Par WILLIAMS JOHN / HVEEM DAVID (Arr.). «Cantina Band (or «Mad About Me») was written by John Williams in 1977 for the film Star Wars (later Star Wars IV: A New Hope). Even with quite a bit of the Star Wars music being quite well known, Cantina Band is literally in a style of its own. In the Star Wars-universe this style is called «jizz», Williams’ take on the more well-known genre «jazz». Williams was tasked by Star Wars-creator George Lucas to make music that sounded like «several creatures in a future century finding some 1930's Benny Goodman swing band music ... and how they might attempt to interpret it» and ended up with Cantina Band #1 and #2. Both numbers are played in the legendary scene taking place in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina where Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi gets in a fight causing even the band to stop playing. The band, which goes by the name Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes, comes from the planet Clak'dor VII and specializes in jizz and the nearby, slightly older style of jatz. Performers of this music often go by the name 'jizz-wailers', and the Bith people from Clak'dor VII are especially well suited for jizz-wailing since they can hold every note as long as they want thanks to a unique respiratory system - something many perhaps would like to be able to do in the performance of this arrangement as well. The arrangement is relatively faithful to Williams' original version, but with a somewhat different ending. Although the woodwind section undoubtedly has the biggest technical challenges, an understanding of the musical style is the very key to making the arrangement sound good - and here all groups must work together. Playing lightly but quite articulated, and very precise, will be an absolute necessity to get the music drifting off all the way to Tatooine. In measure 113 there is a small improvised solo in either trombone or trumpet, but if you want the real authentic Cantina Band-sound this is of course done on a steel drum. / Date parution : 2023-07-31/ Répertoire / Concert Band/Harmonie

Dances from 'The Cossacs'. Par ELLING CATHARIUS. The Opera “The Cossacs” by Catharinus Elling is based on the Nikolai Gogol novel about Taras Bulba. “The Cossacs” was premiered in 1897 at Eldorado in Kristiania (the old name on Norway’s capitol Oslo). Despite positive response in the papers of that time, the opera was newer performed again in it’s entirely. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation have an abbreviated recording in it’s archives, but no complete performance is known to date. The Norwegian National Opera Orchestra recorded both the overture and the dances in 2021, conducted by Ingar Bergby. Thet are both a part of the CD “Norwegian Opera Overtures”. This arrangement is not commissioned by anyone, but rather written to better the availability of quality Norwegian orchestral music arranged for Concert Band. This edition is a good opportunity to be more familiar with Norwegian heritage of orchestral music. / Date parution : 2023-07-31/ Répertoire / Concert Band/Harmonie

(An Overture), Op. 60. Par CESARINI FRANCO. «Que votre chemin soit sinueux, venteux, solitaire, dangereux et vous emmène vers la vue la plus spectaculaire. Que vos montagnes s'élèvent jusqu'aux nuages ??et les surmontent. » – Edward Abbey Notes from the Road a été composé pour donner suite à une commande de la fédération musicale du Canton de Thurgovie (Suisse), en tant que pièce imposée de la deuxième catégorie du Festival Cantonal 2023. La pièce est écrite sous la forme typique d'une ouverture à l'italienne, avec la succession des tempos veloce-lento-veloce. Les réflexions sur la vie et la rue comme sa métaphore ont été les éléments moteurs de la composition de cette pièce. Le symbole du parcours se caractérise par différentes cultures, au point que le verbe 'marcher' ou le mot 'route' désignent une manière d'être dans la vie et de s'accomplir. « Faire son chemin » signifie s'affirmer ; « Avoir un chemin » indique une approche propre et personnelle. La route est la plus belle métaphore de la vie : il y a un départ, une destination et au milieu un chemin parfois tortueux, des défis à surmonter et des directions à prendre. Une pièce introspective, une invitation pour chacun de nous à réfléchir sur son propre 'chemin'. / Date parution : 2023-07-31/ Répertoire / Concert Band/Harmonie

Ballad from Fantasy Pieces for Piano Op. 36. Par BACKER-GRONDAHL AGATHE. Agathe Backer Grøndahl’s ‘Ballade’ can best be described as a Romantic character piece. Such one-movement piano pieces with titles that loosely indicate a mood/idea made out a central genre in the 19th century. In Backer Grøndahl’s production, several of these are grouped under the term ‘fantasy pieces’. There are six collections with a total of 48 fantasy pieces on her opus list and ‘Ballade’ is from the first of these (Op. 36), published in 1895. ‘Ballade’ is a broader work than the other fantasy pieces. It is built around a dramatic theme that keeps returning after episodes with strongly contrasting thematic material. The arrangement is close to Backer Grøndahl’s original composition. It is transposed a semitone down: from E flat minor to D minor. The arrangement contains some challenging passages and is well-suited for amateur bands of a certain level. The instrumentation makes no special demands beyond normal concert band instrumentation and will sound just as good in small as in large bands. / Date parution : 2023-07-31/ Répertoire / Concert Band/Harmonie

Par ABBA / ULVAEUS BJORN (Arr.). This song by ABBA is the core of the European disco-sound in the eighties. It was released in 1980 when ABBA was in its superstardom. A good tune with almost a sing-along guarantee from the audience. This arrangement in the Young Band series is suitable for many bands as the instrumentation is limited in its demand to number of instruments. In the same series several ABBA items are available, and this piece can be programmed alongside other ABBA songs from the same series. This arrangement is similar to the original in form. The semiquavers in the tuba part may be omitted as they also are covered in the baritone part. / Date parution : 2023-07-31/ Répertoire / Concert Band/Harmonie