Results
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£84.95In League with Extraordinary Gentlemen (Euphonium Solo with Brass Band)
Concerto for EuphoniumIn League with Extraordinary Gentlemen combines two of composer Peter Graham's life interests - composition and 19th century popular fiction. Each of the concerto's three movements takes its musical inspiration from extraordinary characters who have transcended the original genre and have subsequently found mass audiences through film, television and comic book adaptations.The first movement follows a traditional sonata form outline with one slight modification. The order of themes in the recapitulation is reversed, mirroring a plot climax in the H.G. Wells novella The Time Machine (where the protagonist, known only as The Time Traveller, puts his machine into reverse bringing the story back full circle).The Adventure of the Final Problem is the title of a short story published in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. This is an account of the great detective's final struggle with his long-time adversary Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. The music takes the form of a slowed down lndler (a Swiss/Austrian folk dance) and various acoustic and electronic echo effects call to mind the alpine landscape. The final bars pose a question paralleling that of Conan Doyle in the story - have we really seen the last of Sherlock Holmes?The final movement, The Great Race, (available separately) follows Phileas Fogg on the last stage of his epic journey "Around the World in Eighty Days" (from the novel by Jules Verne). The moto perpetuo nature of the music gives full rein to the soloist's technical virtuosity. As the work draws to a conclusion, the frantic scramble by Fogg to meet his deadline at the Reform Club in Pall Mall, London, is echoed by the soloist's increasingly demanding ascending figuration, set against the background of Big Ben clock chimes.In League with Extraordinary Gentlemen was first performed in the brass band version by David Thornton and the Black Dyke Band, conductor Nicholas Childs, at the RNCM Concert Hall Manchester on January 30, 2009.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£74.95Eden (Score and Parts)
This work was commissioned by the Brass Band Heritage Trust as the test piece for the final of the 2005 Besson National Brass Band Championship, held at the Royal Albert Hall, London.The score is prefaced by the final lines from Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (completed in 1663), in which Adam and Eve, expelled from Paradise, make their uncertain way into the outside world:"...The world was all before them, where to chooseTheir place of rest, and providence their guide:They hand in hand with wandering steps and slow,Through Eden took their solitary way."My work is in three linked sections. In the first, the characters of Adam, Eve and the serpent guarding the Tree of Knowledge are respectively represented by solo euphonium, cornet and trombone. The music opens in an idyllic and tranquil mood and leads into a duet between euphonium and cornet. Throughout this passage the prevailing mood darkens, though the soloists seem to remain oblivious to the increasingly fraught atmosphere. A whip-crack announces the malevolent appearance of the solo trombone who proceeds to engage the solo cornet in a sinister dialogue.The second section interprets the Eden story as a modern metaphor for the havoc mankind has inflicted upon the world, exploiting and abusing its resources in the pursuit of wealth. Though certainly intended here as a comment on the present-day, it is by no means a new idea: Milton himself had an almost prescient awareness of it in Book I of his poem, where men, led on by Mammon:"...Ransacked the centre and with impious handsRifled the bowels of their mother earthFor treasures better hid. Soon had his crewOpened into the hill a spacious woundAnd digged out ribs of gold."So this section is fast and violent, at times almost manic in its destructive energy. At length a furious climax subsides and a tolling bell ushers in the third and final section.This final part is slow, beginning with an intense lament featuring solos for tenor-horn, flgel-horn and repiano cornet and joined later by solo baritone, soprano cornet, Eb-bass and Bb-bass.At one stage in the planning of the work it seemed likely that the music would end here - in despair. Then, mid-way through writing it, I visited the extraordinary Eden Project in Cornwall. Here, in a disused quarry - a huge man-made wound in the earth - immense biomes, containing an abundance of plant species from every region of the globe, together with an inspirational education programme, perhaps offer a small ray of hope for the future. This is the image behind the work's conclusion and the optimism it aims to express is real enough, though it is hard-won and challenged to the last.John Pickard 2005
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£29.50Eden (Score Only)
This work was commissioned by the Brass Band Heritage Trust as the test piece for the final of the 2005 Besson National Brass Band Championship, held at the Royal Albert Hall, London.The score is prefaced by the final lines from Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (completed in 1663), in which Adam and Eve, expelled from Paradise, make their uncertain way into the outside world:"...The world was all before them, where to chooseTheir place of rest, and providence their guide:They hand in hand with wandering steps and slow,Through Eden took their solitary way."My work is in three linked sections. In the first, the characters of Adam, Eve and the serpent guarding the Tree of Knowledge are respectively represented by solo euphonium, cornet and trombone. The music opens in an idyllic and tranquil mood and leads into a duet between euphonium and cornet. Throughout this passage the prevailing mood darkens, though the soloists seem to remain oblivious to the increasingly fraught atmosphere. A whip-crack announces the malevolent appearance of the solo trombone who proceeds to engage the solo cornet in a sinister dialogue.The second section interprets the Eden story as a modern metaphor for the havoc mankind has inflicted upon the world, exploiting and abusing its resources in the pursuit of wealth. Though certainly intended here as a comment on the present-day, it is by no means a new idea: Milton himself had an almost prescient awareness of it in Book I of his poem, where men, led on by Mammon:"...Ransacked the centre and with impious handsRifled the bowels of their mother earthFor treasures better hid. Soon had his crewOpened into the hill a spacious woundAnd digged out ribs of gold."So this section is fast and violent, at times almost manic in its destructive energy. At length a furious climax subsides and a tolling bell ushers in the third and final section.This final part is slow, beginning with an intense lament featuring solos for tenor-horn, flgel-horn and repiano cornet and joined later by solo baritone, soprano cornet, Eb-bass and Bb-bass.At one stage in the planning of the work it seemed likely that the music would end here - in despair. Then, mid-way through writing it, I visited the extraordinary Eden Project in Cornwall. Here, in a disused quarry - a huge man-made wound in the earth - immense biomes, containing an abundance of plant species from every region of the globe, together with an inspirational education programme, perhaps offer a small ray of hope for the future. This is the image behind the work's conclusion and the optimism it aims to express is real enough, though it is hard-won and challenged to the last.John Pickard 2005
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.09Variations on 'Sine Nomine' (Brass Band) Andrew Wainwright
This magnificent work was written in 2019 for the London Central Fellowship Band and Bandmaster David Rudd. It is based on the hymn tune by Ralph Vaughan Williams, which is also known as For all the Saints. Its release in the summer of 2022 marks the 150th anniversary of Vaughan Williams' birth. The work is set in four contrasting movements, which follow an opening statement of the hymn in its full form. Variation I (Leggiero) is based on the first few notes of the chorale and is lively and sprightly in nature, with regular time changes permeating throughout. There are regular statements of the hymn, with the movement closing with a full statement of the tune in its full glory. Variation II (Andante Espressivo) derives its material from the final strain of the verse. The music is generally calm and ethereal in nature before building to an impassioned fortissimo featuring the full band, and finally dying away. Variation III (Allegro Vivace) is in compound time and, like Variation I, is based on the first few notes of the hymn. The music is joyful and playful, epitomised by syncopated rhythms, and snippets of the tune are heard throughout. Variation IV (Allegro Giocoso) is in the form of a fugue which commences with the cornets, before the theme is handed to each section of the band at various points. After several statements of the theme, the music grows into the final strain of the chorale, which is given a grandiose setting. A frenzied Presto coda leads into organ-like chords, before a series of upward major scales bring the work to its final chord. To view a video of the Canadian Staff Band performing the work please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ1pYH0ftv0 Sheet music available from: UK - www.brassband.co.uk USA - www.solidbrassmusic.com Difficulty Level: Second Section + Instrumentation: Soprano Cornet Eb Solo Cornet Bb 1st Cornet Bb 2nd 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 Timpani Percussion 1-2
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£35.00
Epitaph (for Hillsborough) - Peter Meechan
Epitaph (for Hillsborough) was written on the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough stadium disaster, April 15 1989, in memory of the 96 victims. All of the victims were fans of Liverpool Football Club, the club I have supported since I was a young child.The disaster unfolded in front of the BBC television cameras, and due to the importance of the match (FA Cup semi final), millions, including myself, witnessed it first hand, leaving a lasting impression in the public psyche.Several features of the piece were determined by the tragedy. The length of the piece, 6 and a half minutes, represents the minutes of the game that were played that day (The match was abandoned after 6 minutes), and the final thirty seconds of the work, where the band gently applaud, is a reference to the first match played after the tragedy, a European Cup semi final between AC Milan and Real Madrid.After 6 minutes, the referee blew his whistle and all the players stood still where they were, both sets of fans applauded in memory of the perished, and the fans of AC Milan began singing Youall Never Walk Alone, the anthem of Liverpool Football Club.The work also features 96 strikes of the tubular bells, in memory of each person who lost their life.Epitaph is dedicated to the 96 people who died that day, and to their families whose fight for justice is an inspiration to all.
Estimated dispatch 12-14 working days
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£34.95Funk Engine (Score and Parts)
'Funk Engine' was commissioned by Brass Bands England for the 2016 National Youth Brass Band Championships of Great Britain. What Ryan says about the piece:"When I was commissioned to write a piece for the Championships I decided that I wanted to create something a bit different to standard brass band repertoire. I decided that the best way to do this was to go a bit out of my comfort zone and explore some styles of music that I have yet to experiment with. I have always been a great lover of jazz, funk and big band music and the sounds associated with them. In 'Funk Engine' I have tried to capture some of these sounds, however I am a brass-bander at heart and as such I've tried to create a fusion of styles that hopefully combines the best of brass band and jazz into one piece.'Funk Engine' runs continuously, but is divided into three broad sections - fast, slow, fast. The opening is in driving big band style, which segues into a smoother lyrical section; the pace then picks up into a jazz inspired scherzo. After a delicate transition from the basses and trombones the euphonium plays a soaring scale - bringing us into the central movement - which begins with a series of languid solos before descending into a darker interlude. A flugel solo lightens the mood and the music gains momentum leading into a brief cornet chorale before a euphonium solo leads into a percussive climactic passage for full band. As this section winds down to settle on an open fifth, the Hi-hat and Bass section punctuate the texture with the first notes of the final section."The final section of the piece is in similar big band style to the opening and develops material from the first two movements. The percussion feature heavily at this stage and the tension builds towards a final statement, with the piece concluding with a bang!"
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£14.95Funk Engine (Score Only)
'Funk Engine' was commissioned by Brass Bands England for the 2016 National Youth Brass Band Championships of Great Britain. What Ryan says about the piece:"When I was commissioned to write a piece for the Championships I decided that I wanted to create something a bit different to standard brass band repertoire. I decided that the best way to do this was to go a bit out of my comfort zone and explore some styles of music that I have yet to experiment with. I have always been a great lover of jazz, funk and big band music and the sounds associated with them. In 'Funk Engine' I have tried to capture some of these sounds, however I am a brass-bander at heart and as such I've tried to create a fusion of styles that hopefully combines the best of brass band and jazz into one piece.'Funk Engine' runs continuously, but is divided into three broad sections - fast, slow, fast. The opening is in driving big band style, which segues into a smoother lyrical section; the pace then picks up into a jazz inspired scherzo. After a delicate transition from the basses and trombones the euphonium plays a soaring scale - bringing us into the central movement - which begins with a series of languid solos before descending into a darker interlude. A flugel solo lightens the mood and the music gains momentum leading into a brief cornet chorale before a euphonium solo leads into a percussive climactic passage for full band. As this section winds down to settle on an open fifth, the Hi-hat and Bass section punctuate the texture with the first notes of the final section."The final section of the piece is in similar big band style to the opening and develops material from the first two movements. The percussion feature heavily at this stage and the tension builds towards a final statement, with the piece concluding with a bang!"
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£74.99Kingdom of Dragons - Philip Harper
The 'Kingdom of Dragons' is Gwent in South Wales, known in ancient times as the Kingdom of Gwent, and more recently home to the Newport Gwent Dragons Rugby Union team. This piece was commissioned by the Gwent Music Service with additionalfunding from Ty Cerdd - Music Centre Wales to celebrate the 50th anniversary in 2010 of the formation of the Gwent Youth Brass Band. Although the music is continuous, it is divided into four distinct sections, each one representing one of theunitary authorities which make up the County of Gwent. I. Monmouthshire, which has a large number of ancient castlesII. Blaenau Gwent, an historic area of iron and coal miningIII. Torfaen, where Pontypool Park is a notablelandmarkIV. Newport, the largest city in the region. The music begins with a two-bar fanfare, which sets out all the thematic material of the piece. The mood of pageantry that follows describes some of the ancient castles inMonmouthshire, with rolling tenor drums and fanfaring cornets. After a majestic climax the music subsides and quite literally descends into the coal mines of Blaenau Gwent. The percussion provides effects that suggest industrial machineryclanking into life, and the music accelerates to become a perilous white-knuckle ride on the underground railroad. There is a brief respite as a miner's work-song is introduced and, after a protracted build-up, this is restated at fortissimo beforethe music comes crashing to an inglorious close, much like the UK's mining industry itself. The middle sonorities of the band portray the tranquillity of Pontypool Park, a place of great natural beauty. Brief cadenzas for cornet and euphoniumlead to a full band reprise of the pastoral mood. At the end of this section we find ourselves at the top of the park's 'Folly Tower' from which the distant castle turrets of Monmouthshire are visible. Pontypool RFC was one of eleven clubs inthe first Welsh league in 1881 and a brief but bruising musical portrayal of the formidable Pontypool front-row, the 'Viet Gwent' leads into the work's final section. This portrays Newport, a symbol for progress and optimism for the future, idealsshared by the Gwent Youth Band itself. The music is a vigorous fugue which advances through various keys and episodes before the final triumphant augmented entry which brings the work to a magnificent conclusion. NOTES ONPERFORMANCEPercussion requirements: (3 players) Timpani, 2 Tenor Drums, 2 Tom toms, Snare Drum (sticks and brushes required), Bass Drum, Clash Cymbals, Suspended Cymbal, Hi-hat, Sizzle Cymbal, Tambourine, Metal block with metalbeater (eg hammer), Rattle (eg football rattle), Glockenspiel, Xylophone
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£66.48Armistice at Flanders Fields (Brass Band) Dwayne Bloomfield
This poignant and powerful work for brass band by Dwayne Bloomfield describes the day peace was announced to end World War I. The piece was written in 2023 to be played by bands around the world to mark Armistice Day. The composer writes: 'Unless you were there, it's impossible to imagine what it must have been like the day peace was announced ending World War I. The feelings soldiers experienced, who after years of fighting and suffering, to know it was over and they would return home to see family and loved ones again. This piece tries to tell their story. The work begins by approaching the front, distant artillery and battle sounds heard while the carnage and loss of lives was already known to the world. The band builds as we enter the thick of battle, the death and destruction, the conditions faced and the loss of hope of ever surviving. The next section, in 7/8 time, reflects the two sides fighting - both sides attacking and defending with mostly little result, but for the loss of more lives. Two euphoniums then depict the news and hope of peace talks. However, fighting did continue right up to the very end and on the last day there would be another 2,738 casualties. The Canadians were still battling to capture the town of Mons that morning. A song is sung in reflection of the estimated 5.5 million allied soldiers who lost their lives during World War I, then a clock ticks down the final minutes. The last three known casualties are depicted with French soldier Augustin Trebuchon, killed at 10:45am by a single shot as he rushed down the trenches to spread the news of coming peace; Canadian George Lawrence Price killed by a sniper round at 10:58am at the battle of Mons, and lastly a machine gun burst that killed American Henry Gunther, who is believed to have fallen on the 11th hour. Bells then toll ringing around the world announcing the end of the war. After years of war, it must have been jubilation for the families at home knowing their loved ones would be returning to them. The band builds with a hymn for peace as a final tribute to those who fought, before the piece resides with one of the most dreaded sounds at that time, the knock on the door from a telegram delivery boy or better known then as the Angels of Death. It wasn't just the 2,738 families from the casualties of the last day who would receive such a knock, but many more who expected their loved ones to be returning home would instead find out they were instead killed in the last weeks. So close. Driving around the battlefields today one comes across many intersections in the countryside which have cemetery signposts pointing in every direction. While the last post sounds in ceremonies today, this last bugle call instead depicts the horrors, devastation and death the soldiers faced during the war and right up the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Armistice at Flanders Fields.' To view a video of Dallas Brass Band performing the work please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljfyVz3cMgk Duration: Approx. 15.00 minutes Difficulty Level: 2nd Section + PDF download includes parts and score. 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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£33.23Libera Me from 'Requiem' (Brass Band) Faure arr. Rob Bushnell
Composed between 1887 and 1890, Gabriel Faure's Requiem is not only one of his best-known works but one of the most popular piece of choral music in the Classical repertoire, coming 23rd in the Classic FM's Hall of Fame 2024. Believed to be a tribute to his father (who died in 1885), Faure himself said "My Requiem wasn't written for anything - for pleasure, if I may call it that!" It started life as a five-movement work but was later expanded to be the final seven-movement work we know today. The first version (which Faure called "un petit Requiem") was first performed on 16 January 1888, with Faure conducting, a second version premiered on 21 January 1893 before the final version (reworked for full orchestra) was played on 12 July 1900; the Requiem was performed at the composer's own funeral in 1924.The Libera Me, or Deliver Me, was actually written in 1877 and is the sixth part of the Requiem.Faure once said of the work, "Everything I managed to entertain by way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem, which moreover is dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest." Upon interview, he also said, "It has been said that my Requiem does not express the fear of death and someone has called it a lullaby of death. But it is thus that I see death: as a happy deliverance, an aspiration towards happiness above, rather than as a painful experience. The music of Gounod has been criticised for its inclination towards human tenderness. But his nature predisposed him to feel this way: religious emotion took this form inside him. Is it not necessary to accept the artist's nature? As to my Requiem, perhaps I have also instinctively sought to escape from what is thought right and proper, after all the years of accompanying burial services on the organ! I know it all by heart. I wanted to write something different."This arrangement is for the British-style brass band, with alternative parts for horns in F and bass-clef lower brass. The tenor solo is featured on the euphonium. A recording of the original composition can be found here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXwFNoBHCf0 Duration: 4.20 minutes approx. Difficulty Level: 4th Section + PDF download includes parts and score. 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 BbTimpani
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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