Results
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£32.95SWISS FESTIVAL OVERTURE (Brass Band - Score only) - Sparke, Philip
Duration: 9:11 Recorded on Polyphonic QPRL089D Harmony Music
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£38.50Raveling, Unraveling (Brass Band - Score only) - Sparke, Philip
Raveling, Unraveling - In Search of 'La Valse' was written for the Cory Band as their own-choice test piece for the 2016 European Brass Band Championships in Lille. The piece found its genesis in Sparke's The Unknown Journey (2014) for concert band, and the use of Ravel's La Valse as a structural undercurrent to the original piece is an act of reverence. Sparke's aim was to produce a work that is organic rather than episodic in nature. The composer's view is that little in music does this better than La Valse and for this reason he uses various sections of this masterpiece, both manipulated and quoted verbatim (including much of its stunning closing passages) to provide the overall geography of his new work. As the music progresses, more of the Ravel appears, surfacing completely as the piece reaches its climax - a gesture of homage to the French master.Duration: 16:30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£164.99
Raveling, Unraveling (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
Raveling, Unraveling - In Search of 'La Valse' was written for the Cory Band as their own-choice test piece for the 2016 European Brass Band Championships in Lille. The piece found its genesis in Sparke's The Unknown Journey (2014) for concert band, and the use of Ravel's La Valse as a structural undercurrent to the original piece is an act of reverence. Sparke's aim was to produce a work that is organic rather than episodic in nature. The composer's view is that little in music does this better than La Valse and for this reason he uses various sections of this masterpiece, both manipulated and quoted verbatim (including much of its stunning closing passages) to provide the overall geography of his new work. As the music progresses, more of the Ravel appears, surfacing completely as the piece reaches its climax - a gesture of homage to the French master.Duration: 16:30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.99Hava Nagila (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
Hava Nagila (the title means 'let us rejoice') is perhaps the best known example of a style of Jewish music called 'klezmer'. Klezmer music originated in the 'shtetl' (villages) and the ghettos of Eastern Europe, where itinerant Jewish troubadours, known as 'klezmorim', had performed at celebrations, particularly weddings, since the early Middle Ages. 'Klezmer' is a Yiddish term combining the Hebrew words 'kley' (instrument) and 'zemer' (song) and the roots of the style are found in secular melodies, popular dances, Jewish 'hazanut' (cantorial music) and also the 'nigunim', the wordless melodies intoned by the 'Hasidim' (orthodox Jews).Since the 16th century, lyrics had been added to klezmer music, due to the 'badkhn' (the master of ceremony at weddings), to the 'Purimshpil' (the play of Esther at Purim) and to traditions of the Yiddish theatre, but the term gradually became synonymous with instrumental music, particularly featuring the violin and clarinet. The melody of Hava Nagila was adapted from a folk dance from the Romanian district of Bucovina. The commonly used text is taken from Psalm 118 of the Hebrew bible.Duration: 3:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£29.95
The Land of the Long White Cloud (Score Only)
Dating from 1979, The Land of the Long White Cloud (Aotearoa) was Philip Sparke's first test-piece. It was commissioned by the New Zealand Brass Band Association for their 1980 National Championships (their centenary year) and set for the European Brass Band Championships, the same year, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Aotearoa was the name given to New Zealand by its Polynesian settlers whose first sight of the islands was a long, flat cloud lying low over the land. The work has no specific programme although many have seen pictures of the surging ocean in the opening bars. A faster dance-like section leads to a slow, haunting solo for soprano cornet; this is taken up by the whole band before earlier material returns. The dance-like tune is, this time, given a fugal treatment and the opening bars return to close the work.Philip Sparke was born in London and studied composition, trumpet and piano at the Royal College of Music, where he gained an ARCM. It was at the College that his interest in bands arose. He played in the College wind orchestra and also formed a brass band among the students, writing several works for both ensembles.At that time, his first published works appeared - Concert Prelude (brass band) and Gaudium (wind band). A growing interest in his music led to several commissions, his first major one being this featured piece for the Centennial Brass Band Championships in New Zealand - The Land of the Long White Cloud. He has written for brass band championships in New Zealand, Switzerland, Holland, Australia and the UK, including three times for the National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall.In September 2000, he was awarded the Iles Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians for his services to brass bands and in 2005 Music of the Spheres won the National Band Association/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest. In 2011, he received the BUMA International Brass Award for his contribution to brass music.His conducting and adjudicating activities have taken him to most European countries, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Canada and the USA. In May 2000, he took the major step of becoming a full-time composer by founding his own publishing company, Anglo Music Press. The company is devoted to publishing his brass band, concert band, fanfare band and instrumental publications as well as recordings dedicated to his latest works.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£49.99The Bandwagon (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
Band director and radio presenter Yutaka Nishida hails from Tokyo and is the Frank Renton of the Japanese brass band world. He presents a weekly two-hour music programme on the Japanese national radio station, Digital Radio Musicbird. The programme is called The Bandwagon and the station commissioned Philip Sparke to compose a march, which could be used as the theme tune. The result is this bright and breezy march in simple ABA form. A great lively item for any concert.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£168.50A Tale as Yet Untold (Brass Band - Score and Parts)
2013 Butlins Championship Section. Score and Parts.A Tale as Yet Untold was commissioned by the Cory Band for the European Brass Band Championships in Linz, Austria, 2010, and their winning performance gave them a hattrick of victories at the competition. The theme of this impressive work, which is set in three movements, is one that recurs again and again throughout the music of Philip Sparke, the power of the human spirit to overcome adversity and how the beauty of music can help in this respect.Grade: AdvancedDuration 14:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£52.50Broadheath (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
Broadheath was commissioned by the Elgar International Brass Band Summer School for their 2024 course. The premiere took place in the Routh Hall at Bromsgrove School on Friday 26 July.It is in conventional march form, opening with a brief fanfare before the horns take up the main theme. This is then repeated by the full band before euphoniums and baritone announce the second subject. This builds to a stirring tutti passage utilising elements of the opening theme, which brings the opening section to a close.In honour of the summer school's tribute to Sir Edward Elgar (it is held in 'Elgar country'), the trio uses the opening melody of his 1st symphony as its main theme, decorating it with filigree work from the cornets. This is repeated on the full band and leads to a varied recapitulation of the opening material to bring the march full circle.Duration: 5.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£91.99Fanfares, Songs & Dances (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
Fanfares, Songs & Dances was commissioned by Brass Bands England, the Lithuanian Brass Band Association and the Dutch National Brass Band Championships (NBK), and first performed at the 43rd 'NBK' in October 2024.The work is played in three linked movements:FANFARES opens in robust fashion with a sequence of fanfare-like statements, initially featuring the horns, whose modal theme includes a figure that will reappear throughout the work. Euphoniums and then cornets introduce a second theme, which is followed by a third, again initiated by the horns. Baritones then change the mood with a more-lyrical theme, which builds to a climax, eventually leading back to a recall of the initial fanfare theme. This gradually dissolves to introduce the second movement.SONGS continues to relax the fanfare feel with a long introduction to the movement's main theme, first appearing on solo cornet. A change of key introduces a bridge passage which leads to a sonorous chorale, which builds to a triumphal return of the cornet theme. A peaceful coda leads to the final movement of the work.DANCES is a scherzo-like movement based around a series of rhythmic melodies in triple time, which lead to a majestic return of the 2nd movement's chorale theme under cornet figuration. The opening dance theme returns and heralds a joyous coda.Duration: 11.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£64.99Skin and Bones (Trombone Trio and Drum Kit Feature with Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
Skin and Bones was commissioned by Brett Baker in memory of trombonist Julian Smith and to mark Garry Reed's 20 years as a member of Black Dyke Band, who gave the premiere in June 2023. After an introduction from the band, the trombones enter with the piece's main theme. A short bridge passage follows and the band then takes up this theme, with the soloists adding a countermelody. A change of key heralds a legato trio tune by the band, which is repeated by the trombones. After this, the drum kit takes centre stage to accompany the soloists in a virtuoso cadenza-like passage with interpolations from the band. This leads to a floridly decorated repeat of the opening theme which brings the work to a close.Duration: 4.15
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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