Results
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£15.00Perseverance
DescriptionPerseverance was commissioned by Middleton Band to mark their 140th anniversary in 2016, supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, and featured on Middleton Band's CD of the same name.The title is taken from the original name of the 1876 band, the Middleton Perseverance Drum and Fife Band. According to the band's historical records, the Drum and Fife band was formed by six Middleton youngsters eager to learn music but short of funds. Following a whip round, they visited a music shop in Oldham where they purchased a 'one key flute' for six shillings and sixpence, and ('later on') a drum.This determination to make music despite the odds has been a characteristic of the band ever since; at the end of the second world war the band was again down to six players, who rebuilt the 'Middleton Borough Band' back to twenty-six players. After a period of some considerable success throughout the sixties and seventies culminating in winning the National Third Section title in 1983 the band hit hard times again in the late eighties and was down to only four members in 1987 before again being brought back to life. In recent decades the band has built a strong relationship with the East Lancashire Railway, another organisation which has battled sometimes mighty obstacles in its struggle to survive, and has maintained a thriving and successful youth band.The band's will to survive through adversity is reflected in the music, which builds from a sextet of four brass and two percussion players three times, only to fall back to the sextet twice. In the central slow movement the bass drum plays a 'heartbeat' rhythm as the remaining players remember those lost in the war. The relentless pace of the final section culminates in the band triumphing over the adversity which has curtailed the previous two sections. As a former member of Middleton Band (and one of the team that regained the National Third Section title in 2007) it is my pleasure to dedicate this work to the 'Pop and Ale Boys', Middleton Band.You can read more about the piece here.To view the accompanying video by Andy Marshall, designed to precede the piece, clickhereand find out more about the link between the video and the music here.Recording with Score VideoPerformance NotesIn performance the four brass members of the sextet (soprano, solo horn, solo trombone and solo euphonium) should stand at the sides of the band - soprano and horn behind the cornets, trombone and euphonium behind the trombones. Percussion may stand with them at the conductor's discretion, but only if the band has TWO snare drums and TWO concert bass drums available, as these are also needed at the back of the band in the tutti sections. In the second sextet snare drum should be muffled with a heavy cloth OR have the snares turned off (not both).Percussion and mutesPercussion required:snare drum (muffled with a heavy cloth at one point)concert bass drum, kit bass drum, hi-hat, suspended (crash) cymbal2 x tom-tomswood blockclash cymbals3 x timpanitam-tamglockenspielSoprano cornet, repiano and 2nd cornets, flugel and all trombones require metal straight mutes. Soprano, Solo Cornet 3/4, Repiano 2nd and 3rd cornets require cup mutes. Solo Cornet 1/2, Repiano, 2nd and 3rd cornets require harmon mutes.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£25.00Ring'd with the Azure World
DescriptionRing'd with the Azure World was commissioned by the Harmonia Brass quintet for their final recital at the University of Huddersfield in 2016.He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; He watches from his mountain walls, And like a thunderbolt he falls.- The Eagle by Alfred, Lord TennysonThe music was inspired by Tennyson's poem reproduced above; it seeks simply to reflect the spirit of the poem. It opens in sparse, lonely mood as the eagle surveys the world beneath. The work quickens in three bursts using metrical modulation to disguise the actual moment of acceleration, reflecting the lazy energy stored in the circling raptor before concluding dramatically in a fall 'like a thunderbolt'. Tennyson's poem, although brief, has inspired much analysis and writing, and is notable for being written in the (then somewhat unfashionable) iambic tetrameter, indicating a foursquare emphasis reflected in the main theme of the music. This is heard first in an octatonic version and later in a purely tonal (if somewhat modal) version. The instrumentation reflects that of Harmonia Brass, a quintet composed of brass band instruments (two B flat cornets, an E flat tenor horn, tenor trombone and E flat tuba). However the music is also available for the more conventional brass quintet of two trumpets, french horn, trombone and tuba.To listen to an audio export preview and follow the music, click play on the video below!Performance Notes1st cornet/trumpet requires a cup mute, ideally with an adjustable cup (the marking "tight" denotes that the cup should be adjusted closer to the bell), and a harmon mute with the tube removed (denoted by "TR" in the score). 2nd cornet/trumpet requires a fibre straight mute and a harmon mute with the tube removed. Tenor horn require a fibre straight mute and a practice mute (any sort) - in the orchestral brass version the french horn requires a stop mute. Trombone requires a cup mute (only). Tuba requires a fibre straight mute and a practice mute (of any sort).Metronome marks should be closely observed - starting either too fast or too slow will have a disproportionate effect on the tempi later in the piece due to the metrically controlled tempo changes.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£39.00
Bryllupsdag pa Troldhaugen - Edvard Grieg - Elisabeth Vannebo
Originally called "Gratulanterne kommer" (The well-wishers are coming),It was written in 1896 for the 50th year celebration of Nancy Giertsen held at the Fossli Hotel near the Voringsfossen waterfall in June 1896. During the occasion a guest book was ready to take contributions from all the guests. On the first pages of this guest book, Grieg wrote the whole piece with it's original title.Grieg gave the work its final title in 1897 when he compiled Book VIII, Op. 65, of his Lyric Pieces. The work's festive first section describes congratulations and best wishes that are given by the guests to the newlyweds; the second section is reflective and subdued.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£39.95The Forces Unleashed - Paul Lovatt-Cooper
A concert final commissioned by Lincoln based band Market Rasen with funds provided by Arts Council England. Circa 3:30.
Estimated dispatch 10-14 days
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£29.95Cassini - Lucy Pankhurst
Cassini was commissioned in 2017 by the University of Salford for Tenor Horn soloist Helen Varley and the University of Salford Brass Band. The commission was requested just before the final part of the Cassini space probe's mission which took...
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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£24.95Lest We Forget - Christopher Bond
Lest We Forget is a phrase added as a final line at the end of the Ode of Remembrance, taken from Laurence Binyon's poem, For the Fallen, first published in The Times Newspaper in September 1914. Providing the title for...
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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£44.95The Golden Apples of the Sun - Rodney Newton
This work was commissioned in 2012 by the percussionist, Yasuaki Fukuhara, and takes its title from the final verse of W.B.Yeats' poem, The Song of Wandering Aengus; Though I am old with wandering, Through hollow lands and hilly lands, I...
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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£10.00
ISAIAH 40 (Brass Band Study Score) - Robert Redhead
Commissioned for the final of the 1996 National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain. The timeless truths contained in Isaiah 40 were written to encourage a people facing very intimidating circumstances. The Jewish people of the 5th Century BC were preparing to make an arduous journey though the desert to return to their ravaged homeland after a lengthy exile in the sophisticated society of Babylon. Both Scripture and music sound out a message of hope, as they view life from an eternal perspective, thus placing change in its proper context. Because 'the Lord is the everlasting God' his word 'stands forever' and 'those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength'. They will not merely get through somehow but 'they will soar on wings like eagles'.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£34.95
MARCH OF THE HOURS (Brass Band Set) - Emil Soderstrom
March of the Hours was first performed at Star Lake Music Camp in 1962 with the composer supplying an informative listening guide which was printed in the published score; "The phrases are of 12 crotchets each (three bars) signifying the 12 hours. Up to the trio, the music describes the headlong search for pleasure by the thoughtless. Abruptly, the trio brings 'I need thee every hour', but an episode employing the original theme pushes it aside until it reappears, this time against a background of chimes of the full hour (Westminster chimes). While the hour strikes 12, a paraphrase of the opening strains of 'When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more' is heard. Here the music stops, to be followed by the trumpet sounding (cornets and trombones) and the rest of the band responds with 'When the roll is called up yonder' with a final 'I'll be there'."
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£69.95
STARMAKER (Brass Band Set) - Ray Steadman-Allen
Described by the composer as one of his more ambitious works for brass band, this work is in three movements. Although each movement is capable of standing alone, the composer's own concept is totality with the three movements forming a composite whole. Starmaker presents in music the concept of God's creation of the universe. The frantic and sometimes harsh music of the first movement portrays the chaos from which the immortal and invisible wisdom of God created the order and structure of the heavens, with the stars and planets in their ordered places. An exquisite second movement, based on the benediction 'Now the day is over', brings a calm and ordered peace to the universe, also reminding listeners of the night sky, when God's amazing work is best viewed in all its awesome wonder. The final movement is celebratory in nature, with fragments of melodies like 'Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation' appearing in various guises.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days