Concert Music for Brass Band

Gramercy Music for Brass

CALL OF THE COSSACKS
Peter Graham
Score and Parts: £74.95

Additional Score: £24.95

Commissioned for the Black Dyke Band's solo spot at the 2002 European Gala Concert in Belgium.
The Cossacks were a nomadic people whose ethnic makeup included Ukrainians, Tartars, Poles and Jews. A similarly wide range of Eastern European folk music features in this work, from Gypsy to Klezmer. Contains 5 movements: 1) Procession of the Tartars 2) Gypsy Dream 3) Cossack Fire Dance 4) Doyle's Lament 5) Cossack Wedding Dance

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CATS TALES
Peter Graham
Score and Parts: £69.95

Additional Score: £24.95

Cats Tales pays tribute to four wonderful musicians who shared a love of jazz and New York City.

Film composer Elmer Bernstein is remembered in 1) Catalonia before a musical gear change that references the work of his contemporary colleague, “Bernstein East”, aka Leonard Bernstein. The presence of West Side Story looms large here.

Henry Mancini's most famous composition (which concerned a cat of the pink variety) provides the inspiration for the 2nd movement, 2) Catwalk before saxophone legend Sonny Rollins’s jazz standard Airegin is given a contrafact treatment in 3) Scat! allowing a number of instrumental soloists to shine.

NB: The suite can be extended by including the trombone solo Catnap and the Toccata, available separately.

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CRY OF THE CELTS
Hardiman arr. Peter Graham
Score and Parts: £69.95

Additional Score: £24.95

A spectacular mini-concert. Contains 5 movements: 1) Nightmare, (includes Lord of the Dance and Stolen Kiss) 2) Suil a Ruin, 3) Breakout, Lament, and 4)Victory. Featured by Yorkshire Building Society Band.

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DANCING IN THE PARK
Peter Graham
Score and Parts: £49.95

Additional Score: £24.95

Variations on I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls. Set as the 1997 National Finals Test-Piece, 3rd Section.

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DAY OF THE DRAGON
Peter Graham
Score and Parts: £74.95

Additional Score: £24.95

The latest in a series of "world music" features by Peter Graham (including Cry of the Celts, Windows of the World and Call of the Cossacks), Day of the Dragon is a joint commission from the Buy as You View Band and the National Youth Brass Band of Wales. The five movements are based on traditional Welsh Folk Songs and feature solos for cornet, trombone, horn, flugel, euphonium : 1) Overture (Ar lan y mor, Hunting the Hare) 2) Lullaby (Suo Gan) 3) Welsh Clog Dance 4) Ballad (By Kell's Waters) 5) Triumph (Men of Harlech)

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DIES IRAE
Verdi arr. Peter Graham
Score and Parts: £39.95

Additional Score: £18.95

Verdi’s Requiem was first performed in May 1874 in Milan and was written to commemorate the life of the great Italian poet and writer Manzoni.

This arrangement comprises key moments from the Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) section. The main Dies Irae theme is followed by the Tuba Mirum, where offstage cornets play the role of judgment day trumpeters. A transition in the style of Verdi (and utilising material from the work) leads to the majestic Rex tremendae.

Here the vocal soloists of the original are portrayed by the lyric voices of cornet, flugel horn, baritone and euphonium as the increasingly dramatic music draws to a conclusion.

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GAELFORCE
Peter Graham
Score and Parts: £39.95

Additional Score: 18.95

Commissioned by the Fodens Band, this exciting work follows in the Cry of the Celts style and features three traditional Irish tunes, The Minstrel Boy, Tossing the Feathers (both recently featured by The Corrs) and The Rocky Road to Dublin.

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HARRISON'S DREAM
Peter Graham
Score and Parts: £59.95

Additional Score: £24.95

(Version for Concert Band available from Warner Bros.)

Commissioned by Boosey & Hawkes for the Millennium National Brass Band Finals Championship Section. More information.

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THE HASLEMERE SUITE
Peter Graham
Score and Parts: £49.95

Additional Score: £24.95

The 2000 National Brass Band Championships Area Fourth Section Test-Piece in four movements, 1) Haslemere Town 2) Beside the Way 3) Waverley Abbey 4) Charter fair. Recorded by Fodens Band.

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Journey

JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH
Symphonic Scenes for Brass and Percussion
Peter Graham
Score and Parts: £74.95

Additional Score (A4 size): £24.95

2005 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Jules Verne, and the event inspired Peter Graham to write a musical tribute to the author described as the "father of science fiction."

Journey to the Centre of the Earth is one of Verne's best known works. The novel takes the form of a sequence of diary entries by Axel, nephew of Professor Otto Lidenbrock. The pair follow coded instructions in a old document guiding them to Iceland where, together with their guide Hans, they enter the open crater of an extinct volcano Snæfells and pursue a trail to the centre of the earth. There follows “hair-breadth ‘scapes and ventures perilous” as the intrepid explorers encounter a vast interior world.

Peter Graham has taken some of the key scenes from the book and set them as a sequence of symphonic extracts. The subtitles are; (I) Snæfells, (II) Descent, (III) The Wonders of the Terrestrial Depths, (IV) The Day of Rest, (V) Lost in the Labyrinth, (VI) The Whispering Gallery, (VII) Rescue from the Abyss, (VIII) Battle of the Antediluvian Creatures and Ascent, (IX) Homecoming.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth was premiered by the Black Dyke Band as their contest winning own choice test at the 2005 European Championships in Holland.

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Composer's note
Instrumentation
Jules Verne's novel (in translation) can be downloaded from www.gutenberg.org

NORTHERN LANDSCAPES
Peter Graham
Score and Parts: £49.95

Additional Score: £24.95

The 2003 National Brass Band Championships Area Third Section Test-Piece in four movements, 1) Industry 2) Seascapes 3) Earth Dance 4) Flight. Recorded by The Black Dyke Band on The Regionals 2003 DOYCD143

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ON ALDERLEY EDGE
Peter Graham
Score and Parts: £59.95

Additional Score: £24.95

The much acclaimed 1997 National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain Championship Section Finals Test-Piece.

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THE RED MACHINE
Peter Graham
Score and Set: £49.95

Additional Score: £24.95

The Red Machine was commissioned by the London-based Band of the Coldstream Guards. Among the band’s duties is the famous changing of the guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace where their reputation for precision marching has led to them being described as the “Red Machine”.

The music reflects the title and heritage of this fine group; from the aggressive, machine-type music of the opening, the contrasting nostalgic French-flavoured waltz through the recapitulation and vivace finale. Listeners may hear references to music associated with the band, from Holst (the Planets) through the opening phrase of the chorale Ein Feste Burg - familiar to British Guards Bands from the troop march Huguenots.

The version for brass band was made for the Black Dyke Band, Music Director Nicholas Childs, and premiered by them during the Gramercy Music 10th Anniversary Concert in the Maxwell Hall University of Salford, on May 7 2004.

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SIROCCO
Peter Graham
Score and Parts: £39.95

Additional Score: £18.95

Sirocco was commissioned for the Doncaster Concert Band, Musical Director Karen Roberts, by the Hothouse Festival and was premiered at the Festival in March 2007. A Sirocco is a wind that originates in the Sahara and sweeps across the Mediterranean through North Africa to Southern Europe. Taking this route as his inspiration, Peter Graham has fashioned a tour-de-force for band that features three Mediterranean folk songs.

Two of the three movements are well known in their respective countries. Firstly, the fast and furious Tarantella is commonly heard as part of traditional Italian wedding celebrations whilst the Romanza can justifiably lay claim as one of Spain’s most enduring melodies, synonymous with the Spanish guitar.

The final movement has its roots in traditional Greek dance music, being a mixture of slow and fast versions of the hasapiko. The best-known example of the form is the famous Zorba’s Dance, and in the same manner the Sirtaki’s sedate opening bars soon give way to a frenzy of activity as the entire ensemble whip up their own musical storm.

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WINDOWS OF THE WORLD
Peter Graham
Score and Parts: £74.95

Additional Score: £24.95

A six movement sequel to the popular Cry of the Celts, reflecting world music styles from Latin American to Irish Folk. Each movement 1) Amazonia 2) Rainforest 3) The Rising Sun 4) Drums of Thunder 5) Celtic Dream 6) Earth Walk can be individually programmed. Featured soloists include Soprano Cornet, Trumpet/Cornet, Flugel Horn, Tenor Horn, Baritone, Trombone, Euphonium and Percussion. Windows of the World was premiered by the YBS Band at the Millenium European Championships Gala Concert, held in Symphony Hall Birmingham.
(Please note: The Rising Sun is also available as an extended full band feature entitled Hinode).

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