Par VAN DER ROOST JAN. From Ancient Times is a major work for brass band, inspired largely by the music of the Franco-Flemish School of the Renaissance. Hints of Gregorian chant and middle age dances pay tribute to music from even earlier times. The foundation of this spectacular work rests on truly ‘ancient times’ while the tonal language is of a much more modern nature! / Niveau : 6 / Pièce de concert / Répertoire / Brass Band

Excerpt from From Ancient Times. Par VAN DER ROOST JAN. Excerpt From From Ancient Times / Niveau : 5 / Pièce de concert / Répertoire / Brass Band

On a poem by Laurence Binyon. Par SPARKE PHILIP. In Memoriam : For the Fallen est une adaptation pour narrateur et brass band du poème de Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), For the Fallen (« Pour les Morts»), qui apparut pour la première fois dans The Times en septembre 1914. Binyon fut consterné par le déclenchement de guerre et s’inquiéta particulièrement sur le grand nombre de pertes souffertes par le Corps expéditionnaire britannique durant les premiers mois de la guerre sur le front occidental. In Memoriam : For the Fallen est un accompagnement musical du poème qui reflète l’humeur de chaque strophe. / Niveau : 4 / Répertoire / Brass Band

Par VAN DER ROOST JAN. Since most of the bands competing in the 4th Section of the Dutch National Championships have many young players, this piece is stylistically youthful especially in the opening and closing sections. An arpeggio pattern appears numerous times in all registers and is the basic musical element of the main melody, alternating with a second theme that has a slightly different melodic character. The middle section is conceived like a chorale, introduced and developed stepwise: firstly with short patterns and gradually in increasingly long snippets, until it’s played in its glorious entirety at measure 216. No real solo passages are included but rather small chambercombinations, thus offering the opportunity to various players to display their technical and performance skills. The finale recaptures musical material from the first section of the piece and provides a majestic conclusion. / Niveau : 4 / Pièce de concert / Répertoire / Brass Band

Par VAN DER ROOST JAN. Arsenal was composed for the 50th anniversary of the ‘Harmonie van het Spoorwegarsenaal’[railroad arsenal], based in Mechelen (Belgium). Rather a stately concert march, it has beautiful themes and a broad melody in the trio. It was premiered in the Mechelen Cultural Center on the 11th of May 1996 during the solemn ceremony, opening the anniversary year and conducted by the composer. In the mean time, Arsenal has been recorded several times by such renowed performers like the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, the Black Dyke BB etc. / Niveau : 4 / Marche de concert / Répertoire / Brass Band

Par SPARKE PHILIP. The Four Noble Truths are the most basic expression of the teaching of Buddha and therefore still form the guidelines for Buddhists to this day. The four truths are Dukkha, which describes times of major stress in our lives - birth, aging, desire and death; Samudaya which describes those parts of our life that induce stress, feeling, craving, desire; Nirodha which tells us how to eliminate those aspects of our lives which induce stress and Magga which describes the eight didciplines which can help us eliminate the origins of stress from our lives. It can be seen from these over-simplified definitions, that the Four Noble Truths fall into two pairs, the first two describingthe origins of stress and the second two describing how we can reduce stress. To reflect this, the four movements of this work are also combined into two pairs - two quick movements and two slow movements. A fascinating work from this great English composer. / Niveau : 4 / Pièce de concert / Répertoire / Brass Band

Par BLANKEN JOHN. John Blanken wrote Intrada & Wilhelmus in 2002 for the brass band Euphonia from Wolvega, the Netherlands. The title speaks for itself. It's an introduction to the national anthem of The Netherlands; Wilhelmus. In this piece the national anthem is heared two times followed by a short postlude. / Niveau : 3 / Musique traditionnelle / Recueil / Brass Band