Results
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£99.95ROCOCO VARIATIONS (Gregson) (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Gregson, Edward
Rococo Variations was commissioned by the British Open Championships for their 2008 contest in Symphony Hall, Birmingham, and co-commissioned by the Norwegian Band Federation, for their National Championship in Bergen in 2009.The title of the work has been used before, of course, most notably by Tchaikovsky in his work for cello and orchestra. My set of variations follows the Tchaikovskian model in that it is based on a quasi-Baroque original theme, and has certain 'dance-like' characteristics in the variations, but beyond that all comparisons end.There are six variations: Toccata, Siciliana, Waltz, Moto Perpetuo, Lament, and Fugal Scherzo, followed by a triumphant re-statement of the theme. Throughout, there is considerable contrast in the music, with the fast variations being rather virtuoso in character, sometimes with constantly changing time patterns, whilst the two slow variations (Siciliana and Lament) are in turn lyrical and pensive in mood with prominent solos and duets for a number of instruments.Although the work overall is dedicated by my brother, each of the six variations pays tribute to a different composer whose contribution to the brass band repertoire during the second half of the twentieth century has been of great significance. To this end, all six composers have their own 'musical signature' embraced within the particular variation, a process which reaches its zenith, contrapuntally speaking, during the final variation and reprise of the theme.- Edward Gregson
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£49.95
ROCOCO VARIATIONS (Gregson) (Brass Band - Score only) - Gregson, Edward
Rococo Variations was commissioned by the British Open Championships for their 2008 contest in Symphony Hall, Birmingham, and co-commissioned by the Norwegian Band Federation, for their National Championship in Bergen in 2009.The title of the work has been used before, of course, most notably by Tchaikovsky in his work for cello and orchestra. My set of variations follows the Tchaikovskian model in that it is based on a quasi-Baroque original theme, and has certain 'dance-like' characteristics in the variations, but beyond that all comparisons end.There are six variations: Toccata, Siciliana, Waltz, Moto Perpetuo, Lament, and Fugal Scherzo, followed by a triumphant re-statement of the theme. Throughout, there is considerable contrast in the music, with the fast variations being rather virtuoso in character, sometimes with constantly changing time patterns, whilst the two slow variations (Siciliana and Lament) are in turn lyrical and pensive in mood with prominent solos and duets for a number of instruments.Although the work overall is dedicated by my brother, each of the six variations pays tribute to a different composer whose contribution to the brass band repertoire during the second half of the twentieth century has been of great significance. To this end, all six composers have their own 'musical signature' embraced within the particular variation, a process which reaches its zenith, contrapuntally speaking, during the final variation and reprise of the theme.- Edward Gregson
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£30.00That Moaning Trombone - Carl D Bethel, Sandy Coffin
Comic March One-StepCommissioned by John Wallace, this arrangement of That Moaning Trombone has been crafted by Sandy Coffin through close listening of the available recordings of the Harlem Hellfighters Band. Sandy had been heavily involved with the Historic Brass Society symposium 2017 held in New York and assisted John with his research on this fascinating band and the style of music it generated.Eye-witness accounts refer to the 369th band 'dancing' rather than 'marching'. Above all, in modern performance, finding a 'dancing beat' is crucial to a successful performance of this Ragtime march in order to do justice to the great pioneering work of James Reese Europe.Note the the reckless abandon with which glissando, at that time a novel effect, is used!Look and Listen (courtesy of the Tullis Russell Mills Band):Background to the Harlem HellfightersThe US Army 369th Regiment, made up largely of African-Americans from New York, became known as the Harlem Hellfighters because of the heroic reputation which accrued to them during the actions they engaged in during the First World War in Europe.James Reese Europe was one of the most active African-American composer/musical directors in the pre-war American music scene. The legendary Harlem Hellfighters Band, which he assembled in 1917 from African-American and Puerto Rican musicians, came at an important transitional point in musical history. A new form of music called jazz was emerging from Ragtime and the performing style of Europe's band was immersed in the flow of this new direction.Europe's Harlem Hellfighters influenced and inspired everyone who heard them, including the welcoming crowd when they disembarked in France, bowled over by their swinging rendition of La Marseillaise. Reese Europe became a war hero, commanding a machine-gun unit as well as the band.On return from War in 1919 the band led a ticker-tape parade along Fifth Avenue in New York and soon made about 30 shellac recordings. These recordings display some of the fingerprints of their performing style: ragging, improvising, muting, wailing, smearing (their word for glissando) - and from the evidence of their recordings they took the printed page as a blueprint for individuality.In May 1919 during the Hellfighters' triumphant coast-to-coast tour after their return, James Reese Europe was tragically murdered, bringing to premature close, at the age of 39, the work of a great musical innovator.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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The Tricorn - Len Jenkins - Len Jenkins
The Tricorn is a style of three-cornered hat from Europe in the 18th century, generally referred to as a 'cocked hat' in Britain and popular in America at the time of the War of Independence. It may still be seen on ceremonial occasions as part of the town-cryer's dress in England and features in a popular German song for children 'Mein Hut, der hat drei Ecken'. However, in the case of this music, the reference is to the cornet section and the requirement for triple-tonguing on the Eb Soprano cornet. Whilst ostensibly a concert march in style, its jaunty rhythm makes you want to stride along and it may therefore be used as a 'road march' as well. Pressure on the Soprano cornetist as a soloist is reduced by adding the Solo Cornets to the melody line in the 'road march' version. With this in mind, we supply the music in both A4 (concert) and A5 (march-card) sizes as a package.
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£30.00Bandamonium 2024 (Neil Lock) - Brass Band Sheet Music Full Score & Parts - LM541
COMPOSER: Neil LockThis march was submitted to the march composers' competition for "Bandamonium 3"in Hatherleigh, Devon in July 2024. The winning march was played by massed bands at the conclusion of the celebrations on Saturday 27th July 2024. Unfortunately, this march took second place in the competition, behind the march of Paul Pennicotte-Henrie, conductor of Okehampton Silver Band.The march can be played with or without the singing. (Even at the Whit Friday marches, begad!) I suggest that it should be introduced by 3-beat rolls.When played with singing, the "Bandamonium" lyrics (bars 10-13 and 56-57) are to be sung by all players, keeping to their own parts, with appropriate octave adjustment for their individual singing voices. Conductor and percussionists should sing with the main theme (Db and C at bars 10-13, F at 56-57). Listen to the 3rd cornet players!There is an additional part for Singers, in which the trio melody (bars 58 onwards) can be sung by Soprano and Tenor singers at a moderate choir standard. An octave-down option is also provided in the higher bars. This part can be given to "spare" singers within the band, or to singers external to the band if opportunity permits. The lyrics are:We are in Devon,We're in Hatherleigh,Whit Friday heaven,But we're marching free!Now it's past seven,Time to party,At BandamoniumIn Hatherleigh!LM541 - ISMN : 9790570005413
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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£16.00Sonata Pian'e Forte
DescriptionSonata Pian'e Forte means an instrumental piece using soft and loud dynamics. A "Sonata" (at this time) meant a piece for instruments (as opposed to voices). It was probably written to be played as part of a service at St Mark's, Venice. This is the earliest known piece to specify both the instruments to be played AND the dynamics in the written music.Gabrieli was born in Venice sometime between 1554 and 1557 and studied with the renowned Dutch composer Orlando di Lassus. He also studied with his uncle, Andrea Gabrieli, and eventually succeeded him as the organist and composer at St Mark's Basilica in Venice. Already renowned as a musical centre, Venice became a magnet for composers wishing to study with Gabrieli after 'Symphoniae Sacrae' was published.Like many of his works, Sonata Pian'e Forte was written to take advantage of the unique layout of St Mark's, which had galleries on three sides where the musicians could be placed to create novel spatial effects - utterly new and exciting for sixteenth century listeners. Sonata Pian'e Forte has two different antiphonal 'choirs' and in this arrangement the band is split into two groups to reflect Gabrieli's innovative idea. Ideally the two groups should be clearly separated so the the antiphonal effect comes across clearly, although this will of course depend on the performance space. On no account should the band remain in its normal seated formation!As Gabrieli didn't have any percussionists (and percussion was widely thought inappropriate for music performed in church anyway) there are no percussion parts in this music.This arrangement is available for full brass band or 8-piece brass ensemble andwas first performed by the Blackley Band conducted by Andrew Baker in 2004.Listen to a computer realisation and follow the score in the video below:Duration approximately 4'20".
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£35.00strange geometry
Descriptionstrange geometrywas commissioned by Morgan Griffiths and the Hammonds Saltaire Band for their performance at the Brass in Concert Championships of 2015.As a bit of a space/sci-fi geek, as well as a musician, two events during the summer of 2015 had a particular effect on me. The first was the tragic early death in a plane crash of the famous film composer James Horner. Horner's music, particularly in films like 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan', 'Avatar', 'Apollo 13' and even his debut in Roger Corman's 1980 budget film 'Battle Beyond the Stars', defined for a generation the sound of sci-fi at the cinema. Along with John Williams he created the vocabulary for those who wish to express other-worldly wonder in music and his inventive talent will be much missed in an industry where originality has become something of a dirty word in recent years.The second event was the epic flyby of Pluto by the NASA New Horizons spacecraft. There are many reasons to find this mission inspiring - for example, the scientists and engineers behind it created a craft that has travelled at 37,000 mph for nine years and three billion miles to arrive within seventy-two seconds of the predicted time for the flyby. That they achieved this with such accuracy is an outstanding tribute to humanity's ingenuity and insatiable curiosity. However, the most exciting aspect of the mission was the clear, high resolution pictures of this unthinkably remote and inhospitable world beamed back to mission control. The best previous image of Pluto was an indistinct fuzzy blob - suddenly we could see mountains made of ice, glaciers of methane and carbon monoxide and nitrogen fog - features previously unimagined on a world thought to be a slightly dull ball of cold rock. The BBC's venerable astronomy programme 'The Sky at Night' waxed lyrical about these newly discovered features, referring to "the surprising discoveries of mountains and strange geometry on the surface of this cold distant world".I like to think that Horner would have been as inspired as I have been by this real-life science story, and this piece uses some of the vocabulary of the sci-fi movie soundtrack in a tribute to the memory of a great musician and to the inspirational geeks at NASA who have boldly taken us where no-one has gone before.Note: This work comes with a B4 portrait score. Listen to a preview and follow the music below!
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£30.00The Sword and the Star
DescriptionThe Sword and the Star was written in 2006 for the Middleton Band at the request of their Musical Director, Carl Whiteoak. The inspiration for the work was the band's badge, which features a medieval archer. The town of Middeton's historical link with the symbol of the Archer came from the English victory at the Battle of Flodden in September 1513, where bowmen from Middleton and Heywood under the command of Sir Richard Assheton played a vital part in crushing the invading Scottish army. Sir Richard captured one of the Scottish commanders and presented the prisoner's sword to the St Leonard's church in Middleton in recognition of the town's contribution. As long time Lords of the Manor, the Assheton family crest was for centuries featured in the coat of arms of Middleton council, and when Middleton became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale the black star from the Assheton crest was used to represent Middleton in the new borough's coat of arms. Hence the title The Sword and the Star, for a piece which attempts to give an impression of the town as it was then and as it is now.The music is in three short sections - a fanfare, a lament and a bright scherzo - and simply aims to contrast the medieval hamlet of Middleton with the bustling urban centre it has now become. The central lament features a Scottish song called "The Flowers of the Forest", written to mourn the loss of so many of Scotland's young men on the field of Flodden; the song returns in a much more positive form at the end of the piece.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£90.00
Fragile Oasis - Peter Meechan
Fragile Oasis is the name of a collective who describe themselves as aaa grass-roots participatory initiative that connects the shared perspective of astronauts from different countries and cultures with people on Earth, encouraging all to work together so that our planet is not only visibly beautiful, but beautiful for alla.Many involved in the project are astronauts on the International Space Station (I.S.S.), who post, on their website (http://www.fragileoasis.org) many different details of their experiments, photos from space, and some incredible video footage of our Earth.One such time lapse video (a video made up many still images) was posted on their website by astronaut Ron Garan (http://www.fragileoasis.org/blog/2011/11/coming-back-down-to-our-fragile-oasis-2/) in 2011. It is made up of images taken from the I.S.S. of what Garan described as aaa couple of laps around our Fragile Oasis before coming back down [to Earth]a and features all kinds of amazing views from space.Each of the five sections of this work relate to an aspect of the video - either something literal or something more metaphorical. The opening section, i: The lights from Above, is a musical description of the view of the Aurora Australis from above the lights. The second section, ii: The Storm from Above (part i), is also a musical portrayal of portions of the video clip - in this case the many lightning storms we see from above. The storms that are so powerful on Earth appear as small bolts of electricity dancing through the clouds.The third section, iii: Freya, has its roots in personal family tragedy. The name Freya derives from a Norse goddess who was associated with both beauty and love, and in this central section I wanted to write music that not only acknowledged how fragile life itself is, but that every day of it counts and should be celebrated.iv: The Storm from Above (part ii) is a again a reference to the lightning storms, but also to the huge hurricanes we see in the video. It leads us to the final section, v: The Oasis from Above - a description of the size and grandeur of Earth, our Fragile Oasis.Fragile Oasis was commissioned by Leyland Brass Band and Michael Bach, and partly funded by The John Golland Trust, for their appearance at the 2013 European Brass Band Championships in Oslo, Norway. It is dedicated to Natalie Youson, in friendship
Estimated dispatch 12-14 working days
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£34.95
SOUTHERN CROSS, The (Brass Band Set) - Brian Bowen
The Southern Cross is one of several excellent marches by Brian Bowen in which he carried on the more sophisticated pattern of British marches by Wilfred Heaton, Leslie Condon and Ray Steadman-Allen. It was written for the Box Hill (Australia) Corps jubilee celebrations in 1970 and formed part of the band's repertoire when it toured Great Britain in the same year. The first half of the march features part of the song, 'March on!' by Klaus Ostby, an early pioneer of Salvation Army music in Scandinavia. The contrapuntal layering of melodies in the trio, especially in the finale where 'March on!' sounds one more triumphant time, is notable, as is the shift to a slower, more stately tempo. The harmonic and rhythmic style also represents the more modern sounds of Salvation Army brass band music in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Right from the opening gestures, listeners at early performances knew that a page had turned in the evolution of the Salvation Army march.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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