Results
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£30.00Janacek'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.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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£67.34Metamorphosis on 'Finlandia' (Brass Band) Andrew Wainwright
This major work was commissioned by Five Lakes Silver Band and its Musical Director Christopher Ward in February 2024, and is featured on the band's CD Resurget Cineribus. The music is based on the hymn tune by Katharina von Schlegel, Be Still, My Soul, found in Sibelius' famous tone poem Finlandia (Op. 26). While the only source material used in Metamorphosis on 'Finlandia' is the hymn itself as opposed to any of the developmental music found in the tone poem, it does also seek to depict the strife of the Finnish people against the censorship of the Russian Empire. It is therefore both rousing and turbulent at various times. Metamorphosis on 'Finlandia' commences with a quartet playing a full statement of the hymn in its simplest form, featuring a solo flugel. This leads into a sprightly 6/8 section where a fanfare-like figure proclaims the theme. The music in this section is at times unstable and off-kilter as references to the hymn come and go, often in a very chromatic or dissonant form - a reflection of the struggles that the Finnish people went through. Despite this, there is still a sense of optimism. A somewhat reflective slower section follows, featuring another full rendition of the hymn, with a number of solo voices taking up the tune. This is followed by several cadenzas - for cornet, trombone, Eb bass, and Bb bass, which represent different voices speaking out against the oppression of the Finnish people. This leads into an energetic final movement before a resounding proclamation of the hymn in its full glory. A return to the fanfare heard earlier in the work brings the piece to a glorious conclusion. To listen to a recording of Five Lakes Silver Band performing the work please visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeJJF6asD2k Duration: Approx. 13.15 minutes Difficulty Level: 1st Section + PDF download includes parts and score. Sheet music available here (UK) or www.cimarronmusic.com (USA) Instrumentation: Soprano Cornet Eb Solo Cornet Bb Repiano Cornet Bb 2nd Cornet Bb 3rd Cornet Bb Flugel Horn Bb Solo Horn Eb 1st Horn Eb 2nd Horn Eb 1st Baritone Bb 2nd Baritone Bb 1st Trombone Bb 2nd Trombone Bb Bass Trombone Euphonium Bb Bass Eb Bass Bb Timpani Percussion 1-3
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 1-3 working days
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£74.95Eden (Score and Parts)
This work was commissioned by the Brass Band Heritage Trust as the test piece for the final of the 2005 Besson National Brass Band Championship, held at the Royal Albert Hall, London.The score is prefaced by the final lines from Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (completed in 1663), in which Adam and Eve, expelled from Paradise, make their uncertain way into the outside world:"...The world was all before them, where to chooseTheir place of rest, and providence their guide:They hand in hand with wandering steps and slow,Through Eden took their solitary way."My work is in three linked sections. In the first, the characters of Adam, Eve and the serpent guarding the Tree of Knowledge are respectively represented by solo euphonium, cornet and trombone. The music opens in an idyllic and tranquil mood and leads into a duet between euphonium and cornet. Throughout this passage the prevailing mood darkens, though the soloists seem to remain oblivious to the increasingly fraught atmosphere. A whip-crack announces the malevolent appearance of the solo trombone who proceeds to engage the solo cornet in a sinister dialogue.The second section interprets the Eden story as a modern metaphor for the havoc mankind has inflicted upon the world, exploiting and abusing its resources in the pursuit of wealth. Though certainly intended here as a comment on the present-day, it is by no means a new idea: Milton himself had an almost prescient awareness of it in Book I of his poem, where men, led on by Mammon:"...Ransacked the centre and with impious handsRifled the bowels of their mother earthFor treasures better hid. Soon had his crewOpened into the hill a spacious woundAnd digged out ribs of gold."So this section is fast and violent, at times almost manic in its destructive energy. At length a furious climax subsides and a tolling bell ushers in the third and final section.This final part is slow, beginning with an intense lament featuring solos for tenor-horn, flgel-horn and repiano cornet and joined later by solo baritone, soprano cornet, Eb-bass and Bb-bass.At one stage in the planning of the work it seemed likely that the music would end here - in despair. Then, mid-way through writing it, I visited the extraordinary Eden Project in Cornwall. Here, in a disused quarry - a huge man-made wound in the earth - immense biomes, containing an abundance of plant species from every region of the globe, together with an inspirational education programme, perhaps offer a small ray of hope for the future. This is the image behind the work's conclusion and the optimism it aims to express is real enough, though it is hard-won and challenged to the last.John Pickard 2005
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£29.50Eden (Score Only)
This work was commissioned by the Brass Band Heritage Trust as the test piece for the final of the 2005 Besson National Brass Band Championship, held at the Royal Albert Hall, London.The score is prefaced by the final lines from Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (completed in 1663), in which Adam and Eve, expelled from Paradise, make their uncertain way into the outside world:"...The world was all before them, where to chooseTheir place of rest, and providence their guide:They hand in hand with wandering steps and slow,Through Eden took their solitary way."My work is in three linked sections. In the first, the characters of Adam, Eve and the serpent guarding the Tree of Knowledge are respectively represented by solo euphonium, cornet and trombone. The music opens in an idyllic and tranquil mood and leads into a duet between euphonium and cornet. Throughout this passage the prevailing mood darkens, though the soloists seem to remain oblivious to the increasingly fraught atmosphere. A whip-crack announces the malevolent appearance of the solo trombone who proceeds to engage the solo cornet in a sinister dialogue.The second section interprets the Eden story as a modern metaphor for the havoc mankind has inflicted upon the world, exploiting and abusing its resources in the pursuit of wealth. Though certainly intended here as a comment on the present-day, it is by no means a new idea: Milton himself had an almost prescient awareness of it in Book I of his poem, where men, led on by Mammon:"...Ransacked the centre and with impious handsRifled the bowels of their mother earthFor treasures better hid. Soon had his crewOpened into the hill a spacious woundAnd digged out ribs of gold."So this section is fast and violent, at times almost manic in its destructive energy. At length a furious climax subsides and a tolling bell ushers in the third and final section.This final part is slow, beginning with an intense lament featuring solos for tenor-horn, flgel-horn and repiano cornet and joined later by solo baritone, soprano cornet, Eb-bass and Bb-bass.At one stage in the planning of the work it seemed likely that the music would end here - in despair. Then, mid-way through writing it, I visited the extraordinary Eden Project in Cornwall. Here, in a disused quarry - a huge man-made wound in the earth - immense biomes, containing an abundance of plant species from every region of the globe, together with an inspirational education programme, perhaps offer a small ray of hope for the future. This is the image behind the work's conclusion and the optimism it aims to express is real enough, though it is hard-won and challenged to the last.John Pickard 2005
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£85.00Alchymist's Journal. - Kenneth Hesketh
'The Alchymist's Journal' gets its title from the book of the same name by American author Evan S. Connell. The book fictionalises a number of famous Alchemist's writings, each one developing another's thoughts thuscontinuing one idea but changing it subtly to provide a new view point or way of thinking. This process is, in fact, alchemical as one idea transmutes into another. This idea is parallel to the processes at work within thesevariants. The whole work is constructed from 6 notes (C, A, B flat, E flat, F sharp, E) and is presented in nine different sections, each individual in mood but still based upon the original pitches. This is not a thematic setofvariations, as the themes are developed one at a time from small segments of the six notes. For example, the opening theme is the complete number of pitches, the second theme uses three notes transposed then repeated at theoriginal level, and so on. Harmonically, the six notes can be divided into two triads, A minor and E flat minor - each key beginning and ending the piece respectively. Whilst this is essentially abstract music with noprogramme there is an introduction, menacing scherzo, slow reflective section followed by a recap of the scherzo and final coda. 'The Alchymist's Journal' was commissioned by the Brass Band Heritage Trust at the suggestionof Paul Hindmarsh, to whom the work is dedicated.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£89.99Ross Roy - Jacob de Haan
In this composition, Jacob de Haan sees the "Ross Roy" as a metaphor for the years spent at school (a monument in time), where one's personality is formed. So, the opening theme the artist calls the Ross Roy theme initially has monumental characteristics.The rhythmic motion, which strides along in the lower register and percussion at the beginning of the next section is typical of "Tempo di Marcia". This movement, accompanied by repetitions of sound, is a metaphor for the structure and discipline in school. This is the introduction to a march theme, symbolic of "passing through" the classes up to the final examinations.Then, the Ross Roy theme is dealt with again, now in aplayful, humorous variation. As if the composer is saying there should also be time for a smile in school. The same theme can be heard in major key and a slower tempo in the following section, expressing pride and self-confidence. This is also the introduction to the expressive middle section that represents love, friendship and understanding.We then return to the march theme in a slightly altered construction. The oriental sounds, constituting the modulation to the final theme, are symbols of the diversity of cultures in the school. The characteristic final theme first sounds solemn, but turns into a festive apotheosis. It is no coincidence that the final cadence is reminiscent of the close to a traditional overture, for the school years can be considered the "overture" to the rest of one's life.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£89.99Ross Roy (Brass Band - Score and Parts) - De Haan, Jacob
In this composition, Jacob de Haan sees the "Ross Roy" as a metaphor for the years spent at school (a monument in time), where one's personality is formed. So, the opening theme the artist calls the Ross Roy theme initially has monumental characteristics.The rhythmic motion, which strides along in the lower register and percussion at the beginning of the next section is typical of "Tempo di Marcia". This movement, accompanied by repetitions of sound, is a metaphor for the structure and discipline in school. This is the introduction to a march theme, symbolic of "passing through" the classes up to the final examinations.Then, the Ross Roy theme is dealt with again, now in a playful, humorous variation. As if the composer is saying there should also be time for a smile in school. The same theme can be heard in major key and a slower tempo in the following section, expressing pride and self-confidence. This is also the introduction to the expressive middle section that represents love, friendship and understanding.We then return to the march theme in a slightly altered construction. The oriental sounds, constituting the modulation to the final theme, are symbols of the diversity of cultures in the school. The characteristic final theme first sounds solemn, but turns into a festive apotheosis. It is no coincidence that the final cadence is reminiscent of the close to a traditional overture, for the school years can be considered the "overture" to the rest of one's life.Duration: 9:20
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£15.00In the Hall of the Mountain King - Grieg
Performance Notes from Andrew Duncan:This arrangement is fairly difficult for inexperienced players and is without doubt one of the most difficult in the Flexi-Collection Popular Classics Series. But, as it is such a popular piece there is normally a great incentive from the players to learn the piece, despite the difficulties.The accelerando and gradual increases in tempo which are integral to this piece are in themselves very important musical ideas for new players to grasp, and these will be better understood as a result of playing and learning this arrangement.Other features found in this arrangement which may be new to some inexperienced players are the use of tin mutes in the 1st Cornet/Trumpet part, and the falling chromatic notes (accidentals) found in the melody line. Also, the wide range of dynamics, pp - ff , may be new to some players.I have deliberately not suggested any specific metronome markings as this is very much up to the conductor and is dependant on the players' abilities. However, as the arrangement becomes more familiar, the tempo could no doubt be speeded up adding to the excitement of future performances.The Flexi-Collection ApproachFlexible scoring tailored to your needs - A perfect solution for expanding the repertoire of training and junior brass bands. The Flexi-Collection currently offers two series - Popular Classics and World Tour. Based on four-part harmony, these collections provide groups with the advantage of complete flexibility when they may not be balanced. If players or instruments are missing, the show can still go on!The Flexi-Collection - Popular Classics Series, encapsulates all that is great about the wonderful range of musical styles produced by Holst, Elgar, Handel, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Bizet and Parry.The thoughtful scoring and arranging by Andrew Duncan now means that groups of all abilities have access to a truly flexible set of music for their needs. With world parts, rudimentary theory, terminology translations and large format typesetting, The Flexi-Collection ticks all the boxes when it comes to bringing interesting music to the training and junior band/brass group environment.Available individually or as part of the money-saving Flexi-Collection Popular ClassicsAlbum.Scored for Brass Band and supplied with additional Easy Bb, Easy Eb and world parts - The Flexi-Collection offers flexibility in every sense of the word.
In Stock: Estimated dispatch 3-5 working days
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£77.00General Series Brass Band Journal, Numbers 2250 - 2253, December 2024
2250: Prelude on 'Rhosymedre' (Ralph Vaughan Williams trs. Douglas Engle)The English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams' work Three Preludes (founded on Welsh Hymn Tunes) was published for the organ in 1920. This is a transcription of the second movement of that work. The words associated with the hymn tune are by Samuel Crossman, My song is love unknown (S.A.S.B. 149), and vividly depict the events of Holy Week. The music is gentle and solemn and would be appropriate for a Good Friday service or as a moment of repose in a concert. 2251: Hosanna Shuffle (Sam Creamer)The half-time shuffle groove is a popular feel developed by alternative rock/pop bands of the 1980s. It marries elements of rock and swing styles together to form a new and infectious feel - Hosannah Shuffle being written as a tribute to this fusion of musical styles. Contrary to a swing style, shuffle brings the pulse back onto the beat while maintaining the swung quaver rhythms to create a rock-type rhythmic drive. 2252: Everlasting Love (Keith Manners)This piece was written for the London North East Music School in 2004. The theme of the week was 'Making a stand for Christ', reminding the school that it only takes one person to make such a stand before others follow. The music starts with a lone Solo Cornet playing the melody of Graham Kendrick's song Such Love (S.A.S.B. 199). One by one, other parts join in with the theme.2253: Festival March (Michael Cooper)This piece represents the first published brass composition of Bandmaster Michael Cooper, who is the Bandmaster at Brisbane City Temple Corps. This imposing festival march features the tunes I want to be a soldier (T.B. 683), Lift up the banner (T.B. 90) and My Jesus, I love thee (T.B. 506). These tunes depict the idea that spiritual warfare is an essential component of one's faith, success of which is articulated in the final verse of My Jesus, I love thee (S.A.S.B. 878).
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£77.00General Series Brass Band Journal, Numbers 2242 - 2245, April 2024
2242: Fanfare Prelude - Faithful in every way (Simon Gash)Lord, I come before your throne of grace (S.A.S.B. 378) has become a popular song for Sunday worship. These words of great assurance are married to a strong tune which, unlike many contemporary worship songs, suits the brass band idiom well. Although this piece will work without Percussion, the Snare Drum part, which underpins a lot of the piece, will help drive the music forward.2243: The wonders of thy grace (Norman Bearcroft)Herbert Booth's song Within my heart, O Lord, fulfil (S.A.S.B. 211) was the inspiration behind Lieut-Colonel Norman Bearcroft's three-verse setting of the hymn tune Wareham, with the title being taken from the lyrics of verse two.2244: Trombone Solo - I will wait (Andrew Mackereth)Major Leonard Ballantine has an astonishing gift for contemporary song writing. This song is a brilliant example of this, taking the idea of Jesus waiting patiently for us to accept the fullness of his offer of love.This arrangement was made at the request of Andrew Justice, former Principal Trombonist of The International Staff Band. For many years, Andrew has used this song with piano accompaniment. In making this arrangement, the composers aim was to capture the transparency you can create in piano playing.2245: The battle cry! (David Edmonds)Inspired by Lorne Barry's Trinity (F.S. 599), this piece would be well suited as a concert opener but would work in many settings as a contribution to worship. Its main feature is the driving rhythmic pattern in the Bass and Percussion sections. The music needs to be played with confidence and purpose. As the title suggests, it is a strong, inspiring battle cry, corralling the troops. This is a setting of the song by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty, O Church, arise (S.A.S.B. 819), which has become popular in recent years, not only within The Salvation Army, but also the wider Christian church.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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