Searching for Brass Band Music? Visit the Brass Band Music Shop
We've found 674 matches for your search

Results

  • £159.99

    Fantasia Per La Vita E La Morte - Bert Appermont

    The mystique surrounding life and death formed the starting point of this composition. I wanted to write a work without a story, mixed up in a kind of musical quest for a new world of sound, original rhythm sequences, melodies filled with suspenseand distinct orchestral tones.The indirect cause was the birth of my first child which took place during this time, followed by the death of a close family member. At such a moment you experience just how close life and death are to each other, anddespite one being the antithesis of the other, they are incredibly similar. Both radical events are passages into new worlds and have great emotional impact. Moreover, the work was commissioned by "New Life", an orchestra that lost one of itsmusician in a plane crash, which also led me to believe that this approach would be appropriate.I would prefer not to comment on which passages in the composition concern life (birth) and which refer to death. It seems to me that it is moreinteresting to question traditional conceptions and leave it open for the listener. If you think that a passage is about birth, and this idea then shifts, it is this that raises fascinating questions, on both a musical and metaphysical level.Music isin an indirect but incredibly persuasive way in which to express the endless striving and seeking of mankind. Music can even touch eternity, as it were, and give us the feeling that we can transcend death. This endless search (and also longing) canbe heard throughout the work; as much in the sound fields and accent shifts in the first part as in the enormous tension curves and compelling themes of the second part. The semi-tone functions in this way as a guide or something to hold on to,running through the whole work and upon which much of the musical material is based. Traces of profound love resound with quiet simplicity in the slow section's melodious solos, after which the work contemplates life and death one last time, musesupon joy and sadness, on the possibilities and limitations of people and on the why of all things.I would like to dedicate this work to my dearest daughter Paulientje, to Meterke and to Johan de Jong of the "New Life" orchestra. May it fare themwell, here or in another dimension...

    Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
  • £102.99

    Adios Havana - Willy Fransen

    Cuba is one of the word's few remaining communist countries and has a turbulent history behind it, in no small part due to the charismatic Fidel Castro, who has steered a more Western course in the last few years. Willy Fransen wrote a musical travel piece about the real Havana with illustrations from the local scene, enjoying a daiquiri while a live band plays in the Buena Vista Social Club.

    Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days

     PDF View Music

  • £109.99

    Hymn To The Fallen (From Saving Private Ryan) - John Williams

    Hymn To The Fallen is the main theme from one of the most succesful movies of the last years: Saving Private Ryan. Steven Verhaert especially arranged this heart-rending hymn for a wind orchestra. The melancholic atmosphere that flows out of this beautiful air characterizes the entire movie.

    Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days

     PDF View Music

  • £141.99

    Nausicaa Requiem - Joe Hisaishi

    From Anime master Hayao Miyazaki's career take-off point,Nausica of the Valley of the Wind(1984) captures the last scene of Nausica coming back alive after being flown away by swarms of Ohmu. It's directly arranged from the film sound track but has been adapted for band as needed. The medium grade level allows many groups to enjoy this arrangement.

    Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
  • £264.99

    Diferencias on an Old Spanish Song - Yasuhide Ito

    I am immensely happy that my Gloriosa, symphonic poem for band (1990), has been performed by so many bands in the last thirty years.During this period, the growth of the internet has made it much easier to access information.When I composed Gloriosa, I only had limited information about the period when Christianity and Western music was first introduced to Japan, and had to rely a lot on my imagination.However, nowadays, it is easy to obtain various source materials and to read interesting studies on the music of the past.In recent years, the music of Luis de Narvez (born ca.1500 - died between 1555-1560), Spanish composer and vihuela player, has become increasingly known, and several CDs of his music are now available.Narvez composed the earliest-known set of diferencias, a forerunner of the variation form. One of his works is Seys diferencias sobre el himno "O gloriosa domina" [Six diferencias on the hymn "O gloriosa domina"] (1538), based on the Spanish Marian hymn, and it was this melody I used in the first movement of my Gloriosa.Western music has been my musical roots since childhood, and throughout my career as a composer, it has continued to fascinate me. One could say that this has provided the inspiration for Diferencias on an Old Spanish Song, my own take on the diferencias form.Actually, such music from the early sixteenth century could sound fresh to our modern ears. So I decided to quote the melody from Narvez's Sey diferencias at the beginning and end of the piece, in order that people can get the feel for the period.The main section (bars 42-390) is formed of 13 diferencias, similar to the first movement of the Gloriosa.In the middle section, which begins after the eighth diferencia(from bar 187), one should be totally absorbed in the tranquility and the beauty of the music. Although it's in the style of a sarabande, it should be taken slower and played as pianissimo as possible.This is followed by folk-style dance music. (As only standard percussion instruments are used, try to be creative with tonal colours and sense of rhythm).The structure of the work is simple, but be aware of the connection between the sections when constructing the whole.Also, think about the tonality. Overall, the work is in F minor. The main section is basically in D minor, but from bar 102, it modulates to A flat minor and G minor, and then in the middle section it suddenly switches to A flat major (which is the furthest key from D minor, and the relative major of F minor). From bar 219, it modulates to F minor and then to C minor, then back to F minor by way of A minor.N.B. The Oboe II part can be substituted by the English Horn (as indicated in the parts). One can choose according to the player's skills or preference.Recent new compositions for wind band are often full of rhythm, dynamism, and tonal colour, and compositional techniques and orchestration have also evolved greatly. Yet on the other hand, they tend to feature fewer melodic or expressive elements. Since this work is the test piece for WMC Kerkrade 2022, I had to think about what "tests" or "challenges" to set, and I decided to compose something that doesn't involve a lot of technical display, but requires beautiful sounds and harmonies, and above all, musical expressivity. I didn't put many expression markings in the score, because I wanted the performers to think about how best to express this music. If it is played merely as notated, it's not going to sound very interesting.Christianity was introduced to Japan in the mid-16th century, but it was subsequently banned and Japan entered a period of national isolation, which meant that there was hardly any international exchange for two hundred years. As a result, the Christian hymns that were introduced prior to the isolation became almost unrecognizable over the centuries. This was the theme I explored in my Gloriosa thirty years ago.Now, in 2021, the whole world has been forced to "isolate" due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In such times, it seems pertinent that I've written a work using this melody again. I sincerely hope that people will be able to gather in Kerkrade in 2022.(English Translation:Nahoko Gotoh)

    Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days

     PDF View Music

  • £209.99

    Machu Picchu - Satoshi Yagisawa

    Commissioned for the Ensemble Liberte Wind Orchestra, Kawaguchi City, 30th Anniversary ConcertExplaining the significance of Machu Picchu begins with remembering the Incan empire at its zenith, and its tragic encounter with the Spanish conquistadors. The great 16th century empire that unified most of Andean South America had as its capital the golden city of Cuzco. Irresistible to Francisco Pizarro, while stripping the city of massive quantities of gold, in 1533 he also destroyed Cuzco's Sun Temple, shrine of the founding deity of the Incan civilization.While that act symbolized the end of the great empire, 378 years later an archeologist from Yale University, Hiram Bingham, rediscovered "Machu Picchu", a glorious mountaintop Incan city that had escaped the attention of the invaders. At the central high point of the city stands its most important shrine, the Intihuatana, or "hitching post of the sun", a column of stone rising from a block of granite the size of a grand piano, where a priest would "tie the sun to the stone" at winter solstice to insure its seasonal return. Finding the last remaining Sun Temple of a great city inspired the belief that perhaps the royal lineage stole away to this holy place during Pizarro's conquest.After considering these remarkable ideas I wished to musically describe that magnificent citadel and trace some of the mysteries sealed in Machu Picchu's past. Three principal ideas dominate the piece: 1) the shimmering golden city of Cuzco set in the dramatic scenery of the Andes, 2) the destructiveness of violent invasion, and 3) the re-emergence of Incan glory as the City in the Sky again reached for the sun.(Satoshi Yagisawa)

    Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days

     PDF View Music

  • £159.99

    Slavia - Jan Van der Roost

    Jan Van der Roost originally composed each and every note of 'Slavia' (as in case in 'Puszta', 'Rikudim' and 'A Highland Rhapsody'). Consequently, 'Slavia' does not contain any arrangement of existing tunes, but is an original composition 'in the style of...'. The introduction has an ABA structure and exposes a broad melodic line. Following a short cadenza, there is a second movement in a fast and fiery tempo. The tempi increase, gradually culminating in an exciting final climax, making this 'Slavonic Rhapsody' a spell-binding experience to the very last note.

    Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days

     PDF View Music

  • £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

     PDF View Music

  • £84.99

    Paso Bella - Peter Riedemann

    Paso Bella is full of the typical fiery and melodic characteristics of the paso doble. The hot Spanish temperament can be heard from the opening themes in the minor key, as is usual in a paso doble, to the last bars of the trio. The trio is followed by an exuberant closing which will reverberate in the ears of both musicians and audience for a long time.

    Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days

     PDF View Music

  • £239.99

    The Three Musketeers, Op. 8 - Maxime Aulio

    Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers) was commissioned by the Miraphone company for the Miraphone Tuba Quartett and the Musique des Gardiens de la Paix (Paris, France). It was premired in Guebwiller (France), on 28 June 2003 by its dedicatees.Even if you have never read a line of the mythical novel The Three Musketeers (1844) by Alexandre Dumas, father, you will at least have heard of the "four invincibles"; four extraordinary names - D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis - and one unique motto "All for one, and one for all." The musical texture of Les Trois Mousquetaires is focused on specific elements of a character's personality rather thanon its influence on the book's plot. Maxime Aulio has largely turned his attention on D'Artagnan, the sensitive, romantic and perfect gentleman who is easily charmed by women such as the gentle Constance Bonacieux and the perfidious Milady de Winter whose beguiling beauty seduced him. The first movement - D'Artagnan - is true to the character of the young provincial noble of the Gascony region: heroic and enthusiastic in all circumstances. The second movement entitled Constance Bonacieux, is romantic, delicate and passionate. The third and last movement is as duplicitous as the bewitching femme fatale its reveals: Milady de Winter.

    Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days