Concerto for Brass Band-Perihelion was commissioned by the Cory Band as their own-choice piece for the 2013 European Brass Band Championships held in Oslo Norway. Winning the set piece section of the contest and coming second to Eikanger-Bjorsvik Musikklag with their own choice selection Cory went on to become European Champions for the fifth time.Cory MD Philip Harper had asked for a ‘Concerto for Band’ to fully exploit his outstanding band of virtuosi and composer Philip Sparke created a one-movement work with contiguous sections first featuring horns and flugel then trombones followed by cornets and a slower central section for percussion and baritones euphonium andbasses.The piece is abstract in nature without a specific programme and the title merely reflects the fact that the piece was begun on January 2nd 2013 the day of Earth’s perihelion - the point in its orbit when it is closest to the sun. It could also be argued that the piece weaves between moments of brilliant optimism and dark shadow both of which can be the result of bright sunshine.

Marcho Brioso was commissioned by The Brioso Brass a British-style brass band from Hokkaido Japan. They gave the first performance in January 2012.The commission was for a bright and breezy march that the band could use as their theme tune so Marcho Brioso falls into the composer’s series of Broadway-style marches which includes Slipstream  The Bandwagon and Jubiloso.After a short introduction a solo cornet plays the main theme accompanied by a euphonium counter-melody. A secondary phrase from the horns and baritones leads to a tuttiversion of the main theme which is followed by the traditional ‘bass’ strain. A change of key heralds the trio section which features a cantabile melody on euphonium; this is then taken up by the full band after a short bridge passage and further change of key.This takes us back to the home key which sees a quiet staccato version of the main theme lead to a recapitulation and a short coda which brings the march to a close.

Journey of the Lone Wolf tells the story of the hungarian composer Béla Bartók. It was commissioned by Dr. Nicholas Childs for Black Dyke Band who gave the first performance on Sunday 26 January 2014 at the Bridgewater Hall Manchester as part of the Royal Northern College of Music Festival of Brass. The composer's programme notes for each movement: 1. Capturing the Peasants SongAfter the upheaval of moving to Budapest the young Béla Bartók meets Zoltán Kodály and the pair embark on summertime adventures throughout the Hungarian countryside to collect and catalogue theastonishing variety (both harmonically and rhythmically) of gypsy and folk music heard in the Balkans. The arrival of WW1 plunges Bartók's beloved Hungary into chaos.2. Night MusicBartók was at times a cold man aloof and lonely. The odd moments of tenderness he showed are portrayed here in a series of evocative solos. His brief but intense affairs speak of a love he could only long for. Jazz is my night music and here there are hints of what Bartók may have heard in the USA later in his life.3. Flight and FightHaving been forced by the world's evils to leave his homeland of Hungary for America Bartók the anti-fascist felt isolated and angry. In this movement we hear his longing for a simpler time of gypsy folk dances as well as his maturity and depth as a composer finally exploring deeper colours and darker themes.

Vittorio Monti was born on January 6 1868 in Naples (Italy). His musical education (Violin and composition) he enjoyed at the conservatory there. Around his 30's Monti went to Paris. He earned a living as a conductor and wrote several ballets and operettas. In his last years before his death in 1922 Monti devoted himself to teaching and composing. His famous 'Czardas' has made his name known even today.Initially the Czardas was a Hungarian folk dance but after the mid-nineteenth century it was even a dance for the upper-class. Czardas begins with a slow introduction the Lassan (slow and sad) and then the fast part Friska follows. Czardas is not as so many people think typical gypsy music.

The Ukrainian Bell Carol is part of a large choral work entitled Shchedryk by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Dmytrovich Leontovych (1877-1921).The tune is an adaptation of an old 'shchedrivka' a song traditionally sung on Ukrainian New Year's Eve (January 13th) which hopes for good fortune in the year to come. The tune has since been the inspiration for at least four different Christmas carols of which Carol of the Bells is the most famous. Philip Sparke has sourced the original Ukrainian melody to create this stirring arrangement.