Results
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£29.50Eden (Score Only)
This work was commissioned by the Brass Band Heritage Trust as the test piece for the final of the 2005 Besson National Brass Band Championship, held at the Royal Albert Hall, London.The score is prefaced by the final lines from Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (completed in 1663), in which Adam and Eve, expelled from Paradise, make their uncertain way into the outside world:"...The world was all before them, where to chooseTheir place of rest, and providence their guide:They hand in hand with wandering steps and slow,Through Eden took their solitary way."My work is in three linked sections. In the first, the characters of Adam, Eve and the serpent guarding the Tree of Knowledge are respectively represented by solo euphonium, cornet and trombone. The music opens in an idyllic and tranquil mood and leads into a duet between euphonium and cornet. Throughout this passage the prevailing mood darkens, though the soloists seem to remain oblivious to the increasingly fraught atmosphere. A whip-crack announces the malevolent appearance of the solo trombone who proceeds to engage the solo cornet in a sinister dialogue.The second section interprets the Eden story as a modern metaphor for the havoc mankind has inflicted upon the world, exploiting and abusing its resources in the pursuit of wealth. Though certainly intended here as a comment on the present-day, it is by no means a new idea: Milton himself had an almost prescient awareness of it in Book I of his poem, where men, led on by Mammon:"...Ransacked the centre and with impious handsRifled the bowels of their mother earthFor treasures better hid. Soon had his crewOpened into the hill a spacious woundAnd digged out ribs of gold."So this section is fast and violent, at times almost manic in its destructive energy. At length a furious climax subsides and a tolling bell ushers in the third and final section.This final part is slow, beginning with an intense lament featuring solos for tenor-horn, flgel-horn and repiano cornet and joined later by solo baritone, soprano cornet, Eb-bass and Bb-bass.At one stage in the planning of the work it seemed likely that the music would end here - in despair. Then, mid-way through writing it, I visited the extraordinary Eden Project in Cornwall. Here, in a disused quarry - a huge man-made wound in the earth - immense biomes, containing an abundance of plant species from every region of the globe, together with an inspirational education programme, perhaps offer a small ray of hope for the future. This is the image behind the work's conclusion and the optimism it aims to express is real enough, though it is hard-won and challenged to the last.John Pickard 2005
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£64.95Platform to the Heavens
The piece takes its inspiration from the mountain ranges from one of my favourite countries, Switzerland.I have visited the Swiss Alps on many occasions and I am still taken back by its sheer awesome beauty with every visit. This commission gave me the opportunity to pay homage to this wonderful landscape and paint my own musical picture of it.The piece opens with what I imagine daybreak would be like at one of its many peaks. With the sun growing behind the mountain range, the piece builds from a single note to a huge climatic chord revealing Mother Nature's creation.Then at rehearsal figure 'C' the tempo changes dramatically as we fly through the many slopes of the mountains as if on a manic skiing expedition, revealing the many dangers within the Swiss Alps.The twists, turns and climaxes begin to die away as we enter rehearsal figure 'M' - nightfall over the mountains. As the sun disappears, the sky darkens to reveal the beautiful starlit sky above the mountain range. This middle section starts with the various cadenzas that serve as echoes around the Alps. It then leads to a lyrical solo at rehearsal figure 'O' as the moonlight illuminates the icy mountain peaks. A final cadenza to conclude this section highlights the end of nightfall as the sun starts to rise again.This recapitulation from the opening, signals a new dawn as the sun rises above the snowy peaks once again. The music at this point in its slightly altered state highlights the dawn of a new day in the Alps. The fast manic ski ride follows which takes the piece to its grand finale conclusion.The idea behind the title of this piece is that the Swiss Alps are so beautiful and vast; I can only imagine that they could be a platform connecting the earth to the heavens above.Paul Lovatt-Cooper
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£50.00Judd: Beulah Land
Wilfred Heaton began to assemble material for 'Beulah Land' in the early 1990s following a request from the Amsterdam Staff Band for a new work. Despite reminding himself on the manuscript that he should either complete or destroy the work before his death, ultimately he did not manage either. This edition was subsequently realised in 2003 for the tour of the USA Western States by the Amsterdam Staff Band. 'Beulah Land' is Heaton's vision of the joy that awaits the Christian in Heaven and, according to his family, is reminiscent of the kind of music he often improvised at the piano. The three movements are as follows; 1. Better World; a waltz sequence on the tune 'Zealley' to which the words 'There is a better world, they say' are sung.2. Heavenly Home; an elegiac cortege using the tunes 'My home is in Heaven', 'I have a home that is fairer than day' and 'The home over there'.3. Happy Land; Beginning in waltz rhythm this soon gives way to a sequence of free variations on the song 'There is a happy land, Far, far away'.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£37.50Brass Monkey's Jazz Workout
This huge release brings together a selection of music composed by Paul H Traves that introduces your learners to the different style of Jazz that is available. Naturally, the rhythmic work required to play such styles means that this publication will push your learners on and will challenge them at a new level. Syncopation and swing are at the heart of the music in this collection and it is the perfect way to get your learners playing in new styles not always covered by training band music. This title offers excellent value for money with seven titles included. This publication features:SNAKES & LADDERS - (teaching dynamics and expressive playing)CHROMATICS - (As the title suggest, ensuring every valve us used!)ROCKIN' GERONIMO - (featuring triplets and accidentals)TRUMPET DRIFT - (introducing crotchet triplets & syncopation)J.B.'s 12 BAR BLUES - (a well-known style that feature sharp key signatures)J.B.'s CALYPSO (unison playing and tight rhythmic playing required)ZIG-ZAG (getting players into a lazy swing style)
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£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
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£80.00The Unfortunate Traveller (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
Imogen Holst (1907-1984) submitted The Unfortunate Traveller (1929) as her final work as a student portfolio at the Royal College of Music, where her composition teacher was Gordon Jacob. The title was taken from Thomas Nashe's famous 1594 picaresque novel of the same title. The Suite was first performed on 12 February 1933 at her Majesty's Theatre, Carlisle, by the St. Stephen's Band, with the composer conducting. Te concert was given in memory of Holst's uncle, Dr. H.A. Lediard. Holst had been impressed with the band's performance of his A Moorside Suite at the 1928 National Brass Band Championships (The Crystal Palace, South London) and was keen to work with them. Writing in Imogen Holst, a life in music, Christopher Grogan indicates that it was Gustav Holst's suggestion to include his daughter's work in the programme, quoting Imogen Holst's remarks made in interview to The Daily Mail as follows: "....it is the first time, so far as I know, that a woman has conducted a brass band at a public concert....It has been a delight to rehearse the St. Stephen's Band. It was their performance at the Crystal Palace Festival that inspired me to write this Suite, which I have dedicated to them."Imogen Holst accompanied her father to the Crystal Palace in 1928 to hear the performances of A Moorside Suite, and was so excited by the played and, audibly, by her father's music that she decided to write a brass band piece for her final examination. Te result was The Unfortunate Traveller (1929). However, it was not possible for her to present a brass band work for examination. She arranged it for string orchestra so that it could be played before she left the RCM in July 1930. Following the premiere of the original in 1933, the manuscripts did not resurface until 1969 Imogen found them among her late mother's effects. Although she requested score and parts be destroyed, they ended up in the possession of Manchester composer John Golland, who marked up the score presumably with the intention of creating a new performing edition. The original scoring reveals a lack of experience with what can be a tricky medium.With the agreement of the Holst Foundation, a revised edition, with additional percussion, was prepared in 2011 since when the work has been fortunate to travel round the world as a concert and contest piece. The original includes drums in the March only. The title was taken from Tomas Nashe's famous 1594 picaresque novel of the same title. Several Morris Dance tunes are introduced during the course of the four short movements, including Bonnie Green Garters, Shepherd's Hey, The Rose and The Wind Blaws Cauld. Quirky twists and turns of harmony and spirited rhythms that remind us how much Imogen Holst loved tradition English dance music.In September 2025, I made a performing edition of the composer's arrangement for string orchestra. The manuscript lacks the final movement, which I arranged in a similar style, ie. without extending the upper ranges. Making this edition raised some issues regarding the accuracy of my band version and some of the solutions I used to smooth out the voicing. I have used the composer's second thoughts to refine my performing edition and to correct a textual errors.- Paul HindmarshDuration: 10.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£40.00
The Unfortunate Traveller (Brass Band - Score only)
Imogen Holst (1907-1984) submitted The Unfortunate Traveller (1929) as her final work as a student portfolio at the Royal College of Music, where her composition teacher was Gordon Jacob. The title was taken from Thomas Nashe's famous 1594 picaresque novel of the same title. The Suite was first performed on 12 February 1933 at her Majesty's Theatre, Carlisle, by the St. Stephen's Band, with the composer conducting. Te concert was given in memory of Holst's uncle, Dr. H.A. Lediard. Holst had been impressed with the band's performance of his A Moorside Suite at the 1928 National Brass Band Championships (The Crystal Palace, South London) and was keen to work with them. Writing in Imogen Holst, a life in music, Christopher Grogan indicates that it was Gustav Holst's suggestion to include his daughter's work in the programme, quoting Imogen Holst's remarks made in interview to The Daily Mail as follows: "....it is the first time, so far as I know, that a woman has conducted a brass band at a public concert....It has been a delight to rehearse the St. Stephen's Band. It was their performance at the Crystal Palace Festival that inspired me to write this Suite, which I have dedicated to them."Imogen Holst accompanied her father to the Crystal Palace in 1928 to hear the performances of A Moorside Suite, and was so excited by the played and, audibly, by her father's music that she decided to write a brass band piece for her final examination. Te result was The Unfortunate Traveller (1929). However, it was not possible for her to present a brass band work for examination. She arranged it for string orchestra so that it could be played before she left the RCM in July 1930. Following the premiere of the original in 1933, the manuscripts did not resurface until 1969 Imogen found them among her late mother's effects. Although she requested score and parts be destroyed, they ended up in the possession of Manchester composer John Golland, who marked up the score presumably with the intention of creating a new performing edition. The original scoring reveals a lack of experience with what can be a tricky medium.With the agreement of the Holst Foundation, a revised edition, with additional percussion, was prepared in 2011 since when the work has been fortunate to travel round the world as a concert and contest piece. The original includes drums in the March only. The title was taken from Tomas Nashe's famous 1594 picaresque novel of the same title. Several Morris Dance tunes are introduced during the course of the four short movements, including Bonnie Green Garters, Shepherd's Hey, The Rose and The Wind Blaws Cauld. Quirky twists and turns of harmony and spirited rhythms that remind us how much Imogen Holst loved tradition English dance music.In September 2025, I made a performing edition of the composer's arrangement for string orchestra. The manuscript lacks the final movement, which I arranged in a similar style, ie. without extending the upper ranges. Making this edition raised some issues regarding the accuracy of my band version and some of the solutions I used to smooth out the voicing. I have used the composer's second thoughts to refine my performing edition and to correct a textual errors.- Paul HindmarshDuration: 10.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£34.95The High Council (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
This march was written at the request of the then Chief of the Staff, Commissioner Arnold Brown for the welcome meeting of the 1974 High Council, a gathering of The Salvation Army's top leaders from around the world who meet to elect a new General. The scintillating music is filled with many wonderful and surprising shifts of key, rhythm and instrumental colour. Evangeline Booth's song 'The world for God' provides the international reference while at the trio's peak, the composer joins three tunes in impressive counterpoint; 'We're the Army' (cornets), 'A Robe of White' (horns and baritones) and 'Bound for Canaan's Shore' (trombones). The march ends with a dazzling shift into triple time and an impressive molto allargando codetta.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£55.00Triumph Series Brass Band Journal, Numbers 1359 - 1362, March 2024
1359: Festival March - Coastal Celebration (Sam Creamer)Coastal Celebration was commissioned in 2019 by Nambour Salvation Army Band for the Corps' 125th anniversary celebrations. Nambour was the birthplace of The Salvation Army's work on the Beautiful Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. Firring with this theme are subtle tributes to iconic Sunshine Coast landmarks, referenced with small phrases of popular secular melodies intertwined with the main tunes What a faithful God (S.A.S.B. 378) and All through the years (S.A.S.B. 826).1360: He's always been faithful (Craig Woodland)This meditative selection is an arrangement of the song by American singer and record producer Sara, Groves, He's always been faithful. The words express the joy and thankfulness in having a relationship with Jesus and knowing his presence in life. The melody and motifs of the traditional hymn, Great is thy faithfulness (S.A.S.B. 26), are heard throughout.1361: Christ's living water (Dean Jones)Christ's sacrificial love has been beautifully portrayed through the imagery of water in many songs, none more so that the skilfully crafted words we find in the chorus of I know a fount (S.A.S.B. 197), written by Oliver Cooke. To enhance the sentiments expressed, the pure sounds derived from Handel's Water Music fit perfectly in terms of music and imagery.1362: March - Fear Not! (Avelan Ntsiete)The Salvation Army continues to proclaim its music ministry in all corners of the world and, with this item under review, we introduce a new composer, originally from Congo Brazzaville, Central Africa. Avelan Ntsiete is currently a Bandsman at the Lilas Corps in Paris but has previously served in the Congo Brazzaville Territorial Band. This march, in traditional format, was written for an evangelistic campaign in Kindamba, where civil war has brought upheaval to the area and uncertainty for the local Salvationists. The composer was part of a small brass group which travelled for over 24 hours by truck and on foot to reach Kindamba and bring encouragement to the Salvationists within that community.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£38.95Unity Series Band Journal - Numbers 526 - 529, February 2024
526: March - Summit Cross (Beat Hari)This exciting and energetic work introduces a new contributor to our journals. Beat Hari helps lead the band at Frutigen Corps, Switzerland. This march was composed with the intention of featuring it in an open-air concert beside the ski slopes. Members of the corps regularly join the band, instigating conversations with skiing guests by distributing bible verses and sweets. The composer has named this march because of the many Swiss mountains that have crosses on their summit as symbols of God's protection over the population living in the valleys below. The march follows a traditional format with a solid rhythmic construction built from the bass line.527: Christ is all (Olaf Ritman)The Salvation Army song, Christ is all (S.A.S.B. 588) is one that is cherished by the composer. The verses by Herbert Booth are both powerful and vulnerable and the melody by William A. Williams really touches the soul.528: My all to follow (David Edmonds)This piece pays tribute to all who have accepted the call to become Salvation Army officers and envoys. Such a calling involves significant change and can be difficult when leaving their comfort zone or moving away from family.529: We shall win (Alan Williams)William Hodgson's song We're a band that shall conquer the foe (S.A.S.B. 990) is one of confidence and encouragement in our daily fight against evil, sin and injustice, both in the world and in our lives. As such, this music should be full of that same confidence.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days