Results
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£45.00Diversions 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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£74.95Beyond the Falls - The Smoke That Thunders (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
David Livingstone was a renowned Scottish missionary and explorer whose legendary expeditions from 1841 until his death in 1873 took him deep into the interior of central and southern Africa. While his initial aim was to spread Christianity and commerce, his legacy became defined by his relentless spirit of discovery.This work captures the harrowing and ultimately triumphant journey that led to his discovery of Victoria Falls. Originally composed for the GUS Band's performance at the 2012 Brass in Concert Championships, the work was expanded in 2026 for the Black Dyke Band's recording, Gothique Fantasy - The Music of Andrew Wainwright.The music opens with an air of trepidation, reflecting the weight of the mission ahead. This tension soon gives way to a more optimistic section featuring the Scottish folk song A Man's a Man for a' That. Livingstone reportedly hummed this Rabbie Burns tune to bolster his spirits while travelling. The score then depicts the immense hardships of the expedition (letters F to L), illustrating skirmishes with suspicious local tribes, wild animal attacks, and bouts of African fever.Following these trials, a more reflective, emotive movement (Letters L to R) explores Livingstone's internal struggle and his doubts about continuing. This emotional core is built upon the hymn Lord, Send Me Anywhere, a melody composed by Livingstone himself. Emerging from this prayer with renewed purpose, the final section (Letter R to the end) follows his path along the Zambezi River. The music builds to a triumphant climax, capturing his elation at seeing the magnificent Victoria Falls - known locally as 'Mosi-oa-Tunya' (The Smoke that Thunders).Duration: 13.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£29.95
Beyond the Falls - The Smoke That Thunders (Brass Band - Score only)
David Livingstone was a renowned Scottish missionary and explorer whose legendary expeditions from 1841 until his death in 1873 took him deep into the interior of central and southern Africa. While his initial aim was to spread Christianity and commerce, his legacy became defined by his relentless spirit of discovery.This work captures the harrowing and ultimately triumphant journey that led to his discovery of Victoria Falls. Originally composed for the GUS Band's performance at the 2012 Brass in Concert Championships, the work was expanded in 2026 for the Black Dyke Band's recording, Gothique Fantasy - The Music of Andrew Wainwright.The music opens with an air of trepidation, reflecting the weight of the mission ahead. This tension soon gives way to a more optimistic section featuring the Scottish folk song A Man's a Man for a' That. Livingstone reportedly hummed this Rabbie Burns tune to bolster his spirits while travelling. The score then depicts the immense hardships of the expedition (letters F to L), illustrating skirmishes with suspicious local tribes, wild animal attacks, and bouts of African fever.Following these trials, a more reflective, emotive movement (Letters L to R) explores Livingstone's internal struggle and his doubts about continuing. This emotional core is built upon the hymn Lord, Send Me Anywhere, a melody composed by Livingstone himself. Emerging from this prayer with renewed purpose, the final section (Letter R to the end) follows his path along the Zambezi River. The music builds to a triumphant climax, capturing his elation at seeing the magnificent Victoria Falls - known locally as 'Mosi-oa-Tunya' (The Smoke that Thunders).Duration: 13.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£19.95
Beyond the Falls - The Smoke That Thunders (Brass Band - Study Score)
David Livingstone was a renowned Scottish missionary and explorer whose legendary expeditions from 1841 until his death in 1873 took him deep into the interior of central and southern Africa. While his initial aim was to spread Christianity and commerce, his legacy became defined by his relentless spirit of discovery.This work captures the harrowing and ultimately triumphant journey that led to his discovery of Victoria Falls. Originally composed for the GUS Band's performance at the 2012 Brass in Concert Championships, the work was expanded in 2026 for the Black Dyke Band's recording, Gothique Fantasy - The Music of Andrew Wainwright.The music opens with an air of trepidation, reflecting the weight of the mission ahead. This tension soon gives way to a more optimistic section featuring the Scottish folk song A Man's a Man for a' That. Livingstone reportedly hummed this Rabbie Burns tune to bolster his spirits while travelling. The score then depicts the immense hardships of the expedition (letters F to L), illustrating skirmishes with suspicious local tribes, wild animal attacks, and bouts of African fever.Following these trials, a more reflective, emotive movement (Letters L to R) explores Livingstone's internal struggle and his doubts about continuing. This emotional core is built upon the hymn Lord, Send Me Anywhere, a melody composed by Livingstone himself. Emerging from this prayer with renewed purpose, the final section (Letter R to the end) follows his path along the Zambezi River. The music builds to a triumphant climax, capturing his elation at seeing the magnificent Victoria Falls - known locally as 'Mosi-oa-Tunya' (The Smoke that Thunders).Duration: 13.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.50El Camino Real (A Latin Fantasy)
El Camino Real (literally "The Royal Road" or "The King's Highway") was commissioned by, and is dedicated to, the 581st Air Force Band (AFRES) and its Commander, Lt. Col. Ray E. Toler. Composed during the latter half of 1984 and completed in early '85, it bears the subtitle: "A Latin Fantasy."The music is based on a series of chord progressions common to countless generations of Spanish flamenco (and other) guitarists, whose fiery style and brilliant playing have captivated millions of music lovers throughout the world. These progressions and the resulting key relationships have become practically synonymous with what we feel to be the true Spanish idiom. Together with the folk melodies they have underscored, in part derived by a procedure known to musicians as the "melodizing of harmony," they have created a vast body of what most people would consider authentic Spanish music.The first section of the music is based upon the dance form known as the Jota, while the second, contrasting section is derived from the Fandango, but here altered considerably in both time and tempo from its usual form. Overall, the music follows a traditional three-part pattern: fast-slow-fast.The first public performance of El Camino Real took place on April 15th, 1985 in Sarasota, Florida, with the 581st Air Force Band under the direction of Lt. Col. Ray E. Toler.This arrangement for brass band has been made by Frode Rydland.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£19.50El Camino Real (Score Only)
El Camino Real (literally "The Royal Road" or "The King's Highway") was commissioned by, and is dedicated to, the 581st Air Force Band (AFRES) and its Commander, Lt. Col. Ray E. Toler. Composed during the latter half of 1984 and completed in early '85, it bears the subtitle: "A Latin Fantasy."The music is based on a series of chord progressions common to countless generations of Spanish flamenco (and other) guitarists, whose fiery style and brilliant playing have captivated millions of music lovers throughout the world. These progressions and the resulting key relationships have become practically synonymous with what we feel to be the true Spanish idiom. Together with the folk melodies they have underscored, in part derived by a procedure known to musicians as the "melodizing of harmony," they have created a vast body of what most people would consider authentic Spanish music.The first section of the music is based upon the dance form known as the Jota, while the second, contrasting section is derived from the Fandango, but here altered considerably in both time and tempo from its usual form. Overall, the music follows a traditional three-part pattern: fast-slow-fast.The first public performance of El Camino Real took place on April 15th, 1985 in Sarasota, Florida, with the 581st Air Force Band under the direction of Lt. Col. Ray E. Toler.This arrangement for brass band has been made by Frode Rydland.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days