Norfolk is one of the most beautiful counties in England famous for its charming villages and boundless broads a popular centre for sailing holidays. It is also the home of one of the best known of all British composers Sir Malcolm Arnold. The date of the premiere of this piece was to fall close to his 80th birthday so Philip Sparke decided to write something of a birthday tribute. Some of Arnold’s best-loved orchestral works are his sets of dances: there are two sets of English Dances Four Scottish Dances Four Cornish Dances etc. most of which have been arranged for concert band at one time or another. Philip Sparke thought it would be appropriate for the concert band tohave its own set of dances and wrote Four Norfolk Dances very much in the style of Arnold’s suites.

The Four Winds by Evan Hause for Concert Band. The Four Winds is an homage by the composer to some of the well-known band composers such as Clifton Williams and John Barnes Chance as well as earlier wind masters like Holst and Mahler. Evan Hause was a student of William Bolcom and his more advanced band work Tango Variations has been performed and recorded by some of the top university ensembles. This fantasy-overture is appropriate for the intermediate high school band contrasting brisk fanfare music with variations on a Romantic theme. (Grade 4) Dur: 6:00.

Four Sketches for Band consists of four short movements with varied character which depict the atmosphere of an old fashion fairground. The melodies are delightfully entertaining yet have a simple rhythmic structure. The instrumentation of this composition is perfect for bands without a full contingent of players. Each movement of this composition can be used as stand-alone concert item.

‘Four Easy Dances’ is a four-part suite from Gobelin’s ’Flexy Band Collection’. This series is meant for starter ensembles i.e. youth orchestras which may not have the full range of instruments available yet. Therefore it is possible to combine various instruments. ‘Four Easy Dances’ comes from the ‘Flexy 3 Series’ and can in principle be played by only three instruments completed with three percussion instruments. ‘Four Easy Dances’ consists of: 1. Hop Skip and Jump 2. Little Polka 3. Spanish Dance (castanets are obligatory) and finally 4. Tango.

The Four Noble Truths are the most basic expression of the teaching of Buddha and therefore still form the guidelines for Buddhists to this day. The four truths are Dukkha which describes times of major stress in our lives - birth aging desire and death; Samudaya which describes those parts of our life that induce stress feeling craving desire; Nirodha which tells us how to eliminate those aspects of our lives which induce stress and Magga which describes the eight didciplines which can help us eliminate the origins of stress from our lives. It can be seen from these over-simplified definitions that the Four Noble Truths fall into two pairs the first two describingthe origins of stress and the second two describing how we can reduce stress. To reflect this the four movements of this work are also combined into two pairs - two quick movements and two slow movements. A fascinating work from this great English composer.

The Four Noble Truths are the most basic expression of the teaching of Buddha and therefore still form the guidelines for Buddhists to this day. The four truths are Dukkha which describes times of major stress in our lives - birth aging desire and death; Samudaya which describes those parts of our life that induce stress feeling craving desire; Nirodha which tells us how to eliminate those aspects of our lives which induce stress and Magga which describes the eight didciplines which can help us eliminate the origins of stress from our lives. It can be seen from these over-simplified definitions that the Four Noble Truths fall into two pairs the first two describingthe origins of stress and the second two describing how we can reduce stress. To reflect this the four movements of this work are also combined into two pairs - two quick movements and two slow movements. A fascinating work from this great English composer.

The Four Winds is an homage by the composer to some of the well-knownªband composers such as Clifton Williams and John Barnes Chance as well as earlier wind masters like Holst and Mahler. Evan Hauseªwas a student ofWilliam Bolcom and his more advanced band work Tango Variations has been performed and recorded by some of theªtop university ensembles. This fantasy-overture is perfect for theªintermediate high school band contrastingbrisk fanfare music withªvariations on a Romantic theme. (Grade 4) Dur: 6:00

Poems by Graeme King-Le cantique Nun ruhen alle Wälder dont la ligne mélodique fut reprise par Jean-Sébastien Bach pour son choral So sein nun Seele deine (Choral n°6 - Cantate BWV 13) est le fil conducteur de cette oeuvre en quatre mouvements conçue comme un cri contre la destruction volontaire de la nature pour le profit. Plus de trois siècles nous séparent du temps de Bach. Si les mots sont restés les mêmes leur sens primitif connaît cependant quelques nuances. Ainsi au XXIe siècle - considéré comme le « siècle du progrès » il conviendrait de traduire Nun ruhen alle Wälder (?les forêts se reposent ?) par ?Les forêts se meurent?. La mondialisation et l?industrialisation massiveassociées à l?avidité prédatrice à la corruption politique aux actions humaines irrationnelles et au fossé grandissant entre riches et pauvres conduisent notre planète bleue à se rapprocher chaque jour un peu plus du point de non retour. Cette composition n?est pas une accusation acerbe mais plutôt une exhortation à prendre soin de cette beauté si harmonieuse que nous offre la nature. Et peut-être prendrons-nous enfin conscience de l?importance d?une situation de coexistence avec la nature nécessaire pour la survie de l?espèce humaine et non d?exploitation qui conduit à la destruction. Un jour alors qu?il naviguait sur Internet Marco Pütz découvrit l?oeuvre du poète australien Graeme King. Fasciné par la clarté de l?écriture et le rythme des vers Marco Pütz imagina les multiples possibilités d?adaptation et de mise en musique qu?offrent les poèmes de King. Il choisit quatre poèmes sur la nature pour créer son oeuvre Four Earth Songs (Quatre chants de la terre). 1. Tears of Nature (Les larmes de la Nature) 2. Grrrevolution 3. Stand up! (Levez-vous !) 4. Tomorrow (Demain) Four Earth Songs est dédié amicalement à l?Orchestre de Fanfare de Frise (Frysk Fanfare Orkest) et à son chef Jouke Hoekstra. L?oeuvre a été donnée en création mondiale par l?orchestre dédicataire à l?occasion de la 14ème Convention de la WASBE à Cincinnati aux

Par SPARKE PHILIP. Variations on a Fourth (Variations sur une quarte) est une commande du Siena Wind Orchestra de Tokyo. Quatre compositeurs européens et quatre compositeurs japonais avaient chacun écrit une nouvelle pièce pour orchestre d?harmonie, en vue d?un concert spécial tenu le 15 juin 2019 au Bunkyo Civic Concert Hall où les huit pièces ? enregistrées la veille pour un CD ? ont été interprétées. Variations on a Fourth comprend quatre variations, toutes fondées sur l?intervalle musical d?une quarte, qui apparaît dans la majorité des éléments mélodiques et harmoniques. Il en résulte une ?uvre en quatre mouvements qui plaira à un large public et enchantera ses interprètes ! / Date parution : 2022-05-17/ Répertoire / Concert Band/Harmonie

Partant du constat que de nombreux orchestres rencontrent des difficultés dans l'interprétation (manque de maîtrise du son et de l'intonation imprécision du phrasé articulation incertaine) Bert Appermont chef d'orchestre et membre de jury expérimenté a choisi de composer quatre exercices efficaces et motivants. Chacune des quatre pièces est centrée sur un des éléments sus-cités. Four Original Warm-ups : un programme taillé sur mesure !

The Brittany or Breton region of France has been heavily influenced by Celtic traditions retaining much of its earlier heritage from Scotland and Wales. This composition evolves from four folk dances from this region andfeatures a captivating mix of modal tunefulness and characteristic harmonic drones. Dur: 4:20 (Includes full performance CD)

Four Shepherd Songs (?Quatre chants de bergers?) est une suite de quatre noëls traditionnels allemands. L?harmonisation à quatre voix avec percussion offre un vaste choix de combinaisons instrumentales. Pour réaliser cet arrangement brillant Jacob de Haan a rassemblé les chants Als ich bei meinen Schafen wacht Inmitten der Nacht Kommet Ihr Hirten et Ihr Hirten erwacht. Cette pièce peut également être interprétée avec un Chœur mixte (SATB). Le set chœur [texte en allemand] est vendu séparément (réf. : DHP 1012653-050).