Results
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£98.20Golden suite - Lorenzo Pusceddu
In the Non Valley, during spring when the water of Lake Santa Giustina starts lowering, the old main traffic system and the steep terrain with the Groppello vineyards resurface. The majestic and uncompromising Mount Ozolo dominates this landscape and acts like a guard of the fertile valley. The people who had to walk along the Regiai road to leave their village in search of fortune keep those memories very alive. Their trip started by descending the valley along the Regiai road, walking through the luxuriant vineyards that were supported by dry stone walls, downright mosaics of stones built to help the growth of the vineyard. Those who left and casted a glance at their village for one last time could catch sight of the Ozolo, the mountain of the primordial man, of hunting and friendship. They also had to cross a bold stone bridge that still exists and is jealously safeguarded by the lake water, which has also sunken together with the bridge hectares of vineyards of Groppello, the vine of the traditional and vigorous wine produced in the Non Valley. Its name is said to come from the typical structure of the grapes, which are compact and resemble a thick tangle ("groppo" in local dialect), almost a defense against the shifting temperatures of the fall that gives the grapes a bright color and a honey-like sweetness. The production at the end of the nineteenth century was of circa fifty thousand hectoliters of wine, but today it has reduced to only five hundred hectoliters produced by about thirty courageous farmers who want to preserve an authentic patrimony of taste and flavor. These wine makers have the will to safeguard a vineyard that is at risk of extinction and work the land as they used to do many years ago: with hoe, shovel, and a lot of sweat! The Groppello vineyard extended to the bottom of Mount Ozolo, but on the higher slopes the more rigid temperatures allowed only for the growth of pines, spruces, larches, broad-leaved trees, and pastures. In the course of the years, this typical vegetation of the mountain has provided the population with the raw material to build houses, to keep warm during the winter, and to feed the animals. Mount Ozolo has also been since ancient times the "sacred" mountain of the valley, and today it has become a game preserve and a site of socialization for young people who know how to love and respect nature.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£113.30Via Della Terra - Marco Somadossi
Composing music also involves being able to imagine the sound of something that has no sound of its own. "Via della Terra" is a soundtrack without a film, a story without a narrator; "Via della Terra" is a street in a town, but not just any street, because if a street could tell its story, "Via della Terra" would not know where to start or where and indeed if it should finish. Like all "Vie della Terra", this street in this piece is full of sounds, none of which, however, have ever belonged to it for more than a fleeting moment, just long enough to be reflected here and there and then up and away from the earth, to be lost in the air. The steps of Mozart as a child as he whistled a piece of music, never again to be remembered or written; the philosophical thoughts, or mere everyday cares, uttered to a friend by Rosmini (whispered? or declaimed?); the excited or humorous comments of people who saw Depero's futuristic works for the first time; the voices of marketstall owners, rendered louder and more acute by the noisy crowd of women sorting through the stalls of rustling and colourful silk (so many desires; silent pauses between one item of gossip and the next); the absolute and devastating roar of cannons that violated every corner of the town, injuring bodies and mutilating the memories of its inhabitants... followed by a seeming eternity, as the citizens held their breath, waiting... "Via della Terra" is the old imperial road along which the town of Rovereto was built and has developed. "Via della Terra" is music for an imaginary, impossible and simultaneous representation of all its stories. The composer has always lived in this town, which he dearly loves, and on innumerable occasions he has imagined the voices, smells, people and the lives that have been such a part of it. With his composition, "Via della Terra", Marco Somadossi won second prize (no first prize was awarded) at the XXI Corciano International Competition for original band music in the grade 4 category.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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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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£84.50
American Hymn - William Schuman
American Hymn was commissioned by the American Bandmasters Association and the United States Air Force Band. It received its premiere on March 5th, 1980 as part of the 40th anniversary of the American Bandmasters Association in Washington, DC. It is based on an earlier choral work which Schuman contributed to a comprehensive survey entitled American Hymns Old and New, published by Columbia University Press. The Langston Hughes text that inspired the original human is simple and straightforward, which is reflected in the melodic setting (quasi hymn-spiritual).
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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£71.50Squeaky Shoe Strut - Robert E. Foster
This delightful piece for young bands provides an opportunity for young players to play in the ragtime style and introduces them to the world of jazz. Heres a great way to teach an important historic American musical style in an entertaining piece that will be fun for bands young and old!
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£54.99What's On The Housetop - Robert E. Foster
Celebrate with Santa, his reindeer, elves, and boys and girls of all ages in this happy holiday celebration. Join them all for a rollicking good time as Santa arrives for another wonderful holiday. Everyone gets to play the melody in this seasonal favorite as the jolly old elf gets ready to go down the chimney and share some Christmas joy.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£71.50Angels Digging It - Gary P. Gilroy
Here is a wonderful traditional carol thats been given a fresh, modern, catchy accompaniment that will liven up holiday concerts. Like visiting an old friend in a new suit of clothes, players and audiences will enjoy this fresh new setting of the classic holiday selection.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days
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£71.50The Ash Grove Fantasy - Barry E. Kopetz
This setting of The Ash Grove is a musical fantasy based on an old traditional Welsh folksong, which is also known as Llwyn Onn. This version of the song tells of a sailors love for Gwen of Llwyn" and has been around for several hundred years. The melodious nature of this beautiful folksong, popular with generations of listeners, continues to be a favorite subject of composers and arrangers in all mediums. Featured in the 1980 British Broadcasting Companys acclaimed mini-series, "Pride and Prejudice," this excellent setting features melodic, lyrical playing that will enhance every bands musicianship and expression.
Estimated dispatch 7-14 working days