SKU: BT.DHP-1074231-030

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

Composer Jacob de Haan has based The Heart of Lithuania on five folk melodies from Lithuania, a country that despite its small size has a rich cultural heritage. The choice and diversity of emotions, largely determined by the characteristic melodies, take the listener straight to the heart of the Lithuanian people.

Litouwen, de grootste van de drie Baltische staten, is gezegend met een rijk cultureel erfgoed. Componist Jacob de Haan heeft The Heart of Lithuania gebaseerd op vijf volksmelodieën die met name geliefd waren in de tweede helftvan de twintigste eeuw. Hoewel alle vijf de liederen afkomstig zijn uit de Auk¹taitija-regio, zijn ze populair in heel Litouwen, ze worden nog altijd gezongen door jonge mensen in de steden en dorpen. Dit schitterende werk voertde luisteraar rechtstreeks naar de ziel van het Litouwse volk.

In The Heart of Lithuania verwendete Jacob de Haan Volkslieder aus Litauen, das trotz seiner relativ geringen Größe doch über ein vielfältiges kulturelles Erbe verfügt. Eine sehr reichhaltige Quelle der Inspiration für Jacob de Haan, der sich fünf traditionelle Lieder, die voller Freude, Hoffnung oder auch Melancholie von der Liebe erzählen, als Basis für seine Komposition wählte. Diese Musik wird den Zuhörer direkt ins Herz des litauischen Volkes führen!

La Lituanie est dotée d’un riche patrimoine culturel. Petit territoire situé sur la rive orientale de la mer Baltique, la Lituanie est divisée en cinq régions ethnographiques : la Samogitie, la Haute Lituanie, la Sudovie, la Dzūkija et la Petite Lituanie. Chaque région a son dialecte, son costume traditionnel, ses coutumes, son artisanat, ses fêtes et jours fériés et surtout ses propres chants traditionnels chantés depuis près d’un millénaire. Pour composer The Heart of Lithuania (“Au cœur de la Lituanie”), Jacob de Haan s’est inspiré de cinq mélodies traditionnelles particulièrement en vogue dans la seconde moitié du XXe siècle. Bien que ces chantsproviennent de Haute Lituanie, ils sont appréciés sur l’ensemble du territoire et sont encore chantés aujourd’hui. Le choix des chants et la diversité des émotions qu’ils expriment travers des lignes mélodiques typées emportent l’auditeur au cœur de l’ me lituanienne.

SKU: BT.GOB-000726-030

Durkle Bandrydge is the name of the composers imaginary world, but it could very well be anyones invisible dream world with a different name. In this very versatile suite by Bruce Fraser, 8 characters are featured, each with its ownpeculiarities, making Durkle Bandrydge such a colourful place. Do these characters differ that much from us? That is for you to find out! In the last part, all characters come together in a special way.

Durkle Bandrydge exists at the end ofyour street. It is invisible to humans, but Durkle Bandrygators can watch us with great interest.
The music will introduce you to some of the characters who live in this unusual place.

The parts:
Somnanbulyss, who is a giant trollguarding the entrance to Durkle Bandryde. At least, he is supposed to, but he tends to sleep most of the time. His music is therefore very slow moving and sleepy.

Long Gwysteen is a tall, mysterious, and somehow sophisticated character,who walls around with a shell on his back. His music glides along rather gracefully.

Squelfitch is a rather unpleasant and smelly character who lives in a bog, which is why his music sounds rather slimy and a bit like trying to walkthrough quicksand.

Perfydlia is a meddling old woman, who gossips about everybody and squeals with sudden delight at the small exciting bits of tittletattle about others in the village. In the music you can hear her sudden little squealsof delight.

Maryann Lovely is a beautiful young lady, graceful, gorgeous, absolutely devine, and her music is obviously just the same.

Thistledoo Nicely is a lively character who spends and spends and spends with her credit card,buying the latest fashion and never worries about having to pay the bills. Her music reflects her excitement when shopping and het ‘happy go lucky’ approach to life.

Marsyn Edginton is the Lord of the manor, the richest man in town, the‘big cheese’, the man with all the power and, of course, the biggest house. He is very grand and his music like he could be a king.

Jimmy McScotsmyn is a red haired scotsman wearing tartan cap. He misses his home country terribly and eatslots of shortbread, oatcakes, scotch eggs, porridge and drinks an enormous amount of Scotch Wisky, which helps him to have fond memories of the kind of music he would like to dance to when he was a younger man. His favourite dance is a Jig andthis is the music he remembers.

Grand March of the Durkle Bandrydgators. We hope that you have enjoyed meeting these characters from Drukle Bandrydge and would invite you to listen to all the villagers now march along in a grand parade -it is a pity that you can not see them, what is a wonderful sight.
If you listen carefully, you will hear the melodies which belong to the characters as they march past.
Oh what a grand spectacle!

Durkle Bandrydge is de schijnwereld van de componist maar eigenlijk de onzichtbare droomwereld in elk van ons en die wereld zou elke naam kunnen dragen.
In de bijzonder kleurrijke suite van Bruce Fraser komen 8 personages (karakters)naar voren ieder met hun eigenaardigheden die van Durkle Bandrydge zo'n kleurrijke wereld maken.
Verschillen die personages nu zo erg van ons? Aan u het oordeel! Het laaste deel brengt alle personages op een wonderbaarlijkewijze samen.
In de score zijn de karakters uitgebreid en nader omschreven.

Performance note: Elk deel heeft een aantal leerinhouden die de moeite waard zijn om uit te lichten. Articulatie, dynamiek, stijlen, zuiverheid,balans, tempo en maatsoorten - het komt allemaal voorbij.

Tip: Maak de personages zichtbaar in een compleet theatergebeuren. Gebruik een spreekstem!

De delen van deze suite zijn:

1. Somnambulyss
2.Long Gwysteen
3. Squelfitch
4. Perfydlia
5. Maryann Lovely
6. Thistledoo Nicely
7. Marsyn Edginton
8. Jimmy McScotsmyn
9. Grand March of the Durkle Bandrydgators.

SKU: BT.CMP-1259-09-130

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

Troika is a Russian word that means a group of three but it also means a light Russian sleigh pulled by three horses. Christmas Troika portrays the joy of Christmas via a musical sleigh-ride. Listen as the glistening snow crinkles beneath the weight of the sleigh and the hooves of the prancing horses as it travels through the countryside. One can almost see the frost on the trees and hear the wind blow and the sleigh-bells ring as the tune O Come, All Ye Faithful winds its way through the music.

Troika ist ein russisches Wort für einen dreiarmigen Leuchter oder einen dreispännigen Schlitten. Letzterer ist auch in diesem weihnachtlichen Stück für Brass Band gemeint, der eine Schlittenfahrt durch ein verschneite Winterlandschaft beschreibt. Durch die Musik kann man förmlich die Eiszapfen an den Bäumen sehen und die Schlittenglocken hören, während die Fahrt zu den Klängen von Herbei, o ihr Gläubigen ihren Lauf nimmt...

SKU: BT.GOB-000495-130

From the composer:

High Flyers are regarded as people with promise and potential.They are winners.
This is music for winners.

The title, as well as being a play-on-words, implies the nature of the work. It is a bright, optimistic, and upbeat piece attempting to depict an exhilarating ride on flying carpet.
The opening rising chords immediately suggest the gentle elevation of the carpets' ascent towards unknown heights, leading to a hint of a first theme in the horns at Fig. B.
The first four notes provide the thematic material for the whole work: C F G A.
A perpetual sense of movement is achieved through accented quaver chords punctuating the melodicmaterial of the first main theme.
Fig. E sees the music of the opening bars fully realised, with flourishes from the euphonium and baritones representing swirling clouds, shooting stars, or passing birds in flight.
The same subject is developed into a lyrical second theme with a new lush harmonic treatment, evocative of gliding over an expanse of sparse countryside.This section ends with a note of serenity but is shattered by the urgent insistence of the percussion rhythms.
The third section introduces a new idea with a slightly distorted fanfare in the cornets and trombones.
This figure suggests for the first time that there may be trouble ahead. In fact, there is no need to fear and the journey can continue without aggravation. This fanfare returns near the end to signal a final note of triumph.
A new rhythmic variant of the cell motif emerges as the third theme now transformed by the addition of a triplet figure.
The music steadily gains momentum before moving inexorably towards the climactic return of the music and tonality of the opening bars of the piece.