Results
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£21.95Red Priest (Brass Band - Study Score)
Concerto After VivaldiDuring his lifetime, Antonio Vivaldi was known as 'il Prete Rosso', the Red Priest, thanks to his youthful ordination and his flaming red hair. The son of a violinist at San Marco in Venice, Vivaldi's musical pedigree was impeccable and an excellent start to his career was coupled with astounding energy and productivity. His vast output of concerti grossi, using soloists in groups, inspired this composition and performers may choose appropriate stage positions for the various groupings of cornets and trombones, spaced around the performance area. The score quotes freely from some of Vivaldi's most popular compositions, including 'Winter' from The Four Seasons, the motet Nisi Dominus, the famous Gloria and the fugue from the Concerto grosso in D minor found in L'Estro Armonico.However, it is the musical spirit of Vivaldi, a close contemporary of both Handel and Casanova, that inspired this music, which should be played with a mixture of accuracy and abandoned virtuosity. The musical images in this piece have clear associations in the composer's mind with individual Venetian locations, ranging from bustling street scenes to vaulted interiors, and describing the famous journey down the Grand Canal, past the Doge's Palace, to the Ospedale della Pieta where Vivaldi worked for so many years.Duration: 14.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£29.95
The Land of the Long White Cloud (Score Only)
Dating from 1979, The Land of the Long White Cloud (Aotearoa) was Philip Sparke's first test-piece. It was commissioned by the New Zealand Brass Band Association for their 1980 National Championships (their centenary year) and set for the European Brass Band Championships, the same year, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Aotearoa was the name given to New Zealand by its Polynesian settlers whose first sight of the islands was a long, flat cloud lying low over the land. The work has no specific programme although many have seen pictures of the surging ocean in the opening bars. A faster dance-like section leads to a slow, haunting solo for soprano cornet; this is taken up by the whole band before earlier material returns. The dance-like tune is, this time, given a fugal treatment and the opening bars return to close the work.Philip Sparke was born in London and studied composition, trumpet and piano at the Royal College of Music, where he gained an ARCM. It was at the College that his interest in bands arose. He played in the College wind orchestra and also formed a brass band among the students, writing several works for both ensembles.At that time, his first published works appeared - Concert Prelude (brass band) and Gaudium (wind band). A growing interest in his music led to several commissions, his first major one being this featured piece for the Centennial Brass Band Championships in New Zealand - The Land of the Long White Cloud. He has written for brass band championships in New Zealand, Switzerland, Holland, Australia and the UK, including three times for the National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall.In September 2000, he was awarded the Iles Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians for his services to brass bands and in 2005 Music of the Spheres won the National Band Association/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest. In 2011, he received the BUMA International Brass Award for his contribution to brass music.His conducting and adjudicating activities have taken him to most European countries, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Canada and the USA. In May 2000, he took the major step of becoming a full-time composer by founding his own publishing company, Anglo Music Press. The company is devoted to publishing his brass band, concert band, fanfare band and instrumental publications as well as recordings dedicated to his latest works.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£94.95
The Maunsell Forts (Score and Parts)
The Maunsell Sea Forts are military defence structures from the Second World War, designed and built under the supervision of Guy Maunsell. There were three in Liverpool Bay, not far from Hilbre Island and now no longer extant, and five in the Thames E
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£49.95
The Maunsell Forts (Score Only)
The Maunsell Sea Forts are military defence structures from the Second World War, designed and built under the supervision of Guy Maunsell. There were three in Liverpool Bay, not far from Hilbre Island and now no longer extant, and five in the Thames E
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£29.95Soliloquy II (Euphonium Solo with Brass Band - Score and Parts)
A few years ago, I wrote a Soliloquy based on a Salvation Army song by George Marshall called Soliloquy (In the Stillness), since published in the General Series. This solo follows up the form of that previous work, though it is quite different in emotional content, and was a commission during Covid lockdown from Euphonium player Micah Dominic Parsons.The main inspiration is the tune Cross of Jesus by John Stainer as well as a motif from some older Euphonium Studies from the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall, that Micah had discovered. The tune is used in a chorale form and, after an introduction, the very first section is a reversal of the chorale that appears in the second half of the work. The Euphonium exclamations are all derived from the main tune and the study motif. The work begins in quite a dark reflective manner, representing those aspects of the song, without being too specific. The second half reflects the more positive characteristics and finds a triumphal nature in its conclusion. The soloist lines throughout have a very declamatory style and can have a freedom in performance.There is one new element in the coda, where the triplet motif (bars 87-89) is a direct quotation from Romans 8 - A brass celebration by Ray Steadman-Allen. RSA was a good friend, mentor and encourager to me. The glorious climax of Romans 8 is his presentation of the same tune (Cross of Jesus) used in this work. And so the piece ends with a final and personal reference to RSA!- Howard Evans
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£39.95Swing into Christmas (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
Written during Colonel Robert Redhead's tenure as Bandmaster of The International Staff Band, this bright and good-humoured selection - originally titled Sounds of the forties - was composed for the UK Territory's annual Christmas event at the Westminster Central Hall in 1993. It features lively treatments of Good King Wenceslas, Carol of the drum, Silent Night! and Deck the hall and brings fresh sparkle to these familiar carols. With the permission of the Redhead family, the work has been readied for publication. Colonel Redhead lives in retirement in Canada, and this release stands as a welcome addition to the journals.The secret to a successful presentation of this piece (and any swing number) is for the band to have a clear grasp of basic swing principles. Players should aim for a relaxed, buoyant feel built on back'beat emphasis (2 and 4), light articulation, and a sense of forward motion without rushing. Note that, apart from the intentionally straight quavers on the drum kit in sections D and E, quavers elsewhere should be swung.A drum kit will be essential as it provides the stylistic anchor throughout, setting up the tempo, supporting the back'beat, and giving the band confidence to embrace the swing style.The Glenn Miller-inspired opening cornet feature sets the tone for the whole piece and should be played with strength, clarity, and stylistic assurance. The outer movements share this brighter, punchier swing character, with crisp rhythmic definition and confident ensemble playing.In contrast, the central setting of Silent Night! adopts a slow 'shuffle' feel. This section should feel spacious and unhurried, with warm phrasing, gentle back'beat, and a laid'back rhythmic pulse. In the melody line, think breadth, and in the accompaniment, think subtlety rather than weight.
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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£74.95A Tale of Hope (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
The piece tells the story of Chicago lawyer and Presbyterian church elder Horatio Gates Spafford. In 1873, the Spafford family planned a vacation to England, but last-minute business demands prevented Horatio from sailing with them. Tragedy struck when the ship collided with an iron sailing vessel while crossing the Atlantic, killing 226 people, including all four of Spafford's daughters. His wife, Anna, survived the tragedy, and upon arriving in Cardiff, Wales, she sent a telegram to Spafford that simply read "Saved alone." Shortly afterwards, as Spafford travelled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write the hymn It Is Well with My Soul as his ship passed near where his daughters had died. The hymn was subsequently set to music by fellow American Philip Bliss, with the tune named after the ship on which Spafford's daughters died, Ville du Havre.Composer Steven Ponsford has chosen to portray this story in a substantial composition for brass band. Much of the early music is turbulent, reflecting the long voyage, and then the disaster that claimed Spafford's daughters. After a darker 'Grave' section, the hymn It Is Well With My Soul softly emerges, with the piece ending on a note of optimism and hope.Duration: 11.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£31.95
A Tale of Hope (Brass Band - Score only)
The piece tells the story of Chicago lawyer and Presbyterian church elder Horatio Gates Spafford. In 1873, the Spafford family planned a vacation to England, but last-minute business demands prevented Horatio from sailing with them. Tragedy struck when the ship collided with an iron sailing vessel while crossing the Atlantic, killing 226 people, including all four of Spafford's daughters. His wife, Anna, survived the tragedy, and upon arriving in Cardiff, Wales, she sent a telegram to Spafford that simply read "Saved alone." Shortly afterwards, as Spafford travelled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write the hymn It Is Well with My Soul as his ship passed near where his daughters had died. The hymn was subsequently set to music by fellow American Philip Bliss, with the tune named after the ship on which Spafford's daughters died, Ville du Havre.Composer Steven Ponsford has chosen to portray this story in a substantial composition for brass band. Much of the early music is turbulent, reflecting the long voyage, and then the disaster that claimed Spafford's daughters. After a darker 'Grave' section, the hymn It Is Well With My Soul softly emerges, with the piece ending on a note of optimism and hope.Duration: 11.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£15.00Harrison's Dream (Brass Band - Study Score)
At 8.00pm on the 22nd of October 1707, the Association, flagship of the Royal Navy, struck rocks off the Scilly Isles with the loss of the entire crew. Throughout the rest of the evening the remaining three ships in the fleet suffered the same fate. Only 26 of the original 1,647 crew members survived. This disaster was a direct result of an inability to calculate longitude, the most pressing scientific problem of the time. It pushed the longitude question to the forefront of the national consciousness and precipitated the Longitude Act. Parliament funded a prize of �20,000 to anyone whose method or device would solve the dilemma. For carpenter and self-taught clockmaker John Harrison, this was the beginning of a 40 year obsession. To calculate longitude it is necessary to know the time aboard ship and at the home port or place of known longitude, at precisely the same moment. Harrison's dream was to build a clock so accurate that this calculation could be made, an audacious feat of engineering. This work reflects on aspects of this epic tale, brilliantly brought to life in Dava Sobel's book Longitude. Much of the music is mechanistic in tone and is constructed along precise mathematical and metrical lines. The heart of the work however is human - the attraction of the �20,000 prize is often cited as Harrison's motivation. However, the realisation that countless lives depended on a solution was one which haunted Harrison. The emotional core of the music reflects on this, and in particular the evening of 22ndOctober 1707. Peter GrahamCheshireJuly 2000
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days