Results
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£15.00Symphony in Two Movements (Study Score Only)
Selected as the Championship Section test piece for the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain 2025This work was jointly commissioned by the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain (NYBBGB) and the National Youth Brass Band of Wales (NYBBW), the latter with funding from T Cerdd (Music Centre Wales), to celebrate their 60th and 30th anniversaries respectively. The first performances were given at Cadogan Hall, London, in April 2012, by the NYBBGB, conducted by Bramwell Tovey; and at the Great Hall, Aberystwyth University, in July 2012, by the NYBBW, conducted by Nicholas Childs.When I was approached about a joint commission to write a new work to celebrate the anniversaries of these two outstanding youth bands I was delighted to accept, and decided to respond by writing a work apposite for the magnitude of these special occasions, namely a 'symphony for brass'.Through a long journey of writing music for brass band, which commenced with Connotations (1977), and continued with Dances and Arias (1984), Of Men and Mountains (1991), The Trumpets of the Angels (2000) and Rococo Variations (2008), I arrived at what I regard as the most important work of the cycle to date, combining as it does serious musical intent with considerable technical demands. It is perhaps my most abstract work for brass band, avoiding any programmatic content.The symphony lasts for some 19 minutes and is structured in two linked movements. The form is based on that used by Beethoven in his final piano sonata (Op.111), which is in two movements only: a compact sonata-form allegro, followed by a more expansive theme and four variations. Prokofiev also adopted this model in his 2nd Symphony of 1925.The opening Toccata of this Symphony is highly dramatic but compact, whilst still retaining the 'traditional' structural elements of exposition, development and recapitulation; indeed, it also has the 'traditional' element of a contrasting second subject - a gentle, lyrical modal melody first heard on solo cornets.In contrast, the longer and more substantial second movement Variations is built around a theme and four variations. The slowly unfolding chorale-like theme accumulates both added note harmony and increasing instrumentation, whilst the four variations which follow are by turn mercurial (fast, starting with all the instruments muted), march-like (menacing, with short rhythmic articulations underpinning an extended atonal melody), serene (a series of 'romances' for solo instruments alongside echoes of the chorale) with an emerging theme eventually bursting into a climax of passionate intent; whilst the final variation is a dynamic scherzo (concertante-like in its series of rapid-fire solos, duets, trios and quartets) with the music gradually incorporating elements of the main ideas from the first movement, thus acting as a recapitulation for the whole work. It reaches its peroration with a return to the very opening of the symphony, now in the 'home' tonality of F, and thus creating a truly symphonic dimension to the music.Most of the melodic material of the symphony is derived from the opening eleven-note 'row', which contains various intervallic sets, and although the work is not serially conceived it does use some typical quasi-serial procedures, such as canons, inversions, and retrogrades. The symphony uses somewhat limited percussion, in line with a 'classical' approach to the sound world of the brass band, alongside a use of multi-divisi instrumentation, whereby each player has an individual part rather than the traditional doubling within certain sections of the band.- Edward GregsonDuration: 19.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£127.95Music of the Angels (Symphonic Brass Ensemble - Score and Parts)
In 1998 Gregson was commissioned by conductor Martyn Brabbins to write a short concert opener with choir to mark his debut as Music Director of the Huddersfield Choral Society. Entitled ...and the seven trumpets... this ten minute flourish is founded on a verse from Chapter 8 of the Revelation To John (The Apocalypse), the last book in the Bible: 'and I saw the seven Angels which stood before God: and to them were given seven trumpets'. The performance employed the full power of the Huddersfield Town Hall organ and the brass section of the BBC Philharmonic, including seven trumpets and four horns placed strategically around hall.The following year, when Gregson received a commission from the Cheshire-based Foden's Brass Band (conducted at that time by Nicholas Childs) for a work to mark its centenary in 2000, he turned to the first portion of ...and the seven trumpets... as the basis for an ambitious celebratory work entitled The Trumpets of the Angels. "The opportunity to create an extended work which would break out of the brass band mould was an important milestone for me," the composer says. In 2015 he was asked by Nicholas Childs to create a new performing edition without organ for the Black Dyke Band. This received its first performance in April 2016 at the European Brass Band Festival in Lille. In 2018, Gregson revisited the music for a third time, returning the opening fanfares to orchestral brass and transforming substantial portions of the 'Black Dyke' version to create Music of the Angels, a dramatic canvas for symphonic brass and percussion.An array of bells and gongs offer an unmistakable key to the source of Gregson's inspiration. Inscribed In tribute to Olivier Messiaen, the work's principal material and its sound world, but crucially not the underlying musical processes, are influenced by Messiaen's masterpiece for wind and percussion, Et exspecto ressurectionem mortuorum (1964). Music of the Angels begins with braying of horns suggestive of the start of an ancient ritual. Six 'angel' trumpeters, set behind the ensemble, answer in sequence, with the evocative sound of tam-tams creating the Messiaen-like aura. Once the horns have reached the performing space, four of the trumpeters deliver highly contrasting fanfare cadenzas. At the climax of this episode, the individual fanfares are presented together, as if, perhaps, to reflect the Biblical writer's apocalyptic visions of hail, fire, seas of blood and the cataclysmic destruction of man and beast.This powerful vision of death and destruction gives way to a prayerful lament, re-imagining a sung Kyrie Eleison from the 'Black Dyke' edition, with flugel horn and euphonium obligati. The hushed atmosphere is broken by tenor and side drums, and trumpets five and six, which gallop away like the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In the biblical account their steeds had 'heads like lions with fire and smoke and sulphur issuing from their mouths'.As the reverberation of a dramatic climax dies we hear the entry of the seventh trumpet, from 'on high', blazing forth with a version of the main that extends across the entire compass of the instrument - almost three octaves. Supported by a 'holy trinity' of gongs, an 'epic' final cadenza introduces new material which is further developed in a frenetic final section. This is announced by two sets of timpani, to the left and right. Braying brass (euphoniums and horns) once more adds an air of foreboding. As the music builds towards a magisterial conclusion, the Messiaen-inspired tritones of the principal motif are smoothed out into perfect 5ths and combined with the earlier material in a full-voiced chorale, over which the seventh trumpet blazes in triumph.- Programme note by Paul HindmarshScored for1 Trumpet in E flat (Trumpet 5)6 Trumpets in B flat (Trumpet 4 doubling Flugel Horn)4 Horns in F3 Tenor Trombones1 Bass TromboneEuphonium2 Tubas2 Timpani (Percussion 3 doubles Timpani 2)Percussion (3 players): 3 Tam-tams, 3 Suspended Cymbals, Bass Drum, Tenor Drum, Snare Drum, Tubular Bells.Duration: 16.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£70.00Three Pictures for Band - Oliver Waespi
This composition consists of three sound pictures. Numerous associations mutually link those parts as far as motifs and harmony are concerned. The motif of the ascending and descending fourth plays an important role in many a theme. There are many fourth chords by means of which I try to put a harmonic and unifying stamp on the composition as a whole. Moreover there are similar or identical, though varied, motifs in the successive parts. The first part 'Cortege' (Procession) describes the dignified majestic procession by means of simple, precise rhythms. At first, the music is scarcely audible, as if coming from a distance; it gradually comes nearer until it reaches its climax in large chords, before fading away again. At each quarter note one could imagine a step. The second part 'Dialogue' consists in broad outlines of dialogues between the different orchestral groups. Some instruments are asking questions, others are giving answers. After a rather sad passage, the music turns into a climax followed by a second passage that brings comfort and leads to a quiet ending. In the third part, there is a sudden movement coming up in the shape of 'Waves'. The principle of the wave, successively swelling and decreasing, dominates the entire musical structure of this part, even in the separate motifs.Oliver Waespi
Estimated dispatch 10-14 working days
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£30.00Flanfayre - Stephen Deazley
I was asked by Music for Youth to write a flexibly scored fanfare for the school proms at the Royal Albert Hall and at their National Festival in Birmingham in 2013. At its first performance at the National Festival, over 200 young brass players performed Flanfayre in Birmingham Town Hall, directed by Roger Argente, members of Superbrass and myself. The score is a progressive romp through some increasingly dance-like grooves, borrowing some of its swing from South America, from marches and big band, moving from a really quite straight opening to a "let-go" moment at the end. It is more like a flan full of different flavours, than a fanfare, hence the title. I set myself a challenge to write 100 bars but ended up with 102, which, after the introduction, can be broken down into 10 easily discernible sections each with their own mini-musical narrative. If you have time feel free to teach the audience the clapping groove. I also modelled the slow moving melody of the final section on the following words; "nothing beats a nice big cheesy, nothing beats a nice big cheesy, nothing beats a nice big cheesy, nothing beats a cheesy flan". Feel free to incorporate these too, and perform only under the strict instruction that you have fun ! - Programme Note copyright of Stephen Deazley
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£30.00Russian Rag - George L Cobb, Sandy Coffin
Interpolating the world famous"Prelude" by RachmaninoffCommissioned by John Wallace, this arrangement of Russian Rag has been crafted by Sandy Coffin through close listening of the available recordings of the Harlem Hellfighters Band. Sandy had been heavily involved with the Historic Brass Society symposium 2017 held in New York and assisted John with his research on this fascinating band and the style of music it generated.Eye-witness accounts refer to the 369th band 'dancing' rather than 'marching'. Above all, in modern performance, finding a 'dancing beat' is crucial to a successful performance of this Ragtime march in order to do justice to the great pioneering work of James Reese Europe. Note the cheeky virtuosity and rubato!Look and Listen (courtesy of Tullis Russell Mills Band):Background to the Harlem HellfightersThe US Army 369th Regiment, made up largely of African-Americans from New York, became known as the Harlem Hellfighters because of the heroic reputation which accrued to them during the actions they engaged in during the First World War in Europe.James Reese Europe was one of the most active African-American composer/musical directors in the pre-war American music scene. The legendary Harlem Hellfighters Band, which he assembled in 1917 from African-American and Puerto Rican musicians, came at an important transitional point in musical history. A new form of music called jazz was emerging from Ragtime and the performing style of Europe's band was immersed in the flow of this new direction.Europe's Harlem Hellfighters influenced and inspired everyone who heard them, including the welcoming crowd when they disembarked in France, bowled over by their swinging rendition of La Marseillaise. Reese Europe became a war hero, commanding a machine-gun unit as well as the band.On return from War in 1919 the band led a ticker-tape parade along Fifth Avenue in New York and soon made about 30 shellac recordings. These recordings display some of the fingerprints of their performing style: ragging, improvising, muting, wailing, smearing (their word for glissando) - and from the evidence of their recordings they took the printed page as a blueprint for individuality.In May 1919 during the Hellfighters' triumphant coast-to-coast tour after their return, James Reese Europe was tragically murdered, bringing to premature close, at the age of 39, the work of a great musical innovator.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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£30.00That Moaning Trombone - Carl D Bethel, Sandy Coffin
Comic March One-StepCommissioned by John Wallace, this arrangement of That Moaning Trombone has been crafted by Sandy Coffin through close listening of the available recordings of the Harlem Hellfighters Band. Sandy had been heavily involved with the Historic Brass Society symposium 2017 held in New York and assisted John with his research on this fascinating band and the style of music it generated.Eye-witness accounts refer to the 369th band 'dancing' rather than 'marching'. Above all, in modern performance, finding a 'dancing beat' is crucial to a successful performance of this Ragtime march in order to do justice to the great pioneering work of James Reese Europe.Note the the reckless abandon with which glissando, at that time a novel effect, is used!Look and Listen (courtesy of the Tullis Russell Mills Band):Background to the Harlem HellfightersThe US Army 369th Regiment, made up largely of African-Americans from New York, became known as the Harlem Hellfighters because of the heroic reputation which accrued to them during the actions they engaged in during the First World War in Europe.James Reese Europe was one of the most active African-American composer/musical directors in the pre-war American music scene. The legendary Harlem Hellfighters Band, which he assembled in 1917 from African-American and Puerto Rican musicians, came at an important transitional point in musical history. A new form of music called jazz was emerging from Ragtime and the performing style of Europe's band was immersed in the flow of this new direction.Europe's Harlem Hellfighters influenced and inspired everyone who heard them, including the welcoming crowd when they disembarked in France, bowled over by their swinging rendition of La Marseillaise. Reese Europe became a war hero, commanding a machine-gun unit as well as the band.On return from War in 1919 the band led a ticker-tape parade along Fifth Avenue in New York and soon made about 30 shellac recordings. These recordings display some of the fingerprints of their performing style: ragging, improvising, muting, wailing, smearing (their word for glissando) - and from the evidence of their recordings they took the printed page as a blueprint for individuality.In May 1919 during the Hellfighters' triumphant coast-to-coast tour after their return, James Reese Europe was tragically murdered, bringing to premature close, at the age of 39, the work of a great musical innovator.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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£30.00The St Louis Blues - Sandy Coffin, W C Handy
Two-Step MarchCommissioned by John Wallace, this arrangement of The St Louis Blues has been crafted by Sandy Coffin through close listening of the available recordings of the Harlem Hellfighters Band. Sandy had been heavily involved with the Historic Brass Society symposium 2017 held in New York and assisted John with his research on this fascinating band and the style of music it generated.Eye-witness accounts refer to the 369th band 'dancing' rather than 'marching'. Above all, in modern performance, finding a 'dancing beat' is crucial to a successful performance of this Ragtime march in order to do justice to the great pioneering work of James Reese Europe.Note the flutter-tonguing and use of muting, the counter-melody in soprano cornet, and the wilder and yet wilder nature of each repetition of the Chorus.Look and Listen:Background to the Harlem HellfightersThe US Army 369th Regiment, made up largely of African-Americans from New York, became known as the Harlem Hellfighters because of the heroic reputation which accrued to them during the actions they engaged in during the First World War in Europe.James Reese Europe was one of the most active African-American composer/musical directors in the pre-war American music scene. The legendary Harlem Hellfighters Band, which he assembled in 1917 from African-American and Puerto Rican musicians, came at an important transitional point in musical history. A new form of music called jazz was emerging from Ragtime and the performing style of Europe's band was immersed in the flow of this new direction.Europe's Harlem Hellfighters influenced and inspired everyone who heard them, including the welcoming crowd when they disembarked in France, bowled over by their swinging rendition of La Marseillaise. Reese Europe became a war hero, commanding a machine-gun unit as well as the band.On return from War in 1919 the band led a ticker-tape parade along Fifth Avenue in New York and soon made about 30 shellac recordings. These recordings display some of the fingerprints of their performing style: ragging, improvising, muting, wailing, smearing (their word for glissando) - and from the evidence of their recordings they took the printed page as a blueprint for individuality.In May 1919 during the Hellfighters' triumphant coast-to-coast tour after their return, James Reese Europe was tragically murdered, bringing to premature close, at the age of 39, the work of a great musical innovator.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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£15.99Brass Essentials - An Arban Companion (for all valve instruments)
Brass Essentials: An Arban Companion works through the Arban Cornet Method in the sequence that the excerpts appear in the original publication. It is not a method in itself, but a way to address the building blocks of a solid technique - good sound, good intonation, developing technical skills and applying rhythmic accuracy. It is suitable for all valve instruments.Simply choose which of the sections applies to the issues you are facing in your playing at any given time. Advice is given at the head of each section on how to deal with the technical processes involved for that particular area of practice as well as suggestions on rehearsal and performance tempi.A regular approach to the most basic aspects of playing a brass instrument will help maintain a strong technique whilst addressing any problems that may occur during your playing life, as they do from time to time. It can also provide a regular practice diet that will encourage real attention to detail.Brass Essentials: An Arban Companion can be used as a resource for teachers helping players starting out on their musical journey, but also performers at any point in their musical life as a back-to-basics approach is often the way forward when dealing with playing issues. The overriding principle is that every note counts!Section Headings : Set-Up, Articulation and Sound; Light Articulations; Syncopation, Spacing and Rhythm; Single Tonguing; Controlled Slurring Technique; Running Scales and Chromatics; Breathing, Shaping and Phrasing; Arpeggios, Dominant Sevenths and Diminished Sevenths; Triple Tonguing; Double Tonguing; The Studies
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£74.95Platform to the Heavens (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
The piece takes its inspiration from the mountain ranges from one of my favourite countries, Switzerland.I have visited the Swiss Alps on many occasions and I am still taken back by its sheer awesome beauty with every visit. This commission gave me the opportunity to pay homage to this wonderful landscape and paint my own musical picture of it.The piece opens with what I imagine daybreak would be like at one of its many peaks. With the sun growing behind the mountain range, the piece builds from a single note to a huge climatic chord revealing Mother Nature's creation.Then at rehearsal figure 'C' the tempo changes dramatically as we fly through the many slopes of the mountains as if on a manic skiing expedition, revealing the many dangers within the Swiss Alps.The twists, turns and climaxes begin to die away as we enter rehearsal figure 'M' - nightfall over the mountains. As the sun disappears, the sky darkens to reveal the beautiful starlit sky above the mountain range. This middle section starts with the various cadenzas that serve as echoes around the Alps. It then leads to a lyrical solo at rehearsal figure 'O' as the moonlight illuminates the icy mountain peaks. A final cadenza to conclude this section highlights the end of nightfall as the sun starts to rise again.This recapitulation from the opening, signals a new dawn as the sun rises above the snowy peaks once again. The music at this point in its slightly altered state highlights the dawn of a new day in the Alps. The fast manic ski ride follows which takes the piece to its grand finale conclusion.The idea behind the title of this piece is that the Swiss Alps are so beautiful and vast; I can only imagine that they could be a platform connecting the earth to the heavens above.Paul Lovatt-Cooper
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£85.00Three Haworth Impressions (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
A wonderful three movement suite which conjures up fabulous musical imagery of the lands of northern England. Well worth including as a concert item in your next programme, but this great original composition should really should be set again as a test-piece soon - rewarding musically for audience and bandsmen alike.Includes:TOP WITHENS - A GENERAL EVOCATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS The sinister opening motif symbolises the influence of the evil Heathcliffe, Soon this motif experiences several changes of character in order to portray emotions other than those of hatred and jealousy. The overall mood is, however, one of gloom and foreboding.THE THREE BELLS This is a reference to the pseudonyms adopted by Ann, Charlotte and Emily Bronte. The music begins with three "bell"-notes; Ab for Acton Bell, Cb for Currer Bell and Eb for Ellis Bell, and these three notes form the basis of a wistful waltz tune. Again the mood is rather sombre -- save for a brighter middle section -- and the opening motif from "Top Withens" is to be heard, again symbolising the frustrations and ill-fortune by which their lives were plagued.THE WORTH VALLEY RAILWAY The Brontes were not the only people in Haworth and not all is desperation and gloom. The third impression is a celebration of the victory of the people of Haworth in their fight to retain their railway. The nine-eight rhythm of a slow train is prominent, and our once-sombre motif is transformed into a triumphant fanfare.Duration: 12.00Please note that there are only 3 solo cornet parts included in this set
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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