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£19.65Adam Zero, Suite from (Brass Band - Study Score)
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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£9.95Euphonium's Extraordinary European Tour - Solo Euphonium (Bass Clef) - LM171
COMPOSER: Alexandra LehmannEuphonium's Extraordinary European TourThe year 2020 will be infamously recorded as a time when musicians had to lead a solitary life, which is incompatible with musical activity.Furthermore, I wanted to offer an experience of travelling in Europe through music.There is a wealth of historical, and traditional European monophonic music.Hence, the Tour is based around the 14th-15th centuries whenEuphoniumencounters different musical cultures.The Tour is dedicated to my father, mother, brother, and sister;Jean-Pierre, Francoise, Fabrice, and Mahaut Lehmann;with whom I was fortunate to travel in my youth.CONTENTS1. Ostentatious OvertureEuphoniumis at the French palace of Versailles with all itspomp, splendour, and magnificence.2. Mystical MinnesangerEuphoniumhas travelled to the Holy Roman Empire, where he isperforming an ode to a Germanic Knight.3. Andalusian NightsThe Caliphate of Cordoba was a mixing-pot of Islamicand Judaic music. What is fascinating is that many of the ideas aroundperformance; modes at certain times of the day, improvisation into metred,faster sections; go back to the Indian subcontinent and even furtherback into Ancient Greece.Euphonium is chanting for theCaliphate on a warm summer's evening.4. Tarantella of the TagliatelleI don't know if the Medici family ate tagliatelle,but if they did, this joyful and lively tarantella is whatEuphonium would have played.5. Terrifying TropakA complete change of mood.Euphonium is playing for a swashbucklingperformance of Ukrainian Cossacks, with leaps, stamps, and twirls.6. Sami Herding SongIn the Arctic Norwegian north,Euphonium is with the Sami calling theirherd of reindeers with vocalisations that echo in the icy distance.7. Highland FlingEuphoniumis in Scotland taking part in the Highland Games.Female dancers perform athletic jumps.8. Royal Festive FanfareEuphoniumfinishes his European Tour at Windsor Castle, England.Like the natural trumpet (played at the time), the lower range is based on the first notes of the harmonic scale and announce the entry of the royal family.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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£9.95Euphonium's Extraordinary European Tour - Solo Euphonium (Treble Clef) - LM168
COMPOSER: Alexandra LehmannEuphonium's Extraordinary European TourThe year 2020 will be infamously recorded as a time when musicians had to lead a solitary life, which is incompatible with musical activity.Furthermore, I wanted to offer an experience of travelling in Europe through music.There is a wealth of historical, and traditional European monophonic music.Hence, the Tour is based around the 14th-15th centuries whenEuphoniumencounters different musical cultures.The Tour is dedicated to my father, mother, brother, and sister;Jean-Pierre, Francoise, Fabrice, and Mahaut Lehmann;with whom I was fortunate to travel in my youth.CONTENTS1. Ostentatious OvertureEuphoniumis at the French palace of Versailles with all itspomp, splendour, and magnificence.2. Mystical MinnesangerEuphoniumhas travelled to the Holy Roman Empire, where he isperforming an ode to a Germanic Knight.3. Andalusian NightsThe Caliphate of Cordoba was a mixing-pot of Islamicand Judaic music. What is fascinating is that many of the ideas aroundperformance; modes at certain times of the day, improvisation into metred,faster sections; go back to the Indian subcontinent and even furtherback into Ancient Greece.Euphonium is chanting for theCaliphate on a warm summer's evening.4. Tarantella of the TagliatelleI don't know if the Medici family ate tagliatelle,but if they did, this joyful and lively tarantella is whatEuphonium would have played.5. Terrifying TropakA complete change of mood.Euphonium is playing for a swashbucklingperformance of Ukrainian Cossacks, with leaps, stamps, and twirls.6. Sami Herding SongIn the Arctic Norwegian north,Euphonium is with the Sami calling theirherd of reindeers with vocalisations that echo in the icy distance.7. Highland FlingEuphoniumis in Scotland taking part in the Highland Games.Female dancers perform athletic jumps.8. Royal Festive FanfareEuphoniumfinishes his European Tour at Windsor Castle, England.Like the natural trumpet (played at the time), the lower range is based on the first notes of the harmonic scale and announce the entry of the royal family.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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£9.95Trumpet's Extraordinary European Tour - Solo Trumpet - LM186
COMPOSER: Alexandra LehmannTrumpet's Extraordinary European TourThe year 2020 will be infamously recorded as a time when musicians had to lead a solitary life, which is incompatible with musical activity.Furthermore, I wanted to offer an experience of travelling in Europe through music.There is a wealth of historical, and traditional European monophonic music.Hence, the Tour is based around the 14th-15th centuries whenEuphoniumencounters different musical cultures.The Tour is dedicated to my father, mother, brother, and sister;Jean-Pierre, Francoise, Fabrice, and Mahaut Lehmann;with whom I was fortunate to travel in my youth.CONTENTS1. Ostentatious OvertureTrumpet is at the French palace of Versailles with all itspomp, splendour, and magnificence.2. Mystical MinnesangerTrumpethas travelled to the Holy Roman Empire, where he isperforming an ode to a Germanic Knight.3. Andalusian NightsThe Caliphate of Cordoba was a mixing-pot of Islamicand Judaic music. What is fascinating is that many of the ideas aroundperformance; modes at certain times of the day, improvisation into metred,faster sections; go back to the Indian subcontinent and even furtherback into Ancient Greece.Trumpetis chanting for theCaliphate on a warm summer's evening.4. Tarantella of the TagliatelleI don't know if the Medici family ate tagliatelle,but if they did, this joyful and lively tarantella is whatTrumpet would have played.5. Terrifying TropakA complete change of mood.Trumpet is playing for a swashbucklingperformance of Ukrainian Cossacks, with leaps, stamps, and twirls.6. Sami Herding SongIn the Arctic Norwegian north,Trumpet is with the Sami calling theirherd of reindeers with vocalisations that echo in the icy distance.7. Highland FlingTrumpetis in Scotland taking part in the Highland Games.Female dancers perform athletic jumps.8. Royal Festive FanfareTrumpetfinishes his European Tour at Windsor Castle, England.Like the natural trumpet (played at the time), the lower range is based on the first notes of the harmonic scale and announce the entry of the royal family.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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£18.58Second Quartet - A Hint of Bach (Brass Quartet) Kenneth Downie
This thrilling work for brass quartet from the pen of Kenneth Downie is based on Bach's Two-part Invention in F major, BWV779. The composer writes: 'I wrote this quartet during the early days of Covid, when only small groups of instrumentalists were allowed to play together. Chamber music is something I enjoyed during my student days - it really is wonderful for developing good musicianship, requiring an awareness of what everyone in the group is doing, and calling for tight ensemble, keen balance and tuning, as well as a uniformity of style in performance. Playing the two and three part inventions of J.S. Bach formed an important part of my piano studies, and since I found myself writing more counterpoint than usual in these quartets, it seemed entirely appropriate to reference the great master of counterpoint in this work. At bar 49, the euphonium quotes from the opening of Bach's Two-part Invention in F major, BWV779, the first keyboard work of Bach that I ever learned, and this phrase pops up quite frequently thereafter. The rising arpeggio figure has a bouncy, positive feel to it, and I really enjoyed developing this material. I hope that players and listeners will share the fun as they rehearse and perform the quartet.' To view a rolling score video of this work please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG7LeUCan8U Difficulty Level: Medium Advanced Duration: Approx. 4 minutes Instrumentation: Part 1 - Cornet/Trumpet in Bb Part 2 - Cornet/Trumpet in Bb Part 3 - Horn in Eb or F Part 4 - Euphonium Bb (Treble Clef & Bass Clef parts provided)
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£225.00
Prillar&Halling - for Solo Clarinet and Wind Band - Stig Nordhagen
"Prillar" has it's origin from Norwegian folklorist music. It's a way of calling and singing the cattle home from the fields. Halling is a wellknown folk dance from the valleys in the eastern part of Norway.In this work, the clarinet use the prillar to get the other musicians to join in.The melodic material in Prillar and Halling hasn't got all the sound of Norwegian folklore exclusively. You can also hear folkloric music from other nations. The idea is to show the similarities between these and also the small differences there are between folkloristic elements from a large area. The piece also contains the folk tune "Adam in paradise", from south of Norway. At the end, the tunes are stacked on top of each other, and the similarities of origin turns out.- Stig Nordhagen -
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£37.95Connotations (Brass Band - Score only) - Gregson, Edward
Connotations was commissioned for the 1977 National Brass Band Championship finals, held in the Royal Albert Hall, London (the winner, incidentally, of that particular competition was the famous Black Dyke Mills Band).At the age of 32 Gregson was the youngest composer to have received the honour of such a commission. It came at the end of a productive five years writing for the brass band publisher R Smith. Some of those works - The Plantagenets, Essay and Patterns for example, with their direct and tuneful style, have remained popular with brass bands the world over.For Gregson, these were the means by which he sharpened the tools of his trade, preparing the ground, as it were, for his finest work to date - Connotations. He thought of calling the piece Variations on a Fourth, but with due deference to Gilbert Vinter perhaps (Variations on a Ninth), he chose a more appropriate one. As Gregson has written, 'Connotations suggests more than one way of looking at something, an idea, and this is exactly what the piece is about'.Writing a competition piece brought its own problems. 'It has to be technically difficult and yet musically satisfying. I didn't like being kept to an eleven-minute maximum. The inclusion of short cadenzas for less usual solo instruments seems to signify a certain test-piece mentality'.Gregson solved the problems admirably by adopting a symphonic approach to variation form: Introduction - fanfares, a call to attention, in effect Variation 1; Theme - a six-note motif, given a lyrical and restrained first statement; Variation 2 - a delicate toccata; Variation 3 - typically robust in melody and rhythm; Variation 4 - lyrical solos; Variation 5 - a scherzo; Variation 6 - cadenzas; Variations 7-9 - an introduction, fugato and resounding restatement of the theme.Duration: 10.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£74.95
Connotations (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Gregson, Edward
Connotations was commissioned for the 1977 National Brass Band Championship finals, held in the Royal Albert Hall, London (the winner, incidentally, of that particular competition was the famous Black Dyke Mills Band).At the age of 32 Gregson was the youngest composer to have received the honour of such a commission. It came at the end of a productive five years writing for the brass band publisher R Smith. Some of those works - The Plantagenets, Essay and Patterns for example, with their direct and tuneful style, have remained popular with brass bands the world over.For Gregson, these were the means by which he sharpened the tools of his trade, preparing the ground, as it were, for his finest work to date - Connotations. He thought of calling the piece Variations on a Fourth, but with due deference to Gilbert Vinter perhaps (Variations on a Ninth), he chose a more appropriate one. As Gregson has written, 'Connotations suggests more than one way of looking at something, an idea, and this is exactly what the piece is about'.Writing a competition piece brought its own problems. 'It has to be technically difficult and yet musically satisfying. I didn't like being kept to an eleven-minute maximum. The inclusion of short cadenzas for less usual solo instruments seems to signify a certain test-piece mentality'.Gregson solved the problems admirably by adopting a symphonic approach to variation form: Introduction - fanfares, a call to attention, in effect Variation 1; Theme - a six-note motif, given a lyrical and restrained first statement; Variation 2 - a delicate toccata; Variation 3 - typically robust in melody and rhythm; Variation 4 - lyrical solos; Variation 5 - a scherzo; Variation 6 - cadenzas; Variations 7-9 - an introduction, fugato and resounding restatement of the theme.Duration: 10.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£38.95Unity Series Band Journal - Numbers 526 - 529, February 2024
526: March - Summit Cross (Beat Hari)This exciting and energetic work introduces a new contributor to our journals. Beat Hari helps lead the band at Frutigen Corps, Switzerland. This march was composed with the intention of featuring it in an open-air concert beside the ski slopes. Members of the corps regularly join the band, instigating conversations with skiing guests by distributing bible verses and sweets. The composer has named this march because of the many Swiss mountains that have crosses on their summit as symbols of God's protection over the population living in the valleys below. The march follows a traditional format with a solid rhythmic construction built from the bass line.527: Christ is all (Olaf Ritman)The Salvation Army song, Christ is all (S.A.S.B. 588) is one that is cherished by the composer. The verses by Herbert Booth are both powerful and vulnerable and the melody by William A. Williams really touches the soul.528: My all to follow (David Edmonds)This piece pays tribute to all who have accepted the call to become Salvation Army officers and envoys. Such a calling involves significant change and can be difficult when leaving their comfort zone or moving away from family.529: We shall win (Alan Williams)William Hodgson's song We're a band that shall conquer the foe (S.A.S.B. 990) is one of confidence and encouragement in our daily fight against evil, sin and injustice, both in the world and in our lives. As such, this music should be full of that same confidence.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.95Judd: Quest
'Quest' was originally written for the Territorial Youth Band (UK) in 2012. It is a major work in three movements, Movement 1: Making a difference, Movement 2: Making time and Movement 3: Making progress. The music essentially charts the journey of the Christians life. The music commences with Ray Steadman-Allen's choral work and testimony 'So this is it! My day for living!' and has references and then a presentation to the tune 'Southport' associated with the words 'To serve the present age my calling to fufil'. The music displays the struggle of the Christian in maintaining a witness within this world. The second movement is a reflective and prayerful setting of the song 'This day' found in the Sing to the Lord journal. The imposing third movement features the tune 'Trust in God' with the associated words 'As the weary way of life we journey'. The piece has been recorded by the International Staff Band under the same title (SPS330)
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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