Results
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£10.00
INFINITY (Brass Band Study Score) - Robert Redhead
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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£35.00A Suffolk Prelude - Andrew Duncan
Written for the Ipswich & Norwich Co-Op Band, A Suffolk Prelude is based around five traditional tunes from Suffolk:'Nutting Time','Blackberry Fold','Cupid's Garden','A Seaman's Life''The Bold Richard'The piece begins on the percussion and timpani alone leading through a crescendo into the first statement of the fanfare which is derived from a motif from the tune 'Nutting Time'. This leads into a playing of the 'Nutting Time' tune which is then developed as the tune is passed around the band.'Nutting Time' is a jolly lighthearted tune about a 'fair maid' who meets a handsome young farmer called 'Johnny' when out gathering nuts in the wood. After a pause on the tubular bells the slow tune 'Blackberry Fold' is presented as a solo for Flugel Horn, then as a full band version.'Blackberry Fold' is a touching song about a Suffolk squire who gets married well below his station to a beautiful milkmaid, simply because he loves her! They live happily ever after.The next tune to be heard is the juanty 'Cupid's Garden' played firstly as a solo on the Euphonium, and again this is about the subject of love. This song is sung from a sailors prospective and he tells how he met a lovely maiden and has promised to marry her when he returns from duty at sea.The trombones then play the noble tune 'A Seaman's Life'. This tune seems to serve as a warning to young girls about the fickle nature and the total unsuitability of marrying a sailor! 'Oh a seaman's life is a merry merry life, they'll rob young girls of their heart's delight, they will leave them behind for to sail one morn, but they never know when they'll return'. Despite this it is a fine tune!The last tune featured is 'The Bold Richard' which is played by all the bass instruments in the band. This is a song telling how the Royal Navy friggate 'The Bold Richard' went to battle against a French friggate destroying her and taking her crew as prisoners.Suffolk Prelude goes on to feature a slow version of the tune 'A Seaman's Life' played alongside a fast version of the tune 'Cupid's Garden'. The opening fanfare then returns leading into a final coda section.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£30.00
Janacek's 'Taras Bulba' - Janacek
Comments from Tim Paton, the arranger of Janacek's 'Taras Bulba': "I will never forget the day in 1967 when I was introduced to the music of Leos Janacek, a Czech composer born in 1854, who died in 1928. Janacek was little known in Britain until the 1960's, when the conductor Charles Macherras introduced his unique music. I heard a recording of Macherras conducting the Pro Arte Orchestra in a performance of Janacek's "Sinfonietta".It was in 1969 that I first heard Janacek's Symphonic Rhapsody, "Taras Bulba".Janacek's music is exciting, powerful, emotive, impassioned and unpredictable.I have taken the first and third movements of this piece, and adapted them for Brass Band, which was at times extremely difficult, but rewarding. It sometimes took up to an hour to be satisfied that a mere several bars had been reproduced to convey the composer's intentions.The Death of AndriThe Cossaks, under the leadership of Taras Bulba, are fighting against the Poles in the 17th century. Taras's son Andri seeks to rescue his love, a Polish princess, from a city which is being besieged by the Cossaks. Having found her, he throws in his lot with the Poles, but is finally captured by his father, who executes him as a traitor before riding off again to battle.Prophesy and Death of Taras BulbaTaras himself is finally captured and condemned to be nailed to a tree and burned alive. As the flames creep around him, Taras has the satisfaction of seeing histroops escape, and as he dies, sees a vision of his country freed at last.This is incredibly descriptive music. The mood is constantly changing, creating feelings of love and anger, celebration and melancholy, despair and triumph.This Brass Band EditionThe duration of the original symphonic rhapsody, three movements, is approximately 23 minutes. I chose the first and third movements, so the Brass Band edition is approximately 14 minutes. The main reason is twofold: Being realistic about the demands this music would place on the stamina of the brass player; Keeping the piece less than 15 minutes, so that, if desired, it could be used on the contest platform.Two unique qualities of Janacek's music had to be taken into account when preparing this brass band version. His compositional technique was individual, at times not sticking to traditional expectations, in both form and orchestration. I imagined what the genius himself would have said looking at my work, and how to tackle a particular section to emulate his original intentions. This was particularly the case when dealing with high woodwind and violin parts, the use of tremolo in string parts, and the orchestral harp.Percussion: Janacek included timpani, side drum, cymbals, triangle and tubular bells. For reasons stated previously, I have also included xylophone and glockenspiel. I have also added the gong in a couple of places to enhance the dramatic effect of the music.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£30.00
My Little Welsh Home - Traditional
A beautiful arrangement by Tim Paton of a Welsh song by W S Gwynne Williams. Created in memory of his mother, Tim has produced a wonderful version for brass band and has also included an optional vocal solo or unison choir line.Comments from the arranger:I have arranged [My Little Welsh Home] in memory of my mother. [She] was born, Doreen Davies, on 27th November 1918, in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, a small town in South West Wales. She had a beautiful voice, and met my father, Bill Paton, during World War II, whilst she was singing in a troop concert at the County Theatre in her home town, and my father was the MC.Throughout her life, my mother and father entertained, and she was singing right up until the final months of her life. She spent many years in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, a seaside town in South West England, and it was here that she passed away on 20th September 2004. During the last several months of her life, she often referred to the song My Little Welsh Home:Here are the words.I am dreaming of the mountains of my homeOf the mountains where in childhood I would roamI have dwelt 'neath southern skiesWhere the summer never diesBut my heart is in the mountains of my homeI can see the little homestead on the hillI can hear the magic music of the RhyllThere is nothing to compareWith the love that once was thereIn the lonely little homestead on the hillI can see the quiet churchyard down belowWhere the mountain breezes wander to and froAnd when God my soul will keepIt is there I want to sleepWith those dear old folks that loved me long agoLooking at the words, I can see why it meant so much to her. Haverfordwest is at the foot of the Preseli Mountains, and her home and church were at the top of a hill. My mothers' ashes were taken back to her own little Welsh home, and laid to rest in the grounds of the church where she had been Christened, Confirmed and Married.Look and Listen (Score-reading digital sound-sample):
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£40.00Finale from Symphony No. 1 - Sergei Rachmaninov arr. Phillip Littlemore
Rachmaninov composed his First Symphony in 1895, at the age of just 22 years. It received its first performance on March 27, 1897, at a Russian Symphony Society concert in St. Petersburg with Alexander Glazunov conducting. The premiere was not well-received, and Rachmaninov himself blamed Glazunov for a lacklustre approach for beating time rather than finding the music. Some contemporary reports even suggested that Glazunov was inebriated when he took to the stage!Despite the disappointment of the premiere performance, Rachmaninov never destroyed the score but left it behind when he left Russia to settle in the West, eventually it was given up for lost. After the composer's death, a two-piano transcription of the symphony surfaced in Moscow, followed by a set of orchestral parts at the conservatory in Saint Petersburg. In March 1945, the symphony was performed in Moscow for the first time since its 1897 premiere. It was a grand success, and this led to a new and more enthusiastic evaluation of the symphony. In March 1948 it received a similarly successful American premiere and the work proceeded to establish itself in the general repertory.The final movement (Allegro con fuoco) is colourful and grand but not without its darkly contrasting, menacing episodes that intensifies its malevolence. It is a work overflowing with ideas demonstrating a strong, highly individual, and self-assured young talent.Duration: 5'40"Difficulty: 2nd Section and above
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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Das Boot - Klaus Doldinger - Len Jenkins
Traditionally, submarines are referred to as 'boats' rather than 'ships' and the German U- boat (Unterseeboot) was originally a craft primarily designed for surface attack that also had an underwater capability, an aspect that was subsequently developed into the submarine craft that we now know. Das Boot was a 1980's TV series/film that followed the patrol of U-96 and is reckoned by many to be the best (anti) war film produced. Authenticity was achieved by filming in a full size replica with actors who were denied washing or shaving to get the right 'atmosphere' of life in a U-boat. Despite the havoc and distress caused by attacks on Allied shipping by U-boats one cannot but be saddened by the fact that out of 40,000 who went to sea in them, 30,000 never returned. The music is characterised by a theme that has a haunting, deep, sonorous quality penetrated by the sharp, regular 'ping' of ASDIC (sonar) that was used by surface vessels to echo-locate submarines prior to attacking them with depth-charges. This 'ping' may be approximated to, at modest cost, by the percussion section using either a cymbal dome (select an appropriate beater) or a high-pitched wooden 'agogo'. Alternatively, more complex and expensive electronics may be employed. The piece needs to be played with confidence because of its discordant and intentionally sombre nature.
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It's Alright - Mike Moran - Len Jenkins
"It's Alright", the theme song for the BBC TV series New Tricks, was written by Mike Moran, whose credits also include composing the song "Barcelona" for Freddy Mercury, the theme to the UK crime series 'Taggart' and the Lynsey de Paul entry to the Eurovision Song Contest. As a producer, he has worked on The Queen Album and Elaine Paige's Piaf. New Tricks follows New Scotland Yard's mythical Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad, which is staffed by retired police officers who have been recruited to look into unsolved crimes, including murders. Whilst this particular squad is fictitious, the concept is based firmly on fact. Although New Tricks does have serious plots, the series also contains a fair amount of humour, usually revolving around in-house banter, and the lyrics to Mike Moran's song does it justice. Dennis Waterman, who played Gerry Standing, one of the team, was the obvious choice of vocalist, although the song was never released commercially. Sadly Dennis died in May 2022.
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£37.95Harlequin (Score and Parts) - Bruce Broughton
Harlequin is the most popular of the comic servant characters from the Italian commedia dell'arte who, although a slow thinker, was acrobatic and nimble - he would never perform a simple action when the addition of a cartwheel or backflip would spice up the movement! These characteristics are aptly portrayed musically in Bruce Broughton's mini concert overture. Originally published for brass band in 1984, this popular work coveys all the hustle, bustle, and agility of the character in a finely crafted musical structure. Ideal as a concert opener or encore it is sure to delight audiences and provide players with an exciting new addition to their repertory. Duration: 2:30
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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£32.00Amaranth (Score only) - Ray Steadman-Allen
The title of the work refers to a legendary imaginary purple flower, mysterious in that it never fades or dies. In an extended single movement the music explores the colours and textures of the brass band. Duration: 10:00
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days
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£42.00Amaranth (Parts only) - Ray Steadman-Allen
The title of the work refers to a legendary imaginary purple flower, mysterious in that it never fades or dies. In an extended single movement the music explores the colours and textures of the brass band. Duration: 10:00
Estimated dispatch 5-7 working days