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£174.99Two Symphonic Interludes - Harrie Janssen
Based on the poems by German poet Carl Hauptmann (late Romanticism) and the English poet William Wordsworth (early Romanticism). Carl Hauptmann was in poor health as a child, but highly intelligent. He studied philosophy, psychology and biology. In the latter he was admitted to the degree of doctor. His marriage provided financial independence, so that he could focus on his studies. Hauptmann wrote various novels, plays, poetry and scientific works. Night Twilight floats above the valley's night mists are hanging, there's a whispering brook. Now the covering veil is lifting quite: come and look! See the magicland before our gaze: tall as dreams the silver mountains stand, crossed by silent silver paths shining from a secret land. Noble, pure, the dreaming country sleeps. By the path the shadow black and hogh of a beach. a wisp of a white smoke creeps to the dark'ning sky. Where the valley is the darkest hued countless little lights shine silently. O my soul! Drink of solitude! Carl Hauptmann Wordsworth 'introduced' a new type of poetry, based on the speech of the common man. This was his answer to the poetry of the classicism which was bound by rigid rules. His definition of poetry was: the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings from emotions recollected in tranquility. My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began. So is it now I am a man. So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The Child is father of the Man. And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety. William Wordsworth In a truly poetic manner Harrie Janssen has transformed the contemplative thoughts of the poets into two compositions for Concert Band.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£186.20Ballet Dreams - Coby Lankester
The script for Ballet Dreams: A young ballerina is dancing for some time already in a ballet company. She is part of the Corps de Ballet but still hopes for better. When the company studies a new ballet she is granted a small solo part. This will be the fulfillment of a long cherished dream.On the day of the premiere she goes to the theatre in the early morning. As the solo performance is so near she feels very nervous and wonders whether everything will be all right that night. She starts making exercises with the orther girls. When the dancers leave she continues to exercise by herself and tries out her solo part. She does not do well and feels very tired. She sits down on a bench in the corner of the ballet room and thinks she needs some rest; so she lies down and falls asleep.She dreams she is standing in the ballet room, trying to rehearse her solo dance performance. But she does not succeed to dance as she wants and she gets more and more nervous. Suddenly she makes a wrong movement and falls down; her ankle is bruised and so she cannot dance at all.She is desperate and quite lonely because her dream goes up in smoke. She is now surrounded by a group of doctors, who examine her ankle, put on a bandage and tell her to rest. When the doctors disappear a gang of little devils come into the ballet room; they tease our poor dancer and threaten her with little arrows, while they keep dancing and stamping. The ballerina tries to get rid of the little monsters, but in vain. This looks like a real nightmare!All of a sudden the devils and the pain disappear. She tries to get up and awakes little by little. She now realizes it was only a bad dream. She feels relieved and goes to the dressing room in order to dress for the premiere performance. Her solo performance in the finale of the ballet is a real big success. Her most precious dream has been fulfilled, in spite of or thanks to the nightmare.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£214.80Skies - Oliver Waespi
Program notes by Oliver Waespi on his composition Skies:Skies is the plural of Sky. We may wonder are there several skies? Is the sky we all long for not the same for everybody? While travelling on foot and "in the open air" I have observed the firmament often in quite different shapes, so that I can say I have indeed experienced the sky in different ways. Years ago I already wanted to portray "my sky" in music; I finally have been able to realise this long-cherished dream.This composition deals with the sky, more precisely with my sensual and emotional experience of the sky in all its aspects. Two point of views are combined in this composition: one showing the sky as it presents itself to me, the other showing the sky as I observe it. The music was bom simultaneously by intemal and extemal inspiration: it describes nature but also the emotional and spiritual experience of nature. To me, the experience of nature is not abstract, but it is connected with concrete ages, places or people from my neighbourhood. This is why I have combined several parts of this composition with certain landscapes.The sky presents itself in different landscapes in the most varied ways: for the sensual experience, there is no sky as such. The indications of places spread all over the score, are primarily clues for myself; they represent certain atmospheres, which I have experienced especially in England and Scotland. They can however also be useful to the musicians and the audience, providing they know those landscapes and the celestial atmospheres linked to them.The music is independent from the atmospheres described in the subtitles, as those are rather connected to a tragic nature, and so the music is not based on any program. Musically spoken, the composition has a symphonic structure, which means that the complete musical material is derived from three contrasting main themes. In the first part, the description of a noctumal sky ("Night") two themes are developed in an organic way; the first, rather "dusky", is to be found with the horns, the second, "in bright daylight", with the oboe and flute, the third, "more quiet" , with the brass instruments. In the next part, we have clouds and rain over the Isle of Skye (one of the Hebrides islands in Scotland) and here several elements of the first theme are still more developed. Then we get an increasingly dark mood, which is released, in heavy chords. Then suddenly, the sun breaks through and the music gets a majestic character. We have a new shape of the initial theme, first with the French horns and then with the trombones. The music gets a quicker tempo and flows into a quick movement describing the winds and waves at sea ("Wind and Waves"). Three themes are gathering and some variations are developed. The music gets more and more energetic and, after a climax, calms down again. Then we have a kind of "summer pastoral" which suggests summer at the South coast of Cornwall ("South Coast of Penwith Peninsuia in Summer"). This is certainly not the hotte st summer in Europe, but still it is beautiful in this country that is blessed with so much rain. In the "pastoral" , the sea is already sketched in broad outlines in the French horn solo. The magnificence of an aftemoon at the seaside is developed at the end of the composition ("Noon at Treen Cliff', a rock protruding in the sea next to Porthcumo at the South Coast of Cornwall); here the music gets stronger and stronger and after a majestic climax it vanishes completely.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£69.99
Kennesaw Mountain Blues - Stephen Bulla
Blues to the MAX! With lots of drive and down home blues harmonies, KENNESAW MOUNTAIN BLUES will latch on to your audience for keeps.Very accessible to Grade 2 1/2 bands, this is one of the most enjoyable pieces you'll find for any level of ability. If you have a kickin' drumset player, so much the better. Every section has gratifying parts to play, and the easy mixed-meter section sounds so natural but will keep 'em all thinking.The concert band doesn't often get the chance to play in styles like this, which is a shame, because it's so much fun. How about letting your band try a style that's about as far from John Phillip Sousa as you can get! Get down with some Blues! KENNESAW MOUNTAIN BLUES is a winner!
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£159.99The Miner's Saga - Otto M. Schwarz
This programmatic piece is about a simple miner by the name of Gottlieb Bumler and his pact with the devil. In the program note one can follow each step of the story so you can almost hear the events as if they were happening in front of you! This cinematic piece is full of sound effects, great brass sequences, solid percussion and virtuosic winds. An ideal piece for a thematic concert, or a challenging choice for a contest. This programmatic piece is about a simple miner by the name of Gottlieb Bumler and his pact with the devil. In the program note one can follow each step of the story so you can almost hear the events as if they were happening in front of you! Thiscinematic piece is full of sound effects, great brass sequences, solid percussion and virtuosic winds. An ideal piece for a thematic concert, or a challenging choice for a contest.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£202.99
The Wind Rises - Joe Hisaishi
This beautiful, lyrical melody is so colorful in the film, without having an imposing image. "The Wind Rises" (2013) does not dominate the visual, and perhaps is an ideal form of film music considering this is director Miyazaki's final production. Chamber ensembles with solos and strings are frequently used in the soundtrack, so the sound is mellow and soft. As you listen more and more, you still recognize the tradition of Ghibli music.When I arrange, I try not to visualize the image of a film. I may think of characters and story line but is it important to write music that alone is appealing and fascinating. Trying not to "overstate" the film is not needed here. If you can bring out the most appealing parts of the soundtrack, excess can be forgiven. Of course, I have not changed the musical elements of the original.I asked Mr. Tomoki Ubata (band director at Ina Gakuen Sr. High School) whom I have worked with numerous times to assist with layout. He came up with a heartwarming medley with two main parts; leading boy Jiro's gift for aeronautical design and his romance with the heroine, Natsuko.The following themes are contained in the arrangement:1. Nahoko (A Rainbow) Beginning2. Caproni (An Aeronautical Designer's Dream) C3. A Journey (An Encounter at Karuizawa) H4. The Falcon I5. Prototype 8 N6. A Journey (A Parting) & A Journey (A Dream of Flight) PIt is quite remarkable, looking back on 30 years of Studio Ghibli's achievements.(Kazuhiro Morita)
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£137.99Theme Park Fun! - Wilco Moerman
In Theme Park Fun! your orchestra pays a visit to an amusement park. During your visit, you will experience some spectacular rides and attractions this theme park offers. The uniqueness of Theme Park Fun! is the interplay between music and(moving) images. Animations and illustrations support the visual composition.Part 1: The Entrance & Parade [with animation]The opening of the park is a fact. A day full of fun and pleasure awaits! You and the other visitors willbe confronted with all the rides, attractions and adventures the theme park has to offer. Which ride shall we do first?! There is so much to do and experience on this day in the park! A parade of colorful floats and park figures is passing by.Letthe fun begin!Part 2: The Haunted House [with animation]The only ride in the park that is not related to fun, is the Haunted House. Here visitors will be challenged to visit a house full of ghosts, creepy figures and otherominous things. The clock strikes twelve, there is no turning back. Ghosts are whispering, yelling, screaming... Fortunately it is almost one oclock, so we can leave this creepy place quickly.Part 3: The Swinging Galleon [withillustrations]What a huge pirate ship! Each time you swing back and forth, you will feel that weird feeling in your stomach. When you are thrown completely into the top you will have a fantastic view over the park, but you can not enjoy itfor long. Before you know the ship swings back the other way.Part 4: The Fairy Tale Ride [with illustrations]After all those exciting and spectacular rides and attractions, it is time for a peaceful tour in The Fairy Tale Ride.Surrounded by a fairytale setting, you will discover fable figures, talking animals and colorful designs. Such a beauty and tranquility. Having had this experience, we are ready again for the big rides in the park!Part 5: The Bumper Cars[with illustrations]Now its time to crawl behind the wheel of the Bumper Cars! Shall we all chase the conductor?! Before you know you are hit by another visitor or you will bump against someone else. In this tough ride you can prove yourselfas a real driver, or perhaps as a really bad one.Part 6: The Roller Coaster [with illustrations]The largest, fastest and scariest ride in the park ... we should definitely do the Roller Coaster! All together in the train, theover-the-shoulder restraints are lowering... be ready to ride. The train leaves the station and is heading for the big lift hill. It will be very scary when the train reaches the top and the train will be plunged down the first drop! Loops,corkscrews and other spectacular coaster elements will follow... Before you know it, the ride of your life is over. Shall we ride it again?!Part 7: Leaving the Park [with animation]Unfortunately everything comes to an end. Thisday in the theme park is over, but we have a lot new experiences to talk about! The memories of all the funny and spectacular rides will come up when we walk through the park to the exit. Just one look over the shoulder, the amusement park figuresare waving at us. Hopefully we will come back again soon!
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£140.80Belvedere Suite - Wilhelm Koenen
Part One: 'Danse mditerranenne'This part is composed of stylized folkmusic elements from several regions of Mediterra-nean countries. If this music recalls memories of your holidays on the sunny beaches, the composer will have reached his goal.Part Two: 'Impression'This part is meant as a contrast with the first and the third parts. The conductor should not stick to the metronome tempo, but he can express his own interpretation by means of 'rubato playing'. This 'impression' was inspired by the Provence landscape.Part Three: 'Marche grotesque'We deliberately used non-typical characteristics of the traditional march. The underlying idea is: A band starts playing a march at the ordinary marching tempo. There is already a mistake at measure 4 when some musicians play the wrong bar which causes the fifers to start too early with the drum and fife signals. A grumpy 'Stop' brings and end to the false start by means of a pathetic quaver (eighth note). The drummers however continue to play their drum beats, so the fifers start again and play very quickly in order to catch up with the drummers. They even manage to do so, thanks to that late quaver (eighth note). The band now also starts to play again and reacts to this chaos by laughter. The march that comes next does not match the metric characteristics of the usual march. The woodwinds, dreaming of holidays, get caught in a Tarantella. A compelling signal by the trumpets and the horns, soon joined by all band registers, leads the band back to reality. We deliberately chose well-known 'secondary parts' in order to make the audience accept the 'out-of-tune playing'. Original themes would not have had the same effect. The whole composition is just one great musical joke. If the audiance chuckles the composer will have achieved his aim. The third part is extremely well suited to end a concert or to be used as encore.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£154.60Den store dagen - Benny Borg
This beautiful song contains a huge contrast between the hopeful and the disappointing. A mother has her birthday and is waiting her children to celebrate it. Each verse starts optimistically, but the short chorus is characterized by the disappointment, that everyone calls, and cannot come. This has been tried recreated musically, mostly in the last two choruses, as it dawns on her that she will not receive a visit. It's a beautiful tune, but with a serious message that it's easy to take someone for granted.One of the elements the musicians came up with after rehearsal, was that they really liked the change between the ballad parts with even eights and the swing parts. This also gives the piece a sense of "parlando" character, which tells a story, and is therefore important to focus. It is not quite simple, as the melody also in those parts with even eights has some triplet rhythms. Therefore, this is a topic you can work on.Regarding instrumentation, Flugelhorn, Alto Saxophone and Euphonium have important roles, in addition to the rest of the first parts in the Band. The arrangement is written so you are not depending on "special" instruments. Important details are also often duplicated so you can use the arrangement for a smaller Wind Band.It is also possible to use a vocal soloist, but then you must soften the instruments that holds the melody.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£113.30Moderate Dances - Angelo Sormani
This piece is a tribute to dance music, especially passionate, intense and meditative dance music. "Moderate Dances" is divided into three movements: a "Tango", a "Slow Waltz" and a "Bossa Nova". Each movement and each dance has its own particular characteristics but, when combined, these different rhythmic beats and times give the piece a feeling of completeness and uniformity. The Tango started to flourish in the suburbs of Buenos Aires in around 1880. There is still some doubt as to its origins, which may be Cuban (Habanera) but are probably African. It was most popular in Argentina and Brazil: here the male protagonist was originally the "gaucho" with his inseparable guitar, later to be replaced by the proud, elegant "compadre". By around 1910 the Tango had spread to Italy and France. New clubs opened, where the upper classes could watch and dance the Tango. Here the dance also underwent some rapid transformations. The exaggerated and extravagant gestures and body movements disappeared. Slow, gliding steps replaced the old rotational movements. The women's red ankle-boots and the partners "staring into each other's eyes" accentuated the erotic nature and sensuality of this dance. So much so that, in 1913, the German government banned soldiers from dancing the Tango. Those who broke the law were immediately discharged from the army. From a strictly musical perspective, the basic instruments were a flute, a harp (the diatonic harp typically played by the Indians of Paraguay) and a violin, or flute, guitar and violin or even clarinet, guitar and violin. These instruments were easy to transport, ideal for playing at parties, in the streets and in courtyards. The musicians played by ear, frequently improvising: there were no scores, no records, which is the main reason why it is impossible to trace the Tango back to its exact origins. However, the Tango's evolution (and growing popularity) was once again fostered by its fundamental ability to absorb "other" cultures, languages and sounds. And it was the arrival of the "bandoneon" (an accordion-like instrument that was invented in Germany and brought to Rio de la Plata by some immigrant), which replaced the flute, that marked the beginning of the Tango's huge success outside Argentina. A number of talented composers, above all the great Astor Piazzola (1921-1992), transformed the bandoneon from a simple accompanying instrument to a solo instrument that was to become the distinguishing feature of the 20th century Tango. The Slow Waltz originated from the Waltz, the typical dance of the Bavarian and Tyrolese peasants in the 1700s. It was composers like Johann Strauss, father and son, who carried the Waltz to its zenith in the 1800s, creating the sensual and melancholy yet joyful and charming dance we are all familiar with. When the Waltz first became popular in Germany, the members of respectable society were shocked at the closeness of the dancing partners, who had always previously danced apart. The main difference between the Waltz and Slow Waltz is that the latter has a slower, more expressive rhythm: the men wear tails and the women wear ball gowns decorated with beads and feathers and couples dance in graceful rotational movements. "Bossa Nova" is the title of the last movement in the piece. Jobim, the great Brazilian musician, described this musical genre as a combination of modern Jazz and Samba. Bossa Nova means "new wave". This was the name of the artistic and musical movement that evolved in Brazil in the late Fifties and was extremely popular throughout the Sixties. The songs are usually about love or social matters, drawing inspiration from the slums of Rio De Janeiro and the lives of their inhabitants. Bossa Nova, with its original compositions and the artistic talent of its musicians, also became hugely popular in the United States and Europe, and top Jazz musicians (Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Bob Cooper, Charlie Bird, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Dizzy Gillespie) started to include Bossa in their repertoires.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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