Spring Festival 2026

£150.00

Star Crossed Lovers (Stephen Roberts)

'Star Crossed Lovers' was a new work commissioned by Martin and Karyn Mortimer for the 2025 British Open. The composer states: "I have tried to create something that is cohesive and stands as a work in its own right by using some of Prokofiev's most memorable musical motifs and fusing them with passages of my own in a similar musical style. The emphasis is very much on emotion, with the main themes expressing the opposing passions of love and hate and creating a musical drama that will test both the technical and expressive qualities of bands and conductors. The work lasts about sixteen minutes and is both tuneful and dramatic in style, with three cadenzas to test the soloists in smaller groups."

£59.95

Ballet For Band (Joseph Horovitz)

Originally commissioned for the 1983 National Championships of Great Britain, Horovitz stated: “The characters and plot were quite clear in my mind before composing it, but I prefer the audience to exercise its own imagination rather than to be influenced by mine. The work is in three linked sections, the central one being the most lyrical. All themes are directly or more subtly derived from the opening fanfare motive, which is heard at the end.” One of Horovitz’s most popular compositions, it has been used extensively around the banding world, including the Championship Section of the Regional Championships of Great Britain (1988), the Grand Shield (1989) and Senior Trophy (2007).

£59.95

Un Vie de Matelot (Robert Farnon)

Robert Farnon’s ‘Un Vie de Matelot (‘A Sailor’s Life’) was written for the 1975 event and has been used both as a set-work and own-choice selection at Championship Section competitions since, including the Grand Shield (1988), Regional Championships (1995), the Senior Trophy (2002) and the Butlins Mineworkers Championship (2012). Farnon was a French-Canadian greatly interested in the folk songs of the country – especially those originating from the people, customs and characteristics of Quebec. This inspired him to create the original thematic material on which the work is based, first heard by the soprano cornet, and followed by a series of linked and developed variations.