and the ivy 81. The infant King 82. The shepherds farewell 83. The virgin Mary had a baby boy 84. The stable door 85. They all were looking for a king 86. Three kings march 87. Unto us a boy is born 88. Wayfaring 89. We gather round the manger-bed 90. We three kings of Orient are 91. What child is this 92. When wise men came seeking 93. While shepherds watched 94. Who is he 95. Zither carol
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£44.95Judd: Endeavour
March 2017 ReleaseEndeavour (Martin Cordner)Originally written for the USA Eastern Territory 'Future all-stars' programme, this work is abounding in energy and drive. The contemporary song 'I'll do my best' is complemented by the more traditional 'Mercy still for me'.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£110.00Diversions After Benjamin Britten (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
Suite by Lucy Pankhurst, Simon Dobson, Paul McGhee and Gavin HigginsHaving devised a collective centenary tribute for Michael Tippett at the 2006 RNCM Festival of Brass (Variations on a Theme of Michael Tippett by five eminent composers of brass band music, PHM002), I commissioned this companion piece as a Benjamin Britten tribute for the 2013 festival. In the late 1970s, while researching a book about the English composer, and Britten's first teacher, Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941), I came across a copy of the printed score of Benjamin Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (Op.10) for string orchestra, in which Britten had written descriptive titles for each of the variations suggesting appropriate character traits of his much loved mentor and guide. The character variations are cast in march, song and dance forms.Taking inspiration from Britten's youthful tribute, I invited four award-winning composers, who have all made significant contributions to the brass band medium, to create their own personal reflections on four aspects of Britten's character and music, designed to form a suite of Diversions after Benjamin Britten, but which can also be played separately.Lucy Pankhurst's hauntingly lyrical Prelude: His Depth refers to the emotional and symbolic subtexts that underpin Britten's operas, taking its musical cue from Britten's many arrangements of folk songs. The flugel horn takes a prominent role throughout.Simon Dobson's breathless Scherzo: His Vitality reminds us with its rapid passage work and leaping bass 'groove' that Britten loved tennis and fast cars in his younger days.Paul McGhee's evocative interpretation of the March: His Sympathy represents Benjamin Britten's pacifism, as the composer writes: 'We view the music through the eyes of a pacifist. Whilst war and violence surround us, we do not engage in it and though it continues to happen around us. With the use of muted effects in most of the band throughout the piece, the flugel horn is the lone voice of reason, standing firm against the mechanical and destructive society in which it is forced to live. As the machine of war continues around the lone voice, the voice is gradually dismissed and mocked as the war machine rumbles on into the distance.'In an extended finale, entitled Toccata: His Skill, Gavin Higgins celebrates Benjamin Britten's consummate creativity. For the RNCM Festival of Brass premiere, the four contrasting movements were framed and connected by Britten's Fanfare for St. Edmundsbury for three trumpets, with the trumpet soloists spaced round the hall. I am grateful to the Britten Estate and publishers Boosey & Hawkes for giving permission for the elements of Britten's fanfare to be incorporated in the collective work.- Paul HindmarshDuration: 19.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£45.00
Diversions After Benjamin Britten (Brass Band - Score only)
Suite by Lucy Pankhurst, Simon Dobson, Paul McGhee and Gavin HigginsHaving devised a collective centenary tribute for Michael Tippett at the 2006 RNCM Festival of Brass (Variations on a Theme of Michael Tippett by five eminent composers of brass band music, PHM002), I commissioned this companion piece as a Benjamin Britten tribute for the 2013 festival. In the late 1970s, while researching a book about the English composer, and Britten's first teacher, Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941), I came across a copy of the printed score of Benjamin Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (Op.10) for string orchestra, in which Britten had written descriptive titles for each of the variations suggesting appropriate character traits of his much loved mentor and guide. The character variations are cast in march, song and dance forms.Taking inspiration from Britten's youthful tribute, I invited four award-winning composers, who have all made significant contributions to the brass band medium, to create their own personal reflections on four aspects of Britten's character and music, designed to form a suite of Diversions after Benjamin Britten, but which can also be played separately.Lucy Pankhurst's hauntingly lyrical Prelude: His Depth refers to the emotional and symbolic subtexts that underpin Britten's operas, taking its musical cue from Britten's many arrangements of folk songs. The flugel horn takes a prominent role throughout.Simon Dobson's breathless Scherzo: His Vitality reminds us with its rapid passage work and leaping bass 'groove' that Britten loved tennis and fast cars in his younger days.Paul McGhee's evocative interpretation of the March: His Sympathy represents Benjamin Britten's pacifism, as the composer writes: 'We view the music through the eyes of a pacifist. Whilst war and violence surround us, we do not engage in it and though it continues to happen around us. With the use of muted effects in most of the band throughout the piece, the flugel horn is the lone voice of reason, standing firm against the mechanical and destructive society in which it is forced to live. As the machine of war continues around the lone voice, the voice is gradually dismissed and mocked as the war machine rumbles on into the distance.'In an extended finale, entitled Toccata: His Skill, Gavin Higgins celebrates Benjamin Britten's consummate creativity. For the RNCM Festival of Brass premiere, the four contrasting movements were framed and connected by Britten's Fanfare for St. Edmundsbury for three trumpets, with the trumpet soloists spaced round the hall. I am grateful to the Britten Estate and publishers Boosey & Hawkes for giving permission for the elements of Britten's fanfare to be incorporated in the collective work.- Paul HindmarshDuration: 19.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.95Judd: My Strength My Tower - Contest Version
This music consists of a theme followed by five extensive variations. The theme is the composer's own tune set to the words, 'Thee will I love, my strength, my tower', a hymn by Johann Scheffler translated by John Wesley. A strong modal flavour is characteristic of the theme. Variation 1 This is a light and graceful variation with a good deal of imitative writing. It leads, without a break, into the next variation. Variation 2 Fire and ferocity are asked for in the course of this variation. Variation 3 This variation demonstrates the original approach of the composer. Solo lines for cornet and euphonium are included with their arabesques and arpeggii. Variation 4 Taking the form of a passacaglia, the 'ground' is given out at once by the basses. Fragments of the 'ground', plain or decorated, are combined and used in a number of ways, revealing the composer's mastery of counterpoint. Variation 5 The briskly moving and scintillating final variation abounds in sudden variations of dynamic. The tempo remains constant until an increase is called for in the coda. This 'contest' version has been prepared by Brian Bowen who was asked to re-work the percussion part and introduce a repiano cornet part (Salvation Army band publications do not, in general, have a part for repiano cornet).
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£39.95Babes in Toyland
Includes: I Can't Do That Sum; Floretta; Never Mind, Bo-peep; Toyland; March of the Toys.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£44.95Funk Engine (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
'Funk Engine' was commissioned by Brass Bands England for the 2016 National Youth Brass Band Championships of Great Britain. What Ryan says about the piece:"When I was commissioned to write a piece for the Championships I decided that I wanted to create something a bit different to standard brass band repertoire. I decided that the best way to do this was to go a bit out of my comfort zone and explore some styles of music that I have yet to experiment with. I have always been a great lover of jazz, funk and big band music and the sounds associated with them. In 'Funk Engine' I have tried to capture some of these sounds, however I am a brass-bander at heart and as such I've tried to create a fusion of styles that hopefully combines the best of brass band and jazz into one piece.'Funk Engine' runs continuously, but is divided into three broad sections - fast, slow, fast. The opening is in driving big band style, which segues into a smoother lyrical section; the pace then picks up into a jazz inspired scherzo. After a delicate transition from the basses and trombones the euphonium plays a soaring scale - bringing us into the central movement - which begins with a series of languid solos before descending into a darker interlude. A flugel solo lightens the mood and the music gains momentum leading into a brief cornet chorale before a euphonium solo leads into a percussive climactic passage for full band. As this section winds down to settle on an open fifth, the Hi-hat and Bass section punctuate the texture with the first notes of the final section."The final section of the piece is in similar big band style to the opening and develops material from the first two movements. The percussion feature heavily at this stage and the tension builds towards a final statement, with the piece concluding with a bang!"
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£14.95Funk Engine (Score Only)
'Funk Engine' was commissioned by Brass Bands England for the 2016 National Youth Brass Band Championships of Great Britain. What Ryan says about the piece:"When I was commissioned to write a piece for the Championships I decided that I wanted to create something a bit different to standard brass band repertoire. I decided that the best way to do this was to go a bit out of my comfort zone and explore some styles of music that I have yet to experiment with. I have always been a great lover of jazz, funk and big band music and the sounds associated with them. In 'Funk Engine' I have tried to capture some of these sounds, however I am a brass-bander at heart and as such I've tried to create a fusion of styles that hopefully combines the best of brass band and jazz into one piece.'Funk Engine' runs continuously, but is divided into three broad sections - fast, slow, fast. The opening is in driving big band style, which segues into a smoother lyrical section; the pace then picks up into a jazz inspired scherzo. After a delicate transition from the basses and trombones the euphonium plays a soaring scale - bringing us into the central movement - which begins with a series of languid solos before descending into a darker interlude. A flugel solo lightens the mood and the music gains momentum leading into a brief cornet chorale before a euphonium solo leads into a percussive climactic passage for full band. As this section winds down to settle on an open fifth, the Hi-hat and Bass section punctuate the texture with the first notes of the final section."The final section of the piece is in similar big band style to the opening and develops material from the first two movements. The percussion feature heavily at this stage and the tension builds towards a final statement, with the piece concluding with a bang!"
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days