Results
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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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£252.50Gopak - Eric Ewazen
Gopak is the first movement of a set of Symphonic Dances written for the Hofstra Unibersity Wind Ensemble, directed by Peter Boonshaft, who commissioned and premiered the work in 2009. Gopak is a tribute to my Polish and Ukrainian roots. My father used to dance traditional Ukrainian dances including the Gopak, and some of my earliest musical memories include the joyful, energetic, and rhythmic feel of those wonderful folk dances.Gopak has a strong feeling of two beats, is accented quite heavily, and is energetic from beginning to end. The melodies are completely original, but the lively feel of the music calls to my mind the energy of the Gopak, notes composer Eric Ewazen.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£196.50Grand Mesa - Eric Ewazen
The Colorado Mesa University Wind Symphony, under direction of Dr. Calvin Hofer, has hosted the annual and continually growing Best of the West Music Festival. In 2007, Ewazen was guest composer and commissioned for a new concert band work to celebrate Grand Junction and the towering Grand Mesa that rises above the town. Inspired by this grand landscape, I set out to write a work which was rich, resonant, colorful and bold, a tribute to this amazing scenery which I ultimately had the pleasure of seeing and exploring first hand. For intermediate to advanced bands.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£168.50
The Three Embraces - Carter Pann
The first two of three movements are meant to be aural aromas, says Pann, with soft, languid, and lush winds (a long trail of the softest dynamics). Harp and celesta are used to impart an aura of ancient, inward elegance. The Three Embraces ends with a celebratory mix of pastoral melodies juxtaposed over more modern, angular harmonies. Written to celebrate Allan McMurray's 35 years as Director of Bands at the University of Colorado. (all quotes from the composer) Dur.: 12'30
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£280.50Of Strife (1. From A Time Of Strife) - Eric Ewazen
A commission by the U.S. Air Force Band of the West allowed Ewazen to consider the ten years following the events of 9/11/2001, resulting in A Time of Strife, a Time of Peace. The first movement considers the long wars and the losses entailed through soaring lyrical lines above a rhythmic, pounding accompaniment, as Ewazen puts it. The second movement is a bittersweet celebration on the death of the perpetrator and a future of joy, peace, and life. Ewazen says, A burst of joyous energy bringing this chapter in our history to a close.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£263.95Double Concerto - Carter Pann
In a musical style strongly influenced by (and occasionally parodying) American popular music, the subtitle "Baroque" may seem a puzzle at first. It is also the key to Pann's approach in composing for multiple wind soloists and ensemble. With Bach's Brandenburgs in the rear-view mirror, Pann has created a glorious hybrid of inspirations with intricate counterpoint, cadenzas, beautiful slow textures, and wild rides, creating a 16-minute, fast-slow-fast concerto grosso. The published piano reduction is fully practical for live performance. Also available for clarinet and saxophone with piano (114-41972).
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£84.50
Little Suite for Summer - Peter Schickele
These seven charming pieces were written by Mr. Schickele for his son's eight birthday, with the Primo part being easy enough for his son to play. The titles of the pieces were suggested by the music: CHA, CHA, CHA BOOMDEEAY because of the first movement's clangorous ending: NORTH STAR, with a hushed and lyrical melody inspired by the composer's stargazing: FOR CHARLIE THE PARROT, a vivid musical description of the imitative abilities of this bird: DUSK ON THE PALISADES, with its evocative ougmented chord textures: SORE IN THE SADDLE AGAIN, a delightful spoof of the well-known Western melody: GREASED LIGHTENING, with its flying runs and scales: and MINK HOLLOW MORNING,because of its gentle sostenuto lines and legato accompaniment figures-a musical description of a quiet and happy summer morning in the country. The Primo part is very easy, the Secondo is mostly easy medium. For studios, schools, some college & professional. Easy medium.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£56.50Vermilion River Serenade - David Campo
The Vermilion River runs through the heart of my hometown of Lafayette, LA. It was created when the ancient course of the Mississippi River, which originally ran through the area that is now Lafayette, shifted from west to east and left a channel through the plains. While originally home to the Atakapa-Ishak and Canneci (Lipan Apache) Tribes and the competing Choctaw Tribes, between the years 1765 and 1785 the first great wave of immigration occurred in South Louisiana and Acadian exiles settled the area. They created a profitable fur and deerskin trading business along the Vermilion River, and the Old Spanish Trail reached the Vermilion right about where the village of Vermilionville (later Lafayette) was founded. Subsequently, the town grew and flourished on both sides of the Vermilion. The tranquil river and its scenic banks, adorned with live oaks draped in Spanish moss, provided the backdrop for early Cajun life as the river was a source of food, communication, travel and commerce. This piece is a "postcard;" an homage to my culture and to the river that brings me great peace every time I encounter its pastoral beauty and serenity.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£75.50The Dream of Tiberius - David Campo
The Roman Emperor Tiberius was born in 42 BCE to Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla, both descendants of prestigious political families, at a time when Rome was undergoing significant political upheaval. Julius Caesar had begun a brutal civil war in 49 BCE to end Rome's rule as a Republic and consolidate his power as supreme ruler. Following Caeser's assassination in 44 BCE, Tiberius' father backed the forces wishing to return Rome to a Republic, but they were defeated by Caesarian loyalists led by Caeser's heir Octavian. As a result, Tiberius' early life was spent on the run and in political exile with his parents. In 27 BCE, Octavian would become the first Emporer of Rome and assume the name Augustus. Augustus forced Tiberius' parents to divorce and took Tiberius' mother as his new bride, separating the family and forcing Tiberius to live with his father. Upon his father's death, Tiberius went to live with his mother and Emporer Augustus, a situation Tiberius found extremely uncomfortable but one over which he had no control. Having been adopted by the Emperor, Tiberius assumed the military and political life thrust upon him. He proved to be an outstanding military and political leader, and with his marriage to Vipsania Agrippina his life took on a heretofore unknown stability. However, Augustus would intervene in Tiberius' life once more, forcing him to abandon his happy marriage and take Augustus' daughter Julia (Tiberius' step sister) as his new wife. This arrangement, while securing Tiberius' place as Augustus' heir and ensuring he would one day be Emperor of Rome, was disastrous. Julia's drunken licentiousness was a constant source of scandal and embarrassment for Tiberius (and her father, the Emperor) and she was eventually exiled by her father Augustus. Tiberius was named Emperor of Rome upon the death of Augustus in AD 14, assuming his position as the most powerful man on Earth. However, no matter how powerful he had become, Tiberius never felt as if he had ever had any control over his life, having been manipulated from childhood through adulthood by the whims of Augustus. As Emperor, he soon became disgusted with the political intrigue of the Roman Senate and by AD 26 left Rome and took up residence on the island of Capri, where he lived out the rest of his life. History does not regard Tiberius fondly and by all accounts towards the end of his reclusive life on Capri, he had become a miserable, sick and mentally unstable old man reveling in debauchery and cruelty. It is also informative to note that he was Emperor of Rome when Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, and while there is no indication that Tiberius was even aware of the existence of Jesus, as Emperor he was responsible for the appointment of Pontius Pilate as Governor of Judea. Even considering this, it is difficult to look on the life of the Emperor Tiberius and not feel some sympathy and pity. It's in this spirit that I composed "The Dream of Tiberius." I imagine the man sitting in thoughtful seclusion on the beautiful island of Capri imagining what his life might have happily been had not power been thrust upon him: husband, father and humble servant of the people.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£110.00Mount Everest - Kees Vlak
This composition basically consists of three fragments and an epilogue (conclusion):1) Plateaux, 2) Sherpas, 3) Climb. The piece starts with a musical depiction of the deserted plateauxs and mountain peaks of the Himalayas. The mysteriousness of theTibetan country was caused by its inaccessibility to other nations. One even believed that there was a paradise behind the huge mountains; the land of Shangra La. 1) After the sound of a gong, the Asian-like theme arises extremely softly from thedecay of the percussion. In bars 4 and 5 the syllables of Hi-ma-la-ya echo. Then a second theme appears; it symbolises the enchantment of the mountaineers by seeing the Mount Everest. 2) Eastern percussion, very evenly without emotion, sound from thedeserted village of the sherpas. The phrasing is prescribed by the number 'three'. From measure 56 Tibetian monks sing a chant, also with the religious background of the number 'three'. 3) The third part starts of with the sight of the giant MountEverest with an entirely new theme, that is played impressively by the strong low brass instruments of the band, immediately followed by the excited big climbing. The many surprises are depicted by the changing time signatures. Two themes are inconstant battle; the binary Himalaya theme and the ternary Mount Everest theme. Only once there is a steely composure. The registers in which the piece is played increase. The tension rises...Then the peak is reached. A long pause follows before onerealises that one is on top of the world. Slowly the emotions of joy grow and lead to an enormous climax. The first enchanted theme sounds again in total glory.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days