Results
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£99.99Ukrainian Bell Carol - Mykola D. Leontovich
The Ukrainian Bell Carol is part of a large choral work entitled Shchedryk by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Dmytrovich Leontovych (1877-1921). It was first performed by students of Kiev University in December 1916. The tune is an adaptation of an old 'shchedrivka', a song traditionally sung on Ukrainian New Year's Eve (January 13th) which hopes for good fortune in the year to come. In Shchedryk, Leontovych added his own the lyrics which concern the legend claiming that when Jesus was born, all the bells on earth started ringing in his honour.The tune has since been the inspiration of at least four different Christmas carols, but Philip Sparke has sourcedthe original Ukrainian melody to create this stirring arrangement.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£99.99Sheep May Safely Graze - Johann Sebastian Bach
There are just over twenty secular cantatas in Bach's prolific output, which include The Coffee Cantata (No 211), The Wedding Cantata (No 202), Phoebus and Pan (No 201) and the Hunt Cantata (No 208) which contains the famous aria Sheep May Safely Graze. Written for four vocal soloists it was originally scored for a relatively large orchestra (including flutes (recorders), oboes and horns) and mixed choir. Although secular in character, the words describe how well a faithful shepherd keeps watch over his flock and hence has obvious allusions to the teachings of the Christian church. Bring a bit of the Baroque era to your concert with this first class arrangement by Philip Sparke.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£69.99Tallis' Canon - Thomas Tallis
The well-known 16th Century canon by Thomas Tallis is as effective as it is simple. This arrangement includes four verses of the melody: the first in the form of canon; the second for brass; the third for woodwind and the fourth for the entire orchestra. Philip Sparke's arrangement is also well suited for incomplete brass ensembles.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£149.99Moretus - Bart Picqueur
Jan Moretus (1543-1610) was a book printer and publisher in his native city of Antwerp. He worked as assistant to his father-in-law, the renowned master printer and publisher Christoffel Plantijn. After Plantijn's death in 1589 Moretus took over the business.The composition Moretus consists of four parts that draw on the remarkable personality of Jan Moretus aswell as the printing business. In both the titles of the movements and the thematic structure we can see a certain symmetry: a playful allusion to the process of printing.Part 1, A Celebrated Gentleman, describes the illustrious figure of Moretus in a festive chorale. In the second part, ExpressiveImpressions, the printing press itself is brought to life in repeated motifs - despite the industrial, mechanical nature of the process, the product always has an artistic and cultural dimension. In the third part, Impressive Expression, the wind band is invited (or challenged), to intone the slow theme with a poignant expressiveness. Part 4, A Gentle Celebration, is a celebratory finale with a fresh theme.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£129.99Primavera - Beautiful Mountain Winds - Satoshi Yagisawa
Primavera was commissioned for the 40th Anniversary of Kofu Community Band and premiered in spring of 2008. The commissioning request was that the work would reflect both the beautiful nature of Yamanashi Prefecture and bonds the band shared through four decades of history.I always visit rehearsals and meet band members when accepting a commission so that the piece will be relevant and meaningful to the band. When I visited Kofu Community Band they were rehearsing one of my works, Hymn to the Sun - With the Beat of Mother Earth, and the members played with such emotion from bottom of their hearts that I was deeply moved. I shared a story of the work's inspiration, and some started to cry. I was impressed with how sincere and bright those performers in Kofu Community Band were. Mr. Fujio Ando, associate leader of the band, with a big smile told me that he wished their new work would be widely enjoyed and appreciated by many music lovers.(Satoshi Yagisawa)
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£189.99Manhattan Pictures - Jan Van der Roost
In this colourful composition, Jan van der Roost recreates the energetic and multi-racial city life in Manhattan, using four contrasting movements. The opening movement is rather short and rhytmical. In the second "Picture", a variety of musical entities accumulate into a coloured "sound curtain", on top of which the brass section presents a broad theme. In contrast to the two previous movements, the third movement is exremely quiet, featuring the first flute, clarinet an oboe in broad melodies. Again, the orchestration plays an essential role. Following on a majestic "tutti" (almost "movie-like....) the serenity of the very beginning reappears. Finally, the nervousness anddynamic style of the two first movements come back in an exciting apotheosis with rich and sometimes surprising instrumentation which explores the multiple possibilities of the large symphonic wind band to the full.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£139.99
Cobra - Jan Bosveld
Shortly after the Second World War, a combative movement of Danish, Belgian and Dutch artists chose the cobra snake - extremely dangerous yet considered sacred - as a symbol of their resistance to strict guideliness of form. The name "Cobra" also happens to contain the first letters of the cities Copenhagen, Brussels ans Amsterdam, from where most of the movement's members came. The Cobra movement, which existed from November 1948 until November 1951, can with some justicication be called the last major avant-garde movement of the 20th century.The source of inspiration for the composition Cobra comes from four paintings: "Obhobning" by the Dane Egill Jacobsen; "La jeune fille et lamort" by the Belgian Pierre Alechinsky; "Orgeldraaier" and "Le rythme joyeux de la ville" by the Dutch artists Karel Appel and Corneille. Obhobning means "pile-up", which is represented musically in the first part by a melodic and harmonic pilling up of perfect fourth's. The first part is also characterized by a rhythmic feeling, which the painting gives through its use of numerous black stripes. In the painting La jeune fille et la mort, Pierre Alechinsky places a young girl opposite Death. The second part features the constantly pulsating motion of live while a creeping, dark, melodic line develops. The tension between life and death is tangible as a battle reveals itself. In part three, one hears the Orgeldraaier by Karel Appel, as cheerful and playful as an organ grinder's music. The painting Le rythme joyeux de la ville by Corneille is busy and extremely dynamic, a perfect source of inspiration for a powerful, rhythmic ending to this composition.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£89.99Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ
Gelobet seist du Jesu Christ (We Praise You Jesus Christ) is an old Christmas hymn dating from the 16th century, which can still be found in many hymnbooks today. John Blanken has created a varied and imaginative arrangement on four verses of the hymn. After the introduction, derived from the opening notes, the hymn is first accompanied by an agile harmonisation. Next, we hear the chorale in a four-part setting with a percussion accompaniment. Then follows a short prologue to the third verse and finally its time for fireworks as the arrangement takes a stylistic leap in time with the festive prelude to the fourth and last verse.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£104.99A Flemish Christmas - Jan Hadermann
In A Flemish Christmas, Jan Hadermann tells the Christmas story by means of four Old Flemish Christmas Songs.Mary is chosen to bring Jesus Christ, the son of God, into the world: Het was een maged uitverkoren ('She was a virgin chosen').On the occasion of a census, Mary, who is with child, and Joseph, her husband to be, travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where Jesus will be born in a humble stable: Maria die zoude naar Bethlehem gaan (Mary would go to Bethlehem').O kerstnacht, schoner dan de dagen ('Oh Christmas Night, more beautiful than the days') is a stately chorale that sings the praises of Jesus' birth.Three wise men from the East, Caspar,Melchior and Balthazar, follow a bright star in the sky, which leads them to Bethlehem. There, they worship the newborn King, and offer him gold, frankincense and myrrh: Wij komen van Oosten (We've come from the East').This musical Christmas story ends with a festive repeat of the third movement, the stately chorale.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£149.40Stjernen og Rosa - John Philip Hannevik
The Star and a Rose is a big-scale Christmas piece for band, featuring four seasonal chorales.The first is a Gregorian-like chant Hodie Christus natus est.In this section of the piece, a soloist can be placed away from the band, maybe on a gallery. The soloist can be a tenor instrument, maybe trombone, or you can feature a vocal soloist.After this, the music leads us on to the old German Christmas chorale Lo, how a rose e'er blooming. This song is given a fairly rhythmical treatment, but make sure that the melody is presented in a cantabile style.An interlude follows, before the piece presents one of the most used and loved Scandinavian Christmas chorales, Mitt hjerte alltid vanker (My Heart will always wander), composed by the Danish bishop Hans Adolph Brorson around 1732. This song is building towards a climax, before the solo horn brings it all down to the Stable view described in the lyrics.Then comes a transition that brings us in to the final section of the piece, which presents the international Christmas Carol Adeste Fideles. As many will notice, I have borrowed a section from David Wilcocks majestic harmonization towards the end.The title of the piece has its background form the lyrics in My heart will always wander, where the text speaks about the stars in the sky. But also in the latin text for Adeste Fideles:Stella duce, Magi, Christum adorantesThe Rose is of course from the lyrics in the chorale Lo, how a Rose.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
