Results
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£37.95Connotations (Brass Band - Score only) - Gregson, Edward
Connotations was commissioned for the 1977 National Brass Band Championship finals, held in the Royal Albert Hall, London (the winner, incidentally, of that particular competition was the famous Black Dyke Mills Band).At the age of 32 Gregson was the youngest composer to have received the honour of such a commission. It came at the end of a productive five years writing for the brass band publisher R Smith. Some of those works - The Plantagenets, Essay and Patterns for example, with their direct and tuneful style, have remained popular with brass bands the world over.For Gregson, these were the means by which he sharpened the tools of his trade, preparing the ground, as it were, for his finest work to date - Connotations. He thought of calling the piece Variations on a Fourth, but with due deference to Gilbert Vinter perhaps (Variations on a Ninth), he chose a more appropriate one. As Gregson has written, 'Connotations suggests more than one way of looking at something, an idea, and this is exactly what the piece is about'.Writing a competition piece brought its own problems. 'It has to be technically difficult and yet musically satisfying. I didn't like being kept to an eleven-minute maximum. The inclusion of short cadenzas for less usual solo instruments seems to signify a certain test-piece mentality'.Gregson solved the problems admirably by adopting a symphonic approach to variation form: Introduction - fanfares, a call to attention, in effect Variation 1; Theme - a six-note motif, given a lyrical and restrained first statement; Variation 2 - a delicate toccata; Variation 3 - typically robust in melody and rhythm; Variation 4 - lyrical solos; Variation 5 - a scherzo; Variation 6 - cadenzas; Variations 7-9 - an introduction, fugato and resounding restatement of the theme.Duration: 10.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£74.95
Connotations (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Gregson, Edward
Connotations was commissioned for the 1977 National Brass Band Championship finals, held in the Royal Albert Hall, London (the winner, incidentally, of that particular competition was the famous Black Dyke Mills Band).At the age of 32 Gregson was the youngest composer to have received the honour of such a commission. It came at the end of a productive five years writing for the brass band publisher R Smith. Some of those works - The Plantagenets, Essay and Patterns for example, with their direct and tuneful style, have remained popular with brass bands the world over.For Gregson, these were the means by which he sharpened the tools of his trade, preparing the ground, as it were, for his finest work to date - Connotations. He thought of calling the piece Variations on a Fourth, but with due deference to Gilbert Vinter perhaps (Variations on a Ninth), he chose a more appropriate one. As Gregson has written, 'Connotations suggests more than one way of looking at something, an idea, and this is exactly what the piece is about'.Writing a competition piece brought its own problems. 'It has to be technically difficult and yet musically satisfying. I didn't like being kept to an eleven-minute maximum. The inclusion of short cadenzas for less usual solo instruments seems to signify a certain test-piece mentality'.Gregson solved the problems admirably by adopting a symphonic approach to variation form: Introduction - fanfares, a call to attention, in effect Variation 1; Theme - a six-note motif, given a lyrical and restrained first statement; Variation 2 - a delicate toccata; Variation 3 - typically robust in melody and rhythm; Variation 4 - lyrical solos; Variation 5 - a scherzo; Variation 6 - cadenzas; Variations 7-9 - an introduction, fugato and resounding restatement of the theme.Duration: 10.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£95.00Variations on a Theme of Michael Tippett (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Hindmarsh, Paul
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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£40.00
Variations on a Theme of Michael Tippett (Brass Band - Score only) - Hindmarsh, Paul
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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£80.00The Unfortunate Traveller (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Holst, Imogen - Hindmarsh, Paul
Imogen Holst (1907-1984) submitted The Unfortunate Traveller (1929) as her final work as a student portfolio at the Royal College of Music, where her composition teacher was Gordon Jacob. The title was taken from Thomas Nashe's famous 1594 picaresque novel of the same title. The Suite was first performed on 12 February 1933 at her Majesty's Theatre, Carlisle, by the St. Stephen's Band, with the composer conducting. Te concert was given in memory of Holst's uncle, Dr. H.A. Lediard. Holst had been impressed with the band's performance of his A Moorside Suite at the 1928 National Brass Band Championships (The Crystal Palace, South London) and was keen to work with them. Writing in Imogen Holst, a life in music, Christopher Grogan indicates that it was Gustav Holst's suggestion to include his daughter's work in the programme, quoting Imogen Holst's remarks made in interview to The Daily Mail as follows: "....it is the first time, so far as I know, that a woman has conducted a brass band at a public concert....It has been a delight to rehearse the St. Stephen's Band. It was their performance at the Crystal Palace Festival that inspired me to write this Suite, which I have dedicated to them."Imogen Holst accompanied her father to the Crystal Palace in 1928 to hear the performances of A Moorside Suite, and was so excited by the played and, audibly, by her father's music that she decided to write a brass band piece for her final examination. Te result was The Unfortunate Traveller (1929). However, it was not possible for her to present a brass band work for examination. She arranged it for string orchestra so that it could be played before she left the RCM in July 1930. Following the premiere of the original in 1933, the manuscripts did not resurface until 1969 Imogen found them among her late mother's effects. Although she requested score and parts be destroyed, they ended up in the possession of Manchester composer John Golland, who marked up the score presumably with the intention of creating a new performing edition. The original scoring reveals a lack of experience with what can be a tricky medium.With the agreement of the Holst Foundation, a revised edition, with additional percussion, was prepared in 2011 since when the work has been fortunate to travel round the world as a concert and contest piece. The original includes drums in the March only. The title was taken from Tomas Nashe's famous 1594 picaresque novel of the same title. Several Morris Dance tunes are introduced during the course of the four short movements, including Bonnie Green Garters, Shepherd's Hey, The Rose and The Wind Blaws Cauld. Quirky twists and turns of harmony and spirited rhythms that remind us how much Imogen Holst loved tradition English dance music.In September 2025, I made a performing edition of the composer's arrangement for string orchestra. The manuscript lacks the final movement, which I arranged in a similar style, ie. without extending the upper ranges. Making this edition raised some issues regarding the accuracy of my band version and some of the solutions I used to smooth out the voicing. I have used the composer's second thoughts to refine my performing edition and to correct a textual errors.- Paul HindmarshDuration: 10.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£40.00
The Unfortunate Traveller (Brass Band - Score only) - Holst, Imogen - Hindmarsh, Paul
Imogen Holst (1907-1984) submitted The Unfortunate Traveller (1929) as her final work as a student portfolio at the Royal College of Music, where her composition teacher was Gordon Jacob. The title was taken from Thomas Nashe's famous 1594 picaresque novel of the same title. The Suite was first performed on 12 February 1933 at her Majesty's Theatre, Carlisle, by the St. Stephen's Band, with the composer conducting. Te concert was given in memory of Holst's uncle, Dr. H.A. Lediard. Holst had been impressed with the band's performance of his A Moorside Suite at the 1928 National Brass Band Championships (The Crystal Palace, South London) and was keen to work with them. Writing in Imogen Holst, a life in music, Christopher Grogan indicates that it was Gustav Holst's suggestion to include his daughter's work in the programme, quoting Imogen Holst's remarks made in interview to The Daily Mail as follows: "....it is the first time, so far as I know, that a woman has conducted a brass band at a public concert....It has been a delight to rehearse the St. Stephen's Band. It was their performance at the Crystal Palace Festival that inspired me to write this Suite, which I have dedicated to them."Imogen Holst accompanied her father to the Crystal Palace in 1928 to hear the performances of A Moorside Suite, and was so excited by the played and, audibly, by her father's music that she decided to write a brass band piece for her final examination. Te result was The Unfortunate Traveller (1929). However, it was not possible for her to present a brass band work for examination. She arranged it for string orchestra so that it could be played before she left the RCM in July 1930. Following the premiere of the original in 1933, the manuscripts did not resurface until 1969 Imogen found them among her late mother's effects. Although she requested score and parts be destroyed, they ended up in the possession of Manchester composer John Golland, who marked up the score presumably with the intention of creating a new performing edition. The original scoring reveals a lack of experience with what can be a tricky medium.With the agreement of the Holst Foundation, a revised edition, with additional percussion, was prepared in 2011 since when the work has been fortunate to travel round the world as a concert and contest piece. The original includes drums in the March only. The title was taken from Tomas Nashe's famous 1594 picaresque novel of the same title. Several Morris Dance tunes are introduced during the course of the four short movements, including Bonnie Green Garters, Shepherd's Hey, The Rose and The Wind Blaws Cauld. Quirky twists and turns of harmony and spirited rhythms that remind us how much Imogen Holst loved tradition English dance music.In September 2025, I made a performing edition of the composer's arrangement for string orchestra. The manuscript lacks the final movement, which I arranged in a similar style, ie. without extending the upper ranges. Making this edition raised some issues regarding the accuracy of my band version and some of the solutions I used to smooth out the voicing. I have used the composer's second thoughts to refine my performing edition and to correct a textual errors.- Paul HindmarshDuration: 10.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£94.95An Age of Kings (Mezzo-Soprano Solo with Brass Band and optional choir - Score and Parts) - Gregson, Edward
The origins of this work date back to 1988, when I was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company to write the music for The Plantagenets trilogy, directed by Adrian Noble in Stratford-upon-Avon. These plays take us from the death of Henry V to the death of Richard III. Later, in 1991, I wrote the music for Henry IV parts 1 and 2, again in Stratford. All of these plays are concerned with the struggle for the throne, and they portray one of the most turbulent periods in the history of the British monarchy.Much of the music used in these productions was adapted into two large symphonic suites for wind band - The Sword and the Crown (1991) and The Kings Go Forth (1996). An Age of Kings is a new version for brass band incorporating music from both the symphonic suites for wind band. It was specially composed for a recording made by the Black Dyke Band, conducted by Nicholas Childs, in 2004.An Age of Kings is music on a large-scale canvas, scored for augmented brass band, with the addition of harp, piano, mezzo-soprano solo, male chorus, as well as two off-stage trumpets. The music is also organized on a large-scale structure, in three movements, which play without a break - "Church and State", "At the Welsh Court", and "Battle Music and Hymn of Thanksgiving".The first movement, "Church and State", opens with a brief fanfare for two antiphonal trumpets (off-stage), but this only acts as a preface to a Requiem aeternam (the death of Henry V) before changing mood to the English army on the march to France; this subsides into a French victory march, but with the English army music returning in counterpoint. A brief reminder of the Requiem music leads to the triumphal music for Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, father of Edward IV and Richard III (the opening fanfare transformed). However, the mood changes dramatically once again, with the horrors of war being portrayed in the darkly-drawn Dies Irae and Dance of Death, leading to the final section of the first movement, a funeral march for Henry VI.The second movement, "At the Welsh Court", takes music from the Welsh Court in Henry IV part 1 with a simple Welsh folk tune sung by mezzo-soprano to the inevitable accompaniment of a harp. This love song is interrupted by distant fanfares, forewarning of battles to come. However, the folk song returns with variation in the musical fabric. The movement ends as it began with off-stage horn and gentle percussion.The final movement, "Battle Music and Hymn of Thanksgiving", starts with two sets of antiphonally placed timpani, drums and tam-tam, portraying the 'war machine' and savagery of battle. Trumpet fanfares and horn calls herald an heroic battle theme which, by the end of the movement, transforms itself into a triumphant hymn for Henry IV's defeat of the rebellious forces.- Edward GregsonDuration - 22'00"Optional TTBB available separately.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£33.41Prelude in C-sharp Minor (Brass Band) Rachmaninoff arr. Rob Bushnell
One of Sergei Rachmaninoff's most famous compositions, Prelude in C-sharp minor (Op. 3, No. 2) is part of a set of five pieces entitled Morceaux de fantaisie. It was written when Rachmaninoff was only 19 years old and was first performance by the composer on 26 September 1892 at a festival called the Moscow Electrical Exhibition. This arrangement is for the UK-style brass band, with alternative parts for horns in F and bass-clef lower brass. The piece has been transposed from the original (for piano) of C-sharp minor to A minor, which better suits a brass band. There is another arrangement of this piece by Sandy Smith (published by Obrasso) which is designed for more advanced ensembles. A recording of the original composition can be found here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXGSfJn3nKQ Duration: Approx. 3.40 minutes Difficulty Level: 3rd Section + PDF download includes parts and score. Also includes alternative parts for horns in F and lower brass in bass clef. Sheet music available from www.brassband.co.uk Instrumentation: Soprano Cornet Eb Solo Cornet Bb Repiano Cornet Bb 2nd Cornet Bb 3rd Cornet Bb Flugel Horn Bb Solo Horn Eb 1st Horn Eb 2nd Horn Eb 1st Baritone Bb 2nd Baritone Bb 1st Trombone Bb 2nd Trombone Bb Bass Trombone Euphonium Bb Bass Eb Bass Bb Percussion 1-3
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£37.12The First Nowell (Brass Band, opt. Choir & Piano) Traditional arr. Barrie Gott
This charming setting by Australian composer Barrie Gott is of the favourite carol The First Nowell. Although this version is for brass band, choir and piano, it is orchestrated such that it will work for standalone brass band. The arranger writes: 'I have always been fascinated with the words and music of this majestic carol. It was first written for choir and piano and then orchestrated for the Brisbane Lord Mayor's Carols with the Queensland Pops Orchestra. A further arrangement for brass band was prepared for a Salvation Army event. The setting is for four verses (1,2,5 and 6) and tells the Gospel story in a nutshell. It starts very simply and builds to a spectacular climax.' To view a rolling score video of this work please visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KH6u0MUiaY Duration: 4.45 minutes approx. Difficulty Level: 3rd Section + PDF download includes parts and score. Sheet music available from www.brassband.co.uk or www.durhammusicshop.co.uk (UK) or www.cimarronmusic.com (US) Instrumentation: Soprano Cornet Eb Solo Cornet Repiano Cornet Bb 2nd Cornet Bb 3rd Cornet Bb Flugel Horn Bb Solo Horn Eb 1st Horn Eb 2nd Horn Eb 1st Baritone Bb 2nd Baritone Bb 1st Trombone Bb 2nd Trombone Bb Bass Trombone Euphonium Bb Bass Eb Bass BbTimpani Percussion 1-2 SATB Choir (optional) Piano (optional)
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£77.00General Series Brass Band Journal, Numbers 2246 - 2249, August 2024
2246: Christmas Prelude - David's City (Noel Jones)In 2 Samuel 5, we read of David's anointing as King of Israel at the age of thirty, a reign that lasted for forty years. Bethlehem was known as 'David's city' because he was born there and worked as a shepherd on the nearby hills. Verses 1, 2 and 5 of Once in Royal David's City (C.C. 68) are featured in this Christmas Prelude. There are also brief references to the carols O come, all ye faithful and O little town of Bethlehem between verses.2247: Cornet and Euphonium Duet - This Kingdom (Stephen Bulla)Geoff Bullock's song, This Kingdom, has been made well known by the American gospel singer Ron Kenoly. Stephen Bulla wrote this duet for a Brass Spectacular concert held in Basel, Switzerland, in May 2019.2248: Wonder (Stephen Gibson)When we stop to consider the mystery of God's love for each one of us, its enormity can only cause us to wonder. The opening bars of this music create an atmosphere, using a rolling accompaniment underneath sustained, music and chromatic Cornets, setting the style for the entire piece. Occasional references to Albert E. Webber's chorus Can you wonder? are heard throughout.2249: O to love thee! (Michael Davis)This piece takes its title from the first verse of Francis Bottome's words, Precious Jesus, O to love thee! The introduction establishes the baroque form of a prelude which leads into the tune Glory to the lamb (T.B. 327). Following a brief interlude, the melody is passed through several sections of the band, with delicate countermelodies in the Flugel and Horns. The majestic ending eventually comes to rest on the final tonic chord.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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