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£126.50Beating Beats - Jan Van der Roost
Beating Beats rhythmically is a rather special piece: more conventional metres are manipulated in such a way that the listener (without score) may be confused and even misled at various points! The 'regular four beat accents in a 4/4 measure for example are often not adhered to, giving the impression of a different metre altogether. However, at the same time it may be that some instruments do follow this "normal" 4/4 metre, thus confusing everyone - performers and listeners alike! On one hand, it is a "simple" piece with very playable and melodic themes, but their mysterious rhythmic makes it not only sound more complicated, but also makes for a greater challenge for both players and the conductor! As is mostly the case with Jan Van der Roost's works, the orchestration is both colourful and contrasting, with every section of the modern wind orchestra used equally. All in all, it's a work full of surprises with some unexpected harmonies and special melodic lines but above all, with metrical and rhythmical sure to catch you unawares!
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£134.99Cleopatra - Thierry Deleruyelle
Queen Cleopatra ruled Egypt for over 20 years. She is one of antiquity's best-known women, in particular because of her relationships with Julius Caesar and, above all, Mark-Anthony, but also because the cause of her death remains a mystery. The work is split into three parts and performed without breaks. The first section begins with a bright introduction representing Mark-Anthony. Dynamic in nature and reminiscent of military music, this characterises the Roman general. But soon after, another theme emerges, softer and more melodic, symbolising Cleopatra's femininity. The two characters then combine on a faster tempo. The middle section of the work depicts the love that Mark-Anthony and Cleopatra feel for each other. This passionate relationship lasted ten years and produced three children. This is expressed by a warm and intense theme, just like the beauty of the Egyptian queen. The third and last section opens in a determined and military mood. Mark-Anthony and Cleopatra were often apart, the Roman general was often away on a campaign. They met up in Alexandria to celebrate their triumph. But, as the targets of the jealousy and ambition of Octavius, Julius Caesar's son, the lovers are trapped and await the inevitable conquest of Egypt by the Romans. When Mark-Anthony heard the false news that Cleopatra had committed suicide, he ended his own life. The Queen of Egypt, for her part, was imprisoned shortly afterwards. The two lovers remain one of History's most famous couples. This piece was commissioned by the Wind Orchestra of the town of Antony, near Paris, directed by Philippe Rossignol, to mark its 90th anniversary.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£435.40Goldberg 2012 - Svein H. Giske
The first time I heard Bach's Goldberg Variations was in the movie Silence of the lambs, in the early 1990s. I noticed the beautiful background music in one of the scenes, but at that time I didn't know what it was. A few years later, when I was studiying at the Grieg Academy, I got to know the entire piece. For me, this is a piece of music which I can listen to countless times. I think it sounds as fresh today as it did more than 15 years ago and it never ceases to inspire me. Both Bach's composition and Glenn Gould's famous 1955 recording (which was the first one I heard) still makes a great impression on me. Before Gould recorded it at age 22, it wasn't a highly ranked piece amongst pianists and Bach was by many viewed as a bit old-fashioned. The young Canadian turned all this around. He managed to portray Bach in a reformed way, producing fine nuances in phrasing and making the many layers in Bach's music more transparent than anyone before him. Thus he plunged both himself and Bach (back) onto the international music scene. When The Norwegian Band Federation (NMF) asked me to write the test piece for NM in 2012, it was only natural for me to use the Goldberg Variations as a starting point and inspiration for my work. Since I was a teenager at NMF's summer courses in the mid eighties I've always listened to many different styles of music. Growing up in Sunnmre with the Brazz Brothers as teachers and mentors, jazz-, pop/rock- and folk music were early on a natural part of my musical background. I also have my classical education from the Grieg Academy on trumpet. As the title of my piece implies, I've wanted to bring Bach to the present and put his music into various modern musical landscapes. I think you can bring about a special kind of energy when music from different genres are mixed and I've tried to do this by mixing Bach with artists and musical styles from the present. In Goldberg 2012, the music is often constructed by several layers, which in a way are living parallel musical lives. They are seemingly moving or floating freely, almost unaware of each other, but bound together by the same basic pulse. The rythms, however, are often notated on a different rythmic subdivision level than the usual 8th- or 16th note levels. By doing this, I hope to achieve transparent sounds that rythmically are perceived as more free and detached from each other. In large sections of the piece, pop/jazz is fusioned with elements from Bach. I guess you could have this little scene as a synopsis for the piece: picture a group of musicians meeting: some are classical performers, some are jazz. They start to improvise together, each in their own voice or musical dialect and I'm sort of in the middle, trying to write down what they are playing. This is what I feel much of Goldberg 2012 is about. The foundation of the piece, in addition to Bach and references from pop/jazz music, lies also in my own material. This material, basically two chords, is heard in it's purest form in the 1st movement. I use these chords to create scales, new chords and different motifs which contribute to blend together the different moods of the piece. It has not been my intention to copy Bach's form (theme and 30 variations), but rather to use the bits and pieces that I like the most as an inspiration for my own variations. The 1st movement, Aria 2, is for my 3rd son, Olav, who was born on the 21st of April 2011, and the 5th movement, From long ago, is dedicated to the memory of my father, Svein J. Giske, who passed away on the 6th of June 2011. -Svein H. Giske, January 2012-
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£68.99Requiem Aeternam - Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini was commissioned to write a second opera after the resounding success of his first, Le Villi. However, the original four-act, grand opera Edgar, to a libretto by Ferdinando Fontana, received a rather lukewarm reception at its premire in La Scala in Milan in 1889 - initially, the work was only performed three times. Of all the planned performances in the subsequent two years, only one took place, in Lucca, Puccini's birthplace. There, the work was well received. Nevertheless, the composer decided to make drastic changes to Edgar the most radical being the reduction of the opera to three acts, as well as altering a few arias, charactersand instrumental parts. In its revised form, the work was even less popular than before. The discarded fourth act later provided material for Tosca (the duet Amoro sol' per te), but Puccini never felt the need to defend Edgar - as he did other less fortunate operas, such as La Rondine and Suor Angelica. On a piano excerpt for his female friend Sybil Seligman he even corrupted the title to 'E Dio ti GuARda da quest' opera' (may God preserve you from this opera). This did not prevent Arturo Toscanini performing the Requiem from the third act at Puccini's funeral in Milan Cathedral on 3 December 1924. The Requiem in the third act is being played when the long funeral procession carries the alleged body of Edgar - the confusedyoung man hesitating between the love of the virtuous Fidelia and the exotic Tigrana. The mass hails Edgar as a hero, but a monk claims that he has betrayed his country for a few gold pieces. When the soldiers try to desecrate the body, they discover that the armor contains none. The monk reveals himself as Edgar. He wants to leave with his faithful Fidelia, but the vengeful Tigrana stabs him and kills Fidelia. Edgar grieves over the lifeless body of his beloved, while Tigrana is arrested and the people submerge into prayer.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£53.50Four Pictures - Árpád Balázs
The teachers under whom rpd Balzs (b.1937) studied composition - Ferenc Farkas, Aram Khachaturian and Goffredo Petrassi - each independently formed the opinion that with his lyrical gift rpd Balzs's true creative field would be that of choral music and wind ensembles. Their early predictions are borne out by the roughly two hundred and fifty works for choir and almost twenty for wind orchestra that the composer has since produced. It is interesting that in the suite entitled Ngy kp (Four pictures) the stylistic features of these two related musical fields are united. In it the wind instruments sing! It was not by chance that the expansive second movement was given the title Cantilena, while the slightly livelier but just as lyrical third movement was entitled Arietta. The opening movement of the work is a stridently jolly, energetic Indul (March), but not one of the rigidly military kind: the 6/8 rhythm contributes to its light-hearted character. This music is avowedly akin to the ballet music of Prokofiev. This choice series of four character pieces is crowned by Jtk (Play) in which conveying the effect of the mixture of lines moving in parallel and then colliding with each other may be more technically demanding, but is well worth the effort! (Hungaroton HCD 31353)
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£69.00
Goldene Kameraden - James Barnes
"Goldene Kameraden" was commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Musikverlag RUNDEL. The title of the piece is a combination of the golden anniversary of the company and all my friends who work there - but it is also a humorous pun on one of my favorite German marches: "Alte Kameraden". Although marches are rather out of favor in the U.S. these days - unless they are by John Philip Sousa - I love to write them. And so I was happy to have the opportunity to compose this for Thomas Rundel, his family and the team at Musikverlag RUNDEL. The strict form of marches and the necessary march-like clichs required may seem restricting to other composers, but I perceive this as a musical challenge. It is like completing a crossword puzzle: one must go by all the traditional rules" but still produce something creative.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£98.20Space Lab - Giuseppe Ratti
A long pedal-note of evanescent chords, based on empty parallel fifths, announces the theme;flutes and reed instruments exploit some almost imperceptible micro-fragments, supported by muted trumpets, creating what is an almost surreal and spatial atmosphere. This was Giuseppe Ratti's starting point for his "Space Lab", a laboratory of sounds and, later (when the main theme is taken up once more), of rhythms. Although it may sound complicated, this piece is ultimately based on a single motif: the descending fourth played on the second beat by the woodwinds. In this piece, Giuseppe Ratti, with his usual pallet of clear, transparent colours at hand, appropriate for the general public, together with simple, effective themes, has sought to experiment with new atmospheres and rhythms. First of all we hear the entire theme in the Allegro. Then the rhythm changes in a simple but at the same time complex manner: almost a genetic mutation. The part leading up to the final Lento flows smoothly for the listener but requires great skill and experience on the part of those performing it. In the final lento the main theme reappears in all its simplicity and sincerity, purified of all contrasts. A metaphor for a life that leads us towards unimaginable frontiers but which, in the end, always brings us back to the point from where we started.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£69.99Mexican Holiday - Philip Sparke
Whilst making no claims to be stylistically authentic, this little piece aims to capture the infectious spirit of mariachi, a word whose origins are lost in the mists of time, but which describes not only the performers (on guitars, vihuelas, violins, trumpets and harp) but also the music itself. Their music speaks of love, passion, politics, life in the country and revolutionary heroes but is unerringly uplifting in style and immediately recognisable as the spirit of Mexico. A chance to add that Spanish flavour to your concerts.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£118.99
The Universal Band Collection - Jacob de Haan
A collection of 5 short works in pop style which can be performed by any kind of compilation. The titles can be presented on the programme as separate works but the Universal Band Collection can also be performed as a complete suite. From a didactic point of view it is a suitable work to teach musicians something about the structure in music. For this purpose not only the big structure but also the small structure was kept very clear.Western Girl : A girl from the west of the USA rides her horse across the prairie, dreaming of her future. The rough structure: introduction - theme in a blues scale - the same thing in a different instrumentation - finale.Just a ballad : A balladin pop style with a rough A-B-A form. First there is the introduction of the main theme (A), then follows a tenor melody in minor with a rhythmical reference to the main theme (B). Finally there is the main melody, performed tutti with a different rhythm in the drums (A').Play the Game : An English saying meaning: play fairly. Playful music in up-tempo with a wink to China, where almost all games are manufactured nowadays. Once again an A-B-A structure here.San Diego : A Mexican fugitive enjoys his freedom in America but also remembers his place of birth with melancholy. A sad minor melody with a straight trendy beat appears twice. The second time it has a slightly different instrumentation, in which the muted trumpets represent the Mexican feeling.Final Dance : Eventually there is a dance with an introduction in renaissance style, followed by a fast dance in rock style. All this composed in a classical song structure: introduction, verse, bridge, chorus, shortened verse, bridge, chorus, chorus.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£109.99Arctic Funk - Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen
Arctic Funk might just as well have been a flashing sequel to a scene from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story. Popular music but with a difference, as indicated by the title. The work's quiet section temporarily soothes down the heated passion of its two corner movements, but everywhere else action is required throughout. The work was commissioned in 1991 by Troms? Brass. Situated just above the Polar Circle, Troms? is one of Norway's northernmost towns. Topographically, the town probably comes across as freezing cold, but Troms? is famous for its 'warm' night-life. The Composer: In Arctic Funk you might get a feeling of a party that takes place betweenice-rocks and snow-capped mountains.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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