Results
-
£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
-
£89.99Minerva - Jan Van der Roost
Minerva by Jan Van der Roost was composed on the commission of the German "Musikverein Braunshausen" on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the orchestra. The composition, first performed on September 17, 1999, is not a street march but a concert march, just like Mercury and Arsenal. The use and variation of different rhythmic patterns gives the first part of this march a distinctly dynamic character. Two main themes are presented in several instrumental combinations. The theme from the trio, on the other hand, is characterized by a broad melodic approach using large intervals. This theme, wreathed by high woodwinds, is heard one more time after a contrasting newpart, but now in a somewhat slower tempo. The counterpoint in this part refers to the first part of the march. The brilliant ending suits a festive anniversary march!
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£54.99Base-six - Laura Estes
A bold and dynamic piece for the beginning band's first concert from composer Laura Estes. Drawing from her many years of teaching beginners, Laura has crafted a piece that students will love and their parents will not believe how great they sound at their very first concert. The title is derived from the use of only the first six notes of the Bb scale, clever!
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£140.80
Summer Dances - Adam Gorb
'Summer Dances' is a joyful work in three short movements celebrating my favourite season where people are happiest outdoors. Each movement is a celebration the first movement 'Summer Day' celebrates the open air, with a bold and arrogant melody in 10/8 time, whose rhythm dominates the movement. The next movement 'Summer Night' could be described as a 'Beach Habanera' led by a sensuous trumpet melody. The movement ends with an ambiguous harmonic build-up, which is resolved at the start of the finale 'Summer Party' with a folk like theme that is passed round the ensemble, building up, (with suggestions of the first movement theme) to a riotous and festive ending. Summer Dances was commissioned by HAFABRA Music, Louis Martinus in collaboration with Biblioservice Gelderland/Music department MUI, Arhnhem, the Netherlands. Regarding interpretation suggestions: Movement 1) Lively but not too fast very much a piece for the full ensemble, up until the final six bars when things become more subtle and intimate maybe sunset.... Movement 2) Very laid back and sexy. The movement should be thought of as a wonderfully promising 'first date' or 'wedding night', with great possibilities with the unresolved chord at the end of the movement.... Movement 3) As fast as is comfortably possible. The start should be delicate and chamber music like, but increase in general excitement, particularly from figure 31. Something should be saved up for a true fortissimo at 34.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£214.80Dance Suite - Joseph Horovitz
This work follows a tradition established at the end of the seventeenth century: the creation of a musical structure by using a succession of dance movements, composed in such a way that a satisfying cumulative effect is produced. This method can be traced, starting from the works of Corelli, through the so-called Mannheim school to Mozart, and on to Brahms and beyond. Indeed, most classical symphonies owe their origin to this tradition.Each of the three movements of Dance Suite contains themes and motifs which are based on clearly identifiable dance patterns, more or less traditional and tonal in harmonic language.The first movement is a mixture af march- and gavotte elements, but these occur as variants of a single main theme. The tempo is brisk and the strongly accentuated four-beat measures creates a feeling of motoric drive. This is often counteracted by unexpected syncopation and surprising modulations. Horovitz dispenses with a second subject in favour of a very elaborate development, which makes the final quotation of the theme into a sort of recapitulation.In contrast, the second movement is a gentle, gracefully undulating dance, using two steady beats in every measure. Here there are two themes, the first more rhythmic, the second more lyrical. The second theme always uses the first as accompaniment, rather as a singer might use a guitar. Both themes undergo several modulations before returning to the home key. A Spanish flavour pervades the rhythmic and melodic elements of this movement.The finale is a fast rondo (in 6/8) whose main theme is best described as a tarantella. This alternates several times with a more solid, rustic theme (in 2/4). However, the main theme is recalled in varying guises, including a parody Latin-American version. The orchestration becomes mor elaborate and exciting as the movement proceeds, and the whole work ends with a coda recalling the main rond-theme with an enthusiastic flourish.Joseph Horovitz wrote about Dance Suite: "Most of the melodies and rhythms in the Dance Suite have been in my thoughts for many years, ever since my eraly career as conductor of ballet, and later as composer of some sixteen ballet scores. Some of these ideas were sketched on manuscript paper, others remained in my head and even in my dreams. The composition of this work gave me the chance to search among these half-subconscious sources and to offer my discoveries to the wind-orchestra repertoire."
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£159.60Sci-Fi Suite of Dances - Bernhard Bogisch
1. Harvest Dance - Phoeboia II Like many of the inhabited planets Phoebia II was first colonized by the survivors of a spaceship crash. There is no certainty as to where these survivors originated from. In the late 21st century many spaceship were launched manned by people who were looking for a new future, away from an over-populated Earth. Some succeeded, some managed to return, some were never heard of again. In 2311 a survey ship had to make an emergency landing on Phoebia II and they found a triving colony there. Although the early history of the colony is shrouded in antiquity, certain aspects of the language, as well as physical features, seem to point to a south-east European origin. The harvest dance, in the aspects of rhythm, melody and harmony has many things in common with the music of what once were the countries of Macedonia, Greece and Turkey, little of which has unfortunately, been left due to primitive recording methods of the period.2. Ritual Seduction Dance - Rugel VWhen first discovered Rugel V was already a very civilized planet populated by a humanoid race and governed by a class of superior females. The first settlers from Earth were held as slaves but gained freedom over the years. It is assumed that this happened because the Earth people were all male and considered very attractive by the native females in comparison with the aboriginal males. The Earth males were evidently very attractive to the native women, who on their part used all their womanly wiles to entice them. We all know that Rugel V is now a very advanced and totally integrated society. The people have not forgotten their roots, and these Ritual Seduction Dances are performed on a regular basis in commemoration of the original Grand Seduction. Musically speaking Romanian origin influenced by native characteristics is virtually certain.3. Attack Dance - Planet Khi't'onThis is the only dance in this suite that is purely native. The natives people know as Khi't'och are now very civilized, but initial contact was difficult due to the difference in physical make-up between the two peoples. Suffice it to say that in the early stages Earth people referred to the Khi't'och as 'mosquito people'. We still don't know very much about them, other then that they have a history of violence but are now quite peaceful although they love to relive their past in a stylised way, not unlike the Maories of the former New Zealand, whose fearsome tattoos were later only painted on. This Attack Dance is, at best, an imitation due to the lack native instruments, and it was a very happy occasion for this composer when, at a concert at the House of Culture on Khi't'on, the Khi't'och showed their appreciation by clicking their feeding tubes and emitting loud shouts.4. Wedding Dance and Prayer - Planet B'lGarThere is little doubt that the people of this planet originate in the former country of Bulgaria. Several examples of similar pieces featuring the quaint 11/8 time signature have been found in old archives and recordings. Russian influence is also noticeable in the prayer the style of which is reminiscent of that of the now extinct sect of Raskolniky.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£332.99Symphony No. 9, Op. 160 - James Barnes
Premiered on September 21, 2018 in Lawrence, Kansas by the University of Kansas Wind Ensemble (Dr. Paul Popiel, conducting), James Barnes' Ninth Symphony was composed between January and late June of that same year. This large work was commissioned by a consortium of twenty-one college bands, community bands, professional bands and individuals to help mark the 70th birthday of the composer (b. 1949). It is an expansive forty-minute work in four movements, of which the composer writes, This is my last symphony... this work represents a compendium of all that I have learned during the fifty years of composing and scoring for this wonderful new medium: the modern wind band. The first movement, subtitled Elegy, is based around G minor. It is the longest movement of the symphony. Tragic and despondent in character, it is cast in sonata-allegro form. The second movement is entitled Scherzo. Barnes claims that I have always wanted to write a waltz, and that is how this movement is cast, in a modified rondo form in D minor. In contrast to the mood of the first movement, the scherzo is a delightful posy of expansive melody, splashy color, humor and rhythm. The third movement, which is in a modified tertiary form, is entitled Night Music. In contrast to the scherzo, this movement begins with a mysterious incantation, first displayed by solo Alto flute. The music becomes even darker and more mysterious, while overall the movement effectively expresses an otherworldly mood, ending with a solo soprano offstage which suddenly emerges, eerily singing a modified version of the opening incantation. Cast in sonata-allegro form, the fourth movement is most definitely a rousing Finale, beginning with a brilliant fanfare and undergoing several mood transformations before emerging into the final coda, ending the symphony with an energetic splash of color.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£141.99Concerto for Wind Ensemble - Karel Husa
Commissioned by the Michigan State University Alumni Band, this three movement work by Karel Husa was the winner of the first Louis Sudler International Wind Band Composition Competition in 1983. A note from thecomposer: 'Divided into three movements, this work is a display of virtuoso passages given to solo instruments as well as to the groups of the ensemble. In the Fanfare of the first movement, the Brass section concertises in groupsof four Brass quintets (2 Trumpets, Horn, Trombone and Tuba or Baritone), spread from left to right in back. The Saxophones (SATB) are placed in front of the Brass quintets, and the Woodwinds occupy the front of the stage, withPercussion on the left and right side. These groups, like the Brass quintets, play in the concertante style, particularly in the first and last movements. 'At the same time, each movement contains individual solo passages(for example, Timpani and Flute in Movement I - Drum Ceremony and English Horn and other low Woodwinds in Movement II - Elegy). The composition of this piece was prompted by the excellence of Wind and Percussion players today, andby the incredible growth of Wind ensembles, orchestras, and bands in the last 25 years. It is intended for their enjoyment.'
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£56.50
Rock Your World - Bill Calhoun
Rock Your World is the perfect choice for your beginning students' first concert. With its gospel rock character and harmonic structure, Rock Your World provides performers with an entertaining first ensemble experience. Even though the music is written to use only the first six notes of the B flat concert scale, it is carefully crafted to produce a musical, full ensemble sound. Rock Your World is sure to become a favorite with your students.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
-
£69.99Infinity and Beyond... - Philip Sparke
The last decades of the 20th century saw man's first steps in space exploration. Since the first moon landing by Neil Armstrong in 1969, these adventures in outer space have captured the public's imagination and have given birth to scores of science fiction movies, books and TV series that have tackled the subject. Infinity and Beyond... takes as its inspiration the wonderful film scores of composers such as John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith, who have almost invented a style which could be called 'space music'.Opening with a rhythmic bass figure, Infinity and Beyond... begins with a robust introduction in 3/4, which leads to the main theme in 4/4, played by the full band. Ashort bridge passage, utilising the interval of a fourth, leads to a modal central section, featuring first the trumpets and then played by the whole band; this in turn leads back to a repeat of the introduction until the main theme returns to bring the piece to a close.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
View Music