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£105.00
Handel in the Band - Kenneth Downie
Handel in the Band is a virtuoso set of symphonic variations on one of Handel's best known keyboard dances, the Sarabande from his Suite in D minor, HWV 437, based on the Spanish traditional dance La Folia. Kenneth Downie's work was commissioned by Brass Band Treize Etoiles, for performance at the 2013 Swiss National Brass Band Championships, where it was conducted by James Gourlay. The title is a reference to Percy Grainger's popular Handel in the Strand, and is indicative of the witty and theatrical nature of the music, which is more playful than conventional competition pieces and as such offers different challenges to brass bands as well as being thoroughly entertaining for audiences. Kenneth Downie is one of the most respected and experienced brass band composers. His music has been widely performed and published throughout the brass band world since the 1960s. Handel in the Band has been selected as the set work for the Championship Section final of this year's National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, which takes place at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 6th October 2018.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£40.00
Harlequin Dances
Harlequin dances is a stunning original composition showcasing a variety of dance styles. The piece starts with a mambo-like section, then moves into a more romantic ballad-type movement. This then winds up into a Viennese waltz which uses cheeky glissandi, then onto a very clever tempo shift and back to a recap of the mambo music which races along to a thrilling climax.
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£89.95BLOCH-Party - Jonathan Bates
DIFFICULTY: Champ. DURATION: 18'00". . 'BLOCH-Party' is music inspired by and attributed to the Swiss-born composer Ernest Bloch and was composed for the own-choice section of the 2022 Swiss National Brass Band Championships held in the Stravniski Auditorium, Montreux on the banks of Lake Geneva. Bloch was born and raised in Geneva itself to Jewish parents in 1880 before emigrating permanently to the United States in 1916. His Jewish heritage never ledft him though, and much of his writing and titling of works remained heavily influenced by his upbringing. This work is divided into 5 through-composed sections, culminating in a rip-roaring multi-metre dance inspired by traditional Yiddish and Klezmer rhythms and harmonies.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£29.95Danse Macabre - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 4'00". DIFFICULTY: Championship. 'Danse Macabre' is a showpiece solo for Euphonium, composed for the Reg Vardy Band for the 2019 Brass in Concert Championships, held at The Sage, Gateshead. This work formed part of a set based around the 4 human temperaments; choleric, sanguine, phlegamtic and melancholic - the latter of which is represented by 'Danse Macabre'. . This solo is in 2 contrasting sections, opening with a sombre and mournful melodic passage to showcase the soloist's expressive musical qualities before breaking out into a wild dance (loosely based around fragments from the famous Saint-Saens version) demonstrating a great range of technical wizardy, range and flexibility. .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£74.95Four Courtly Dances - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 12'00". DIFFICULTY: 1st+. 'Four Courtly Dances' was composed for Brass Band Burgermusik Luzern in 2025 for their Brass & Sport Gala Concert in the KKL Luzern. The work is a tribute to career of Swiss Tennis great Roger Federer with each movement giving a musical 'nod' to the story of his life and career. Each movement is inspired by a traditional 'courtly' (not in a tennis sense, but that was the idea!) dance:. 1. Inspiration (Almain) . The opening movement is subtitled 'Elegance on Court', backed by a deep-rooted sense of Swiss nationlism, featuring a prelude based upon the traditional Swiss song 'Guggisberglied'. . 2. Success & Failure (Galliard) . A movement centred around the trials and tribulations of an elite sportsperson, with antiphonal cornet & tambourine groups playing avirtuosic musical tennis match across the band. . 3. Rivalry (Sarabande & Canario) . An upbeat movement fused with Spanish and Balkan influences, inspired by Federer's long-running rivalries with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. . 4. Legacy (Pavane) . A final reflective and uplifting homage to the legacy leftby one of the greatest sportspeople of all time, culminating in a coda whichbrings together all the previous 'ingredients' which made Federer the icon he is. . .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£79.95Grieg Variations - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 12'30". DIFFICULTY: 2nd+. . 'Grieg Variations' is a through-composed work in the traditional style of a 'theme & variations'. The work opens with the main melodic fragment featured throughout Grieg Variations which comes from Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No.2; the final movement - 'Solveig's Song'. . This theme is followed by a set of 9 variations, each taking inspiration from various melodies and styles found within the Peer Gynt Suite. The first variation, a light-footed scherzo based upon the tonal line of Solveig's Song is followed by an 'Alla marcia' variation - in which the music is inspired by the 2nd movement - 'Arab Dance' - of the original suite. The 3rd variation takes a far darker and more aggressive turn in a variation set around the music of the 1st movement of the Peer Gynt Suite before a relaxation into a solemne revisiting of the original theme. Opening with a sombre and longing solo for Flugel horn, the focal point of this 4th variation is an extended solo for the Solo Euphonium, marked 'molto espressivo'. The new material here is used as a theme throughout this variation, being reprised by the full band immediately after as the music builds to a climax point at the top of the musical line. . Following this, there are 2 cadenzas for the Solo Horn and Solo Cornet respectively; the former inspired by the thematic material of Solveig's Song, and the latter from the Oboe cadenza at the beginning of Grieg's '2 Lyric Pieces, Op.68'. These cadenzas lead swiftly into the 7th variation, a bustling rhyhm-driven movement set in complex time. The 3rd movement of the Peer Gynt Suite No.2 - 'Peer Gynt's Homecoming' - makes it's first appearance in variation 8 in a triumphant battle-like setting before a combination of both this material and the Solveig's Song combine to bring Grieg Variations to it's close -not without a little nod to potentially Grieg's most famous work - In The Hall of the Mountain King. . .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£89.00Mr. Bojangles - Jerry Jeff Walker/Henk Ummels
'Mr. Bojangles' is a popular song written and initially recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker in 1968 and covered since by many other artists. The song was inspired by an encounter with a street performer in the New Orleans first precinct jail. Although this man could tap dance, the inspiration for the song was the famous stage and movie dancer Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. Robbie Williams recorded it on it's bigband CD 'Swing When You're Winning'.
Estimated dispatch 10-14 working days
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£71.00The Highlights from Elisabeth - Michael Kunze/Erik Janssen/Peter Kleine Schaars
The life of the Austrian empress Elisabeth (1837-1898) which started as a fairy tale but ended as a tragedy, inspired the librettist Michael Kunze and the composer Silvester Levay to write a musical based on the life of the popular 'Sissi'. The musical was premiered in Vienna on 3 September 1992 and was very successful for many years. The story is told by Luigi Lucheni, Elisabeth's murderer. So death, represented by a mysterious and seductive young man, is omnipresent throughout the musical. Several songs have become hits and, of course, you can hear them in this fine selection by Peter Kleine Schaars who gathered various music and dance styles such as the rock shuffle, the jazz waltz and the classical Viennese waltz.
Estimated dispatch 10-14 working days
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£10.00Kopanitsa
DescriptionKopanitsa was commissioned by Gavin Pritchard, who is also the work's dedicatee and gave the first performance with the Tongwynlais Temperance Band conducted by Gareth Pritchard at the Butlins Mineworkers Championship on 20 January 2008, winning the prize for best soloist as a result. He has recorded it on the CD "Enter the Galaxies" accompanied by the Cory Band conducted by Robert Childs.Gavin had requested a virtuoso showpiece featuring as many instruments as possible. The solo part is therefore written for vibraphone (bowed and struck), 10 x tuned tom toms, 5 x suspended cymbals plus hi-hat and a xylophone. The soloist's 'choreography' therefore forms an integral part of the performance. This can be seen to great effect in Gavin's performance of the work at the 2013 Brass in Concert Championship with Tredegar Band, available on the DVD of the event from World of Brass. A 'kopanitsa' is a Bulgarian folk dance that traditionally features two slow beats and two quick beats, reflected in the central 10/8 section. The music is deliberately Balkan in character, using the characteristic modes of Greek and Bulgarian folk music, and accelerates regularly to finish at breakneck speed. The tom-tom section marked 'ad lib.' after [D] can be improvised if the soloist wishes.You can follow the score in the preview video below!
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£70.00
Milestone - Peter Meechan
Milestone is a concerto commissioned by Mark Wilkinson (with funds provided by the Arts Council England) to celebrate 21 years as Principal Cornet with Fodens Band. In three movements, the work is intended to not only demonstrate the soloistas virtuosic skills, but also his ability to communicate to the audience.The first movement, titled Milestone, combines sections of driving rhythms (intended to represent Markas years of continuing hard work), in the accompaniment with long legato phrases from the soloist interspersed with dexterous, virtuosic, passages.The second movement, Song, features a simple chord sequence, over which the soloist asingsa a melody, each time varying and each time becoming more expressive, leading to an emotional climax.The final movement, Twenty One, is a quasi-celebratory dance. Opening with the band clapping, the soloist weaves their way through the various textures in the band. Occasionally making both a musical and metaphorical nod to the industrious nature of the first movement, the chord sequence of the second movement also re-appears, before a brief coda takes us to the conclusion of the work.
Estimated dispatch 12-14 working days
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