Results
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£99.95SEA PICTURES (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
An atmospheric and descriptive work, Sea Pictures is in three sections. The quiet but very difficult opening describes the sea at dawn when all is still save for the cries of the early-morning gulls and deep movements of the sea itself. The sun rises and the next section pictures it glistening and sparkling on the waves. A school of playful dolphins passes. As they swim into the distance we are alone again with the sun and the waves. But there are distant rumblings; from far away a storm approaches. Cool breezes disturb the surface of the sea as it clouds over. And then the storm is upon us, turning the sea into the most awful force in all nature. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it abates, leaving the sea once again serene in sunlight. All is calm but, as the work fades to a close, distant claps of thunder remind us that we are always at the mercy of the power and ficklesness of nature. Championship section. Duration 20:13
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£57.95
SEA PICTURES (Brass Band - Score only) - Sparke, Philip
An atmospheric and descriptive work, Sea Pictures is in three sections. The quiet but very difficult opening describes the sea at dawn when all is still save for the cries of the early-morning gulls and deep movements of the sea itself. The sun rises and the next section pictures it glistening and sparkling on the waves. A school of playful dolphins passes. As they swim into the distance we are alone again with the sun and the waves. But there are distant rumblings; from far away a storm approaches. Cool breezes disturb the surface of the sea as it clouds over. And then the storm is upon us, turning the sea into the most awful force in all nature. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it abates, leaving the sea once again serene in sunlight. All is calm but, as the work fades to a close, distant claps of thunder remind us that we are always at the mercy of the power and ficklesness of nature. Championship section. Duration 20:13
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£88.00Bass Trombone Concerto - Christopher Brubeck
Grammy-nominated composer Chris Brubeck continues to distinguish himself as an innovative performer and composer who is clearly tuned into the pulse of contemporary music. Respected music critic for The Chicago Tribune, John von Rhein called Chris: "a composer with a real flair for lyrical melody--a 21st Century Lenny Bernstein." In addition to creating an impressive body of work, including several band pieces, chamber pieces, 3 concertos for trombone, a trombone quartet, and several concertos for stringed instruments, Chris maintains a demanding touring and recording schedule playing bass and trombone with his two groups: the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, with brother Dan on drums, Chuck Lamb on piano and Mike DeMicco on guitar (www.brubeckbrothers.com); and Triple Play, an acoustic jazz-funk-blues-Americana trio with Joel Brown on guitar and Peter Madcat Ruth on harmonica and Chris on bass, trombone and piano (www.chrisbrubeckstripleplay.com.) Additionally, Chris performs as a soloist playing his trombone concertos with orchestras and has served as Artist in Residence with orchestras and colleges in America, coaching, lecturing, and performing with students and faculty. Once a year he tours England with the group "Brubecks play Brubeck" along with brothers Darius (on piano) and Dan as well as British saxophonist Dave O'Higgins. Chris had been a long-standing member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, writing arrangements and touring and recording with his father's group for over 20 years.
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£15.00In the Hall of the Mountain King - Grieg
Performance Notes from Andrew Duncan:This arrangement is fairly difficult for inexperienced players and is without doubt one of the most difficult in the Flexi-Collection Popular Classics Series. But, as it is such a popular piece there is normally a great incentive from the players to learn the piece, despite the difficulties.The accelerando and gradual increases in tempo which are integral to this piece are in themselves very important musical ideas for new players to grasp, and these will be better understood as a result of playing and learning this arrangement.Other features found in this arrangement which may be new to some inexperienced players are the use of tin mutes in the 1st Cornet/Trumpet part, and the falling chromatic notes (accidentals) found in the melody line. Also, the wide range of dynamics, pp - ff , may be new to some players.I have deliberately not suggested any specific metronome markings as this is very much up to the conductor and is dependant on the players' abilities. However, as the arrangement becomes more familiar, the tempo could no doubt be speeded up adding to the excitement of future performances.The Flexi-Collection ApproachFlexible scoring tailored to your needs - A perfect solution for expanding the repertoire of training and junior brass bands. The Flexi-Collection currently offers two series - Popular Classics and World Tour. Based on four-part harmony, these collections provide groups with the advantage of complete flexibility when they may not be balanced. If players or instruments are missing, the show can still go on!The Flexi-Collection - Popular Classics Series, encapsulates all that is great about the wonderful range of musical styles produced by Holst, Elgar, Handel, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Bizet and Parry.The thoughtful scoring and arranging by Andrew Duncan now means that groups of all abilities have access to a truly flexible set of music for their needs. With world parts, rudimentary theory, terminology translations and large format typesetting, The Flexi-Collection ticks all the boxes when it comes to bringing interesting music to the training and junior band/brass group environment.Available individually or as part of the money-saving Flexi-Collection Popular ClassicsAlbum.Scored for Brass Band and supplied with additional Easy Bb, Easy Eb and world parts - The Flexi-Collection offers flexibility in every sense of the word.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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£45.00The Pilgrim - Josiah Walters
Josiah describes his composition'The Pilgrim' as a journey of development and emotion, encompassing three key stages of emotional state: from the opening sounds which are full of anticipation and uncertainty, through to a passage of disillusionment and frustration, then moving on to a concluding stage which reintroduces the positive elements of the opening optimism, yet closing quietly, symbolizing an inner peace and contentment at the end of the musical journey.The composer's emotive approach to the creation of the work embraces a wealth of passion, anguish and enlightenment. Through his use of imaginative melody, themes and harmonic texture, Josiah has represented a collection of powerful emotions. Essentially non-programmatic, the piece opens in a contemplative manner, building with enthusiasm, and first introducing the use of bells and bell effects as a musical metaphor which is used throughout the piece to signify the journey's destination.As the sentiment continues, the music evolves in to an Allegro Furioso section, opening up a strong sense of frustration. At this section's climax, the symbolic use of the bells is reintroduced to create an over-tone of hope and purpose, although this does not last long as they fade into the Misterioso Molto Rubato section.As the melodies and harmonies develop onwards, 'The Pilgrim' evolves into a more reflective phase, reintroducing the sounds and motifs of the more strident opening.This closing section symbolizes the realisation that everything needed was already available to The Pilgrim, but travelling the journey, confronting and overcoming all of the challenges was the only route of discovery - peacefulness prevails, bringing the work to a close with a sense of contentment and enlightenment.'The Pilgrim', highly emotive in its creation, offers a wealth of musical imagery.Even to the uninformed listener, this fascinating, powerful and beautiful work stirs and stimulates a variety of emotional reactions - offering each listener an opportunity to apply the music to their own journey, their own personal pilgrimage.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 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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£15.99Brass Essentials - An Arban Companion (for all valve instruments)
Brass Essentials: An Arban Companion works through the Arban Cornet Method in the sequence that the excerpts appear in the original publication. It is not a method in itself, but a way to address the building blocks of a solid technique - good sound, good intonation, developing technical skills and applying rhythmic accuracy. It is suitable for all valve instruments.Simply choose which of the sections applies to the issues you are facing in your playing at any given time. Advice is given at the head of each section on how to deal with the technical processes involved for that particular area of practice as well as suggestions on rehearsal and performance tempi.A regular approach to the most basic aspects of playing a brass instrument will help maintain a strong technique whilst addressing any problems that may occur during your playing life, as they do from time to time. It can also provide a regular practice diet that will encourage real attention to detail.Brass Essentials: An Arban Companion can be used as a resource for teachers helping players starting out on their musical journey, but also performers at any point in their musical life as a back-to-basics approach is often the way forward when dealing with playing issues. The overriding principle is that every note counts!Section Headings : Set-Up, Articulation and Sound; Light Articulations; Syncopation, Spacing and Rhythm; Single Tonguing; Controlled Slurring Technique; Running Scales and Chromatics; Breathing, Shaping and Phrasing; Arpeggios, Dominant Sevenths and Diminished Sevenths; Triple Tonguing; Double Tonguing; The Studies
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£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
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£89.95Judd: Infinity
In the post-modern age in which we live, 'absolutes' are difficult for many to comprehend. Yet infinity, which means absolute, total, all-embracing, having no limits or boundaries in time, space, extent, or magnitude, has always been central to the Christian's concept of God.Through the ages, as human understanding has grown, particularly at a remarkable rate from the latter part of the twentienth century, Christianity has been continually challenged to interpret traditional beliefs in the light of new discoveries, but always within the reality of the infinite Being. In addition, scripture tells us that 'humanity was made in God's image'. Humankind is part of God's creation and as such, responsible for its upkeep. Such a commission has never been more relevant than in this present age. Psalm 8 creates a great picture of the majesty, eternal, infinte quality of God and yet reveals the desire of God to share in spirit with humankind. It recognises humankind as being, not a tool of the infinite, but as a creative contributing part of the ongoing movement and activity of the infinite.The music is deliberately melodic in context, creating a sense of unity with the infinite, in tandem with the varying expressions of individuality. It is not based on the Psalm but reflects some of the sentiments lying therein. The 'hymn-like' theme expresses the nature of the Divine using the Old Testament image of the infinite God coming to finite humankind, not in the 'wind', the 'earthquake', the 'fire', but in the 'still small voice' of quietness (1 Kings 19: 11-13). The ensuing musical development, in different styles and patterns, expresses this continual link between infinite and finite. Thus the conclusion, rather than being a symbol of might, power and magnificence, reflects the same sentiment as the opening.
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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