Par SMITH CLAUDE T.. Commissioned by the United States Marine Band, this epctacular Christmas medley is one of the most distinctive works in many years. Combining favorite carols in a style that in uniquely Claude T. Smith's, it promises to become standard repertoire for mature bands. / Date parution : 2022-01-14/ Répertoire / Concert Band

Anton Bruckner (1824-1896). Par BRUCKNER ANTON / DOSS THOMAS (Arr.). Anton Bruckner (b. 4.9.1824, Ansfelden, d. 11.10.1896, Vienna) didn?t have it easy. Throughout his life, the Austrian composer was plagued by self-doubt. Anton Bruckner came from a simple, rural background. After the death of his father, he was accepted as a choirboy at the monastery of Sankt Florian in 1837. After several years as a school assistant and his own organ and piano studies, he first worked as organist in St. Florian, then from 1855 as cathedral organist in Linz. Introduced to music theory and instrumentation by Simon Sechter and Otto Kitzler, he discovered Richard Wagner as an artistic role model, whom he admired throughout his life and also visited several times in Bayreuth. In 1868 Anton Bruckner became professor of basso continuo, counterpoint and organ at the Vienna Conservatory; ten years later court organist; and in 1891 finally honorary doctor of the University of Vienna. He was considered an important organ virtuoso of his era, but had to wait a long time for recognition as a composer. It was not until Symphony No.7 in E major, composed between 1881 and 1883, with the famous Adagio written under the effects of Wagner's death, that he achieved the recognition he had hoped for, even if he was reluctant to accept it given his inclination towards scepticism and self-criticism. Anton Bruckner was a loner who did not want to follow a particular school or doctrine. He composed numerous sacred vocal works, such as his three masses, the Missa Solemnis in B flat minor (1854), the Te Deum (1881-84) and numerous motets. As a symphonic composer, he wrote a total of nine symphonies and many symphonic studies from 1863 onwards, tending to revise completed versions several times over. Bruckner's orchestral works were long considered unplayable, but in fact were merely exceptionally bold for the tonal language of their time, uniting traditions from Beethoven through Wagner to folk music, on the threshold between late Romanticism and Modernism. Anton Bruckner composed about 40 motets during his lifetime, the earliest a setting of Pange lingua around 1835, and the last, Vexilla regis, in 1892. Thomas Doss has compiled some of these motets in this volume for symphonic wind orchestra. These motets show many characteristics of personal expression, especially Bruckner's colourful harmony in the earlier works, which is in places aligned with Franz Schubert (changes between major and minor; and movements in thirds). Later works are characterised by many components which, in addition to the expanded stature of the movements, include above all a sense of the instrumentation as an outward phenomenon and the harmony as a compositional feature that works more internally. Some aspects of Bruckner's work are the result of his long period of study, which familiarised him not only with the tradition of his craft, but also gave him insights into the 'modernity' of his time in such composers as Wagner, Liszt and Berlioz. From this developed his personal standpoint, which always pursues the connection between the old and the new. / Date parution : 2023-08-12/ Répertoire / Concert Band/Harmonie

The Celebration for Children of 7, 5 and 3 Years of Age. Par SAKAI ITARU. Le 15 novembre de chaque année, le Japon célèbre la Fête des enfants de Sept, Cinq et Trois ans, le Shichi-Go-San (littér. Sept-Cinq-Trois). À cette occasion, les fillettes de sept ans, les garçonnets de cinq et tous les enfants âgés de trois ans vont au sanctuaire pour prier les divinités de leur accorder longévité et réussite. Shichi-Go-San décrit la joyeuse visite au sanctuaire et les instants complices qui resserrent les liens entre une fillette de sept ans et ses deux frères de cinq et trois ans. La fanfare d’ouverture, jouée par les trompettes, décrit le garçonnet de cinq ans. Le deuxième thème mélodique, confié à la clarinette en Mi , dépeint l’espiègleet malicieux petit garçon de trois ans. Le passage central développe une mélodie charmante et douce à l’image de la fillette de sept ans. Pour illustrer la signification du nom donné à cette fête traditionnelle, le compositeur a choisi d’utiliser de nombreuses mesures irrégulières et notamment des mesures à sept, cinq et trois temps. / Niveau : 5 / Répertoire / Concert Band ou Harmonie