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£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
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£118.99Goodnight Moon - Eric Whitacre
Over the past few years I must have read Goodnight Moon to my son a thousand times - maybe more. Somewhere around reading number 500, I began hearing little musical fragments as I read, and over time those fragments began toblossom into a simple, sweet lullaby. I knew it was a long shot, but I asked my manager, Claire Long, to contact HarperCollins and see if they would allow the text to be set to music. To my surprise and delight they agreed - thefirst time they had ever allowed Goodnight Moon to be used in such a way. I composed the piece relatively quickly, originally setting the text for harp, string orchestra, and my son's mother, soprano Hila Plitmann. I laterarranged Goodnight Moon for SATB choir and piano. More recently, my dear friend Verena Msenbichler-Bryant arranged the piece for wind ensemble and soloist. The melody of Goodnight Moon will forever make me think of those quietnights, reading my son to sleep. -Eric Whitacre
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£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
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£137.99Odyssee - Jan Bosveld
The Odyssee tells the story of Odysseus, the undaunted hero. In times long ago the blind poet Homer wrote this famous epic. The "Odyssey" follows the "Iliad", the story of the bloody war between the Greek and the Trojans. This battle endsafter ten years thanks to the Odysseys famous trick. the Trojan Horse. The Odyssey is not a war epic, but a story about perseverance, loyalty, adventure, and the survival instinct of its ingenious hero. In The Odyssey, Homer describes howOdysseus, the king of Ithaca, had to endure another ten years of affliction after the ten years of war in Troy before he could finally return to his home land. During those years, his wife, Penelope, had to try and keep her many admirers away.These men not only wanted het hand but also the kingship. To prove her husbands worth, she played a trick: "As soon as I have finished weaving this shroud for my father-in-law, Laertes, I will choose one of you to become my husband", she promisedthem. But during the night, she secretly loosened what she had woven during the day, prolonging the time until Odysseus would finally return. After twenty long years, when he finally stood at the door, she wondered: Is this really my husband? Ishe an imposter? Cunningly, she asked him to move the bed, because only she and her husband know that the bed was immovable and was build around an old three trunk! Odysseus was deeply moved: this really was his wife, his Penelope! Nearly threethousands years later, the loyalty and strength of this character, and all the dangerous adventures that Odysseus survived thanks to courage and intelligence, still moves us today. Odyssee by Jan Bosveld is not just an adventure story, butrather a characteristic piece in which memories of Homers story can be heard. The composition opens with a firm, stirring theme describing our hero, Odysseus, in detail: This man is not to be taken lightly. The further development of thisshort introduction completes this character sketch: trustworthy, perseverant, and a genius. After that we can picture Odysseus on the lonely beach of Ogygia. Do the trumpets depict his memories of the war of Troy? Does he think of his wife, as werecognise the weaving loom of Penelope in the murmuring eighth? In the solemn, plaintive part that follows, we can imagine Penelope feeling lonely, sitting in the womens room with her servants.One of the girls plays the harp, but that does notclear the sombre atmosphere. Then we can imagine seeing the sorceress Circe, who changed Odysseus men into swine. After she gives a simple magic sign something follows that reminds us of the sound of pigs grunting. Then the Odysseus theme resounds:the hero comes to savi his comrades. Assisted by Hermes, he forces Circe to lift the spell. The piece ends the same way as it began, with an animated theme: Odysseus is still the same, undefeated and not to be taken lighty!
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£154.60Rendezvous - Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen
Rendezvous was commissioned by Krohnengen Brass Band for their 50th Anniversary in 2019. This version for Concert Band was scored autumn 2020.Rendezvous is devided into three sections. Each section are referring to Edvard Grieg's own titles. but twisted, to make sure that everybody understand that this music is a mash-up of themes Edvard Grieg used in opus 54 (for piano) and opus 61 (songs for children).1. Trolltog med avsporing (March of the Trolls derailment)March of the Trolls is a famous part of Edvard Grieg lyric pieces, opus 54.2. Klokkeklang i feil sang (Bell ringing in wrong tune).Bell ringing show that Grieg was one of the first composers to write the way impressionists did. What happens if this beatiful piece is combined with several other themes from the same book? It somehow works in its own way.3. Pep talk til Blakken (Pep talk to Blakken)The riff used in the first part becomes an important part of the third part: a funky treat of the childrens song "Kveldssang for Blakken" (Evening song for Blakken).I felt that a rather tired old horse needed a pep talk more than a slow tune. So that is why you get this music(!) - and this is how my rendezvous with Grieg ends.Not sure what maestro Grieg would have thougt... But, I have read that the fiddlers that played the tunes Grieg used was not happy with the way Grieg used them.So there you go...Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£91.99The Sun Will Rise Again - Philip Sparke
The composer writes:"On March 11th 2011 a massive 9.0- magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of north-eastern Japan.I'm writing these programme notes barely a week later and the death toll caused by the quake and resulting tsunami already exceeds 6000, with thousands of people still unaccounted for. I have many friends associated with many bands throughout Japan and one of these, Yutaka Nishida, suggested I write a piece to raise money to help those affected by the disaster. I was immediately attracted by the idea and have arranged Cantilena (a brass band piece recently commissioned by the Grenland International Brass Festival, Norway) for wind band, giving it a new title tohonour my friends in the Land of the Rising Sun.I will be donating royalties from this piece to the Japanese Red Cross Society Emergency Relief Fund and am delighted to say that my distributors, De Haske, who will generously also donate all net profits from sales of this piece, have pledged a substantial advance payment to the Red Cross so that what little help this project generates can be immediate.It is my sincere wish that this 'Band Aid' project will allow wind bands around the world support the people of Japan, where bands are a way of life for many, in this difficult time".Philip Sparke
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£205.30Mitt hjerte alltid vanker - Fantasi - Hans Adolph Brorson
This arrangement was commissioned by B3 (The Bergen Woodwind Ensemble). B3 is a large woodwind ensemble located in Bergen with a mix of professional and amateur players. My Heart Remains in Wonder is a well-known Christmas hymn in Scandinavia. I wanted my version to be different to the traditional hymn tune style in which it is normally performed. One day I was outside walking and this idea came to me: an ostinato-like, mechanical skeleton of arpeggio semiquavers on which I could 'hang' the melody. However, I also wanted to do the melody line a bit different. The inspiration for this comes from folk music and the way fiddlers hardly ever lift their bow off the strings when they play. Because of this, it is important that the melody is played in a very sostenuto style in this arrangement. The harmonies lie somewhere between jazz and folk music with a little nod towards Grieg (himself heavily influenced by folk music) in the slow middle section.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£115.60Riv i hjertet - Sondre Justad
The singer/ songwriter Sondre Justad was born in Lofoten in the north of Norway in 1990. His first album Riv i hjertet was released in 2015, and it became a huge success. He got very fine reviews in some of the largest norwegian newspapers, and the title-song was played frequently on the national radio-stations. The song title could loosely be translated as pulling at my heartstrings, and the song has a deep and dark meaning, with the opening lyrics sounding: If I knew - that I would be dying soon, would I be happy with the way I am living my life
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£76.99Lost Lake at Seymour Valley - Danny Choi
Based on the exhilarating bike ride on the Seymour Valley Demonstration Forest trail and a detour into the remote, beautiful Lost Lake, I associate this piece with some great memories. Glistening in a quiet peace, Lost Lake_x001A_also known as Rolf Lake_x001A_is calm and warm in the summer. Not many people know about it, so it is easy to find yourself alone, surrounded by beautiful nature, isolated from humanity. Back in high school, I would bike up to Lost Lake with one of my best friends Masanori Miyanabe, we'd have music playing off a bluetooth speaker as we biked against the cool air under the hot sun. Powering through uphill stretches with the reward of gliding downhill, when we would finally make it to the lake, we would put our bikes down by the bushes_x001A_no locks, no security_x001A_and we would make our way down the rough logs towards the tiny strip of land suitable for basking in the sun, snacking, and maybe even swimming. In order to beat the sunset, reluctantly, we would mount our bicycles once again and find our way back to the Seymour Valley trail, where we would enjoy the evening ride home. -D.I.D. Choi
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£60.99A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch - Marvin Hamlisch
The musical world celebrates the multi-faceted life achievements of Marvin Hamlisch as composer for stage and film, conductor, arranger, and entertainer. This well-paced tribute features some of his best-known works. Includes:They're Playing My Song, What I Did For Love, The Entertainer, The Way We Were, and One.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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