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£99.99Sparkling Brass - Philip Sparke
Sparkling Brass was commissioned by Osaka Concert Brass, one of Japan's top brass bands, and premiered by them on 27th December 2018 during a concert which celebrated their 10th Anniversary. The work opens in lively mood with fanfare-style figures from the lower band which are answered by the cornets. This interplay intensifies until the mood calms suddenly to introduce a chorale which leads to a duet-cadenza for cornet and euphonium. The rhythmic mood of the opening soon returns and leads to the main theme of the work, a modal caccia which features various section of the band. A short bridge passage leads to a change of key and a new cantabile theme which isintroduced by euphoniums and baritone. This is taken up by the full band after another change of key and leads back to the caccia theme. A transformed version of the opening fanfare returns to close the work.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£106.99Manhattan - Philip Sparke
Manhattan was commissioned by the United States Army Band for their solo cornet player Woodrow English and first performed by them in Carnegie Hall, New York, in November 2003. The two-movement work demonstrates both the lyrical and technical abilities of this outstanding player. The 'theme' is a weekend in New York and the opening bluesy movement, Saturday Serenade, describes the city on a Saturday night. While writing the second movement, Sunday Scherzo, the composer pictured an early morning jog in Central Park. This vivaciously rhythmic second movement ends with an even quicker coda bringing the work to a brilliant close. Each movement can also be playedindividually when a shorter solo is required.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£59.99Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring - Johann Sebastian Bach - Philip Sparke
Bach's appointment as the Cantor at Leipzig's Thomaskirche in 1723 required him to produce a new cantata for every Sunday service. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring is taken from his Cantata No.147 and is unusually elaborate, treated more like an aria than a chorale. It is perhaps the best-loved cantata movement from Bach's entire output and is a certain crowd pleaser for your concert programme.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£69.99The Green Hills of Tyrol (Euphonium Solo with Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
The Green Hills of Tyrol was commissioned by Jrena and Beat Knusel for their son, Swiss euphonium player Joel Knusel, to celebrate his 20th birthday in 2019. The request was for a piece suitable for use in a solo competition, possibly using a Scottish or Irish melody, and composer Philip Sparke suggested an old-fashioned air varie might be a suitable idea. The piece follows the well-established formula of a theme followed by four variations. The history of the original melody is fascinating and, although it is now well-known as a bagpipe tune, its background is Austrian or Italian, rather than Scottish. The tune appears as a chorus of Swiss soldiers in Rossini's 1829 opera William Tell but was possibly an existing Tyrolean folk tune. In 1854, during the Crimean War, Pipe Major John MacLeod of the 93rd Highlanders heard a band of the Sardinian contingent playing selections from the opera in camp before the Siege of Sebastopol. He was struck by the melody and arranged it for his pipers, calling it The Green Hills of Tyrol, referring to Tell's visit to that corner of Austria in the opera. It has since become universally popular among pipe bands who usually refer to it as A Scottish Soldier, following the addition of new lyrics in a 1961 hit by Andy Stewart.Duration: 5.45
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£87.99Sunday in the Park (Tenor Horn Solo with Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
Sunday in the Park was written for tenor horn virtuoso Sheona White, and commissioned by her partner, Matt Wade, as a Christmas present. Composer Philip Sparke had known and admired Sheona's playing for many years, having produced her first solo CD and written pieces for her previously. Both composer and performer are huge fans of the late Karen Carpenter, Sheona in part modelling her sound on the singer's sultry voice; so it was decided that this new solo would be a piece which, whilst not being a 'Carpenters' pastiche, paid tribute to their relaxed style and rich harmonic language. Sunday in the Park opens with an accompanied cadenza for the soloist, which leads to a gentle rhythmic melody with a laid-back feel. This is taken up by the band but the soloist sparks a change of mood by introducing a faster light rock interlude. This reaches a climax, at which point the music unwinds until the original mood returns. A variation on the original melody leads to a short cadenza from the soloist, which brings the work to a peaceful close.Duration: 7:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.99Almshouse Street Blues (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
In 2007 Philip Sparke was appointed composer-in-residence to Monmouth School, situated on the Welsh/English border. The school, which has a venerable history dating back to 1614, has a thriving music department which boasts two concert bands, in co-operation with the nearby Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls, and a brass band.This exciting and innovative appointment involved three visits by the composer during the year as well as the commissioning of a new piece for each of the bands, all of which were premiered in a concert at the end of the year.Almshouse Street Blues was written for the brass band, whose members were allowed to vote for which type of piece they would get! Monmouth School is based in Almshouse Street and the town has a thriving summer festival which, alongside blues bands, features a wide variety of music including jazz, soul, rock and bangra.Duration: 4.45
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£87.99Hail the Dragon! (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
Its title, Hail the Dragon!, references a work Philip Sparke wrote in 1984, The Year of the Dragon. The piece opens with a lively and energetic fanfare. The mood becomes more subdued in the centre section as the cornet introduces a new theme that builds to an emotional climax. This leads into a recap of the opening fanfare which acts as a type of descant to short quotations from the last movement of The Year of the Dragon before reaching a thunderous finale.Duration: 4:45
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£164.99Raveling Unraveling - Philip Sparke
Winning Performance EBBC Lille 2016 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 itsstunningclosing 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.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£91.99Pulcinella (Euphonium Solo with Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
Pulcinella was commissioned by the Taiwanese euphonium player Tzu-Hsiang Lin. Lin is a renowned soloist and teacher and a Besson Euphonium Artist. He teaches euphonium at Taipei National University of the Arts, National Taiwan University of Arts, Shih Chien University and National Kaohsiung Normal University. Lin gave the premiere of Pulcinella in both its concert band and brass band versions in January 2021. Pulcinella continues Sparke's series of euphonium solos named after characters of the Italian commedia dell'arte and opens with a long and expressive minor melody for the soloist over a brooding accompaniment. This is taken up briefly by the full band and is extended by the soloist after a change of key. A cadenza, accompanied by fragments of the main melody leads to a complete change of mood, tempo and tonality, introducing a Vivo section starting with a perky syncopated tune for the soloist. The band then uses elements of this new tune to introduce a change of key, where the soloist introduces a more lyrical second subject over a pulsing accompaniment. The band then takes this up and changes key to reintroduce the original Vivo melody, which leads to a short and acrobatic coda to bring the work to a spectacular close. Duration: 6.45
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.99The Conqueror (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
This fantastic contest march was composed for the Alexander Brass Band from Stavanger, Norway, who wanted a brand new march to play when they took part in the world-renowned Whit Friday March Contest. In the march Philip Sparke has followed the traditional brass band contest march format and it is named as a tribute to Alexander the Great, rather than the Alexander brass band, who were actually named after their local pub!Duration: 3:00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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