Azimuth

Aztec Gold

Aztec Goldisan excellent concert opener for a developingband.Composer Joseph Compello, known for writing very intriguing music for younger students, draws from his many years of experience as a teacher. This piece is a great opportunity for cross-curricular instruction with a school's history department.Aztec Gold is also a perfectselection to highlight a band's strengths in a contest or festival performance.

Baby Chipmunk

This fun beginning piece depicts the rapid start and stop movements of a chipmunk. Great for introducing the musical concepts of trills and fermatas in an easy and entertaining way, students and audiences alike will love performing and hearing this unique flexible instrumentation composition. Use the suggested performance ideas to bring the piece to further life!

Bad King Wenceslas

Bad King Wenceslas is a playful twist on the familiar Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas. Throughout the piece, rhythmic and melodic motifs from the carol are presented in a dark, mysterious context. The introduction features an ostinato in the flute, building in momentum before revealing the melody in double time in the lower winds. The piece progresses with alternating eighth-note patterns and a variety of thematic development, culminating in a canon that features different instrument sections. The piece transitions through a dramatic key change and ends with fanfare motifs in the brass. The conductor should ensure that the melody remains balanced throughout, and all percussion parts are integral to the mood and momentum.

Badlands

Peter Terry's Badlands represents the dramatic terrain created bysedimentthat iseroded over millions of years. This creates stark but beautifulstructures in a harsh and alien landscape.This piece opens with a first theme that depicts the stark emptiness of the Badland terrain. This moves to a brooding, mysterious second theme followed by variations.The piece ends with a return of the first theme for a dramatic finish.

Balalaika!

A Balalaika is a type of Russian folk stringed instrument. They come in a variety of sizes and can have full orchestras of these instruments. The music they play has a distinctly Russian folk music sound and composer James Meredith has worked to present this style in a modern concert piece. The work is a festive dance-like piece and contains quotes throughout of famous Tchaikovsky themes in order to help give it that Russian flavor. Balalaika is a different and refreshing choice for your next concert.

Ballet of fhe Gnomes

Ballet of the Dinosaur Hatchlings

Ballet of the Dinosaur Hatchlingsisan imaginative and funselection for a beginning band with less than one year of instruction. Wind parts use only five pitches and only the percussion partsuse eighth notes. Two sound effects are required in the piece.First, the hatching eggs are portrayed by a ratchet, and second, the snapping dinosaurs jaws are represented by a slapstick. Ballet of the Dinosaur Hatchlings isan intriguing piece that beginning students are sure to love.

Bandology - Eric Osterling

Using rich, full dance band chords and interesting rhythms, this standard of school and community bands for over 50 years, has been re-edited and corrected with the modern concert band in mind. A stop-time section for brass and percussion and a pleasingly lyrical trio have made this light concert march a perennial audience and performer favorite. This new edition will be a valuable addition to any band's library.

Barn Dance