Results
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£104.99The Divine Right (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Harper, Philip
At the time of composing this piece, the Arab Spring was sweeping through the Middle East. It seemed that almost every week a new country's people had risen up against the regimes and dictatorships which had prevailed for generations, leaving many nations at a defining crossroads in their history. There were so many possible ways ahead: so many hopes, yet so many uncertainties.This music is a depiction of these revolutionary times, and several musical themes are in turn presented, discussed, considered, fought over, altered, rejected or accepted.Most nations have had, or probably will have, their own Arab Spring, including the United Kingdom. Events of 17th Century Britain provide the context for this piece, particularly those following the execution of the tyrant King Charles I on 30 January 1649. The regicide was in part due to Charless steadfast belief in the Divine Right of Kings, and led to a tumultuous interregnum, where England stood at its own defining crossroads. The music begins turbulently, before King Charles appears and is led to the gallows outside Banqueting House in central London where he is brutally decapitated. From the assembled crowd rose, according to one observer,a moan as I never heard before and desire I may never hear again.The music descends to emptiness.The musical argument which follows is not strictly programmatic, but a number of musical themes are all thrown into the melting pot, representing ideas such as: religion; military force; reasoned Parliamentary debate; and the chattering, irrepressible voice of the people. Additionally, there are some quotations from the music of royalist composer Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656), who was often in tune with the feeling of the times.This defining episode in England's history was brought to a close with the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, and as the exiled King Charles II rode back into London the diarist John Evelyn wrote:Never was so joyful a day seen in this nation. I stood in the Strand and beheld it, and blessed God.At the end of the piece the bells ring out, and the musical appearance of the King has transformed from turbulent to triumphant.Duration: 17.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£79.95The Plantagenets (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Gregson, Edward
A Symphonic Study for Brass BandThe Plantagenets was Gregson's first major test piece, written specially for the 1973 National Brass Band Championships.In this ambitious symphonic study he turned his attention to music which sets out to create a mood or atmosphere, in contrast to his earlier brass band works such as Essay and Partita where the underlying concerns are technical rather than expressive. However, Gregson is at pains to emphasise that The Plantagenets is not programme music. 'Symphonic' is the optimum word here. In its textural and harmonic complexity, its rhythmic and melodic variety, this was his most ambitious brass band piece so far. His language, with its roots in Hindemith and Bartok is further enriched here with the expressive language of Holst and Rachmaninov.As he says in his notes on the work: The Plantagenets attempts to portray the mood and feelings of an age - that of the House of Plantagenet which lasted from the middle of the twelfth century to the end of the fourteenth. To many it conjures up an age of chivalry and this is represented by fanfare motifs which occur throughout the work in varied form.Characteristically, the composer then goes on to describe not the atmosphere or mood he is trying to convey, but the means by which the music has been composed: the opening fanfares, based on the interval of the third, generating the musical material for the whole work; an exposition of two themes - one fanfare-like, one lyrical (on horns); a slow episode introducing a new melody on solo horn (answered by cornet and euphonium in canon); a little scherzo, fugal in character; and a recapitulation leading to a maestoso statement of the slow movement theme with a final reference to the fanfares as a triumphant conclusion.Duration: 11.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£39.95
The Plantagenets (Brass Band - Score only) - Gregson, Edward
A Symphonic Study for Brass BandThe Plantagenets was Gregson's first major test piece, written specially for the 1973 National Brass Band Championships.In this ambitious symphonic study he turned his attention to music which sets out to create a mood or atmosphere, in contrast to his earlier brass band works such as Essay and Partita where the underlying concerns are technical rather than expressive. However, Gregson is at pains to emphasise that The Plantagenets is not programme music. 'Symphonic' is the optimum word here. In its textural and harmonic complexity, its rhythmic and melodic variety, this was his most ambitious brass band piece so far. His language, with its roots in Hindemith and Bartok is further enriched here with the expressive language of Holst and Rachmaninov.As he says in his notes on the work: The Plantagenets attempts to portray the mood and feelings of an age - that of the House of Plantagenet which lasted from the middle of the twelfth century to the end of the fourteenth. To many it conjures up an age of chivalry and this is represented by fanfare motifs which occur throughout the work in varied form.Characteristically, the composer then goes on to describe not the atmosphere or mood he is trying to convey, but the means by which the music has been composed: the opening fanfares, based on the interval of the third, generating the musical material for the whole work; an exposition of two themes - one fanfare-like, one lyrical (on horns); a slow episode introducing a new melody on solo horn (answered by cornet and euphonium in canon); a little scherzo, fugal in character; and a recapitulation leading to a maestoso statement of the slow movement theme with a final reference to the fanfares as a triumphant conclusion.Duration: 11.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£76.99Variazioni in Blue (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - De Haan, Jacob
Variazioni in Blue is a series of variations in which elements from the Blues, such as the specific blue notes, run throughout the piece. Following a stately introduction, which includes part of the theme, is an ornamental variation in classical style. We then hear a variation in Blues style, followed by a fast variation with an Eastern European folklore feel. The Andante con espressivo is particularly fine with its attractive harmonic changes. This variation develops into a repeat of the previous folklore variations with its major variation forming a climax towards the end.Duration: 6:30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£65.00Royal Fireworks, Music from the (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Handel, George Frideric - Blakeson, Don
Handel's Music For The Royal Fireworks was composed in 1749 to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and the end of the War of the Austrian Succession. The site chosen was the fashionable upper part of St. James Park, which was becoming known at that time as Green Park. The Green Park 'Machine', which housed the pyrotechnics was an elaborate affair adorned with "statues and other figures, festoons of flowers, and other lustres". It was announced that there would be some 10,000 rockets and other devices to be let off, all culminating in a grand, burning sun with 'Vivat Rex' at its centre. There were also rumours that the event was to be accompanied by an impressively large band of military music and mention was made of "40 trumpets, 20 french horns, 16 hautboys (oboes), 16 bassoons, 8 pairs of kettle drums, 12 side drums, a proper number of flutes and fifes; with 100 cannon to go off singly at intervals". It is unlikely that Handel had ever conceived such forces and it was merely the promoter's hyberbole, not least because it was unlikely that there were sufficient numbers of extra military musicians available that could read music, as most played from memory. It is also likely that Handel, and his publisher, were conscious that future performances would be hindered by such forces. The autographed score lists the instrumentation as 9 trumpets, 9 french horns, 24 hautboys, 12 bassoons, 3 pairs of kettle drums and up to 4 side drums. The work is in five movements, although Handel's original score did not indicate in which order they should be played. However, in this score they are arranged to be played as follows: Overture; Bour?e; La Paix; Minuets; La R?jouissance. Duration: 19:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.95The Long Cloud of Witnesses (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Downie, Kenneth
This music was written for the Amsterdam Staff Band's 50th Anniversary. The idea for using this theme in appreciation of the pioneers of the band who had gone before came to me during the thanksgiving service for my own mother's life. She was a life-long Salvationist, and the large crowd that gathered for her thanksgiving in Winchester gave such an inspiring rendition of this hymn at the end of the service that it moved me to write the music. In the closing pages of the score I have tried to suggest that final parade when those who loved the Lord join the 'long cloud of witnesses' in procession to their eternal home. - Kenneth Downie
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£29.95
The Long Cloud of Witnesses (Brass Band - Score only) - Downie, Kenneth
This music was written for the Amsterdam Staff Band's 50th Anniversary. The idea for using this theme in appreciation of the pioneers of the band who had gone before came to me during the thanksgiving service for my own mother's life. She was a life-long Salvationist, and the large crowd that gathered for her thanksgiving in Winchester gave such an inspiring rendition of this hymn at the end of the service that it moved me to write the music. In the closing pages of the score I have tried to suggest that final parade when those who loved the Lord join the 'long cloud of witnesses' in procession to their eternal home. - Kenneth Downie
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£24.95
SNARING OF THE SUN, The (Brass Band Extra Score) - Roberts, Stephen
2015 National Championships Finals Testpiece - Second Section - Extra Score. The Graces of Love (Le Gratie d'Amore) is the title of a book published in 1602 by Cesare Negri, the famous dance master of the Milan court in the Renaissance. It contains numerous dance tunes and precise descriptions of courtly dances. It also includes the tune Il bianco fior (The White Flower) on which the first movement of the present piece is based. A vigorous dance in three-four, it leads to an acceleration and a sudden shift to an even meter towards the end. The second movement, calm and contemplative in character, features the tune Vaghe bellezze ... (Veiled Beauty ...). Widely spaced melodic parts surround two solos during which the tune is varied and developed. Finally, the third movement contains a saltarello with a hypnotic rhythm, ending the work with flair and gusto. Duration: 11:30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£99.95
SNARING OF THE SUN, The (Brass Band Set) - Roberts, Stephen
2015 National Championships Finals Testpiece - Second Section. The Graces of Love (Le Gratie d'Amore) is the title of a book published in 1602 by Cesare Negri, the famous dance master of the Milan court in the Renaissance. It contains numerous dance tunes and precise descriptions of courtly dances. It also includes the tune Il bianco fior (The White Flower) on which the first movement of the present piece is based. A vigorous dance in three-four, it leads to an acceleration and a sudden shift to an even meter towards the end. The second movement, calm and contemplative in character, features the tune Vaghe bellezze ... (Veiled Beauty ...). Widely spaced melodic parts surround two solos during which the tune is varied and developed. Finally, the third movement contains a saltarello with a hypnotic rhythm, ending the work with flair and gusto. Duration: 11:30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£134.99Sinfonietta: The Town Beneath the Cliff (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
Sinfonietta: The Town Beneath the Cliff was commissioned by Holmestrand Ungdomskorps from Vestfold in Norway. The work is in four movements: a spectacular fanfare followed by a moto perpetuo-like toccata. The third movement Hymn is a beautiful piece of music allowing the band to show its musicality and sound. The last movement Scherzo Finale opens with a short phrase from Holmestrand's own town song, Holmestrandsangen, which comes again in full at the end of the piece, accompanied by a florid passage based on the opening theme.Duration: 13.45
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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