SKU: BT.EMBZ12368SET

9x12 inches.

The teachers under whom Árpád Balázs (b.1937) studied composition - Ferenc Farkas, Aram Khachaturian and Goffredo Petrassi - each independently formed the opinion that with his lyrical gift Árpád Balázs's true creative field would be that of choral music and wind ensembles. Their early predictions are borne out by the roughly two hundred and fifty works for choir and almost twenty for wind orchestra that the composer has since produced. It is interesting that in the suite entitled Négy kép (Four pictures) the stylistic features of these two related musical fields are united. In it the wind instruments sing! It was not by chance that the expansive second movement was given thetitle Cantilena, while the slightly livelier but just as lyrical third movement was entitled Arietta. The opening movement of the work is a stridently jolly, energetic Induló (March), but not one of the rigidly military kind: the 6/8 rhythm contributes to its light-hearted character. This music is avowedly akin to the ballet music of Prokofiev. This choice series of four character pieces is crowned by Játék (Play) in which conveying the effect of the mixture of lines moving in parallel and then colliding with each other may be more technically demanding, but is well worth the effort! (Hungaroton HCD 31353).

SKU: CL.RWS-2004-00

Teach your young musicians to work together with this African groove that comes from the heart. With limited ranges and technical demands, your students will be able to focus on balance, intonation and rhythmic accuracy. Not only will they enhance their musical skills, they will have fun playing music together and presenting it to their audience.

SKU: CL.RWS-2004-01

Teach your young musicians to work together with this African groove that comes from the heart. With limited ranges and technical demands, your students will be able to focus on balance, intonation and rhythmic accuracy. Not only will they enhance their musical skills, they will have fun playing music together and presenting it to their audience.

SKU: CN.R10222

Could Dvorak have known that he was writing a standard piece for young bands when he created this piece? This rendition is ideal for a variety of occasions - concerts, graduation ceremony, and special events. 1/2/3

Dvorak's arrangement for orchestra of 'The Old Folks at Home' was made in the 1890s for a Summer School held in Spillville, Iowa. Those attending were mostly drawn from a local Czech-speaking community and Dvorak enjoyed sharing time with people who spoke his own language. As instrumentalists the players were limited, many little more than beginners; yet in his arrangement Dvorak created a musically authentic and attractive setting of Stephen Foster's popular melody that is truly a masterpiece in economy of demand. Many years later, in 1942, Edwin Franko Goldman invited Erik Leidzen to transcribe Dvorak's arrangement for concert band.

SKU: BT.AMP-223-140

9x12 inches. English-German-French-Dutch.

A Midwest Celebration is geschreven voor de Decatur Municipal Band uit Illinois in de Verenigde Staten, ter gelegenheid van het 150-jarig bestaan van dit orkest. Philip Sparke kreeg de opdracht een werk te schrijven dat rechtzou doen aan de lange geschiedenis van het orkest - met een weerspiegeling van het gevarieerde repertoire, dat bestaat uit traditionele kost, zoals ouvertures en marsen, maar dat ook nieuwe, originele werken en arrangementen bevat.A Midwest Celebration is gebaseerd op de populaire negentiende-eeuwse orkestouvertures van componisten als Berlioz, Verdi en Suppé.

Für den schwungvollen Auftakt dieser Hommage an ein Blasorchester, das Traditionelles und moderne Originalwerke in seinem Repertoire vereint, nahm sich Philip Sparke die Ouvertüren eines Berlioz, Verdi oder Suppé zum Vorbild. Dem setzte er als zweites Thema eine heitere Melodie entgegen, die durch verschiedene Teile des Blasorchesters gereicht und weiterentwickelt wird, bevor sich im Höhepunkt beide Ideen treffen und das Werk beenden.

Le Midwest est une vaste région du centre des États-Unis, entre la Côte Est et l'Ouest américain. Fondé le 19 septembre 1857, l’Orchestre d’Harmonie Municipal de Decatur (Illinois, États-Unis) est une des plus anciennes formations civiles américaines. Depuis sa création, l’orchestre n’a jamais cessé de participer activement la vie florissante de la cité, se produisant lors de concerts en intérieur ou en plein air, de parades ou de certains événements spéciaux. la demande de Jim Culbertson, directeur musical de l’orchestre, Philip Sparke fut chargé d’écrire une pièce qui illustre la longue et riche histoire de la formation travers un répertoire varié qui s’étend de l’universclassique avec ses ouvertures et marches jusqu’aux œuvres originales et arrangements d’œuvres récents.A Midwest Celebration s’inspire de quelques célèbres ouvertures orchestrales du XIXe siècle écrites par de grands compositeurs tels que Berlioz, Verdi et Suppé. L’introduction est florissante. Tout s’apaise lorsqu’apparaît une mélodie aux courbes harmonieuses, jouée par les cors, les clarinettes et les saxophones. Mais peine commence-t-il se développer que le thème est brutalement interrompu par l’intervention des trompettes qui ouvrent un vertigineux passage Vivace, illuminé par des fanfares brillantes (cuivres) et une profusion d’éléments d’ornementation (bois). Les cors reprennent l’exposition de la mélodie initiale soutenus par la douceur ondulante des fl tes. Soudain, les lignes mélodiques du Vivace resurgissent et balayent la musique pour progresser vers leur intensité maximale, point de rencontre entre les deux thématiques qui mènent le composition vers sa conclusion.

SKU: MH.0-931329-76-0

ISBN 9780931329760.

THE STARS ASLEEP, THE BREAK OF DAY is my most instrumentally colorful Grade 1 work and I believe in this area it breaks new ground. Furthermore, the musical content greatly exceeds Grade 1 expectations. Beginning band students have something to study here that presents opportunity for real musical development. Band directors will notice immediately that the scoring does not look like Grade 1 music. The music actually sounds like a Grade 3 work but it is not. The ranges and technical demands are truly only Grade 1, but the variety in the instrumentation is ample. Numerous cues and cross-cues allow less secure bands to rehearse or perform the work. The flexibility of tempo in the first movement presents unique challenges in performance and teaching. The sparkling and dancelike second movement is cinematic in its instrumental colors and pacing, and will be fun to perform. Instrumental sections that are used to being buried in the mix will discover that their roles in band music can be significant. Ensemble instrumentation: 6 Flute 1, 6 Flute 2, 2 Oboe, 2 Bassoon, 6 Bb Clarinet 1, 6 Bb Clarinet 2, 3 Bb Bass Clarinet, 4 Eb Alto Saxophone 1, 4 Eb Alto Saxophone 2, 2 Bb Tenor Saxophone, 2 Eb Baritone Saxophone, 6 Bb Trumpet 1, 6 Bb Trumpet 2, 4 F Horn, 4 Trombone 1, 4 Trombone 2, 4 Euphonium, 2 Euphonium (T.C.), 6 Tuba, 2 Timpani, 2 Percussion 1, 4 Percussion 2, 3 Percussion 3.

SKU: CL.RWS-2112-00

Here is a clever arrangement of a well-known holiday classic. Each section of music is skillfully orchestrated to present contrasting small and large ensemble moments. With very limited technical demands, this is a tool to teach style, balance and intonation to your young musicians. This is a perfect addition to any holiday concert and a delight for your audience.

SKU: KN.5620

UPC: 822795056204.

This musical portrait of the beautiful Colorado River canyon in Utah/Arizona features majestic opening and closing themes with a more lyrical interlude between. Simple countermelodies add harmonic depth, moderate tempos keep technical demands reasonable, and well-placed rests help developing brass players avoid endurance problems. An excellent selection for concerts and contests! Duration 3:50.

SKU: CN.R10004

A slow introduction gives way to the chirpy theme which is developed, inverted, and accents displaced across the bar line to give a 3/2 feel against the written meter. Restlessness leads to a tranquillo presented by the flute and clarinet, weaving a flowing counterpoint around the melody until the original slow introduction returns. A triumphant recapitulation of the main theme brings this wonderful piece to an end.

Originally composed for Brass Band in 1934 Comedy Overture is, despite its name, a serious piece of writing. The term Overture does not imply that there is anything else to follow; it is used in the 19th century sense of Concert Overture (like Mendelssohn's Fingal's Cave - in other words, a miniature Tone Poem). The 1930's was a period of Ireland's mature writing - yielding the Piano Concerto (1930), the Legend for piano and orchestra (1933), and the choral work These Things Shall Be (1936-1937). We are fortunate therefore to have both Comedy Overture and A Downland Suite (1932) written for band medium at this time. As with Maritime Overture (written in 1944 for military band) Ireland approaches his material symphonically. The opening three notes state immediately the two seminal intervals of a semitone and a third. These are brooding and dark in Bb minor. It is these intervals which make up much of the thematic content of Comedy, sometimes appearing in inverted form, and sometimes in major forms as well. The concept that some musical intervals are consonant , some dissonant, and some perfect is perhaps useful in understanding the nature of the tension and resolution of this work. The third is inherently unstable, and by bar 4, the interval is expanded to a fourth - with an ascending sem-quaver triplet - and then expanded to a fifth. The instability of the third pushes it towards a perfect resolution in the fourth or the fifth. The slow introduction is built entirely around these intervals in Bb minor and leads through an oboe cadenza, to an Allegro moderato brillante in Bb major. Once again, the semi-tone (inverted) and a third (major) comprise the main, chirpy, theme-inspired by a London bus-conductor's cry of Piccadilly. (Much of the material in Comedy was re-conceived by Ireland for orchestra and published two years later under the title A London Overture.) The expansion of the interval of a third through a fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh now takes place quickly before our very ears at the outset of this quicker section. Immediately the theme is developed, inverted, and accents displaced across the bar line to give a 3/2 feel against the written meter. But this restlessness leads to a tranquillo built around an arpeggio figure and presented by flute and clarinet. Ireland weaves his flowing counterpoint around this melody until the original slow introduction returns leading to a stretto effect as the rising bass motifs become more urgent, requesting a resolution of the tension of that original semitone and minor third. Yet resolution is withheld at this point as the music becomes almost becalmed in a further, unrelated tranquillo section marked pianissimo. It is almost as if another side of Ireland's nature is briefly allowed to shine through the stern counterpoint and disciplined structure. This leads to virtually a full recapitulation of the chirpy brilliante, with small additional touches of counterpoint, followed by the first tranquillo section-this time in the tonic of Bb major. But the instability of the third re-asserts itself, this time demanding a resolution. And a triumphant resolution it receives, for it finally becomes fully fledged and reiterates the octave in a closing vivace. The opening tension has at last resolved itself into the most perfect interval of all.

SKU: CL.RWS-2255-01

Scored with the young musician in mind, Firebolt uses a one octave range and driving rhythmic motifs in alignment with beginner level demand. The repetitive rhythms create an energetic and up-lifting momentum that propel this work forward. Firebolt is sure to mesmerize your audience with its spirit and drive and will be a fun piece to perform as an opener or closer at your next performance.