Regional Championships 2027
Regionals 2027 CD
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£9.95Regionals 2027 CD
The Regional 2027 CD contains the recordings of all 5 set work Test Pieces for the Regional Championship 2027.
Championship Section
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£144.95Ben-Hur 1925 (Peter Graham)
Lew Wallace's Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ has inspired numerous adaptations for film, television and radio, each distilling the vast eight-part novel while preserving its enduring themes of compassion and forgiveness.Using the 1925 silent film as a starting point, I have reimagined the story as Ben-Hur, late in life, looks back on its defining moments, his memories coming alive before him.Part I: Ben-Hur's life unfolds in epic flashes: from Rome's splendour and tyranny to the haunting strains of Veni, Veni Emmanuel hinting at Christ's coming; a family betrayed, the galleys, heroic battles, and a chariot triumph--yet even victory offers no peace.Part II: Ben-Hur is torn by inner turmoil as he discovers his suffering family. In desperation he turns to Christ whose message of compassion and forgiveness transforms him, his thirst for vengeance giving way to healing and reconciliation.The work also acknowledges the profound infuence of Eric Ball, whose biblical tone poems -- including King of Kings (1931) and Exodus (1937) -- helped shape the brass band repertoire of their time.The hymn Veni, Veni Emmanuel, symbolising the parallel narrative of Christ within this story, was likewise central to Ball's epic The Kingdom Triumphant.The work concludes with the well-known Dresden Amen, also heard in the closing bars of The Kingdom Triumphant.Ben-Hur 1925 was commissioned by The Whitburn Band, MD Nicholas Childs, and is dedicated to the memory of Derek Smith.
First Section
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£94.95Rhapsody on a Theme by Purcell (Kevin Norbury)
Contest VersionIn his relatively short lifetime, Henry Purcell (1659 -1695) achieved stellar musical success and was known and admired internationally by his contemporaries. He is justifiably considered one of England's greatest composers.I thought long and hard before using this magnificent theme as the basis for a band piece because I think that Benjamin Britten has said just about everything possible regarding it in his The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. Bearing this in mind, I tentatively set about working on this composition. Once started though, the job became fun because the theme still yielded possibilities - even after Britten!The piece is basically a set of linked variations, much like Rachmaninov's great Rhapsody on theme by Paginini. The music starts slowly and makes much use of crisply dotted rhythms - a Purcellian characteristic. The theme is heard twice before the music changes into a jaunty duple time variation based on the opening motif of Purcell's theme. After this, the mood changes to a waltz-like variation in which clear references to the original theme can be heard. The slow movement follows, and is based on rising and descending scalic figures. This variation is an 'A-B-A' movement with two similar passages framing a more vigorous middle section which features antiphonal fanfare-like figures. Without any preamble, the last variation launches itself - a rumbustious dance which has a distinctive feel to it.The theme eventually reappears as a counter-melody to this dance music before a final triumphant treatment of the melody featuring a somewhat athletic bass line. The music accelerates at the Coda and disappears in a 'puff of smoke'.- Kevin Norbury
Second Section
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£74.95Helvetia (Gareth Wood)
I first went to Switzerland in the early 1970's and regularly played at the Lucerne Festival with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It is a beautiful city, one of my favourite European cities.In writing Helvetia (the Roman name for Switzerland) I wanted to encapsulate the moods that remind me of this wonderful place. The work is in four distinct sections and is on the whole, self-explanatory.It opens with An Alpine Dawn and sunrise, the tubas and euphoniums substituting for the Swiss Alphorns. Next The Clock Shop at Mid-day, a loud ticking, chiming and the sad sound of a cuckoo, builds into the cacophony of the mid-day chimes. The third section is A Walk to Wagner's House. Just along the lake from the centre of town is Tribschen. This walk I have done many times, and it is here that Wagner wrote 'Tristan'. I have quoted the Dresden Amen (written by J.G. Naumann) which is much used in Parsifal. The final section is The Cesta Run, the most famous bob-sleigh run in the world. As we take each corner, the feeling of speed is demonstrated as only a brass band can do!The work is dedicated to the Cory Band and also to the memory of James Watson, a great cornet player, trumpeter and conductor. It was he who got me into writing for brass band and I hope this piece is worthy.- Gareth Wood (Feb. 2011)Duration: 11.00
Third Section
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£75.00Iceni Autumn (Darrol Barry)
The piece is in four movements; SPQR, Cockley Cley, Boudicca - Battles and Requiem and Venta Icenorum.S.P.Q.R. is an initialism of a Latin noun phrase, Senatus Populusque Romanus ("The Senate and the Roman People"). This movement attempts to portray the mood in England under Roman occupation and contains important themes developed throughout the suite.Cockley Cley is a reconstruction of the type of village occupied by the Iceni. For many years it was a popular tourist attraction in Norfolk.Boudicca (also known as Boadicea) was the wife of King Prasutagus of the Iceni, a British tribe that lived in East Anglia during the time of the Roman Emperor Nero. When Prasutagus, an ally of the Romans died, the local Roman government officials decided that they would seize her wealth and lands for themselves. When Boudicca protested, saying she was a Roman ally who was being treated no better than a slave, the Roman soldiers fogged her and raped her daughters. Boudicca called her tribe to arms and revolted against their Roman oppressors; this saw the complete devastation of Colchester, St Albans and London. In the final battle the Romans slaughtered about 80,000 Britons including women, children and old men, repaying atrocities in kind. Boudicca and her two daughters poisoned themselves rather than be captured and taken to Rome as prisoners of war.Venta Icenorum was the capital of the Iceni Tribe, who inhabited the flatlands and marshes of Norfolk and earned immortality for their revolt against Roman rule under their queen Boudicca in the winter of 61 AD. This triumphant march brings various themes together and ends with a final reference.
Fourth Section
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Light Adventures (Frederick Schjelderup)
****NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE**** - Light Adventures was commissioned i n 2025 by Skodvin Skulemusikk on the occasion of their 50th anniversary in 2026. The piece i s based on two main themes with a melodic and optimistic harmonic expression. The thematic material i s developed and continued throughout the work, which consists o f 3 parts (which are played consecutively).