Concert band (Piccolo, 1st Flute, 2nd Flute, 1st Oboe, 2nd Oboe*, 1st Bb Clarinet, 2nd Bb Clarinet, 3rd Bb Clarinet, Eb Alto Clarinet*, Bb Bass Clarinet, 1st Bassoon, 2nd Bassoon*, 1st Eb Alto Saxophone, 2nd Eb Alto Saxophone, Bb Tenor Saxophone, Eb Baritone Saxophone*) - grade 5

SKU: CN.R10004

Composed by John Ireland. Band Music. Score and parts. Duration 10:30. Published by G & M Brand Music Publishers (CN.R10004).

A slow introduction gives way to the chirpy theme which is developed, inverted, and accents displaced across the bar line to give a 3/2 feel against the written meter. Restlessness leads to a tranquillo presented by the flute and clarinet, weaving a flowing counterpoint around the melody until the original slow introduction returns. A triumphant recapitulation of the main theme brings this wonderful piece to an end.

Originally composed for Brass Band in 1934 Comedy Overture is, despite its name, a serious piece of writing. The term Overture does not imply that there is anything else to follow; it is used in the 19th century sense of Concert Overture (like Mendelssohn's Fingal's Cave - in other words, a miniature Tone Poem). The 1930's was a period of Ireland's mature writing - yielding the Piano Concerto (1930), the Legend for piano and orchestra (1933), and the choral work These Things Shall Be (1936-1937). We are fortunate therefore to have both Comedy Overture and A Downland Suite (1932) written for band medium at this time. As with Maritime Overture (written in 1944 for military band) Ireland approaches his material symphonically. The opening three notes state immediately the two seminal intervals of a semitone and a third. These are brooding and dark in Bb minor. It is these intervals which make up much of the thematic content of Comedy, sometimes appearing in inverted form, and sometimes in major forms as well. The concept that some musical intervals are consonant , some dissonant, and some perfect is perhaps useful in understanding the nature of the tension and resolution of this work. The third is inherently unstable, and by bar 4, the interval is expanded to a fourth - with an ascending sem-quaver triplet - and then expanded to a fifth. The instability of the third pushes it towards a perfect resolution in the fourth or the fifth. The slow introduction is built entirely around these intervals in Bb minor and leads through an oboe cadenza, to an Allegro moderato brillante in Bb major. Once again, the semi-tone (inverted) and a third (major) comprise the main, chirpy, theme-inspired by a London bus-conductor's cry of Piccadilly. (Much of the material in Comedy was re-conceived by Ireland for orchestra and published two years later under the title A London Overture.) The expansion of the interval of a third through a fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh now takes place quickly before our very ears at the outset of this quicker section. Immediately the theme is developed, inverted, and accents displaced across the bar line to give a 3/2 feel against the written meter. But this restlessness leads to a tranquillo built around an arpeggio figure and presented by flute and clarinet. Ireland weaves his flowing counterpoint around this melody until the original slow introduction returns leading to a stretto effect as the rising bass motifs become more urgent, requesting a resolution of the tension of that original semitone and minor third. Yet resolution is withheld at this point as the music becomes almost becalmed in a further, unrelated tranquillo section marked pianissimo. It is almost as if another side of Ireland's nature is briefly allowed to shine through the stern counterpoint and disciplined structure. This leads to virtually a full recapitulation of the chirpy brilliante, with small additional touches of counterpoint, followed by the first tranquillo section-this time in the tonic of Bb major. But the instability of the third re-asserts itself, this time demanding a resolution. And a triumphant resolution it receives, for it finally becomes fully fledged and reiterates the octave in a closing vivace. The opening tension has at last resolved itself into the most perfect interval of all.

By Various. Edited by Sibylle Cada, Thomas Peter-Horas. For piano. Piano Music for Discoverers - Contains 72 easy and intermediate original p iano compositions,from Couperin to Chick Cor ea.Das Pianobuch presents piano music from f our centuries in a novel mixture of standard literature and pieces in mint" condition. " It contains not only minor masterpieces by l ess well-known composers, but little known g ems by great masters." Some of the titles w" ere written specifically for our collection. Published by C.F. Peters.

A Masterwork Method for the Developing Pianist. Composed by Nancy Bachus. Graded Standard Repertoire; Masterworks; Piano Collection. Exploring Piano Classics. Masterwork. Book; CD. 56 pages. Alfred Music #00-42636. Published by Alfred Music

SATB choir, a cappella (SATB) - Easy to Moderately Difficult

SKU: OU.9780193398658

Composed by Howard Skempton. Secular Choral - Mixed Voices. New Horizons. Secular. Vocal score. 4 pages. Duration 3.5'. Oxford University Press #9780193398658. Published by Oxford University Press (OU.9780193398658).

ISBN 9780193398658. 10 x 7 inches.

For SATB unaccompanied This is a simple and elegant miniature in characteristic Skempton style, with graceful choral homophony, seamlessly fluctuating time signatures, and hypnotic, meandering harmonies. The text, by William Shakespeare, is an homage to music.

About Oxford New Horizons

N ew Horizons showcases the wealth of exciting, innovative, and occasionally challenging choral music being written today. It encompasses the whole gamut of small-scale choral genres, both secular and sacred, and includes pieces for upper-voice and mixed choirs. With titles by some of the most accomplished choral composers active in Great Britain and abroad, the series introduces new repertoire and fresh talent to a broad spectrum of choirs. New Horizons features composers with growing reputations for quality composition reflecting a strong individual voice. The series is continually expanding and should be the first place to look for attractive and performable contemporary choral music.