Results
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£30.00La Musica Notturna Delle Strade di Madrid
DescriptionLuigi Boccherini was born in Lucca, Italy, into a musical family. His father, a cellist and double-bass player, sent him to study in Rome at a young age. In 1757 they both went to Vienna, where the court employed them as musicians in the Burgtheater. In 1761 Boccherini went to Madrid, entering the employ of Prince Luis Antonio of Spain, younger brother of King Charles III. There he flourished under royal patronage, until one day when the King expressed his disapproval at a passage in a new trio, and ordered Boccherini to change it. The composer, no doubt irritated with this intrusion into his art, doubled the passage instead, which led to his immediate dismissal. Then he accompanied Don Luis to Arenas de San Pedro, a little town in the Gredos mountains, where Boccherini wrote many of his most famous works. Although neglected after his death and throughout the 19th and early 20th century (he was known mockingly as 'Haydn's Wife' for a time), Boccherini's music has been rediscovered in recent decades.La Musica Notturna delle Strade di Madrid('Night Music of the Streets of Madrid') is a string quintet of seven short movements composed during Boccherini's exile in Arenas, no doubt to remind him and his prince of happier times. The music is reminiscent of "the gaiety and bustle of Spain's capital, recalling the sound of the city's church bells ringing for evening prayer, the popular dances that were the delight of its young people, and the blind beggars singing their typical songs". This arrangement excludes the first and last two movements, comprising the middle four:Il Tamburo di Soldati(The Soldier's Drum)Minuetto dei Ciechi(The Minuet of the Blind Beggars)Il Rosario(The Rosary)Passe Calle(The Passacaglia of the Street Singers)The music was featured in the Russell Crowe filmMaster and Commander: The Far Side of the World(2003) set during the Napoleonic Wars and featuring the adventures of the Royal Navy ship HMS Surprise and her captain Jack Aubrey as they pursue the French ship Acheron into the Pacific Ocean.You can listen to an audio preview while following the score in the video below!Duration approximately 5'00".
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£22.50Edward Gregson: Concertante for Piano and Brass Band
DescriptionProgramme NoteThe Concertante for Piano and Brass Band was written in 1966, when the composer was an undergraduate student at the Royal Academy of Music in London. It received its first public concert performance in 1967 at the Royal Festival Hall, London, when the composer was the soloist with the International Band of the Salvation Army, conducted by Bernard Adams. It was one of the first major works to be written for this particular combination.The Concertante is unashamedly romantic in idiom and is in three movements: Prelude, Nocturne and Rondo. The Prelude is cast in sonata form and opens with a short cadenza-like flourish from the soloist, followed by two main ideas - the first sweepingly dramatic, the second highly lyrical. The interplay between these two themes forms the main focus of the movement, and after a return to the opening theme, an exuberant codetta brings the music to a close, albeit a quiet one. https://morthanveld.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Gregson-Concertante-1st-movt-clip.mp3The tender Nocturne opens with an introduction from the band that contains precursors of the two main ideas to follow. The solo piano announces the main theme, which has a slightly 'bluesy' character with its flattened third and seventh notes of the scale, and is a love song dedicated to the composer's wife-to-be. The band enters with phrases of a chorale already hinted at in the introduction - Ray Steadman-Allen's hymn tune 'Esher' - but never quite presented in its complete state. Both ideas are developed alongside each other, with eventually the first theme returning, this time with piano and band together, and building to a majestic climax, before subsiding to a peaceful coda - a return to the very opening of the movement. https://morthanveld.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Gregson-Concertante-movt-2-clip.mp3The final Rondo is full of energetic rhythms and changing time patterns. The main theme is playful in character, with much interplay between soloist and band, whilst the middle section presents a new theme, and one that has more than a hint of the hymn tune 'Onward Christian Soldiers', in what amounts to a good humoured parody. The opening Rondo theme returns, this time leading to a powerful and dissonant climax from the band. This is followed by an extended piano cadenza, underlying the virtuoso aspect of the work, and leading to an energetic and life-affirming coda, which brings the work to a triumphant conclusion. https://morthanveld.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Gregson-Concertante-movt-3-clip.mp3Duration: 18 minutesInstrumentation:Please note that there is no 1st/Repiano Cornet part in this work. The 1st/Repiano Cornet player should join the Solo Cornet bench. As such an extra Solo Cornet part is provided in the set of parts.Version for two pianosA version of the Concertante for two pianos is available for rehearsal purposes. Piano 1 is the solo part and Piano 2 the band reduction. However, for those pianists not needing to rehearse the work in this way, a solo piano part is also provided with the main set of band parts.To view a preview of the solo part for the first movement click here.The youthful Gregson (his work was written as a third year undergraduate) was seemingly a bit of a musical magpie - but one heck of a skilful one at that.These were shiny baubles of poise, panache and pastiche, with affectionate, remarkably mature nods of appreciation towards Gershwin, Rachmaninov, Ireland and even Elmer as well as Leonard Bernstein.The rich colour palette and flowing lines (with the tenderest of central Nocturnes) were a joy - as were the little buds of motifs that dotted the score like seeds ready to be planted on a future fertile brass band compositional field. - Iwan Fox, 4Barsrest.com, June 2019For more information on Edward Gregson's music please visit the composer's website: www.edwardgregson.com
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) - Gregson, Edward
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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£40.00
Tenor Horn Concerto 'Three Gods' (Tenor Horn Solo with Brass Band - Score only) - Gregson, Edward
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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£95.00Variations on a Theme of Michael Tippett (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Hindmarsh, Paul
A Centenary Tribute by Michael Ball, Edward Gregson, Elgar Howarth, Bramwell Tovey and Philip WilbyThis unique 'pice d'occasion' arose out of a telephone conversation in 2004 with Alan Wycherley, who was the soprano cornet player of the Foden's Richardson Band at the time. He indicated that the band would like to include an original birthday tribute for Edward Gregson (60) and Elgar Howarth (70) in its concert at the 2005 RNCM Festival of Brass in Manchester. I have been Artistic Director of Manchester's Festival of Brass since it was established in 1990 as a BBC Radio 3 series, As the centenary of the birth of Sir Michael Tippett fell on 5 January 2005, I devised this collective work as a way of embracing all three anniversaries in a novel way.The idea of joint compositions is not a new one in the classical music world. In the 1860s, Verdi was joined by a number of his contemporaries in a Requiem Mass for Rossini. In this country there have been a number of orchestral examples over the past fifty years, but never before for the brass band. Although Tippett composed only one work for brass band, Festal Brass with Blues, his orchestral works and operas are full of idiomatic brass writing. The theme I chose for this celebration is one of Tippet's most memorable miniatures featuring wind and brass. In the opera Midsummer Marriage it marks the entry of the Ancients. It is also included in the orchestral Suite in D (1948), for the Birthday of Prince Charles.I invited five of the leading contemporary voices in brass band music to add their own creative perspectives to the little Tippett theme, with it's characteristic rhythms, embellishments and modality - the Lydian mode. Each contribution was designed to fit into a tonal and formal template to give the whole work a flow and continuity. In Danse des Amis, Bramwell Tovey has composed a jazzy, humorous variation. Inspiration came from Tippett's love of jazz and, more personally, from the characteristically syncopated gait of the distinguished music critic John Amis, who Tovey once observed leaving a performance of Tippett's opera King Priam before the end. Incidentally, that performance was conducted by Elgar Howarth.We hear Edward Gregson in lyrical mode. His Midsummer Song is redolent of the sound world of Tippett's opera A Midsummer Marriage and it ends with a brief reference to a favourite of Gregson's, Tippett's Concerto for Orchestra. Michael Ball provides a brief moment of light, airy activity bringing to mind perhaps Tippett's love of Shakespearian fantasy, especially The Tempest. Elgar Howarth juxtaposes a slowed down version of the processional theme with distant recollections of fanfares from King Priam. Philip Wilby has rounded the tribute off with a spectacular fugue. During its inexorable progress Wilby ingeniously introduces the two other birthday references - the three-note musical signature that Elgar Howarth includes in much of his music and the characteristic theme which begins Edward Gregson's substantial work for brass an organ The Trumpets of the Angels. An elaborated reprise of Tippett's little theme is followed by a dynamic coda.- Paul HindmarshDuration: 13.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£40.00
Variations on a Theme of Michael Tippett (Brass Band - Score only) - Hindmarsh, Paul
A Centenary Tribute by Michael Ball, Edward Gregson, Elgar Howarth, Bramwell Tovey and Philip WilbyThis unique 'pice d'occasion' arose out of a telephone conversation in 2004 with Alan Wycherley, who was the soprano cornet player of the Foden's Richardson Band at the time. He indicated that the band would like to include an original birthday tribute for Edward Gregson (60) and Elgar Howarth (70) in its concert at the 2005 RNCM Festival of Brass in Manchester. I have been Artistic Director of Manchester's Festival of Brass since it was established in 1990 as a BBC Radio 3 series, As the centenary of the birth of Sir Michael Tippett fell on 5 January 2005, I devised this collective work as a way of embracing all three anniversaries in a novel way.The idea of joint compositions is not a new one in the classical music world. In the 1860s, Verdi was joined by a number of his contemporaries in a Requiem Mass for Rossini. In this country there have been a number of orchestral examples over the past fifty years, but never before for the brass band. Although Tippett composed only one work for brass band, Festal Brass with Blues, his orchestral works and operas are full of idiomatic brass writing. The theme I chose for this celebration is one of Tippet's most memorable miniatures featuring wind and brass. In the opera Midsummer Marriage it marks the entry of the Ancients. It is also included in the orchestral Suite in D (1948), for the Birthday of Prince Charles.I invited five of the leading contemporary voices in brass band music to add their own creative perspectives to the little Tippett theme, with it's characteristic rhythms, embellishments and modality - the Lydian mode. Each contribution was designed to fit into a tonal and formal template to give the whole work a flow and continuity. In Danse des Amis, Bramwell Tovey has composed a jazzy, humorous variation. Inspiration came from Tippett's love of jazz and, more personally, from the characteristically syncopated gait of the distinguished music critic John Amis, who Tovey once observed leaving a performance of Tippett's opera King Priam before the end. Incidentally, that performance was conducted by Elgar Howarth.We hear Edward Gregson in lyrical mode. His Midsummer Song is redolent of the sound world of Tippett's opera A Midsummer Marriage and it ends with a brief reference to a favourite of Gregson's, Tippett's Concerto for Orchestra. Michael Ball provides a brief moment of light, airy activity bringing to mind perhaps Tippett's love of Shakespearian fantasy, especially The Tempest. Elgar Howarth juxtaposes a slowed down version of the processional theme with distant recollections of fanfares from King Priam. Philip Wilby has rounded the tribute off with a spectacular fugue. During its inexorable progress Wilby ingeniously introduces the two other birthday references - the three-note musical signature that Elgar Howarth includes in much of his music and the characteristic theme which begins Edward Gregson's substantial work for brass an organ The Trumpets of the Angels. An elaborated reprise of Tippett's little theme is followed by a dynamic coda.- Paul HindmarshDuration: 13.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£89.95TUBA CONCERTO (Gregson) (Tuba Solo with Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Gregson, Edward
This work was commissioned by the Besses o' th' Barn Band with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain. It was written for, and is dedicated to, John Fletcher, who gave the first performance in Middleton Civic Hall, near Manchester, on 24 April, 1976, with Besses o' th' Barn Band conducted by the composer. Another interesting feature about the premire was that it was recorded by BBC Television for an Omnibus programme with Andr Previn as presenter. The concerto exists in four versions: with brass band (1976), orchestra (1978), wind band (1984) and piano reduction.The concerto is in three movements, following the usual, quick-slow-quick pattern: Allegro deciso,Lento e mesto, Allegro giocoso. The first movement has a sonata form shell with two contrasting themes, the first one being rhythmic in character, the second lyrical. There is a reference made in passing to the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto, but this merges into the other material in the development section.The second movement begins with a chorale, but after the entry of the tuba it leads to a cantabile theme, softly unfolded by the soloist. The opening chorale passage returns, this time briefly on muted brass, and leads to a middle section which is more chromatic in style and soon builds to a powerful climax, where the opening cantabile theme triumphantly returns. The music subsides, returning to the opening chorale and ending peacefully.The finale is light and breezy in style, and is cast in rondo form. After a brief introduction the tuba announces the main rondo theme, which is dance-like and a little jaunty. There are two episodes: the first a broad sweeping tune, the second a slowish waltz and a little jazz-like. After a virtuoso cadenza reference is made to the very opening of the concerto before the work ends with a triumphal flourish.The Tuba Concerto has established itself as one of the main works in the solo tuba repertoire. It has been performed and broadcast in over 40 countries all over the world. There are currently six commercial recordings of the concerto in its various versions.resolution in C major, pointed by a simple but expansive melody towards which the piece has been heading, and ending in a blaze of joyful colour.Duration: 18 mins
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£44.95
TUBA CONCERTO (Gregson) (Tuba Solo with Brass Band - Score only) - Gregson, Edward
Brass Band Score onlyThis work was commissioned by the Besses o' th' Barn Band with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain. It was written for, and is dedicated to, John Fletcher, who gave the first performance in Middleton Civic Hall, near Manchester, on 24 April, 1976, with Besses o' th' Barn Band conducted by the composer. Another interesting feature about the premire was that it was recorded by BBC Television for an Omnibus programme with Andr Previn as presenter. The concerto exists in three versions: with brass band (1976), orchestra (1978) and wind band (1984).The concerto is in three movements, following the usual, quick-slow-quick pattern: Allegro deciso,Lento e mesto, Allegro giocoso. The first movement has a sonata form shell with two contrasting themes, the first one being rhythmic in character, the second lyrical. There is a reference made in passing to the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto, but this merges into the other material in the development section.The second movement begins with a chorale, but after the entry of the tuba it leads to a cantabile theme, softly unfolded by the soloist. The opening chorale passage returns, this time briefly on muted brass, and leads to a middle section which is more chromatic in style and soon builds to a powerful climax, where the opening cantabile theme triumphantly returns. The music subsides, returning to the opening chorale and ending peacefully.The finale is light and breezy in style, and is cast in rondo form. After a brief introduction the tuba announces the main rondo theme, which is dance-like and a little jaunty. There are two episodes: the first a broad sweeping tune, the second a slowish waltz and a little jazz-like. After a virtuoso cadenza reference is made to the very opening of the concerto before the work ends with a triumphal flourish.The Tuba Concerto has established itself as one of the main works in the solo tuba repertoire. It has been performed and broadcast in over 40 countries all over the world. There are currently six commercial recordings of the concerto in its various versions.resolution in C major, pointed by a simple but expansive melody towards which the piece has been heading, and ending in a blaze of joyful colour.Duration: 18 mins
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£65.00AN ELGAR PORTRAIT - D.Price
This work was composed in commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the birth English Composer Sir Edward Elgar. The suite is in three movements: 'Introduction', 'Elegy' and 'March', each of which have been inspired by three of Elgar's most celebrated works; Chanson de Matin, Nimrod ('Variation IX' from the Enigma Variations) and Pomp and Circumstance No.1.'Introduction' - Hollybush HillHollybush Hill is the name of one of the peaks of the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire. The Malverns were a favourite walking area for Elgar and his wife, and their panoramic views inspired much of Elgar's music.'Elegy' - BroadheathBroadheath is the small village at the foot of the Malvern Hills where Elgar was born (and lived at various times throughout his life). Elgar is buried not far from Broadheath at St Wulstan's in Little Malvern. 'March' - Worcester CathedralMany of the Worcestershire ensembles and music festivals played an important role in Elgar's early musical education. He was heavily involved in The Three Choirs Festival and either conducted or played in many of the light orchestras and vocal groups that performed at venues across Worcester. A statue of Elgar overlooks the Cathedral at the end of Worcester High Street.An Elgar Portrait has been used regularly as an own-choice test-piece for Section 4 bands, and was also selected as the set work for the Swiss National Championships in 2007 as well as the Pontins Championships in 2008. The composer has slightly reworked this piece for the Section 4 Final of the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain 2020 and it's this version that should be performed at the contest. If bands currently have an older version in their libraries, please contact us directly for more information.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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£33.26Libera 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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