Flexible instrumentation for brass woodwind or combined ensemble. Arranged by Haakon Esplo.InstrumentationScorePiano/Organ2 Flutes2 Oboes3 ClarinetsBassoon2 Horns2 Trumpets3 TrombonesTimpaniPercussion1st Violin2nd Violin3rd Violin - in lieu of Viola4th Violin - easyViolaCelloBassDuration: 8 minutes

Simon Dobson wrote his 'Four Sketches' at the request of Peter Bossano Head of Brass at the Royal College of Music in recognition of the 25th anniversary of Benjamin Britten’s death. The first movement 'Fanfare' quotes directly from the opening violin melody from Britten’s song cycle Les Illuminations. This melodic line is superimposed upon sonorous Lydian mode chords to project a majestic sound. The second movement 'Prayer' is a definite contrast being and much more reflective and pensive in it’s mood and featuring a dream like euphonium cadenza. The third movement 'Funeral March' builds from a soft chordal opening to a chaotic and confusedfortississimo climax with flourishes in the cornets and pounding tri-tones across the basses before plunging into silence for a flugel cadenza to finish. The final Finale movement is much more positive from the off with its jaunty melodies over a Brittenesque ostinato. The block chordal passages offer a crashing climax making for an exciting conclusion to an excellent new work for the medium. Simon Dobson’s 'Four Sketches' was the winning entry in the European Brass Band Composer Competition held in Brussels in March 2002.

A highly flexible series of books designed to encourage young people to play together in various combinations of numbers and instruments perfect for group tuition. Book 1 offers 19 easy-intermediate trios for trumpet and trombone using familiar melodies arranged in classical folk and jazz styles including Country Garden God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Mexican Hat Dance Sailor's Hornpipe. This collection can be used for solo duet or trio playing and can also be used with matching arrangements of the same material in Book 1 for Saxophone Clarinet Flute Violin. An optional piano accompaniment book is available.

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 Monti died in 1922 he 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 somany people think typical gypsy music.

According to his teachers Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was not particularly gifted. His special talents were acknowledged only in 1865 when he had been working for the Ministry of Finances for some years. In 1866 he was appointed teacher at the Conservatory and applied himself to composing. His oeuvre is fairly extensive and many of his compositions receive a high ranking on the international list of classical music including his six symphonies solo concertos (violin concerto and piano concertos) ballets (The Nut Cracker Swan Lake) and his overtures (1812 and Romeo and Juliette). In 1893 Tchaikovsky died of Cholera after drinking a glass of infectedwater. His Slavonic March is a popular concert piece for symphonic orchestra that is still frequently performed in concert halls. David Well arranged the theme and created a contemporary march in rock style. Tchaikovsky once said to an unsatisfied teacher: ‘I will be a great composer within 10 years time.’

Steve Sykes arrangement réunit les deux pistes classiques de la plus ancienne des films de Bond, le James Bond Theme elle-même et 007. / Brass Band