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£51.00
Metropolis
Metropolis was composed for James McLeod, Principal Euphonium of the Leyland Band. Inspired by a tour to Dubai in October 2014, the opening of the piece portrays a journey through the city on the main highway surrounded by the impressive skyline. This then moves into a slower passage reflecting the sun setting as the buildings start to illuminate the night sky. The final section encapsulates the
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£79.95Amundsen - Jonathan Bates
DURATION: 14'00". DIFFICULTY: 1st+. 'Amundsen' was commissioned by rskog Brass, Norway for their winning performance at the 2020 Norwegian National Championships held at the Grieghallen in Bergen. In December 1911, Norwegian Roald Amundsen gained global fame by becoming the first explorer to lead a team to the geographic South Pole. Amundsen and 4 other members of his team arrived 5 weeks ahead of a rival team from the UK led by Robert Falcon Scott, all of which perished on their attempted return from the pole. Initially when Amundsen's team set out in 1910, they were under the impression that they would be making the far shorter journey to the arctic drift to attempt to reach the North Pole, but Amundsen had received news that American explorers Peary and Cook had beaten them to this goal, and so Amundsen's focus changed southward. 'Fram, Forward' - 'Fram' (translating to English as "forward") was the name of the ship Amundsen used for this particular polar expedition. Amundsen had only informed 2 people of his real intentions of conquering the South Pole when the ship first left port in Kristiansand before heading south to the Portuguese island of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean. After weeks at sea - causing the uninformed members of the crew to raise a number of questions and produce a general feel of uncertainty and low spirits - it was here that Amundsen announced his true plans to the rest of his crew. They were asked whether they wished to continue with their expedition, to which all - some begrudgingly - agreed to sail on to the South Pole, through the great Ice Barrier before docking in the Bay of Whales on the Ross Ice Shelf. 'Ross Ice Shelf' - Upon Amundsen's arrival in the Bay of Whales, the team were greeted by the sight of the enormous ice plateau's and glaciers, towering into the Antarctic sky. In 1907, Ernest Shackleton had attempted - and failed - to reach the South Pole, but his route and mapping was by now well documented. Scott and the UK team were to follow this route, whereas Amundsen and his men forged their own way to the pole through unchartered territory and deadly terrain littered with deep crevasses and canyons. The music here though, is a picture of tranquility. The eerie silence of total emptiness with only the heavy snow falling around Amundsen as Fram and the Bay of Whales disappears into the distance, faced by the maginute of the expedition ahead. 'Advance to Polheim' - The first new challenge Amundsen discovered on this route was a rough, sharp and extremely steep glacier (which was later named the Axel heiberg Glacier after the Norwegian monarch who funded much of the expedition), which would take his team up from sea level to an altitude of over 9,000ft in just 20 miles, with most of this over just 7 miles. Once scaled, only the vast Antarctic Plateau stood between Amundsen and the pole. Here the race began, with only one aim - victory for himself, his team, and for the whole of Norway. .
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£134.99Mirage (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - De Haan, Jan
A Symphonic Portrait inspired by the saga of The Flying Dutchman.The composition Mirage takes inspiration from the legendary ghost ship "The Flying Dutchman", a story deeply rooted in maritime folklore. Cursed to wander the oceans forever, the ship often looms like a mirage on the horizon - a mysterious apparition in which reality and illusion blend intangibly.In Mirage the music tries to bring this mystical appearance to life. The piece begins with an atmosphere of mystery and wonder, creating the illusion of a mirage. The listener is taken to the vast sea, where the boundaries between the real and the unreal blur and the ghostly silhouette of the ship gradually becomes visible. Suddenly the tone changes. Powerful rhythms and stormy harmonies follow, expressing the ship's battle against the raging forces of nature. After this intense section, in which the musicians are pushed to their limits, the tranquility of the sea returns. The recurring mirages inspired the composer to create a lyrical middle section, in which various soloists tell their stories within this legend. In the final part, the sails are hoisted again, and the three-master continues its endless journey.Duration: 15.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£15.00Symphony in Two Movements (Brass Band - Study Score) - Gregson, Edward
Selected as the Championship Section test piece for the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain 2025This work was jointly commissioned by the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain (NYBBGB) and the National Youth Brass Band of Wales (NYBBW), the latter with funding from T Cerdd (Music Centre Wales), to celebrate their 60th and 30th anniversaries respectively. The first performances were given at Cadogan Hall, London, in April 2012, by the NYBBGB, conducted by Bramwell Tovey; and at the Great Hall, Aberystwyth University, in July 2012, by the NYBBW, conducted by Nicholas Childs.When I was approached about a joint commission to write a new work to celebrate the anniversaries of these two outstanding youth bands I was delighted to accept, and decided to respond by writing a work apposite for the magnitude of these special occasions, namely a 'symphony for brass'.Through a long journey of writing music for brass band, which commenced with Connotations (1977), and continued with Dances and Arias (1984), Of Men and Mountains (1991), The Trumpets of the Angels (2000) and Rococo Variations (2008), I arrived at what I regard as the most important work of the cycle to date, combining as it does serious musical intent with considerable technical demands. It is perhaps my most abstract work for brass band, avoiding any programmatic content.The symphony lasts for some 19 minutes and is structured in two linked movements. The form is based on that used by Beethoven in his final piano sonata (Op.111), which is in two movements only: a compact sonata-form allegro, followed by a more expansive theme and four variations. Prokofiev also adopted this model in his 2nd Symphony of 1925.The opening Toccata of this Symphony is highly dramatic but compact, whilst still retaining the 'traditional' structural elements of exposition, development and recapitulation; indeed, it also has the 'traditional' element of a contrasting second subject - a gentle, lyrical modal melody first heard on solo cornets.In contrast, the longer and more substantial second movement Variations is built around a theme and four variations. The slowly unfolding chorale-like theme accumulates both added note harmony and increasing instrumentation, whilst the four variations which follow are by turn mercurial (fast, starting with all the instruments muted), march-like (menacing, with short rhythmic articulations underpinning an extended atonal melody), serene (a series of 'romances' for solo instruments alongside echoes of the chorale) with an emerging theme eventually bursting into a climax of passionate intent; whilst the final variation is a dynamic scherzo (concertante-like in its series of rapid-fire solos, duets, trios and quartets) with the music gradually incorporating elements of the main ideas from the first movement, thus acting as a recapitulation for the whole work. It reaches its peroration with a return to the very opening of the symphony, now in the 'home' tonality of F, and thus creating a truly symphonic dimension to the music.Most of the melodic material of the symphony is derived from the opening eleven-note 'row', which contains various intervallic sets, and although the work is not serially conceived it does use some typical quasi-serial procedures, such as canons, inversions, and retrogrades. The symphony uses somewhat limited percussion, in line with a 'classical' approach to the sound world of the brass band, alongside a use of multi-divisi instrumentation, whereby each player has an individual part rather than the traditional doubling within certain sections of the band.- Edward GregsonDuration: 19.00
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£15.99A Road Less Travelled By (Brass Band - Study Score) - Sparke, Philip
A Road Less Travelled By was commissioned by Palangos Orkestras for the Championship Section of the 2020 European Brass Band Championships held in Palanga, Lithuania.The following was written by the composer, Philip Sparke:The title alludes to a poem by American author, Robert Frost, which appeared in his 1916 collection, Mountain Intervals: The Road Not Taken.In common with most of my larger works, this piece in not programmatic, but purely abstract; there is no extrinsic musical story. The choice of title shares my view of how composers can often develop. There can be no 'destination' in a composer's career, but rather a continuing journey to an unknown place. From piece to piece a composer needs to decide his or her next steps, never really knowing where they might lead. As Frost so eloquently describes, these sorts of instinctive decisions guide all our lives.Set in three movements, which play without a break, A Road Less Travelled By opens with a Moto Perpetuo firmly rooted in classical language, form and syntax. A continuous river of semiquavers, veering from melody to accompaniment and back again, adds drive, every and motion. The second movement, Nocturne, is in the form of a free fantasia; solos for vibraphone, flugel horn and euphonium set the stage for a central cornet solo, quietly echoed by the full band. A triumphal climax is reached before the movement dissolves into a Scherzo Finale. Mercurial and quixotic in nature, this third movement starts jovially until trios for trombones and horns darken the atmosphere. A change of mood and meter leads to a reprise of the opening and a return of the cornet melody, this time accompanied by figures derived from the scherzo theme. A brief coda based on earlier material drives the piece to a close.Duration: 15.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£154.99
A Road Less Travelled By (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Sparke, Philip
A Road Less Travelled By was commissioned by Palangos Orkestras for the Championship Section of the 2020 European Brass Band Championships held in Palanga, Lithuania.The following was written by the composer, Philip Sparke:The title alludes to a poem by American author, Robert Frost, which appeared in his 1916 collection, Mountain Intervals: The Road Not Taken.In common with most of my larger works, this piece in not programmatic, but purely abstract; there is no extrinsic musical story. The choice of title shares my view of how composers can often develop. There can be no 'destination' in a composer's career, but rather a continuing journey to an unknown place. From piece to piece a composer needs to decide his or her next steps, never really knowing where they might lead. As Frost so eloquently describes, these sorts of instinctive decisions guide all our lives.Set in three movements, which play without a break, A Road Less Travelled By opens with a Moto Perpetuo firmly rooted in classical language, form and syntax. A continuous river of semiquavers, veering from melody to accompaniment and back again, adds drive, every and motion. The second movement, Nocturne, is in the form of a free fantasia; solos for vibraphone, flugel horn and euphonium set the stage for a central cornet solo, quietly echoed by the full band. A triumphal climax is reached before the movement dissolves into a Scherzo Finale. Mercurial and quixotic in nature, this third movement starts jovially until trios for trombones and horns darken the atmosphere. A change of mood and meter leads to a reprise of the opening and a return of the cornet melody, this time accompanied by figures derived from the scherzo theme. A brief coda based on earlier material drives the piece to a close.Duration: 15.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£36.50
A Road Less Travelled By (Brass Band - Score only) - Sparke, Philip
A Road Less Travelled By was commissioned by Palangos Orkestras for the Championship Section of the 2020 European Brass Band Championships held in Palanga, Lithuania.The following was written by the composer, Philip Sparke:The title alludes to a poem by American author, Robert Frost, which appeared in his 1916 collection, Mountain Intervals: The Road Not Taken.In common with most of my larger works, this piece in not programmatic, but purely abstract; there is no extrinsic musical story. The choice of title shares my view of how composers can often develop. There can be no 'destination' in a composer's career, but rather a continuing journey to an unknown place. From piece to piece a composer needs to decide his or her next steps, never really knowing where they might lead. As Frost so eloquently describes, these sorts of instinctive decisions guide all our lives.Set in three movements, which play without a break, A Road Less Travelled By opens with a Moto Perpetuo firmly rooted in classical language, form and syntax. A continuous river of semiquavers, veering from melody to accompaniment and back again, adds drive, every and motion. The second movement, Nocturne, is in the form of a free fantasia; solos for vibraphone, flugel horn and euphonium set the stage for a central cornet solo, quietly echoed by the full band. A triumphal climax is reached before the movement dissolves into a Scherzo Finale. Mercurial and quixotic in nature, this third movement starts jovially until trios for trombones and horns darken the atmosphere. A change of mood and meter leads to a reprise of the opening and a return of the cornet melody, this time accompanied by figures derived from the scherzo theme. A brief coda based on earlier material drives the piece to a close.Duration: 15.30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£124.95Dynasty (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - Graham, Peter
Dynasty takes the form of a Symphonic Poem, a musical form first introduced to a contest audience at the Crystal Palace in 1913 by Percy Fletcher in his work Labour and Love.Using key passages from the autobiography of Harry Mortimer, On Brass, as the source for the narrative, the work opens with a four-note leitmotif (Harry's theme, "as if descending from the heavens"), and the timeline unfolds as follows:Harry - One's destiny decided at birth "I'll make him the best cornet player in England"War - Why do the nations so furiously rage together? Fred volunteers for military serviceTheatre - And suddenly "I dashed to the rescue like a hero in the silent movies I was about to get to know so well"Journey - Comfort Ye A new life and new challengesTogether - Come unto me "A golden age"Farewell - For behold, darkness "Fred's death surely marked the passing of an era"Amen - The Trumpet shall soundListeners familiar with brass band repertoire will recognise a few pertinent quotes within the piece.In my imagination Harry is joined by Fred on cornet and the euphoniums of Alex and Rex for the quartet cadenza from Sovereign Heritage by Jack Beaver in Together.The Amen section from Handel's Messiah provides the basis for a contrapuntal flight of fancy as the work moves towards a conclusion. Other less overt fragments contribute to the story.Dynasty was co-commissioned by the British Open Brass Band Championships for the September 2019 contest, and the Brass Band Committee VLAMO for the Belgian Brass Band Championships 2019.- Peter GrahamDuration: 17.00
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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