Results
-
£34.95Lady of the Lake - Christopher Bond
A remote Carmarthenshire lake shrouded in Welsh legend has been named as one of the 1,000 must-see sights across the globe by an influential travel bible. Llyn y Fan Fach, 12km southeast of Llandovery in the Brecon Beacons, is the only spot in Wales to make the list, which was put together by Lonely Planet. "This isolated drop of blue, beneath a cirque of raw Welsh hills, is enchanting - and enchanted," Lonely Planet's 1,000 Ultimate Sights tells readers. The story goes that in the 13th Century, a farmer grazing cattle on the nearby slopes spotted the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She was a fairy maiden, who agreed to marry him on one proviso - he must not hit her more than twice. In time, the inevitable happened - three strikes, and the otherworldly wife disappeared back into the lake, taking her magic cows with her. This work, for flugel horn and brass band, is reflective in nature, portraying the dismay of the man in losing his wife for his own selfishness. The work was written for and premiered by Rob Nesbitt & City of Cardiff (Melingriffith) Band, at the 2019 Welsh Open Entertainment Contest in Porthcawl, Wales.
Estimated dispatch 10-14 working days
-
£79.95Lost Village of Imber, The - Christopher Bond
The village of Imber on Salisbury Plain had been inhabited for over one thousand years when it was evacuated in 1943 to make way for military training in the Second World War. At the time, with preparations for the Allied invasion of Europe underway, most villagers put up no resistance, despite being upset, with the belief that they'd return once the war had concluded. To this day, Imber and its surrounding land remain a military training ground. The villagers never returned, and just the shell of what was once a community remains. Structured in three movements, it is on this very real story that the work is based, setting out the series of events of 1943 in chronological order. The first movement, On Imber Downe, portrays a sense of jollity and cohesiveness - a community of individuals living and working together before news of the evacuation had broken. Sounds of the village are heard throughout, not least in a series of percussive effects - the anvil of the blacksmith; the cowbell of the cattle and the bells of the church. The second movement, The Church of St. Giles, begins mysteriously and this sonorous, atmospheric opening depicts Imber in its desolate state and the apprehension of residents as they learn they have to leave their homes. Amidst this is the Church, a symbol of hope for villagers who one day wish to return, portrayed with a sweeping melodic passage before the music returns to the apprehension of villagers facing eviction around their sadness at losing their rural way of life. In complete contrast, the third movement, Imemerie Aeternum, portrays the arrival of the military, complete with the sounds of the ammunition, firing and tanks - sounds which were all too familiar to those living in the surround areas. To close, the Church of St. Giles theme returns in a triumphant style, representing the idea that the church has always been, even to this day, a beacon of hope for the villagers and local community - both the centrepiece and pinnacle of a very real story. The work was commissioned by Bratton Silver Band in celebration of the band's 160th Anniversary, with funding from the Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants Fund and the Brass Bands England Norman Jones Trust Fund.
Estimated dispatch 10-14 working days
-
£45.00God Put a Smile Upon Your Face
ABOUT THIS PIECE: 'God Put a Smile Upon Your Face' was written by all members of the band Coldplay for their second studio album 'A Rush of Blood to the Head'. Coldplay vocalist Chris Martin said: "The song came out of playing live and wanting to have something with a bit more bounce". The chart was originally released in 2003 to critical acclaim. In 2007 Mark Ronson covered the song on his album 'Version' - it is this version this arrangement is based upon. The following arrangement was devised as a concert opener - written as such to allow different sections of the band to make their way to the stage one at a time. The suggested stage entry directions for this arrangement are: Percussion > Basses > Trombones > Horns & Baritones > Cornets & Euphonium. Kit and percussion parts are written as a guide - please feel free to add and subtract as the MD sees fit. DUE TO COPYRIGHT LAW THIS WORK IS NOT AVAILABLE IN AUSTRALIA OR NEW ZEALAND ENSEMBLE: Standard British Brass Band WHEN YOU BUY THIS PRODUCT, YOU GET: High-quality printed score and parts LEVEL: 2 LISTEN: Click here DURATION: 3-mins 30 secondEXAMPLE SCORE: Click here LEVEL GUIDE: Level 1- Accessible to all Level 2 - c. UK third section and higher Level 3 - c. UK second section and higher Level 4 - c. UK first section and higher Level 5 - c. UK championship section level
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
-
£95.00
Penlee (Score & Parts) - Simon Dobson
To some, the tragic story of the Penlee lifeboat, Solomon Browne, would need no introduction, and to some the pain felt is still very much a reality. The composer, born just a few weeks before that fateful night on the 19th December 1981, has created this work as a musical homage to the bravery of the souls who lost their lives and has dedicated it to their memory.Penlee was commissioned by the Cornwall Youth Brass Band using funds bequeathed by Michael Pickett. The first performance was given by the Cornish Youth Brass Band, conducted by Ian Porthouse, at St. Michael's Church, Newquay, on 30th December 2008.Penlee has been voted into the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2011 at No.106. Not only is it the first time a brass work has been featured in the Hall of Fame, but it was also the highest new entry.The work has subsequently been recorded by the Leyland Band, conducted by Jason Katsikaris, on the CD entitled Penlee.Brass Band Grade 4: Advanced Youth and 3rd SectionDuration: 13 minutes
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
-
£35.00
B of the Bang - Peter Meechan
B of the Bang has a double reference point for its title, both of which are very closely related.A quotation from the legendary British Sprinter, Linford Christie, was the initial starting point for the piece. Christie used to say that he started his races not merely at the abanga of the starting pistol, but at aThe B of the Banga.B of the Bang (Again named after the Christie quote) is also the name of a prominent sculpture in the composersa home city, Manchester. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, it is the tallest self-supporting sculpture in the United Kingdom and was constructed close to the City of Manchester Stadium in order to commemorate the success of the 2002 Commonwealth Games.B of the Bang was commissioned by Luc Vertommen and Brass Band Buizingen, Belgium, for the Kerkrade World Brass Band Championships.First performance:Brass Band BuizingenLuc Vertommen - ConductorKerkrade, Holland.
Estimated dispatch 12-14 working days
-
£35.00In Pitch Black - Lucy Pankhurst
An extremely emotional and poignant work for brass band composed by Lucy Pankhurst, in memory and tribute to those affected by the Pretoria Pit disaster in Lancashire on 21st December 1910. The piece is chilling in its depiction of the tragic story, sensitively conveying the atmosphere and emotions as perceived before, during and after the event. Through its use of playing techniques, effects, sound combinations and even silences, In Pitch Black offers a powerfully reflective piece.Pritoria Pit DisasterLancashire's worst pit disaster and Britain's third largest loss of life from a single mining accident happened at the No. 3 Bank Pit belonging to the Hulton Colliery Company, just 4 days before Christmas 1910. The pit known as the 'Pretoria Pit' was situated on Hulton Parkland on the border of Atherton and Westhoughton. An explosion occurred at 7.50 am on Wednesday, 21 December 1910, resulting in the death of 344 men and boys, including many members of The Wingates Band.The Writing ExperienceDuring Lucy's research for this work, she acknowledges that she found the harsh reality from the shocking images and historical accounts of the event most disturbing, and is not embarrassed to disclose that it was wholly a very emotional experience in creating the composition. Consequently, she chose to create something to illustrate the true emotion of the situation. She wanted to pay tribute to the lives lost and the devastation which remained in their absence, by creating a piece of music which begins in darkness; desolate and claustrophobic, whilst still leaving the audience feeling uplifted and thoughtful in the final bars.The significance and musical appreciation for the creation of In Pitch Black was formally recognised by BASCA in 2011, when Lucy Pankhurst won the internationally acclaimed British Composer Award (the first time a brass band work had received the award, and the first time a female composer had won the category).Full programme notes are included in the product images.Look and Listen (performance courtesy of Manchester University Brass Band):
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
-
£40.00Little Christmas - Elaine Agnew
An atmospheric, contemporary piece for brass band by prolific composer Elaine Agnew. The work was originally commissioned by the North of Ireland Bands' Association as the 'B Section' test piece for the 2006 European Brass Band Championships, with funds from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Lottery Unit and Belfast City Council.Programme notes:The night of Sunday the sixth of January 1839 was a night of madness. On this night, Ireland was hit by a devastating storm. Little Christmas focuses on the events of that day, leading to the arrival of the storm itself.The piece opens with a blast, which is quickly hushed by a motionless phrase whose silence suggests something not quite right. A solo euphonium mimics the local seer who prophesizes the coming of the storm but who is ignored by the locals, who are well used to his rantings and ravings.A brief percussion improvisation hints at an uncertainty in the air but this is quickly ignored by the following fast section with the bustle and excitement of the day's preparations.Quiet solo chromatic lines swoosh over harmonic pillars of sound before the final "dizzy" section where the band lets rip at the arrival of the storm!
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
-
Off Duty - John Dankworth - Len Jenkins
The late John Dankworth (1927-2010) made a string of recordings in the 1960s that have since come to be regarded as some of the finest British jazz of their time. Amongst these is his composition 'Off Duty' which was recorded in the 1960s when the influence of pop and rock on jazz was at its height and instruments such as the bass guitar were beginning to be incorporated into jazz's vocabulary. At this time and almost subconsciously, a Dankworth 'pop' style also evolved. This was a balanced marriage between jazz and pop which is here demonstrated in 'Off Duty' thanks to the ingenious and original orchestration by John Dankworth, and the faithful arrangement for Brass Band by one of his fans, Len Jenkins. The title is interesting as John loved to play with words. 'Off Duty' could mean relaxing away from work, but could also carry the implication of something not attracting taxation.... a sort of 'duty-free'. About the same time, the Dave Brubeck Quartet produced the seminal 'Take Five'... so could this be John's take on that title, suggesting a short break? Which meaning fits best for you? The piece would best suit the capabilities of a brass band playing at the standard of Third Section or above.
-
£15.00Symphony in Two Movements (Study Score Only)
Selected as the Championship Section test piece for the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain 2025This work was jointly commissioned by the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain (NYBBGB) and the National Youth Brass Band of Wales (NYBBW), the latter with funding from T Cerdd (Music Centre Wales), to celebrate their 60th and 30th anniversaries respectively. The first performances were given at Cadogan Hall, London, in April 2012, by the NYBBGB, conducted by Bramwell Tovey; and at the Great Hall, Aberystwyth University, in July 2012, by the NYBBW, conducted by Nicholas Childs.When I was approached about a joint commission to write a new work to celebrate the anniversaries of these two outstanding youth bands I was delighted to accept, and decided to respond by writing a work apposite for the magnitude of these special occasions, namely a 'symphony for brass'.Through a long journey of writing music for brass band, which commenced with Connotations (1977), and continued with Dances and Arias (1984), Of Men and Mountains (1991), The Trumpets of the Angels (2000) and Rococo Variations (2008), I arrived at what I regard as the most important work of the cycle to date, combining as it does serious musical intent with considerable technical demands. It is perhaps my most abstract work for brass band, avoiding any programmatic content.The symphony lasts for some 19 minutes and is structured in two linked movements. The form is based on that used by Beethoven in his final piano sonata (Op.111), which is in two movements only: a compact sonata-form allegro, followed by a more expansive theme and four variations. Prokofiev also adopted this model in his 2nd Symphony of 1925.The opening Toccata of this Symphony is highly dramatic but compact, whilst still retaining the 'traditional' structural elements of exposition, development and recapitulation; indeed, it also has the 'traditional' element of a contrasting second subject - a gentle, lyrical modal melody first heard on solo cornets.In contrast, the longer and more substantial second movement Variations is built around a theme and four variations. The slowly unfolding chorale-like theme accumulates both added note harmony and increasing instrumentation, whilst the four variations which follow are by turn mercurial (fast, starting with all the instruments muted), march-like (menacing, with short rhythmic articulations underpinning an extended atonal melody), serene (a series of 'romances' for solo instruments alongside echoes of the chorale) with an emerging theme eventually bursting into a climax of passionate intent; whilst the final variation is a dynamic scherzo (concertante-like in its series of rapid-fire solos, duets, trios and quartets) with the music gradually incorporating elements of the main ideas from the first movement, thus acting as a recapitulation for the whole work. It reaches its peroration with a return to the very opening of the symphony, now in the 'home' tonality of F, and thus creating a truly symphonic dimension to the music.Most of the melodic material of the symphony is derived from the opening eleven-note 'row', which contains various intervallic sets, and although the work is not serially conceived it does use some typical quasi-serial procedures, such as canons, inversions, and retrogrades. The symphony uses somewhat limited percussion, in line with a 'classical' approach to the sound world of the brass band, alongside a use of multi-divisi instrumentation, whereby each player has an individual part rather than the traditional doubling within certain sections of the band.- Edward GregsonDuration: 19.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£127.95Music of the Angels (Symphonic Brass Ensemble - Score and Parts)
In 1998 Gregson was commissioned by conductor Martyn Brabbins to write a short concert opener with choir to mark his debut as Music Director of the Huddersfield Choral Society. Entitled ...and the seven trumpets... this ten minute flourish is founded on a verse from Chapter 8 of the Revelation To John (The Apocalypse), the last book in the Bible: 'and I saw the seven Angels which stood before God: and to them were given seven trumpets'. The performance employed the full power of the Huddersfield Town Hall organ and the brass section of the BBC Philharmonic, including seven trumpets and four horns placed strategically around hall.The following year, when Gregson received a commission from the Cheshire-based Foden's Brass Band (conducted at that time by Nicholas Childs) for a work to mark its centenary in 2000, he turned to the first portion of ...and the seven trumpets... as the basis for an ambitious celebratory work entitled The Trumpets of the Angels. "The opportunity to create an extended work which would break out of the brass band mould was an important milestone for me," the composer says. In 2015 he was asked by Nicholas Childs to create a new performing edition without organ for the Black Dyke Band. This received its first performance in April 2016 at the European Brass Band Festival in Lille. In 2018, Gregson revisited the music for a third time, returning the opening fanfares to orchestral brass and transforming substantial portions of the 'Black Dyke' version to create Music of the Angels, a dramatic canvas for symphonic brass and percussion.An array of bells and gongs offer an unmistakable key to the source of Gregson's inspiration. Inscribed In tribute to Olivier Messiaen, the work's principal material and its sound world, but crucially not the underlying musical processes, are influenced by Messiaen's masterpiece for wind and percussion, Et exspecto ressurectionem mortuorum (1964). Music of the Angels begins with braying of horns suggestive of the start of an ancient ritual. Six 'angel' trumpeters, set behind the ensemble, answer in sequence, with the evocative sound of tam-tams creating the Messiaen-like aura. Once the horns have reached the performing space, four of the trumpeters deliver highly contrasting fanfare cadenzas. At the climax of this episode, the individual fanfares are presented together, as if, perhaps, to reflect the Biblical writer's apocalyptic visions of hail, fire, seas of blood and the cataclysmic destruction of man and beast.This powerful vision of death and destruction gives way to a prayerful lament, re-imagining a sung Kyrie Eleison from the 'Black Dyke' edition, with flugel horn and euphonium obligati. The hushed atmosphere is broken by tenor and side drums, and trumpets five and six, which gallop away like the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In the biblical account their steeds had 'heads like lions with fire and smoke and sulphur issuing from their mouths'.As the reverberation of a dramatic climax dies we hear the entry of the seventh trumpet, from 'on high', blazing forth with a version of the main that extends across the entire compass of the instrument - almost three octaves. Supported by a 'holy trinity' of gongs, an 'epic' final cadenza introduces new material which is further developed in a frenetic final section. This is announced by two sets of timpani, to the left and right. Braying brass (euphoniums and horns) once more adds an air of foreboding. As the music builds towards a magisterial conclusion, the Messiaen-inspired tritones of the principal motif are smoothed out into perfect 5ths and combined with the earlier material in a full-voiced chorale, over which the seventh trumpet blazes in triumph.- Programme note by Paul HindmarshScored for1 Trumpet in E flat (Trumpet 5)6 Trumpets in B flat (Trumpet 4 doubling Flugel Horn)4 Horns in F3 Tenor Trombones1 Bass TromboneEuphonium2 Tubas2 Timpani (Percussion 3 doubles Timpani 2)Percussion (3 players): 3 Tam-tams, 3 Suspended Cymbals, Bass Drum, Tenor Drum, Snare Drum, Tubular Bells.Duration: 16.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
View Music