Results
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£18.00Scarborough Fair
DescriptionScarborough Fair is a traditional English ballad about the Yorkshire town of Scarborough. The song relates the tale of a young man who instructs the listener to tell his former love to perform for him a series of impossible tasks, such as making him a shirt without a seam and then washing it in a dry well, adding that if she completes these tasks he will take her back. Often the song is sung as a duet, with the woman then giving her lover a series of equally impossible tasks, promising to give him his seamless shirt once he has finished.As the versions of the ballad known under the title Scarborough Fair are usually limited to the exchange of these impossible tasks, many suggestions concerning the plot have been proposed, including the theory that it is about the Great Plague of the late Middle Ages. The lyrics of "Scarborough Fair" appear to have something in common with an obscure Scottish ballad, The Elfin Knight which has been traced at least as far back as 1670 and may well be earlier. In this ballad, an elf threatens to abduct a young woman to be his lover unless she can perform an impossible task.As the song spread, it was adapted, modified, and rewritten to the point that dozens of versions existed by the end of the 18th century, although only a few are typically sung nowadays. The references to the traditional English fair, "Scarborough Fair" and the refrain "parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme" date to 19th century versions. A number of older versions refer to locations other than Scarborough Fair, including Wittingham Fair, Cape Ann, "twixt Berwik and Lyne", etc.The earliest notable recording of it was by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, a version which heavily influenced Simon and Garfunkel's later more famous version. Amongst many other recordings, the tune was used by the Stone Roses as the basis of their song "Elizabeth my Dear".
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£10.00Endurance
DescriptionMen wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success. - Ernest Shackleton, 4 Burlington StreetEndurance takes its title from the ship used by Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1914-15. After many months of fundraising (and reputedly running the above advert in The Times) the Endurance set sail from Plymouth on 6 August 1914. Whilst at sea news of the outbreak of war led Shackleton to put his ship and crew at the disposal of the Admiralty, but their services were not required and they were encouraged to continue. On October 26 1914 they left Grytviken on South Georgia for the Antarctic continent, hoping to find the pack ice shrinking in the Antarctic spring. Two days later, however, they encountered unseasonable ice which slowed their progress considerably. On 15 January 1915, when Endurance was only 200 miles from her intended landfall at Vahsel Bay, the ship became beset by ice which had been compressed against the land to the south by gale force winds. Trapped in the ice of the Weddell Sea, the ship spent the Antarctic winter driven by the weather further from her intended destination until, on 21 November 1915 Endurance broke up forcing the crew to abandon ship and set up camp on the ice at a site they named "Patience Camp".The crew spent several weeks on the ice. As the southern spring started to reduce the extent of the ice shelf they took to their three lifeboats, sailing across the open ocean to reach the desolate and uninhabited Elephant Island. There they used two of the boats to build a makeshift shelter while Shackleton and five others took the largest boat, an open lifeboat named the 'James Caird' and sailed it for 800 terrifyingly dangerous miles across the vast and lonely Southern Atlantic to South Georgia - a journey now widely regarded as one of the greatest and most heroic small-boat journeys ever undertaken. After landing on the wrong side of the island and having to climb over a mountain range in the dark with no map, Shackleton and his companions finally stumbled back into the Grytviken whaling station on 19 May 1916.After resting very briefly to recover his strength, Shackleton then began a relentless campaign to beg or borrow a ship to rescue the rest of his crew from Elephant Island; whaling ships were not strong enough to enter polar ice, but on 30 August 1916, over two years after their departure from Plymouth, Shackleton finally returned to Elephant Island aboard a steam tug borrowed from the Chilean government. Although some were in poor health, every member of the Endurance crew was rescued and returned home alive.Endurance is dedicated to the memory of my mum, who passed away in September 2017.Listen to a computer generated preview and follow the score below:
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£15.00Perseverance
DescriptionPerseverance was commissioned by Middleton Band to mark their 140th anniversary in 2016, supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, and featured on Middleton Band's CD of the same name.The title is taken from the original name of the 1876 band, the Middleton Perseverance Drum and Fife Band. According to the band's historical records, the Drum and Fife band was formed by six Middleton youngsters eager to learn music but short of funds. Following a whip round, they visited a music shop in Oldham where they purchased a 'one key flute' for six shillings and sixpence, and ('later on') a drum.This determination to make music despite the odds has been a characteristic of the band ever since; at the end of the second world war the band was again down to six players, who rebuilt the 'Middleton Borough Band' back to twenty-six players. After a period of some considerable success throughout the sixties and seventies culminating in winning the National Third Section title in 1983 the band hit hard times again in the late eighties and was down to only four members in 1987 before again being brought back to life. In recent decades the band has built a strong relationship with the East Lancashire Railway, another organisation which has battled sometimes mighty obstacles in its struggle to survive, and has maintained a thriving and successful youth band.The band's will to survive through adversity is reflected in the music, which builds from a sextet of four brass and two percussion players three times, only to fall back to the sextet twice. In the central slow movement the bass drum plays a 'heartbeat' rhythm as the remaining players remember those lost in the war. The relentless pace of the final section culminates in the band triumphing over the adversity which has curtailed the previous two sections. As a former member of Middleton Band (and one of the team that regained the National Third Section title in 2007) it is my pleasure to dedicate this work to the 'Pop and Ale Boys', Middleton Band.You can read more about the piece here.To view the accompanying video by Andy Marshall, designed to precede the piece, clickhereand find out more about the link between the video and the music here.Recording with Score VideoPerformance NotesIn performance the four brass members of the sextet (soprano, solo horn, solo trombone and solo euphonium) should stand at the sides of the band - soprano and horn behind the cornets, trombone and euphonium behind the trombones. Percussion may stand with them at the conductor's discretion, but only if the band has TWO snare drums and TWO concert bass drums available, as these are also needed at the back of the band in the tutti sections. In the second sextet snare drum should be muffled with a heavy cloth OR have the snares turned off (not both).Percussion and mutesPercussion required:snare drum (muffled with a heavy cloth at one point)concert bass drum, kit bass drum, hi-hat, suspended (crash) cymbal2 x tom-tomswood blockclash cymbals3 x timpanitam-tamglockenspielSoprano cornet, repiano and 2nd cornets, flugel and all trombones require metal straight mutes. Soprano, Solo Cornet 3/4, Repiano 2nd and 3rd cornets require cup mutes. Solo Cornet 1/2, Repiano, 2nd and 3rd cornets require harmon mutes.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£132.00
Myte - Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen
Commissioned by Radoy Brass for their 20 years anniversary.This version was first performed by Manger Skulemusikklag in 2005.The Work is devided into Five Scenes:1. Sverdet (The Sword) 3:452. Advarsel - fra en vis mann (Warning - from a Wise Man) 2:303. Dragen (The Dragon) 3:004. Advarsel II - fra syngende fugler (Warning II - from singing birds) 1:355. Gull - forbannelsen (Gold - The Curse) 2:50Total durata 13:30This work is based on five scenes from the tale about "Sigurd Favnesbane" (Sigurd the dragonslayer). Moods and atmospheres in the piece represent my way of retelling the old myth.1. The SwordThe dwarf blacksmith Regin is hammering and sharpening the edges of the magical sword Gram. After three attempts the sword is finally sharp enough to kill a dragon. 2. Warning - from a Wise manRichard Wagners opera Sigfried is based on the same story. In the opera the hero get warned by a wise man. He tells the secret of how to survive an attack of the dragon by hiding in a hole in the pathway and then kill the dragon with the sword as the dragon passes on its way to the river to drink water.3. DragonThe Dragon (Favne) guards a fantastic treasure, but he is also the brother of the blacksmith Regin. Favne get killed and his blood flows slowly while he laments (trombone/bass trombone).4. Warning II - from singing birdsWhile frying the heart, Sigurd burns his thumb and put it into his mouth to cool it down. Then he swallow a drop of fresh magic dragon blood which transfers the ability to understand the birdlanguage. The birds sing warnings to Sigurd telling him that Regin will betray him and later kill him. Sigurd then kills Regin instead.5. Gold - the CurseSigurd takes the gold treasure and escapes on the horseback of Grane. But his robbery of the gold lead him into trouble: The gold is banned and a curse will hit everyone whotakes it...Myth is a programmatic work where the story is quite clearly illustrated throughout the piece:In the first movement you can hear the blacksmith working with hammer on ambolt while the heat is intense from the glows. The dwarf has got his own theme i lower brass (bar 4-5). The hero Sigurd has his own identifying chord (2 bars before F). The chord is also a symbol of the sword.In the second movement the warning from the wise man is expressed in the lyric bass line.The airblow in instruments illustrate the dragon Favne on his way out of his cave, and later the blood flows slowly. The dragon takes his last deep breath after a painful duet in trombones. The birds sing their motifs (lightly, but not cheerful though), until Sigurd cuts the head off Regin and it hits the ground.The last movement describes the atmosphere andstate of mind as the curse infects the obsessed thief.
Publisher Closed for Holidays. Est Delivery 13-14th Aug
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£70.00
Apophenia - Peter Meechan
aApophenia is the experience of seeing patterns or connections in random or meaningless data.aApophenia is a trumpet concerto in three movements written for American trumpet virtuoso Rex Richardson. Each of the three movements features a different instrument; Movement 1 is for the Bb trumpet, the second is for flugel horn and trumpet, and the third is for trumpet and piccolo trumpet.Each of the three movements of Apophenia relate to the phenomenon of viewing Dark Side of the Rainbow - a name used to refer to the act of listening to the 1973 Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon whilst watching the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, where moments where the film and the album appear to correspond with each other.Movement 1 is a fast a furious movement. Solo and ensemble interact at high tempo, swapping and creating new ideas, leading each other in new directions. Aside from the trumpet soloist, the kit player also acts as a quasi soloist.The second movement takes its musical inspiration from the Pink Floyd song Us and Them. It is during this segment of the film that some of the most amazing moments of connection happen.The final movement is a dance - and a tour de force for the soloist who begins on the Bb trumpet, before switching to the piccolo trumpet (or Eb trumpet) for the fast and furious finale. Many of the coincidences from Dark Side of the Rainbow relate to dancing, however, as long as a piece of music is the same tempo as the original, and the time signature is a regular one, this could be the case across most films. So the composer chose to write a dance that wouldn't synchronise to too many existing dance scenes!The soloist is free to improvise their own cadenza.Apophenia is dedicated to Rex Richardson.
Estimated dispatch 12-14 working days
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£44.95
TRAILBLAZERS (Brass Band Set) - Andrew Mackereth
This overture draws its inspiration from the story of the first Household Troops Band. It tells the story of the 1887 band, the subsequent lull of nearly a hundred years and the re-awakening of the Troops phenomenon in 1985. It was originally written in 1995 and featured prominently by the band on its North American tour of 2002. Given the history of the Household Troops Band, it is fitting that this composition is preoccupied with marching. It begins with a marching song played by a solitary muted cornet, symbolic not only of the call to bandsmen to join the evangelical effort but also a muso-dramatic device to indicate the steady increase in members and technical ability! The music quickly develops into stirring versions of 'A robe of white' and 'Storm the forts of darkness' with two early day Salvation Army tunes crucially adding to the narrative; 'Marching on in the light of God' and 'Soldiers of our God, arise!' The second section is a reflective setting of the Herbert Booth song, 'The penitent's plea'. This song serves to represent the many people who were 'saved' during those early day campaigns. The expressive music transports the listener through a period of uncertainty and angst until finally reaching the song, 'There is a message, a simple message, and it's a message for us all'. The final section deals first with the emergence from the annals of history with the muted cornet figure again before, symbolically, the present day band bursts forth with an emphatic statement of 'Would you be free from your burden of sin? There's power in the blood'. The stirring climax represents a fitting tribute to those gallant pioneering musicians and their equally impressive and dedicated contemporaries.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£95.00Tenor Horn Concerto 'Three Gods' (Tenor Horn Solo with Brass Band - Score and Parts)
Edward Gregson's Tenor Horn Concerto (Three Gods) was commissioned by the Belgian tenor horn soloist Tim de Maeseneer for a recording of commissioned works he made in 2024 with his own band, Brass Band Willebroek.The subtitle of 'Three Gods' refers to three mythological Greek Gods: Zeus, Hermes and Apollo. The idea for this came from Gregson's Viola Concerto, which he composed in 2023 and which was similarly subtitled 'Three Goddesses'. Indeed, the first movement of the horn concerto shares some common material with the viola concerto, although the other movements are newly composed.The concerto exploits the noble character of the horn, but the writing is also virtuosic in character as well as lyrical and melodic, demanding an extended playing range of nearly four octaves with a variety of colouration in its sonorities. The unifying motif of the whole concerto is the interval of a rising 5th, heard at the outset. The opening also has some other surprises (both seen and heard).The musical ideas, cast in three separate movements, take their starting point from the characters of the Three Gods in the title:Zeus, ruled as King of the Gods on Mount Olympus, and was the God of Thunder and Lightning and of War. His music is often threatening and violent, but also has a more tender side as portrayed in the lyrical second subject. However, the dominant mood is one of foreboding.Hermes was the great messenger to the Gods who could travel between realms on his winged sandals. Thus, his music is fast, fleet of foot, and mercurial - a dashing scherzo, but with lyrical and expressive moments.Apollo, the God of Music and Dance (and the Sun), symbolises virtue and beauty. This final movement, 'Hymn to Apollo', is mainly slow and hymn-like and cast in a continuous stream of melody passed between soloist and band. Brief fanfares herald a triumphant march, before the music returns to its quiet opening, gradually rising to a triumphant climax with glittering melodic percussion leading the way. The music ends in a blaze of glory!Duration: 17.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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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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£0.99New Christmas Praise Song Book 1 - 95
These books are now an archive publication and, although are still available, have been superseded by Christmas Collection (available in marchcard size: https://www.sps-shop.com/cc-marchcard or A4 size https://www.sps-shop.com/cc-largeprint). Christmas Collection includes 46 new carols and songs as well as 10 extended carols (originally seen in the Sounds of Christmas books).Ideal for congregational singing.CONTENTS 1. A child this day is born 2. A Christmas Lullaby 3. A great and mighty wonder 4. A starry night 5. A virgin most pure 6. All my heart this night rejoices 7. Angels from the realms of Glory (Come and worship) 8. Angels from the realms of Glory (Iris) 9. Angels, sing again? 10.Angels we have heard on high 11.As with gladness men of old 12. Away in a manger 13. Away in a manger (The manger scene) 14. Bethlehem 15. Brightest and best 16. Brightest and best (Spean) 17. Child of Mary 18.. Calypso Carol 19. Carol for the Nativity 20. Carol of the bells 21.Carol of the drum 22. Christ was born on Christmas Day 23. Christians Awake 24. Come, children, come quickly 25. Coventry carol 26. Do you hear what I hear 27. Ding dong! merrily on high 28. Gabriels message 29. Glory in the highest 30. Go, tell it on the mountain 31. God of God, the uncreated 32. God rest you merry, gentlemen 33. Good Christian men, rejoice 34. Good King Wenceslas 35. Hark the glad sound! 36. Hark! the herald angels sing 37. How far is it to Bethlehem 38. I saw three ships come sailing in 39. I wonder as I wander 40. Il est n 41. Immanuel Appears 42. In the bleak mid-winter 43. Infant Holy 44. It came upon the midnight clear (Traditional) 45. It came upon the midnight clear (Willis) 46. Jesus, good above all other 47. Joy to the world 48. Little baby Jesus 49. Little Jesus, sweetly sleep. 50. Little donkey 51. Long, long ago 52. Marys boy child 53. Masters in this hall 54. Noel 55. o come, all ye faithful 56. o come, Immanuel 57. O come with me to Bethlehem 58. O little town of Bethlehem (Christmas Carol) 59. O little town of Bethlehem (Forest Green) 60. O little town of Bethlehem (St Louis) 61. O Heaven-sent King 62. O holy night 63. Once, in royal Davids city 64. Past three oclock 65. Personent hodie 66. Praise ye the Lord 67. Rise up, shepherd! 68. Sans day carol 69. See, amid the winters snow 70. Silent night! 71. Sleep, holy Babe 72. Softly the night is sleeping 74. Stars are shining 73. Sussex carol 76. Sweet chiming bells 75. Sweet chiming Christmas bells 77. The angels sang the story 78. The first Nowell 79. The holy Boy 80. The holly and the ivy 81. The infant King 82. The shepherds farewell 83. The virgin Mary had a baby boy 84. The stable door 85. They all were looking for a king 86. Three kings march 87. Unto us a boy is born 88. Wayfaring 89. We gather round the manger-bed 90. We three kings of Orient are 91. What child is this 92. When wise men came seeking 93. While shepherds watched 94. Who is he 95. Zither carol
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£110.00Diversions After Benjamin Britten (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
Suite by Lucy Pankhurst, Simon Dobson, Paul McGhee and Gavin HigginsHaving devised a collective centenary tribute for Michael Tippett at the 2006 RNCM Festival of Brass (Variations on a Theme of Michael Tippett by five eminent composers of brass band music, PHM002), I commissioned this companion piece as a Benjamin Britten tribute for the 2013 festival. In the late 1970s, while researching a book about the English composer, and Britten's first teacher, Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941), I came across a copy of the printed score of Benjamin Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (Op.10) for string orchestra, in which Britten had written descriptive titles for each of the variations suggesting appropriate character traits of his much loved mentor and guide. The character variations are cast in march, song and dance forms.Taking inspiration from Britten's youthful tribute, I invited four award-winning composers, who have all made significant contributions to the brass band medium, to create their own personal reflections on four aspects of Britten's character and music, designed to form a suite of Diversions after Benjamin Britten, but which can also be played separately.Lucy Pankhurst's hauntingly lyrical Prelude: His Depth refers to the emotional and symbolic subtexts that underpin Britten's operas, taking its musical cue from Britten's many arrangements of folk songs. The flugel horn takes a prominent role throughout.Simon Dobson's breathless Scherzo: His Vitality reminds us with its rapid passage work and leaping bass 'groove' that Britten loved tennis and fast cars in his younger days.Paul McGhee's evocative interpretation of the March: His Sympathy represents Benjamin Britten's pacifism, as the composer writes: 'We view the music through the eyes of a pacifist. Whilst war and violence surround us, we do not engage in it and though it continues to happen around us. With the use of muted effects in most of the band throughout the piece, the flugel horn is the lone voice of reason, standing firm against the mechanical and destructive society in which it is forced to live. As the machine of war continues around the lone voice, the voice is gradually dismissed and mocked as the war machine rumbles on into the distance.'In an extended finale, entitled Toccata: His Skill, Gavin Higgins celebrates Benjamin Britten's consummate creativity. For the RNCM Festival of Brass premiere, the four contrasting movements were framed and connected by Britten's Fanfare for St. Edmundsbury for three trumpets, with the trumpet soloists spaced round the hall. I am grateful to the Britten Estate and publishers Boosey & Hawkes for giving permission for the elements of Britten's fanfare to be incorporated in the collective work.- Paul HindmarshDuration: 19.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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