Results
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£45.00Diversions after Benjamin Britten (Brass Band - Score only)
Suite by Lucy Pankhurst, Simon Dobson, Paul McGhee and Gavin HigginsHaving devised a collective centenary tribute for Michael Tippett at the 2006 RNCM Festival of Brass (Variations on a Theme of Michael Tippett by five eminent composers of brass band music, PHM002), I commissioned this companion piece as a Benjamin Britten tribute for the 2013 festival. In the late 1970s, while researching a book about the English composer, and Britten's first teacher, Frank Bridge (1879 - 1941), I came across a copy of the printed score of Benjamin Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (Op.10) for string orchestra, in which Britten had written descriptive titles for each of the variations suggesting appropriate character traits of his much loved mentor and guide. The character variations are cast in march, song and dance forms.Taking inspiration from Britten's youthful tribute, I invited four award-winning composers, who have all made significant contributions to the brass band medium, to create their own personal reflections on four aspects of Britten's character and music, designed to form a suite of Diversions after Benjamin Britten, but which can also be played separately.Lucy Pankhurst's hauntingly lyrical Prelude: His Depth refers to the emotional and symbolic subtexts that underpin Britten's operas, taking its musical cue from Britten's many arrangements of folk songs. The flugel horn takes a prominent role throughout.Simon Dobson's breathless Scherzo: His Vitality reminds us with its rapid passage work and leaping bass 'groove' that Britten loved tennis and fast cars in his younger days.Paul McGhee's evocative interpretation of the March: His Sympathy represents Benjamin Britten's pacifism, as the composer writes: 'We view the music through the eyes of a pacifist. Whilst war and violence surround us, we do not engage in it and though it continues to happen around us. With the use of muted effects in most of the band throughout the piece, the flugel horn is the lone voice of reason, standing firm against the mechanical and destructive society in which it is forced to live. As the machine of war continues around the lone voice, the voice is gradually dismissed and mocked as the war machine rumbles on into the distance.'In an extended finale, entitled Toccata: His Skill, Gavin Higgins celebrates Benjamin Britten's consummate creativity. For the RNCM Festival of Brass premiere, the four contrasting movements were framed and connected by Britten's Fanfare for St. Edmundsbury for three trumpets, with the trumpet soloists spaced round the hall. I am grateful to the Britten Estate and publishers Boosey & Hawkes for giving permission for the elements of Britten's fanfare to be incorporated in the collective work.- Paul HindmarshDuration: 19.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£69.95Transformation (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Downie, Kenneth
I believe in transformation, God can change the hearts of men, And refine the evil nature, till it glows with grace again'. So wrote John Gowans in the second verse of his great hymn, 'I believe that God the Father, can be seen in God the Son', written specifically to affirm Salvationists' beliefs. It is sung to the tune Bethany and in seeking to explore this great subject at the heart of the Christian gospel in musical terms, the composer has used this fine tune as the basis. Although it never appears in its entirety, it is seldom out of the picture and much of the work is derived from it. The other main source of material is the lovely, simple chorus, 'Some day I shall be like him, changed to heavenly beauty, when his face I see'. This chorus is especially prominent in the middle section but there are important references to it throughout. There are also brief references to Charles Wesley's hymn, 'Love Divine' and, in particular, the telling lines, 'Changed from glory into glory, till in Heaven we take our place'. The work suggests that, at times, the process of being transformed is a struggle, portrayed with many passages of fraught and demanding music. Considerable reserves of stamina and technique are required while, in contrast, the chorus, 'Some day I shall be like him' provides the warm, gentle centre of the work. The premiere of the work was given by The International Staff Band of The Salvation Army in Cadogan Hall on Friday 3rd June 2011, as part of the band's 120th anniversary celebrations.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£34.95
Transformation (Brass Band - Score only) - Downie, Kenneth
I believe in transformation, God can change the hearts of men, And refine the evil nature, till it glows with grace again'. So wrote John Gowans in the second verse of his great hymn, 'I believe that God the Father, can be seen in God the Son', written specifically to affirm Salvationists' beliefs. It is sung to the tune Bethany and in seeking to explore this great subject at the heart of the Christian gospel in musical terms, the composer has used this fine tune as the basis. Although it never appears in its entirety, it is seldom out of the picture and much of the work is derived from it. The other main source of material is the lovely, simple chorus, 'Some day I shall be like him, changed to heavenly beauty, when his face I see'. This chorus is especially prominent in the middle section but there are important references to it throughout. There are also brief references to Charles Wesley's hymn, 'Love Divine' and, in particular, the telling lines, 'Changed from glory into glory, till in Heaven we take our place'. The work suggests that, at times, the process of being transformed is a struggle, portrayed with many passages of fraught and demanding music. Considerable reserves of stamina and technique are required while, in contrast, the chorus, 'Some day I shall be like him' provides the warm, gentle centre of the work. The premiere of the work was given by The International Staff Band of The Salvation Army in Cadogan Hall on Friday 3rd June 2011, as part of the band's 120th anniversary celebrations.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£84.95In League with Extraordinary Gentlemen (Euphonium Solo with Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Graham, Peter
Concerto for EuphoniumIn League with Extraordinary Gentlemen combines two of composer Peter Graham's life interests - composition and 19th century popular fiction. Each of the concerto's three movements takes its musical inspiration from extraordinary characters who have transcended the original genre and have subsequently found mass audiences through film, television and comic book adaptations.The first movement follows a traditional sonata form outline with one slight modification. The order of themes in the recapitulation is reversed, mirroring a plot climax in the H.G. Wells novella The Time Machine (where the protagonist, known only as The Time Traveller, puts his machine into reverse bringing the story back full circle).The Adventure of the Final Problem is the title of a short story published in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. This is an account of the great detective's final struggle with his long-time adversary Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. The music takes the form of a slowed down lndler (a Swiss/Austrian folk dance) and various acoustic and electronic echo effects call to mind the alpine landscape. The final bars pose a question paralleling that of Conan Doyle in the story - have we really seen the last of Sherlock Holmes?The final movement, The Great Race, (available separately) follows Phileas Fogg on the last stage of his epic journey "Around the World in Eighty Days" (from the novel by Jules Verne). The moto perpetuo nature of the music gives full rein to the soloist's technical virtuosity. As the work draws to a conclusion, the frantic scramble by Fogg to meet his deadline at the Reform Club in Pall Mall, London, is echoed by the soloist's increasingly demanding ascending figuration, set against the background of Big Ben clock chimes.In League with Extraordinary Gentlemen was first performed in the brass band version by David Thornton and the Black Dyke Band, conductor Nicholas Childs, at the RNCM Concert Hall Manchester on January 30, 2009.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£100.00
Handel in the Band (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Downie, Kenneth
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 was selected as the set work for the Championship Section final of the 2018 National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, which took place at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 6th October 2018.Duration: 15.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£19.99
Handel in the Band (Brass Band - Score only) - Downie, Kenneth
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 was selected as the set work for the Championship Section final of the 2018 National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, which took place at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 6th October 2018.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£35.00Postcard to Grimethorpe (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Gregson, Edward
I composed the original version of Postcard to Grimethorpe in 1993 at the request of Elgar Howarth, for a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, given by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. This was at a time when after the Grimethorpe Colliery pit closed the future of the band was in severe jeopardy. The concert was given in aid of the band, both through publicity and funding.Then in late 2022 Jack Stamp, the American composer, conductor and educator, and at that time international composer-in-association with Grimethorpe, contacted me to say that he had discovered my short piece in the band library, and asked if I might extend it for a recording he was sponsoring for the band - the repertoire to consist entirely of music specially composed for Grimethorpe.I agreed and decided to extend the piece by using the miner's hymn Gresford, as a symbolic gesture of protest at the many thousands of miners in the UK who were made redundant from their jobs. After an angular (quasi-atonal) first section, the hymn enters, softly at first, but with each phrase it becomes more powerful and insistent, ending with the final phrase triumphantly accompanied by melodic percussion (replacing the drums and cymbals of the earlier phrases, as if the band were then on the march). However, this short work ends softly and gently, as if anger has been replaced by quiet resolution and determination, looking to the future with confidence.- Edward GregsonDuration: 3.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£12.00
Postcard to Grimethorpe (Brass Band - Score only) - Gregson, Edward
I composed the original version of Postcard to Grimethorpe in 1993 at the request of Elgar Howarth, for a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, given by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. This was at a time when after the Grimethorpe Colliery pit closed the future of the band was in severe jeopardy. The concert was given in aid of the band, both through publicity and funding.Then in late 2022 Jack Stamp, the American composer, conductor and educator, and at that time international composer-in-association with Grimethorpe, contacted me to say that he had discovered my short piece in the band library, and asked if I might extend it for a recording he was sponsoring for the band - the repertoire to consist entirely of music specially composed for Grimethorpe.I agreed and decided to extend the piece by using the miner's hymn Gresford, as a symbolic gesture of protest at the many thousands of miners in the UK who were made redundant from their jobs. After an angular (quasi-atonal) first section, the hymn enters, softly at first, but with each phrase it becomes more powerful and insistent, ending with the final phrase triumphantly accompanied by melodic percussion (replacing the drums and cymbals of the earlier phrases, as if the band were then on the march). However, this short work ends softly and gently, as if anger has been replaced by quiet resolution and determination, looking to the future with confidence.- Edward GregsonDuration: 3.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£88.00Bass Trombone Concerto (Bass Trombone Solo with Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Brubeck, Christopher
"As a bass trombonist, I spent many years of my adolescence playing in youth orchestras, engaging in musical daydreams. I would visualize myself jumping up from the back of the orchestra to unleash improvisations much to the conductor's horror. The resultant three-movement, thirteen-minute work has enjoyed a robust life with performances by notable orchestras all around the world. Happily, the concerto works well as a recital piece, with many accomplished college players having won concerto competitions performing it. Jazz elements were inescapable, and realizing my old nightmare/dream, quite a bit of the trombone solo is meant to be improvised. I made a recording of the concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra, which was included on a CD called Bach to Brubeck released on Koch International Classics. Having already become popular as a bass trombone work with orchestra accompaniment, renowned British Bass Trombonist and publisher Roger Argente suggested he release a special Brass Band arrangement of my concerto. Roger knew the piece well because years ago he played the European premiere of the concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall." - Chris Brubeck. Duration: 13.00. Suitable for 1st Section Bands and above.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£38.00A Redbridge Rage (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Wilcox, Chris
Put simply, a 'Raga' is a scale used in Indian music, but aside from being a series of ascending and descending notes, ragas are also associated with different moods and with particular times of the day or year. A Redbridge Raga is influenced by the use of the 'Raga Bhairav' (a morning raga) which is clearly outlined in the mysterious opening of the piece. The following section is much more lively, incoprorating elements of Bhangra (a musical style emanating from the fusion of Indian folk music with British pop culture). The title reflects the location of the first performance that took place at Redbridge Town Hall, East London. Duration: 5.30. Suitable for 2nd Section Bands and above.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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