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£15.00Perseverance
DescriptionPerseverance was commissioned by Middleton Band to mark their 140th anniversary in 2016, supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, and featured on Middleton Band's CD of the same name.The title is taken from the original name of the 1876 band, the Middleton Perseverance Drum and Fife Band. According to the band's historical records, the Drum and Fife band was formed by six Middleton youngsters eager to learn music but short of funds. Following a whip round, they visited a music shop in Oldham where they purchased a 'one key flute' for six shillings and sixpence, and ('later on') a drum.This determination to make music despite the odds has been a characteristic of the band ever since; at the end of the second world war the band was again down to six players, who rebuilt the 'Middleton Borough Band' back to twenty-six players. After a period of some considerable success throughout the sixties and seventies culminating in winning the National Third Section title in 1983 the band hit hard times again in the late eighties and was down to only four members in 1987 before again being brought back to life. In recent decades the band has built a strong relationship with the East Lancashire Railway, another organisation which has battled sometimes mighty obstacles in its struggle to survive, and has maintained a thriving and successful youth band.The band's will to survive through adversity is reflected in the music, which builds from a sextet of four brass and two percussion players three times, only to fall back to the sextet twice. In the central slow movement the bass drum plays a 'heartbeat' rhythm as the remaining players remember those lost in the war. The relentless pace of the final section culminates in the band triumphing over the adversity which has curtailed the previous two sections. As a former member of Middleton Band (and one of the team that regained the National Third Section title in 2007) it is my pleasure to dedicate this work to the 'Pop and Ale Boys', Middleton Band.You can read more about the piece here.To view the accompanying video by Andy Marshall, designed to precede the piece, clickhereand find out more about the link between the video and the music here.Recording with Score VideoPerformance NotesIn performance the four brass members of the sextet (soprano, solo horn, solo trombone and solo euphonium) should stand at the sides of the band - soprano and horn behind the cornets, trombone and euphonium behind the trombones. Percussion may stand with them at the conductor's discretion, but only if the band has TWO snare drums and TWO concert bass drums available, as these are also needed at the back of the band in the tutti sections. In the second sextet snare drum should be muffled with a heavy cloth OR have the snares turned off (not both).Percussion and mutesPercussion required:snare drum (muffled with a heavy cloth at one point)concert bass drum, kit bass drum, hi-hat, suspended (crash) cymbal2 x tom-tomswood blockclash cymbals3 x timpanitam-tamglockenspielSoprano cornet, repiano and 2nd cornets, flugel and all trombones require metal straight mutes. Soprano, Solo Cornet 3/4, Repiano 2nd and 3rd cornets require cup mutes. Solo Cornet 1/2, Repiano, 2nd and 3rd cornets require harmon mutes.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£60.00
These Mist Covered Mountains - Peter Meechan
These Mist Covered Mountains was commissioned by Keith Johnson (KMJ Recordings) for soprano cornetist, Mandy Crowther, to whom the piece is dedicated.In an age where we seem to be inundated with endless news cycles of various wars that we as a nation are involved in, and also those that we are not, it seems that war is now a constant, and we are in a never ending state.This short piece is intended to represent the cyclic nature of war, and the way that war never seems to have a true conclusion.
Estimated dispatch 12-14 working days
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£34.95
SOUTHERN CROSS, The (Brass Band Set) - Brian Bowen
The Southern Cross is one of several excellent marches by Brian Bowen in which he carried on the more sophisticated pattern of British marches by Wilfred Heaton, Leslie Condon and Ray Steadman-Allen. It was written for the Box Hill (Australia) Corps jubilee celebrations in 1970 and formed part of the band's repertoire when it toured Great Britain in the same year. The first half of the march features part of the song, 'March on!' by Klaus Ostby, an early pioneer of Salvation Army music in Scandinavia. The contrapuntal layering of melodies in the trio, especially in the finale where 'March on!' sounds one more triumphant time, is notable, as is the shift to a slower, more stately tempo. The harmonic and rhythmic style also represents the more modern sounds of Salvation Army brass band music in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Right from the opening gestures, listeners at early performances knew that a page had turned in the evolution of the Salvation Army march.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£29.95
WADE IN THE WATER (Brass Band Set) - Leonard Ballantine
Wade in the Water is a Negro Spiritual made popular in 1962 by the Ramsey Lewis Trio. Further versions followed in 1968 by Big Mama Thornton and in 1997 by Eva Cassidy. The song is thought to be a coded message for slaves escaping to freedom and tells the fugitive to walk in the water, instead of on the land, where tracking dogs cannot follow human scent. This version for brass band is in swing style.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£84.99Snow Island - Thierry Deleruyelle
The Swiss canton of Valais is home to a number of wind and brass bands that regularly stand on the podium in Swiss and European competitions. For the general public, the Valais is above all a unique place, between the Rhone Glacier and Lake Geneva, where life is pleasant. The brass players of the five music associations of the villages of Crans-Montana - an internationally renowned "snow island" - were awarded the organisation of the 224 cantonal festival, for which this work was commissioned.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£115.60Griffenfeldt - 0 - John Philip Hannevik
Here we present "Griffenfeldt, a folk-dance in the style of a Norwegian reinlender.This arrangement can be used as the first item in a concert, or after an interval.The musicians can come on stage as they join in. That is why two of the measures are notated "repeat till ready", here you have to wait until everyone is in place! If everyone is ready from the start, the repetition can be omitted.Be sure to play with a bouncy but singing style, not with short and harsh articulations.Do the trills on the beat, but these can also be omitted if it makes it too difficult.To bring out the folk music style a little extra, you can ask the musicians to play on the "backbeat", i.e. emphasize the last half of each quarter-note.In addition, the music will really come to life if all "solo" places are done standing up.The musician Anon Egeland tells this story:This song got its name from a party where it all just got a bit too lively: one of the party-goers started shooting into the ceiling with a gun just as this reinlender was being played. The fiddler - or was it the man with the gun? - was called Griffenfeldt, and that gave the name for the song.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£91.99Pulcinella - Philip Sparke
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.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£59.99Meditation - Hans Leo Hassler - Philip Sparke
This timeless melody by Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612), is now chiefly remembered because of its inclusion in J S Bach's St. Matthew Passion, (hence its title) where it is treated to a variety of rich harmonisations. It is mostly sung to Paulus Gerhardt's words, O Sacred head! sore wounded.This setting features the flugel and horns, who first play a lyrical descant to the famous hymn tune and then the melody itself, against a Bach-like obbligato in the accompaniment.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£109.99The Road to the West - Carl Wittrock
As he did before in the often played and commonly appreciated 'Lord Tullamore', in which he poetically depicted the landscape and the cultural elements of a small Irish village, in his composition 'The Road to the West' Carl Wittrock has sketched pioneer existence in America in a cinematic manner.In 'The Road to the West' the composer has tried to capture images of pioneer life during the period dating from 1850 to 1890, the days of the so-called Wild West.In those days, the Wild West used to be the territory west of civilization, the domain of cowboys, trappers, and other fortune hunters. In short, ample ingredients for a captivating story.In the firstscene a lonely adventurer struggles against nature and the elements. After an exciting adventure he passes through 'the Plains', where majestic views alternated by colossal mountain ranges display an almost unimaginable beauty.After weeks of isolation civilization is reached again. 'The Saloon' is the perfect meeting place here news is exchanged and hilarious scenes regularly take place.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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£228.70Ascension For Brass Band and Percussion - Fredrick Schjelderup
"Ascension" was commissioned in 2014 for the Norwegian school band, Hellen Skoles Musikkorps for their 60th anniversary.The piece is based on two themes, processed through rhythms, chords and solos in various time signatures.The title, "Ascension" which means rising, is central for the main thematic material and describes the band's hard work for a coming event (concert or a contest) where the musical level is ascending/rising.
Estimated dispatch 5-14 working days
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