SKU: CN.R10104

This beautiful song reflects the tranquillity of the French countryside. Dr. Kevin Thompson is a leading British authority on bands and his sensitive score is ideal for smaller groups, providing training for phrasing and ensemble playing.

This beautiful song reflects the tranquillity of the French countryside. Dr. Kevin Thompson is a leading British authority on bands and his sensitive score is ideal for smaller groups, providing training for phrasing and ensemble playing. Professor Kevin Thompson is Principal and Chief Executive of Dartington College of Arts, a University Sector institution dedicated to the performance arts.After undergraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music, he gained masters and subsequently doctoral degrees at the University of London. He began his career as a professional trumpet player, conductor, composer and teacher. He was the architect of University of Salford's degree in band musicianship, launched in 1987 and the first of its kind. From 1988 - 1993 he was Principal of Birmingham Conservatoire and during this time was elected to a personal professorship and subsequently a Deanship chair.On his arrival at Dartington, he was made an honorary Professor by the University of Plymouth. In 1992 he gained a Winston Churchill Fellowship to study the Great American Music Schools: Juilliard, Curtis, Eastman, Indiana. Other awards include those of the British Association for American Studies and the British Council for the Royal Danish Academy of Music. He is a Freeman of the City of London. His publications include a book on brass and wind bands published by Cambridge University, many articles in Times Newspaper and other leading British and American journals. The book on wind and brass bands became a key text in many college and university reading lists and was read extensively throughout the English speaking world, particularly in North America and the Pacific Rim. He is joint editor, with Dr Gordon Cox of the new eleven volume series on brass playing and teaching and author of two of the volumes.

SKU: CN.S11260

Geoffrey Brand's arrangement of Berlioz's Shepherds' Farewell form L'Enfance du Christ is restrained, delicate, and contemplative. In this arrangement for small wind orchestra, the instruments are called upon to display their softer persuasive sounds in order to retain the sensitive nature of this tender music.

L'Enfance du Christ (The Childhood of Christ), written between 1850 and 1854, is the nearest that Berlioz got to writing an oratorio. It is in three parts; he called it a 'sacred trilogy.' Throughout, the music is restrained, delicate, and contemplative. In its original version, The Shepherds' Farewell is scored for chorus accompanied by two oboes, two clarinets, and strings. With these selected colors, Berlioz achieves a masterpiece of delicacy and serenity. In this arrangement for small wind orchestra without chorus, the wind instruments are called upon to display their softer persuasive sounds in order to retain the sensitive nature of this tender music. This arrangement may be used with chorus utilizing the original chorus parts. The key is one half tone lower than the original setting.

SKU: CN.R10103

Before the days of photography, the great state occasions were captured in paintings and tapestries. In this Suite, the composer has imagined the pomp and splendor of the English court at work and play, capturing each mood in a short movement.

Stuart Johnson has the fine ability to capture moods and scenes in music. He was born in Staffordshire, the county for which he was Director of Music until his retirement in 1997. After experience as a player in brass bands, he served in the band of the King's Dragoon Guards before training as a teacher and working in schools. Following a period as a lecturer at Northumberland College of Education he became Music Adviser to the Metropolitan District of Sandwell prior to his appointment to Staffordshire. He has long experience as a conductor, particularly in the choral and band fields and also wide experience as an adjudicator and examiner. He has written prolifically for bands and orchestras and his didactic publications are used in many countries. He has over eighty published compositions and arrangements, many of which have been broadcast on radio or television. His commissioned works include the cantata David and Goliath which was first performed at the Royal Festival Hall, Oregon Overture for wind orchestra, Landscapes, Sinfonietta No 2, Wessex Dances and A Castle Suite. Stuart Johnson has recently completed several commissions, funded by National Lottery grants, for bands in Cumbria, the Isle of Wight, and Staffordshire. Requiem for Soprano, Chorus and Orchestra, was premiered successfully in front of a capacity audience in Lichfield Cathedral in March 1997, and received its first London performance at St. John's Smith Square in March 1998. This prestigious venue also saw the first performance of Songs and Sonnets for unaccompanied mixed choir in 2001. Stuart Johnson has written extensively for the theatre, his music for the production of Anna of the Five Towns was used for both the radio and television adaptations His music ranges in style from the evocative and demanding Sinfonietta for Wind Orchestra, which has received many performances since its premiere in the Royal Festival Hall, including a broadcast by the Band of the Scots Guards, to his ubiquitous Bandstand Boogie which has set feet tapping all over the world. Apart from the latter his most performed work is probably Circus Suite which was the British Youth Band Championship test piece in 1980. Northumbrian Suite and Landscapes have also been used as National Brass Band Championship test pieces. The Flint Knappers commissioned as a test piece for the 1998 East Anglian Band Festival was selected as a test piece for the 1999 Australian Championships. Before the days of photography, the great state occasions were captured in paintings and tapestries. In this Suite, the composer has imagined the pomp and splendor of the English court at work and play, capturing each mood in a short movement.

SKU: MA.EMR-24745

1st Part: Trumpet / 2nd Part: Trumpet or F-Eb Horn / 3rd Part: Trombone or Euphonium.

SKU: MA.EMR-24741

1st Part: Trumpet / 2nd Part: Trumpet or F-Eb Horn / 3rd Part: Trombone or Euphonium.