Par HANNICKEL MIKE. Slip-slidin’ trombone smears in this rip-snortin’ ragtime setting are sure to tickle your ears and put some tap in your toes. The trombone glissando is the happiest sound around! Dedicated to, and premiered by, the Westchester Middle School Band of Westchester, Illinois, Mr. Jason Kluge, director, MONDO GLISSANDO targets that most critical of wind sections. When was the last time you featured your trombones? When was the last time they felt like STARS? Section feature pieces are one of the most important techniques available for keeping a section strong and well represented. MONDO GLISSANDO can even be used as a trombone SOLO piece, by having the non-solo trombones play from thetechnically simpler euphonium part. Either way, section or solo, there’s nothing like an exposed part on an upcoming performance to reinvigorate a musician’s interest and encourage that all-important PRACTICE! / Niveau : 2.5 / Répertoire / Concert Band ou Harmonie et 3 Trombones

Par CURNOW JAMES. Every conductor knows the importance of using excellent teaching materials to aid in the development of all aspects of musical growth. The quality of the band's performance must be continually improving. Each component of the ESSENTIALS OF MUSICIANSHIP series is designed to focus on a specific area of musical performance. By using these materials during the warm-up period, the conductor can mazimize this time, and focus on specific areas that are important to the performance of the music being prepared. This is not a book, but rather it is a sheet music publication just like any other band publication. / Niveau : 2 / Etude / Educatif

Grand Nordic Tune. Par OLSEN VADSTEN OYSTEIN. 'Storslått' or in English ?Grand Nordic Tune? is one of many original pieces written by composer Øystein Olsen Vadsten. 'Slått' is a general term for music played to traditional Norwegian dances. ?Grand Nordic Tune? was a commissioned work for the Rælingen Musikklag's 70-year anniversary concert in 2022, where the piece was premiered. They wanted something a little pompous, and preferably something in the style of Nordic folk music, which the composer is known for. The title in Norwegian then was obvious, 'Storslått', which in Norwegian has a double meaning, both a big tune and, in a double meaning, pompous or magnificent. As usual, the starting point is a traditional Nordic dance form, and this time the choice fell on the distinctive Swedish 'polska', which is played in ¾. The dance, despite its name, reportedly has no connection to Poland, but is entirely of Scandinavian origin. It has been danced for centuries, and has also been called the devil's dance, because it had a hypnotizing effect on people, so that they could not stop, but danced themselves to death. Hence people thought that it must have been the devil who caused it. Traditionally, there is a lot of repetition in this type of music, which contributes to this hypnotic effect. / Date parution : 2023-07-31/ Répertoire / Concert Band/Harmonie

Par HOSAY JAMES L.. Blackbeard and his crew of ruffian freebooters, aboard the ship Queen Anne’s Revenge, were the terrors of the Atlantic and the Caribbean in the early 18th century. Composer James L. Hosay captures those turbulent times in music with his vivid and exciting new tone poem, SWORDS AGAINST THE SEA. This presents an excellent opportunity for cross-curriculum teaching with history. SWORDS AGAINST THE SEA carves out new territory all its own. A rollicking sea chantey and the emotions of impending battle are described in the first two movements. Your audience will thrill to the sound and fury of battle in the final movement, as the most feared Pirate of his day finally meets his match. Go ahead! Raise your spyglass! Look ahead, look astern, look a’weather and a’lee! / Niveau : 3 / Répertoire / Concert Band ou Harmonie

Par CURNOW JAMES. What a wonderful idea! Make beautiful music such as this available at the Grade 1 level! Even young bands love to play enchantingly beautiful melodies. You’ve spent a lot of time and effort in helping your students learn to play full value notes, breathe in appropriate places, and stretch out their phrases so that they sound more mature and less like beginners. In the Bleak Mid-Winter by Holst is a perfect opportunity for them to truly realise the value of these things you’ve been teaching. Your musicians will come away from the experience of preparing this piece with a better understanding of how to shape a melodic phrase and play with warm, reserved elegance. / Niveau : 1 / Répertoire / Concert Band

Par DE HAAN JACOB. This musical fantasy depicts the history of the Dutch fortified town of Elburg. The work begins with an atmospheric medieval picture of the Convent of St Agnes, the nunnery that was built in the first half of the 15th century. We hear the sound of the convent bells together with an upward motif, which will reappear later in the work. Next, the rest of Elburg is featured, including the fortress - from which the bells of the Sint-Nicolaaskerk (Saint Nicholas Church) are ringing. Then, cheerful sounds can be heard at the Vischpoort (Fish Gate), where a dancing group is performing a 16th century French folk dance (a branle des chevaux). We also hear old wagons rumbling over the town’scobble stones. Trade made this Hanseatic town a lively place. The repetitive upward motif first heard in the introduction now develops into a more distinct feature, reflecting the mercantile spirit of the town residents. Then follows the slow middle movement, in which the clock has been turned back to the time when Elburg was still lying on the Zuiderzee (which was a bay of the North Sea), and was struggling with floods. After the second St. Marcellus Flood (1362) and the water flood of 1367 it was decided that the town would be relocated. We now hear the theme of branle des chevaux in a minor key, followed by a death bell sounding in remembrance of the drowned citizens of the former town. Back in our own time, a slow, expressive theme in Baroque style mirrors Elburg’s tranquil places, such as the Feithenhof (Feithen Court) and the Weduwenhofje (Widow Court). Then the bustle returns with motifs from the introduction, followed by an attractive theme in which present-day Elburg is portrayed with its many tourists. Now, suddenly, there is an echo from the past, depicting the dramatic floods and wars that once plagued the town. This leads to the grand closing theme: branle des chevaux is heard for a final time from the perspective of the historic town centre. / Niveau : 4 / Pièce de concert / Répertoire / Fanfare

Par CURNOW JAMES. An important part of our Essentials of Musicianship Series, Scale Studies for Band is designed to be used as an instructional aid during your normal daily practice. Written so that the scale studies can be interlaced at appropriate times into your rehearsal, they enable you to address the scale and key considerations of your next piece just before starting that piece. For instance, if the next arrangement you will rehearse has a section in the key of G Major, you can take a moment and review the study in that key (Study Number 7). It’s amazing how many wrong notes can be avoided by reviewing the key signature in an interesting and exciting manner, before diving into theperformance piece rehearsal. In the long run, this “key signature review” approach can actually save more rehearsal time than it uses. In addition to the full band aspect of Scale Studies, you may find value in quickly and easily administered “playing tests” using these materials. However you choose to use them, the Scale Studies from the Curnow Music Press Essentials of Musicianship Series will be valuable indeed! / Niveau : 2 / Etude / Educatif

Par DE HAAN JACOB. Pacific Dreams describes the experience of Miguel, a traveling composer from Spain who, feeling somewhat alienated from his homeland, is wandering through an area of Sydney known as The Rocks. At a small outdoor market in a typical street of this oldcolonial neighbourhood, he discovers a print of William DeShazos painting 'Pacific Dreams' Portrayed in the painting is the surf of one of the exotic islands in the Pacific. Next, with the impressive Sydney Harbour Bridge looming over the narrowstreets of The Rocks, he envisions sultry Pacific beaches. Suddenly a theme he once composed about the lakes in Japan comes to him. Is it the Asian influences present in cosmopolitan Sydney that bring this theme to mind? Or perhaps the waters aroundSydney, over which he could sail to Tahiti? He is uncertain. Could this same theme be used to create a new composition about his feelings for the metropolis Sydney? How then to work his Pacific Dreams into the mix? Miguel is certainly no fan ofHawaiian music. Mayby he could use the vocabularies of islands like Hawaii and Tahiti, their beautiful vowel combinations being sung ad libitum by a mixed choir. With these ideas and his newly purchased print of 'Pacific Dreams', he boards the Metroat Circular Quay. He has a final glimpse of the harbour and the Sydney Opera House as the train races into the ground. On to the hotel! To work! He must compose!Maestoso : Miguel is impressed as he gazes upon the Sydney Harbour Bridge. And yet, hewants to go away from this city. Away, to an exotic island in the Pacific. Steady Rock : In the Rocks, musicians are playing at a square. Miguel basks in the atmosphere but at the same time he is fantasizing about Hawaii and Tahiti. Andante Lamentoso :In his hotel room, Miguel is feeling sad and lonely in this big city. He takes comfort in his 'Pacific Dreams'. Allegro : Miguel boards the boat that takes him from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay. In his mind he is traveling on to Hawaii. Or is ithome, where the bolero is playing? He is pulled back to reality by the skyline of Sydney. / Niveau : 3 / Répertoire / Concert Band ou Harmonie

Par HANNICKEL MIKE. This addition to the Curnow Music Press GREAT FOUNDATIONS SERIES of pre-Grade 1 publications is accessible to young musicians who have been playing for just a few weeks. A simple, repetitive theme with flashy, but very easy percussion writing ensures that you can have THE CHARIOTEERS ready to perform in time for the concert, even if you have “precious little” rehearsal time. The powerful nature of the piece is certain to appeal to young players / Niveau : 0.5 / Répertoire / Educatif

Yiddish Rhapsody. Par HOSAY JAMES L.. This moving and beautiful 'Yiddish Rhapsody' includes the songs 'Hine' Ma Tov', 'Black Cherries' and 'Why Is The Sky?”. This skillful arrangement for intermediate level concert band will add drama to your concert or special event and raise your student's awareness of the importance of basic human rights. Drawn from arrangements of Holocaust songs he has done over the years for the Washington D. C. U. S. Army Band (Pershing's Own), James L. Hosay's REMEMBRANCE helps to keep us mindful of that tragic time in our history. The three songs provide very effective contrast, and the James Hosay's masterful orchestration skills are readily evident throughout. A powerful piece forconcert or contest! / Niveau : 2.5 / Répertoire / Concert Band ou Harmonie

Par JOHNSON TIMOTHY. Based on the well-known hymn tune 'Lyons' this arrangement begins with an energetic statement of worship. The middle section is contemplative in nature, representing the times when a person is involved in quiet, reverent worship. The conclusion returns to a dramatic, joyful statement of the hymn tune, ending with a bold statement of worship. / Niveau : 2 / Hymnes et chorals / Répertoire / Concert Band

Par VAN DER ROOST JAN. Minerva by Jan Van der Roost was composed on the commission of the German “Musikverein Braunshausen” on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the orchestra. The composition, first performed on September 17, 1999, is not a street march but a concert march, just like Mercury and Arsenal. The use and variation of different rhythmic patterns gives the first part of this march a distinctly dynamic character. Two main themes are presented in several instrumental combinations. The theme from the trio, on the other hand, is characterized by a broad melodic approach using large intervals. This theme, wreathed by high woodwinds, is heard one more time after a contrasting newpart, but now in a somewhat slower tempo. The counterpoint in this part refers to the first part of the march. The brilliant ending suits a festive anniversary march! / Niveau : 4 / Marche / Répertoire / Concert Band ou Harmonie

Par CURNOW JAMES. A joyous and exuberant sparkler for your next concert! This bright little bijou from James Curnow is a great way to start the show. It’s as inviting as they get and will engage every listener from start to finish. The easy excitement will motivate your Grade 2 band to their iridescent best. For groups playing regularly at a Grade 3 level EXCURSIONS also works well in the program following any heavy major work you may have chosen to perform. It’s a perfect way to lighten the mood and recapture those listeners who may be new to the art of listening to larger forms. Use it anywhere, anytime of the year. It’ll be quick to prepare, effective in concert, and has much more tooffer educationally than the typical “pop/movie tune” type of fare. Take a look! / Niveau : 2 / Ouverture / Répertoire / Concert Band

Par CURNOW JAMES. This work was commissioned in memory of Peter J. Swanson, a trumpet and cornet player who tragically died at the tender age of fourteen. Peter’s favorite gospel song, Just a Closer Walk with Thee, has been used as the basis for this piece of contrasts which takes the listener through many styles and moods. The spiritual character of the original song resounds gloriously in When Time Will Be No More. / Niveau : 3 / Répertoire / Concert Band ou Harmonie

Par CURNOW JAMES. S’il est un souvenir d’enfance qui marque profondément notre mémoire, c’est bien celui de la première rencontre avec le monde du cirque. Quoi de plus fascinant que ce monde de couleurs et de sons, ces mélanges de parfums qui flottent dans les airs du grand chapiteau. Dans cette fantaisie, James Curnow nous dépeint avec réalisme les instants magiques d’une journée au cirque. Après une courte introduction en fanfare, le spectacle commence. Les artistes présentent des numéros élaborés avec précision sur une musique savamment orchestrée. Les trapézistes et les voltigeurs rivalisent d’audace, la ménagerie est impressionnante et le grand finale est l’ultime occasion de remercier pardes applaudissements nourris l’ensemble de la troupe. Une partie narrative (en français) permettra à votre Monsieur Loyal de diriger la mise en scène et de briller sous les feux de la rampe. / Niveau : 2.5 / Musique légère originale / Répertoire / Fanfare