Results
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£45.00Diversions after Benjamin Britten (Brass Band - Score only)
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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£159.99Time Machine (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Doss, Thomas
Time Machine is a journey through time that begins in the Stone Age. Evolution and the coming of man take place. The journey takes us into the present, in which disorientation and chaos abound. We travel further into the future. An unfamiliar, quiet and surreal landscape lies before us and we wander through it, bewildered as we become aware of the destruction of the environment. Suddenly, and for no reason, memories from our childhood are awoken. Cultures have become completely mixed into one and the evolution of man has run its course. We realise that there is no "afterwards" as before us lies the Stone Age once again... The wheel of time spins blindly on and all is repeated.Duration: 13:30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£64.95Purcell Variants (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Meechan, Peter
Purcell Variants is based on Purcell's Queen Mary's Funeral Music, which consists of four canzonas (for brass), two elegies and an anthem.The first movement begins by sounding some of Purcell's original music in the trombones, underpinned by a timpani roll with the cornets articulating the beginnings and endings of the phrases. This leads into a cadenza for cornet and horn before the movement heads in different directions, leading us to its mysterious end, where the original music is sounded this time in the 'stabs' of the muted cornets.Originally composed for the funeral of Queen Mary in 1695, Purcell's original funeral music was used later that same year for Purcell's own funeral - he died aged only 34. The second movement is an elegy, inspired by this story. After an introduction (started by cornets sounding a last post), the main melody of the movement is introduced by the solo euphonium, with other solo roles for an off-stage soprano cornet, and trombone. This is then taken over by the cornets who lead us into the middle section of the movement. This is a quasi-funeral march, inspired by the image of Purcell's coffin being taken to its final resting point. The main melody returns in the euphonium, flugel horn and soprano cornet, this time more elaborated. The movement ends with a snare drum fading away - perhaps a metaphor. The Finale is a fast and furious movement combining thematic material from the two previous movements with new rhythmical ideas. This takes us through to the final passage - the triumphant return of Purcell's original theme.Duration: 13.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£124.95Diary of a Madman (Twenty-Fourth February) (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Clarke, Nigel
From the beginning of history, warlords, emperors and dictators have risen up, some benign but many of them a scourge on humanity. Names that resonate to this day include Julius Caesar, Caligula, Genghis Khan, Ivan IV (The Terrible), Attila the Hun, Vlad IV (The Impaler), Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, all of whom were responsible for wanton destruction and the torture and death of millions of victims, either citizens of invaded countries and territories and or indeed, their own peoples.Diary of a Madman starts with a light-hearted march that gives the impression of toy tin soldiers parading in a brightly-coloured ceremonial pageant from a fairy tale, conveying peace and innocence. This spectacle is abruptly interrupted by a 'shock and awe' fanfare-like march, symbolising aggression and war. This theme grinds slowly to a halt, and an atmosphere of introspection, sadness and despair takes over. Rising above the smoky theatre of war, we then hear a distant cornet give a rendition of the Ukrainian Nation Anthem (The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished. Luck will still smile on us brother-Ukrainians). The solo cornet soon enters a fragile duet with a second cornet accompanied by dark undertones. One by one, we hear short shards of aggressive fanfare-like figures from various instruments in the band. The mood breaks - we hear strident fortissimo whole-tone scales representing pealing church bells, warning of danger. In contrast, we also hear pianissimo whole-tone scales announcing that the enemy's troops are falling back. A counter-offensive soon takes centre stage, and battles and skirmishes are heard, with short quotations from Mussorgsky's `Great Gates of Kyiv' symbolising the defenders' heroic struggle.All sides are victims of the Dictator's ambition! The slow central section offer us moments of melancholic beauty and utilises Henry Purcell's `When I am laid in earth' (`Dido's Lament' from Dido and Aeneas 1688). This music represents the loss of homes, dignity and loved ones. There are occasional hints at better times as the theme of the parading toy tin soldiers is heard from afar, like a distant memory.To announce the final push, we hear a church bell strike and an air raid siren signalling a ferocious musical counter-attack. After one final rendition of the Purcell theme, Diary of a Madman closes with a mood of triumph over tyranny.- Nigel Clarke
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£57.95
Diary of a Madman (Twenty-Fourth February) (Brass Band - Score only) - Clarke, Nigel
From the beginning of history, warlords, emperors and dictators have risen up, some benign but many of them a scourge on humanity. Names that resonate to this day include Julius Caesar, Caligula, Genghis Khan, Ivan IV (The Terrible), Attila the Hun, Vlad IV (The Impaler), Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, all of whom were responsible for wanton destruction and the torture and death of millions of victims, either citizens of invaded countries and territories and or indeed, their own peoples.Diary of a Madman starts with a light-hearted march that gives the impression of toy tin soldiers parading in a brightly-coloured ceremonial pageant from a fairy tale, conveying peace and innocence. This spectacle is abruptly interrupted by a 'shock and awe' fanfare-like march, symbolising aggression and war. This theme grinds slowly to a halt, and an atmosphere of introspection, sadness and despair takes over. Rising above the smoky theatre of war, we then hear a distant cornet give a rendition of the Ukrainian Nation Anthem (The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished. Luck will still smile on us brother-Ukrainians). The solo cornet soon enters a fragile duet with a second cornet accompanied by dark undertones. One by one, we hear short shards of aggressive fanfare-like figures from various instruments in the band. The mood breaks - we hear strident fortissimo whole-tone scales representing pealing church bells, warning of danger. In contrast, we also hear pianissimo whole-tone scales announcing that the enemy's troops are falling back. A counter-offensive soon takes centre stage, and battles and skirmishes are heard, with short quotations from Mussorgsky's `Great Gates of Kyiv' symbolising the defenders' heroic struggle.All sides are victims of the Dictator's ambition! The slow central section offer us moments of melancholic beauty and utilises Henry Purcell's `When I am laid in earth' (`Dido's Lament' from Dido and Aeneas 1688). This music represents the loss of homes, dignity and loved ones. There are occasional hints at better times as the theme of the parading toy tin soldiers is heard from afar, like a distant memory.To announce the final push, we hear a church bell strike and an air raid siren signalling a ferocious musical counter-attack. After one final rendition of the Purcell theme, Diary of a Madman closes with a mood of triumph over tyranny.- Nigel Clarke
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£94.90Stjernen og Rosa (The Star and a Rose) (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Hannevik, John Philip
The Star and a Rose is a big-scale Christmas piece for band, featuring four seasonal chorales.The first is a Gregorian-like chant Hodie Christus natus est.In this section of the piece, a soloist can be placed away from the band, maybe on a gallery. The soloist can be a tenor instrument, maybe trombone, or you can feature a vocal soloist. After this, the music leads us on to the old German Christmas chorale Lo, how a rose e'er blooming. This song is given a fairly rhythmical treatment, but make sure that the melody is presented in a cantabile style. An interlude follows, before the piece presents one of the most used and loved Scandinavian Christmas chorales, Mitt hjerte alltid vanker (My Heart will always wander), composed by the Danish bishop Hans Adolph Brorson around 1732. This song is building towards a climax, before the solo horn brings it all down to the Stable view described in the lyrics. Then comes a transition that brings us in to the final section of the piece, which presents the international Christmas Carol Adeste Fideles. As many will notice, I have borrowed a section from David Wilcocks majestic harmonization towards the end.The title of the piece has its background form the lyrics in My heart will always wander, where the text speaks about the stars in the sky. But also in the Latin text for Adeste Fideles: Stella duce, Magi, Christum adorantes. The Rose is of course from the lyrics in the chorale Lo, how a Rose.Duration: 10.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£42.95Benedicamus Domino (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Wainwright, Andrew
A spectacular major Christmas work for brass band, based on the well-known carols 'Unto us is born a son' and 'Infant Holy'. Set in three through-composed movements, the outer two sections are full of joy and vibrance, with a magical, ethereal middle movement featuring 'Infant Holy'. The work comes to a close with a grandioso finish and rendition of 'Unto us is born a son' in full glory.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£42.95The Seal Lullaby (Flugel Horn Solo with Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Whitacre, Eric - Sharman, Paul
This loving and dreamlike work captures the undulating rhythm of a mother rocking her child to sleep. The piece was inspired by classic Rudyard Kipling: "Oh! Hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us, And black are the waters that sparkled so green. The moon, o'er the combers, looks downward to find us, At rest in the hollows that rustle between."Magical!
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.95Blazon (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Graham, Peter
This work was written for the centenary of The International Staff Band in 1991 and contains five variations around the hymn tune Theodora. The hymn 'Let us with a gladsome mind' is normally associated with this tune. Verse two of the hymn begins 'Let us blaze his name abroad' hence the title, Blazon.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£29.95
Blazon (Brass Band - Score only) - Graham, Peter
This work was written for the centenary of The International Staff Band in 1991 and contains five variations around the hymn tune Theodora. The hymn 'Let us with a gladsome mind' is normally associated with this tune. Verse two of the hymn begins 'Let us blaze his name abroad' hence the title, Blazon.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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