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£30.00Janacek's 'Taras Bulba' - Janacek
Comments from Tim Paton, the arranger of Janacek's 'Taras Bulba': "I will never forget the day in 1967 when I was introduced to the music of Leos Janacek, a Czech composer born in 1854, who died in 1928. Janacek was little known in Britain until the 1960's, when the conductor Charles Macherras introduced his unique music. I heard a recording of Macherras conducting the Pro Arte Orchestra in a performance of Janacek's "Sinfonietta".It was in 1969 that I first heard Janacek's Symphonic Rhapsody, "Taras Bulba".Janacek's music is exciting, powerful, emotive, impassioned and unpredictable.I have taken the first and third movements of this piece, and adapted them for Brass Band, which was at times extremely difficult, but rewarding. It sometimes took up to an hour to be satisfied that a mere several bars had been reproduced to convey the composer's intentions.The Death of AndriThe Cossaks, under the leadership of Taras Bulba, are fighting against the Poles in the 17th century. Taras's son Andri seeks to rescue his love, a Polish princess, from a city which is being besieged by the Cossaks. Having found her, he throws in his lot with the Poles, but is finally captured by his father, who executes him as a traitor before riding off again to battle.Prophesy and Death of Taras BulbaTaras himself is finally captured and condemned to be nailed to a tree and burned alive. As the flames creep around him, Taras has the satisfaction of seeing histroops escape, and as he dies, sees a vision of his country freed at last.This is incredibly descriptive music. The mood is constantly changing, creating feelings of love and anger, celebration and melancholy, despair and triumph.This Brass Band EditionThe duration of the original symphonic rhapsody, three movements, is approximately 23 minutes. I chose the first and third movements, so the Brass Band edition is approximately 14 minutes. The main reason is twofold: Being realistic about the demands this music would place on the stamina of the brass player; Keeping the piece less than 15 minutes, so that, if desired, it could be used on the contest platform.Two unique qualities of Janacek's music had to be taken into account when preparing this brass band version. His compositional technique was individual, at times not sticking to traditional expectations, in both form and orchestration. I imagined what the genius himself would have said looking at my work, and how to tackle a particular section to emulate his original intentions. This was particularly the case when dealing with high woodwind and violin parts, the use of tremolo in string parts, and the orchestral harp.Percussion: Janacek included timpani, side drum, cymbals, triangle and tubular bells. For reasons stated previously, I have also included xylophone and glockenspiel. I have also added the gong in a couple of places to enhance the dramatic effect of the music.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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£30.00Santa Baby - P Springer/T Springer/J Javitz
This Christmas favourite has been skillfully scored by Lucy Pankhurst as a solo for Eb Teno Horn with brass band accompaniment.A perfect feature for your Christmas concert and an item which is guaranteed to put your audiences in the Christmas mood.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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£59.99Sanctuary - Philip Sparke
Sanctuary was commissioned by Eastern Bay of Plenty Brass from New Zealand and was performed as an own choice piece at the 2018 New Zealand National Brass Band Championships. It opens with an expressive cornet solo, hymn-like in mood. A slightly faster central section builds to a change of key and an expansive return of the opening melody, this time scored for full band. After an emotional climax the mood subsides, leading to a quiet close.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£84.99Christmas Brass - Richard Peaslee
Christmas Brass is a fantasy on six carols, originally commissioned by Mark Freeh for the Manhattan Brass Choir. Duration: 16:30The well-known tune, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, a hymn originally based on a plainsong melody, is here set in 5/4 meter. Modal harmonies are combined with big band style as the piece gains momentum, greatly accentuating the mood of the words, "Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel." The opening 5/4 statement of the theme returns, and the piece ends quietly.In Beautiful Savior (also known by the title Fairest Lord Jesus), a hushed beginning featuring horns, euphoniums, and a muted trumpet, leads through a key change to a satisfying, chorale-likeclosing passage.In Away in a Manger, Peaslee sets two tunes, Cradle Song and Away in a Manger. Following a straightforward presentation of each melody, Peaslee plays them against one another. The music swells to a full climax followed by a hushed ending.Peaslee employs a gentle hand in It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, using flugelhorn solos and duets in a jazz-waltz style.In Silent Night, the traditional carol gets an untraditional harmonization, propelled forward by give-and-take between the two groups of brass instruments in the brass choir: trumpets and trombones versus horns, euphoniums, and tuba.Hark! The Herald Angels Sing begins with a humorous blast of discordant harmonies as multiple carols are sounded at the same time. An up-tempo 4/4 announcement of the melody in the trombone is followed by a metrical modulation in 6/8-3/4 time. An additional metrical modulation bring the music back into 4/4, but at a slower tempo and in a pronounced jazz style. Tempo I returns, and the set of six pieces closes with a big ending.Instrumentation: 4 Trumpets, 2 Horns in F, 4 Trombones, 2 Euphoniums, Tuba, Guitar, Bass, Percussion
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£159.99Rush Hour - Etienne Crausaz
Rush Hour was commissioned by the Swiss Brass Band Association (SBBV) on the occasion of the 38th Swiss National Brass Band Championships 2012 (Montreux SBBW) as the test piece in the Championship division.Structured in three parts without breaks, the work opens in a heavy, oppressive atmosphere, sometimes even noisy. After a short passage in a lighter mood a quick tempo takes over, the music becomes nervous and unrelenting, with constant twists and turns. The tension builds, leading to a slower movement in which various soloists are highlighted. A few humorous touches are heard in contrast to a majestic, powerful and dramatic chorale. The end of this part is brighter andmore peaceful. This atmosphere is soon replaced by a return of the thematic material heard in the first movement, developing into an oppressive moos. The piece concludes with a last ecstatic tutti, reusing the harmonies of the introduction in a kind of final flurry.Rush Hour attempts to express the range of feelings we may experience when caught in various stressful situations in the middle of the rush hour.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£54.99Heb je even voor mij - Klaas van der Woude
Since his first successes in the 1990s the amiable popular singer Frans Bauer has grown into a megastar in the Netherlands. In Germany, too, he has a great number of fans. Although he is derided by many because of his schmalzy style, Frans Bauer sells CDs galore, attracts full houses everywhere and can be viewed in his own reality soap on television. In 2004 he was even awarded a Gouden Harp (Gold Harp), which is the most important prize within Dutch music. It is presented to artists and composers who have promoted Dutch light music in their own unique way during their career. The cheery singalong Heb je even voor mij (Got a Minute for Me) is a great top hit: a winner in everypub and at parties. This arrangement by Klaas van der Woude willput the musicians as well as the audience in a happy mood.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£115.60Tenn Lys - Eyvind Skeie - Reid Gilje
"Candles in Advent" is a beautiful melody with great lyrics. It was originally written for an Norwegian Advent TV-series in 1985.In this arrangement, the flugelhorn has some solo lines. I Have tried to vary the instrumentation without going beyond the beautiful Christmas mood.The harmonization is simple and functional. Let the soloists "speak" with good phrasing and focus also on harmony in the unison melody lines. Good balance and intonation in the accompaniment can make the performance a little gem on the Christmas concert.- Reid Gilje -
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£91.99Fanfares, Songs & Dances - Philip Sparke
Fanfares, Songs & Dances was commissioned by Brass Bands England, the Lithuanian Brass Band Association and the Dutch National Brass Band Championships (NBK), and first performed at the 43rd 'NBK' in October 2024. The work is played in three linked movements: FANFARES opens in robust fashion with a sequence of fanfare-like statements, initially featuring the horns, whose modal theme includes a figure that will reappear throughout the work. Euphoniums and then cornets introduce a second theme, which is followed by a third, again initiated by the horns. Baritones then change the mood with a more-lyrical theme, which builds to a climax, eventually leading back to a recall of the initial fanfare theme. This gradually dissolves to introduce the second movement. SONGS continues to relax the fanfare feel with a long introduction to the movement's main theme, first appearing on solo cornet. A change of key introduces a bridge passage which leads to a sonorous chorale, which builds to a triumphal return of the cornet theme. A peaceful coda leads to the final movement of the work. DANCES is a scherzo-like movement based around a series of rhythmic melodies in triple time, which lead to a majestic return of the 2nd movement's chorale theme under cornet figuration. The opening dance theme returns and heralds a joyous coda.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£84.99Festivus Americas - Stephen Bulla
Dedicated to the North American Brass Band Association, this is music that is full of energy and dynamic extremes. In form it draws from the overture style, although the themes are self-existing and the piece is programmatic. Working well asa festival opener, it sets a mood of excitement. Following the rhythmic fanfares of the opening, the first theme is presented in the cornets followed by a return to the same rhythmic material. A second theme appears in the horn section and isdeveloped, changing into a darker and sinister form of the same motif. Eventually a Maestoso section is reached, full of sustained block chords in the cornets and trombones, as the rest of the band counters with cascading lines that weavestraight through the brighter instruments.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£54.99Till We Meet Again - Philip Sparke
Till We Meet Again was commissioned by Floraskulen Brassband, Floro, Norway, as a tribute to their former tuba player, Gunstein Stromsnes, who died tragically young in a traffic accident in 2017. They gave the premiere in December 2018. After a short introduction, a solo euphonium intones a modal, folk-like melody. This is taken up by the flugel horn and leads to a series of short solos which build to a majestic chorale for the full band. The mood subsides to reintroduce the modal melody before hints of the introduction and a short euphonium cadenza bring the work peacefully to a close.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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