Results
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£44.95Diversions, Op.97 (Brass Band - Score only) - Bourgeois, Derek
This work was commissioned in1985 by Skellerup, Christchurch, New ZealandMovements:Allegro VivaceAndante Con Moto Molto ExpressivoAllegro VivaceDerek Bourgeois wrote Diversions in the summer of 1985 to a commissioned from the Skellerup Brass Band.Bourgeois previous test piece, Blitz, was aggressive and forceful, therefore the composer decided to write a work of a completely different character, which although technically very demanding, is light-hearted in style, and easy on the ear, as the title suggests.The first and third movements share the same tempo, but are rather different in character. The first movement is a sonata allegro contrasting two main themes. The first is bold and jaunty and is heavily scored, the second announced by the solo horn is more lyrical in character. The development section and recapitulation are merged into a continuous interplay of the two themes.The second movement is an expressive andante in free rondo form. It is lightly scored for the most part with a lot of solo passages that make demands on the musicianship of the players and conductor alike. The very simplicity of its textures and the breadth of its melodic writing demand firm control of vibrato, phrasing and rubato.The brief finale is nothing short of a romp. Its ternary structure is highly rhythmic in character and only rarely do the performers enjoy the luxury of two consecutive bars in the same time signature!Duration: 11.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£59.95Essay (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Gregson, Edward
This work was specially commissioned as the test piece for a new brass band competition in 1971, held at the Royal Albert Hall, London. It is in three movements, the titles of which all have literary connotations. The first movement, Dialogue takes the form of 'conversations' between the instruments, based on the opening melody announced in unison on cornets and euphoniums. A second theme is introduced on the flugel horn and developed alongside this, creating a sonata form shell.The second movement, Soliloquy is dedicated to the memory of Gilbert Vinter - a composer who did so much in the 1960s to bring the brass band into the modern world. The movement is poignant in mood, which is depicted by a cornet solo announced after a brief introduction. The middle section builds to a powerful climax, at which point the opening theme of the first movement is heard again. Tranquillity returns however, with a solo trombone now playing the original theme with other instruments adding decorative accompanying patterns.The final movement, Epigram, creates strong rhythmic contrasts and exploits the more virtuoso character of the brass band. The middle section, with its changing time patterns and open expansive melody, suggests a 'big-country' style. A rhythmically charged coda concludes the work in exciting fashion.Duration: 12.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£29.95
Essay (Brass Band - Score only) - Gregson, Edward
This work was specially commissioned as the test piece for a new brass band competition in 1971, held at the Royal Albert Hall, London. It is in three movements, the titles of which all have literary connotations. The first movement, Dialogue takes the form of 'conversations' between the instruments, based on the opening melody announced in unison on cornets and euphoniums. A second theme is introduced on the flugel horn and developed alongside this, creating a sonata form shell.The second movement, Soliloquy is dedicated to the memory of Gilbert Vinter - a composer who did so much in the 1960s to bring the brass band into the modern world. The movement is poignant in mood, which is depicted by a cornet solo announced after a brief introduction. The middle section builds to a powerful climax, at which point the opening theme of the first movement is heard again. Tranquillity returns however, with a solo trombone now playing the original theme with other instruments adding decorative accompanying patterns.The final movement, Epigram, creates strong rhythmic contrasts and exploits the more virtuoso character of the brass band. The middle section, with its changing time patterns and open expansive melody, suggests a 'big-country' style. A rhythmically charged coda concludes the work in exciting fashion.Duration: 12.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£114.99Keystone (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Deleruyelle, Thierry
Keystone tells the story of the Odeon of Vriezenveen, a town in the Netherlands. Historically speaking, "odeon" (or "odeum") was the name for ancient Greek and Roman buildings used for activities such as singing, music and poetry. This was the name chosen in 1998 by several members of the 'Vriezenveense Harmonie' for the cultural centre they decided to have built. The piece starts slowly with the bass instruments, then speeds up in a counterpoint passage where the main motif moves from one set of instruments to another. After a slower section, the music speeds up again to reach a majestic chorale symbolising the splendid Odeon.This composition has been orchestrated for brass band to serve as the test piece in the first division of the French National Brass Band Championship of 2023.Duration: 15.15
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£134.99Alpina Brass (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Van der Roost, Jan
Alpina Brass was the test piece for the first division of the Ftes Cantonales on 8 and 9 June 2019 in Naters, Switzerland. It consists of three movements, and features a variety of aspects, as is common for a competition work. However, as a whole, it has been written in such a way that it can perfectly serve as a concert work as well. It is a challenging piece for every section and offers colourful and melodic as well as spectacular rhythmic sequences and a most impressive ending!Duration: 11.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£159.99RUSH HOUR (Brass Band) - Crausaz, Etienne
Rush Hour was commissioned by the Swiss Brass Band Association (SBBV) on the occasion of the 38th Swiss National Brass Band Championships 2012 (Montreux SBBW) as the test piece in the Championship division. Structured in three parts without breaks, the work opens in a heavy, oppressive atmosphere, sometimes even noisy. After a short passage in a lighter mood a quick tempo takes over, the music becomes nervous and unrelenting, with constant twists and turns. The tension builds, leading to a slower movement in which various soloists are highlighted. A few humorous touches are heard in contrast to a majestic, powerful and dramatic chorale. The end of this part is brighter and more peaceful. This atmosphere is soon replaced by a return of the thematic material heard in the first movement, developing into an oppressive moos. The piece concludes with a last ecstatic tutti, reusing the harmonies of the introduction in a kind of final flurry. Rush Hour attempts to express the range of feelings we may experience when caught in various stressful situations in the middle of the rush hour. Duration: 13:45
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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£22.00Journey of the Lone Wolf (Brass Band - Score only)
Championship Section Test Piece for the 2016 National Finals of the British Brass Band Championship.The Lone Wolf of the title is the great Hungarian composer and folklorist Bla Bartok. Bartok's journey took him from the hills of the Balkans to the heart of the new world. His singular vision may have meant a life out in the cold, a life without warmth and love, a life without true happiness, a death mourned by a few in a strange land.The first of the three linked movements is capturing the Peasants' Song and follows the young Bartok and fellow composer Zoltan Kolday as they embark on Summertime adventures through the Hungarian countryside to collect and catalogue the astonishing variety of Gypsy and folk music heard in the Balkan hills. The arrival of WW1 plunges Bartok's beloved Hungary into chaos.Bartok was at times a cold man, aloof and lonely. The occasional moments of tenderness he showed are portrayed in Night Music. His brief but intense affairs speak of a love he could only long for. Jazz is my night music and here there are hints of what Bartok may have heard in the USA later in his life.Having been forced by the world's evils to leave his homeland of Hungary for America Bartok, the anti-fascist, felt isolated and angry. In the finale, Flight and Fight, we hear his longing for a simpler time of Gypsy folk dances as well as his maturity and depth as a composer finally exploring deeper colours and darker themes.Duration: 15.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£76.99Bliss (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - De Haan, Jacob
Bliss: Impressions of a Village is a spectacular test piece by one of the most renowned brass band composers in Holland, Jacob de Haan. It contains three impressions of a village in the beautiful Brabant province in the Netherlands. The first movement is in a very classical style, which captures the village's history appropriately. The entire band joins in as the small river approaches an ancient castle. The third movement contains lots of interesting rhythms portraying the hustle and bustle of everyday life in the village.Duration: 7:30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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