Brass Band - Grade 3

SKU: BT.GOB-000495-030

Composed by Andrew R. Mackereth. Set (Score & Parts). 22 pages. Gobelin Music Publications #GOB 000495-030. Published by Gobelin Music Publications (BT.GOB-000495-030).

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.

Brass Band - Grade 4

SKU: BT.DHP-0960767-030

Composed by Jan Van der Roost. Inspiration Series. Opening Pieces. Set (Score & Parts). Composed 1996. De Haske Publications #DHP 0960767-030. Published by De Haske Publications (BT.DHP-0960767-030).

This stately concert opener was originally written by Jan Van der Roost for a special event in which six respected wind orchestras (two Belgian and four Dutch) of different composition (two symphonic bands, two fanfare bands and two brass bands) were featured during six concerts. Each evening brought forth a performance by a symphonic band, a fanfare, and brass band, so that the audience could experience all three types of ensembles. This was indeed an original concept.The name, ConZEnSus, comes from a combination of the words, ‘Concert Cyclus’ (concert series) and ‘zes’ (Dutch for ‘six’). This leads to a new word, which refers to ‘consensus’. The general tenor of the cycle isthus immediately indicated. The richness of color of the various ensembles is revealed through an open and friendly atmosphere. During all six concerts (over a span of three years), ConZEnSus functioned as a permanent opening number for each orchestra. Thus the same musical story was portrayed in three different packages.