Results
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£64.95Adam Zero, Suite from (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Bliss, Arthur - Childs, Robert
Selected as the Section 2 test piece for the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain 2025Following his ballet Checkmate, Bliss composed another score for the, by then, Sadler's Wells Ballet, Miracle in the Gorbals, which was choreographed by Robert Helpmann, to a scenario by Michael Benthall. Premired in 1944, the ballet made a considerable impact and was a box-office success. It was followed in turn by a further collaboration with Helpmann and Benthall, Adam Zero. This would serve Helpmann, in the eponymous role, as a vehicle in two respects: demonstrating his gifts as a dancer-actor and as a choreographer. First performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 8 April 1946, Adam Zero was conducted by Constant Lambert, the work's dedicatee. Bliss considered it 'his most varied and exciting ballet score'. Benthall provided a synopsis for the programme:There is a philosophy that life moves in an endless series of timeless cycles. As Nature passes through Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, so man is born, makes a success in his own particular sphere, loses his position to a younger generation, sees his world crumble before his eyes and only finds peace in death. This age-old story is told in terms of a Company creating a ballet and calling on the resources of the theatre to do so. Lighting, stage mechanism, dance conventions, musical forms and costumes and scenery of all periods are used to symbolize the world of 'Adam Zero'.Apart from Adam, as the Principal Dancer, other main roles included the Stage Director (representing Omnipotence), and Adam's Fates (Designer, Wardrobe Mistress, and Dresser). 'The Woman in this allegory', wrote Bliss, 'under the symbol of the Choreographer, was both the creator and destroyer of Adam: his first love, his wife, his mistress, and finally the figure of beneficent Death.' When the curtain rose, the 'audience saw the Covent Garden stage right back to the wall, completely empty except for the protagonists, 'the Company poised, still and expectant, as they await the birth of... Adam Zero.'Unfortunately, soon after the premire, Helpmann injured himself and had to withdraw from the remaining performances. Despite generally positive reviews, the ballet did not capture the imagination of audiences and, to Bliss's considerable disappointment, was not revived. Seventy years would elapse before its first major return to the stage, in 2016, performed by the ballet company of Stadttheater Bremerhaven with choreography by Sergei Vanaev.Bliss extracted a concert suite from the ballet, conducting its first performance with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra on 28 October 1948. For his own suite, arranged for brass band in 2023, Dr Robert Childs chose three dances linked to the seasons, book-ending them with the ebullient 'Fanfare Overture' and 'Fanfare Coda'. After Adam has grown to manhood, his Fates clothe him in a costume synonymous with confident youth, appropriate for the virile, ardent 'Dance of Spring'. In the 'Approach of Autumn', Adam, now wearing a sombre costume, has grown older: his Fates have streaked grey in his hair and put lines on his face. But they had earlier raised Adam to the zenith of his power, and the 'Dance of Summer' depicts him in the prime of life, in music of sweeping grandeur. The 'Fanfare Coda' signals that the next cycle of life is about to begin.Duration: 10.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£43.99The Divine Right (Brass Band - Score only) - Harper, Philip
At the time of composing this piece, the Arab Spring was sweeping through the Middle East. It seemed that almost every week a new country's people had risen up against the regimes and dictatorships which had prevailed for generations, leaving many nations at a defining crossroads in their history. There were so many possible ways ahead: so many hopes, yet so many uncertainties.This music is a depiction of these revolutionary times, and several musical themes are in turn presented, discussed, considered, fought over, altered, rejected or accepted.Most nations have had, or probably will have, their own Arab Spring, including the United Kingdom. Events of 17th Century Britain provide the context for this piece, particularly those following the execution of the tyrant King Charles I on 30 January 1649. The regicide was in part due to Charless steadfast belief in the Divine Right of Kings, and led to a tumultuous interregnum, where England stood at its own defining crossroads. The music begins turbulently, before King Charles appears and is led to the gallows outside Banqueting House in central London where he is brutally decapitated. From the assembled crowd rose, according to one observer,a moan as I never heard before and desire I may never hear again.The music descends to emptiness.The musical argument which follows is not strictly programmatic, but a number of musical themes are all thrown into the melting pot, representing ideas such as: religion; military force; reasoned Parliamentary debate; and the chattering, irrepressible voice of the people. Additionally, there are some quotations from the music of royalist composer Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656), who was often in tune with the feeling of the times.This defining episode in England's history was brought to a close with the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, and as the exiled King Charles II rode back into London the diarist John Evelyn wrote:Never was so joyful a day seen in this nation. I stood in the Strand and beheld it, and blessed God.At the end of the piece the bells ring out, and the musical appearance of the King has transformed from turbulent to triumphant.Duration: 17.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£104.99
The Divine Right (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Harper, Philip
At the time of composing this piece, the Arab Spring was sweeping through the Middle East. It seemed that almost every week a new country's people had risen up against the regimes and dictatorships which had prevailed for generations, leaving many nations at a defining crossroads in their history. There were so many possible ways ahead: so many hopes, yet so many uncertainties.This music is a depiction of these revolutionary times, and several musical themes are in turn presented, discussed, considered, fought over, altered, rejected or accepted.Most nations have had, or probably will have, their own Arab Spring, including the United Kingdom. Events of 17th Century Britain provide the context for this piece, particularly those following the execution of the tyrant King Charles I on 30 January 1649. The regicide was in part due to Charless steadfast belief in the Divine Right of Kings, and led to a tumultuous interregnum, where England stood at its own defining crossroads. The music begins turbulently, before King Charles appears and is led to the gallows outside Banqueting House in central London where he is brutally decapitated. From the assembled crowd rose, according to one observer,a moan as I never heard before and desire I may never hear again.The music descends to emptiness.The musical argument which follows is not strictly programmatic, but a number of musical themes are all thrown into the melting pot, representing ideas such as: religion; military force; reasoned Parliamentary debate; and the chattering, irrepressible voice of the people. Additionally, there are some quotations from the music of royalist composer Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656), who was often in tune with the feeling of the times.This defining episode in England's history was brought to a close with the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, and as the exiled King Charles II rode back into London the diarist John Evelyn wrote:Never was so joyful a day seen in this nation. I stood in the Strand and beheld it, and blessed God.At the end of the piece the bells ring out, and the musical appearance of the King has transformed from turbulent to triumphant.Duration: 17.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£54.95Cornish Pastiche (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Wiffin, Rob
A three movement suite depicting aspects of Cornish life and culture.The first movement, Sea Shanties, uses two contrasting call-and-response melodies. The second of these is playful in nature and appears in a number of guises, some more discordant than others, reflecting the crew's use of the shanty to let the captain know what they thought of him! Having passed by, the ship disappears into the sea mist. Laments were traditionally reserved for occasions of the death of a member of the clan. In forming the melody for Celtic Lament I had in mind the type of sorrowful song that would suite the elegiac nature of such an occasion.The last movement of the suite attempts to catch the spirit of the Furry Dance, the ancient dance that heralds the coming of spring. It resembles a farandole but is probably better described as an unashamed romp.My intention was to make Cornish Pastiche readily accessible to both players and listeners. The language is unashamedly tonal but is treated with some harmonic twists to add occasional piquancy. The technical demands on the players are meant to be moderate but conductors and players are asked to observe the different layers, especially in the Basse Dance, and not overload the texture with over-zealous weight on the melodic line.- Rob WiffinDuration: 11.15
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£26.95Do You Recall? (Trombone Solo with Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Wiffin, Rob
A slow, bluesy solo for trombone with band accompanimentLike many people, I took the opportunity offered by the COVID lockdown in Spring of 2020 to sort through old paperwork. I discovered a lot of songs that had not seen the light of day for many years and were mostly written with just the melody and chord symbols. Some offered the potential of becoming instrumental solos with a combination of heart-on-the-sleeve melodies the like of which I would not write now, together with maybe a greater sophistication in the instrumental writing. I had the notion in the back of my mind that Do you recall?; would work as a trombone solo but it seemed to fight me all the way. However, once finished it has proved to appeal to trombonists and has already been recorded by Brett Baker. It is not intrinsically difficult but needs a sense of the appropriate slow swing style and good control throughout the range.- Rob WiffinDuration: 4.15
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£72.99English Dances, Set 1, Op.27: No.1, Andantino (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Arnold, Malcolm - Farr, Ray
English Dances, Set I, opus 27, is a light classic composition that was written for orchestra by the British composer Malcolm Arnold in 1950. The set contains four dances that continue without pause: the individual movements are indicated by the tempo markings. The work came about at the request of Bernard de Nevers, at the time the head of publisher Alfred Lengnick & Co., who asked Arnold to write a suite of dances as an English counterpart to Dvovk's Slavonic Dances and Bartk's Romanian Folk Dances. The premire took place in the spring of 1951, played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. Following the success of the first set, DeNevers asked the composer to write a second one, which Arnold completed the next year (Op. 33). The Andantino from the first set has been skilfully arranged and orchestrated for brass band by Ray Farr.Duration: 2.45
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£35.00Good King Wenceslas (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - McKenzie, Jock
This popular Christmas carol tells the story of a Bohemian King who braved harsh winter weather to give alms to a poor peasant. This takes place on the Feast of Stephen, the first day of Christmas (December 26th). This legend is based on the life of the historical Saint Wenceslas 1, Duke of Bohemia (907 - 935). In 1853 the English hymn writer John Mason Neale wrote his own version of this tale, setting his words to the melody of a 13th century spring carol "Tempus adest floridum" which had first been published in Piae Cantiones (1582). It is this version that has endured to become the popular carol of today. Duration: 4.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£34.95Welsh Fantasy for Euphonium & Band (Euphonium Solo with Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Pearce, Ralph
Written for the late Bandmaster Christopher Mallet to play at the Bristol Easton Band's 2000 Spring Festival, the solo is based around the Welsh Lullaby 'Suo G?n’ which is associated with the words of Herbert H. Booth, 'Let me love thee'. There are also subtle references to 'Men of Harlech'. ?As demanding as the solo part is, so too the band parts rise above the level of mere accompaniment.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£17.50
Welsh Fantasy for Euphonium & Band (Euphonium Solo with Brass Band - Score only) - Pearce, Ralph
Written for the late Bandmaster Christopher Mallet to play at the Bristol Easton Band's 2000 Spring Festival, the solo is based around the Welsh Lullaby 'Suo G?n’ which is associated with the words of Herbert H. Booth, 'Let me love thee'. There are also subtle references to 'Men of Harlech'. ?As demanding as the solo part is, so too the band parts rise above the level of mere accompaniment.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£40.00Two Aquarelles (Euphonium Feature with Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Delius, Frederick - Hindmarsh, Paul
In the late spring of 1917, the Bradford born composer, Frederick Delius (1856 - 1934) composed two short part-songs at his home in Grez-sur-Loing. The river ran along the bottom of his garden and he called the two miniatures To be sung of a summer night on the water. The First World War was at its height, but one would never guess that from the languid and serene quality of these richly textured nocturnes. The songs were first heard in London on 28 June, sung by the Oriana Madrigal Society, conducted by Charles Kennedy Scott. In 1932 Delius's amanuensis, Eric Fenby, arranged them for string orchestra as Two Aquarelles. While I have taken Fenby's title, my arrangement is a note-for-note transcription of the choral original. It was prepared in early in 1993 for Besses o' th' Barn Band, of which I was Musical Director at the time. In the second song, the prominent tenor solo has been given to the solo euphonium, who should stand apart from the band in performance.- Paul HindmarshDuration: 5.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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