Wald for Ensemble was composed by Hans Abrahamsen in 2008-09. Co-commission by the Schönberg Ensemble and BBC for Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.Programme NoteWald is in a way a series of variations from the beginning of my woodwind quintet Walden (1978). This thematical idea is very simple - a rising call of a fourth and the response in other voices. This idea is repeated several times but because the call has a slower pulse than the responses the process leads to them changing order.In Walden I borrowed the title from the Americanphilosopher Henry David Thoreau who in the middle of the eighteenth century in a little wooden hermit house at the bank of the lake Walden pond wrote the book Walden of his life and time in the forests. Here he experimented living for two years in order to come closer to nature and to see if it was possible to live simply without all the unnecessary needs created by society. The book is filled with poetry but is also cutting and critical of society. In my piece Walden I tried to search for the same simplicity handling the most simple material but at the same time trying not to lose the poetry.Wald is a twin piece to Walden but also to my former piece Schnee.Robert Schumann wrote in 1848-49 a wonderful piano piece Waldszenen. He wrote this collection of short pieces with beautiful titles like Einsame Blumen Vogel als Prophet and also Jäger auf der Lauer just a few years before Thoreau wrote his book Walden. For them the forest is the magical romantic place that gives a spiritual insight to man but also from where we get our food through hunting. For me the forest still has this magical quality and Wald has scenes with a hunting horn that calls (I many years ago played the magical 'Waldhorn' and remember playing in the forest near my home) flocks of birds that when agitated take

Flexible 4-Part Concert Pieces-Arranged for beginners these well-known and original pieces will successfully launch instrumentalists into the exciting and rewarding world of ensemble playing. The parts are of equal importance and are written within comfortable ranges for each instrument. An optional supporting piano part is provided to reinforce the ensemble if necessary. Although very elementary the pieces are substantial enough to be presented as ensemble performance material for music festivals or examinations. Having successfully mastered these pieces players can then progress to the Centre Stage series which offers slightly more challenging material in the same instrumental format with the added bonusof featuring a soloist! James Rae

Flexible 4-Part Concert Pieces-Arranged for beginners these well-known and original pieces will successfully launch instrumentalists into the exciting and rewarding world of ensemble playing. The parts are of equal importance and are written within comfortable ranges for each instrument. An optional supporting piano part is provided to reinforce the ensemble if necessary.Instrumentation is flexible and any number of players can join each part.FREE BRASS ENSEMBLE OPTION These pieces in Vol. 2 are also suitable for brass ensemble and further parts for trumpet trombone and tuba are FREELY AVAILABLE from the Universal Edition website.PART 1 in C Bb or Eb: Flute Oboe Violin Clarinet or AltoSaxophone; PART 2 in C Bb or Eb: Flute Oboe Violin Clarinet or Alto Saxophone; PART 3 in C Bb or F: Violin Viola Clarinet Tenor Sax. or French Horn; PART 4 in C Bb: Cello Double BassTraditional: O du lieber AugustinVerdi Giuseppe: The force of Destiny (theme)Traditional: Loch LomondRae James: Premiership Blues

POD-Dans og Tegn i Luft for Ensemble was composed by Niels Rosing-Schow in 2015-16. Scored for Flute Clarinet Bassoon Harp Piano Violin Viola and Violoncello. Commissioned by The Danish Chamber Players for their 25-year Anniversary.Programme Note: A scenario from a park in Shanghai: a group of people dances to the crackling music from a ghetto blaster. Next to then a man is drawing Chinese characters on the street with a large brush dipped in water. The sound of the music comes and goes while the calligraphy soon evaporates in the warm air. Time hardly passes and makes itself present in analmost palpable way. The noise from the surrounding city threatens every now and then to destroy the poetic moment. At the appearance of a couple of guards the scene dissolves as from a magic touch as if nothing had happened. - Was this real at all? The music tries to reconstruct the memory of this imagery by putting together sound fragments of the scenario. But will the futile image appear? Or is it just the slight touch of melancholy from the memory which is left until it dissolves as signs in the air. Niels Rosing-Schow April 2016

For two Alto Flutes Bass Flute Violin Viola Cello. Composed and published 2015.Walled Garden for String and Flute trios is a set of three pieces designed to be interleaved with Mala punica a sequence of canons for eight-voiced vocal ensemble written in 2008-9.Commissioned by Spitalfields Music and first performed with Mala punica at Spitalfields Music Summer Festival on 3rd June 2015 by Daniel Pioro (Violin) Robert Ames (Viola) Oliver Coates (Cello) Jane Mitchell and Rebecca Larsen (Alto Flutes) and Helen Keen (Bass Flute).Duration: c. 24 minutes.

Check out this tasty setting of an old standard. It features an alto solo on the intro then settles into a nice bossa groove. The solo section is double time for an added kick with the bones playing the familiar melody in the background. Great writing!

Ska' Vi Spille Sammen? by Sofus Kornebæk (2014). 15 movements for variable musicians. Arranged for beginners and advanced of all ages.

Here's a cooking swing-style chart from the same cat that wrote last year's festival winner Socrates The Amazing Mississippi Map Turtle which made the Midwest Clinic program. This chart features lots of solid ensemble writing throughout especially in the bone section.

This fast 3/4 swing features a trumpet/tenor chase. Great ensemble writing contributes to this exciting thriller that is very intense from beginning to end. An ideal addition to any concert Travelin' Home will make you hang on and enjoy the ride of your life!

This three-movement woodwind quintet begins in a lilting 6/8 meter in the key of C. The second movement features a melody that moves through all the instruments with ease. The reflective mood of the final movement features the flute and basson sharing the melodic introduction. Ranges are not extensive for this ensemble.

Panorama For 11 Instruments Op.545 (1990) by Niels Viggo Bentzon. Manuscript copy. Parts are for hire: hire@ewh.dk

Count Basie’s arrangers would often take a minimalist approach to their writing. The essential elements were a riff-based melody and a shout chorus interspersed with creative soloists. Back Bay Breeze makes use of that formula in an easygoing happily swinging way. A shout chorus with a Basie-style tag makes the perfect ending to this gem from Bryan Kidd former chief arranger with the D.C. Navy Band.

Inspired by the great Latin-jazz charts of the past Madrid offers a new chapter in this great big band tradition. No section is spared as all instruments of the ensemble are featured at different times. The work combines elements of modern jazz with the fiery elements of the Latin-jazz genre. The end really kicks it up a notch as the tempo and feel switch to Latin rock. This one is hot! (4:10)

The well-known English melody gets new life in this arrangement that alternates between bossa nova and swing. It can be used any time of year and also works well on your holiday concert as What Child is This? which uses the same melody. A recurring Birdland-style groove keeps the energy moving forward. No solos in this one — just straight-ahead ensemble writing!

Take a trip to the Bahamas with this authentic sounding Raggae chart by Chris Sharp. Here is a great tool for expanding your rhythm section’s ability to master different styles while providing a lot of audience appeal at the same time. A wonderful way to add some variety to your next program!