Ae Fond Kiss, by the Scottish poet Robert Burns, is widely recognized as being one of the most poignant songs of lost love ever written. A brief affair with a Mrs Agnes Craig McLehose (known to Burns as Nancy) ended with her decision to join her estranged husband in Jamaica. Her parting gift to Burns was a lock of her hair which he had set in a ring. His gift to her included the poem, the first verse of which reflects Burns’ feelings of resignation and despair:

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever;
Ae fareweel, alas, for ever!
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee!

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Extract performed by Leah Williams and the Brighouse and Rastrick Band, conductor David King.
Full recording available on War of the Worlds - The Music of Peter Graham from World of Brass.com

The traditional carol in a beautiful yet simple setting for flugel horn (or Bb cornet) and band. (Also available with piano accompaniment).

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From the Robin Dewhurst collection, this multi-talented young composer has produced a simply wonderful solo for trombone and brass band. Premiered by virtuoso Brett Baker, this latin-styled work reaches its climax in a stunning cadenza for soloist supported by percussion section. (Also available with piano accompaniment).

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Bravura is a companion piece to the composer's earlier euphonium display piece Brillante, utilising the same traditional 19th century "fantasy variation" structure, familiar to generations of brass soloists. Folk songs from the four corners of Great Britain are featured; Oranges and Lemons, (England), The Blue Bells of Scotland, The Minstrel Boy (Ireland) and the famous Welsh anthem Men of Harlech.

The solo is a conflation of the original version, written for the 2002 Royal Albert Hall Gala Concert, which followed the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain. On that occasion the combined talents of virtuosi David Childs, Derick Kane, Steven Mead and David Thornton (with guests Robert and Nicholas Childs) were on display, each personalising the cadenza section towards the end. This version incorporates a published cadenza, though soloists should feel free to improvise their own material at this point.

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Deep River is one of the best known of the spirituals originating among the enslaved Africans in the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries. Although primarily expressions of religious faith, spirituals were also veiled protest songs, the sense of oppression conveyed in the lyrics being clear to present day performers:

Deep River,
My home is over Jordan.
Deep River, Lord.
I want to cross over into campground.
Oh, don't you want to go,
To the Gospel feast;
That Promised Land,
Where all is peace?

(Includes treble and bass clef parts).

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Extract performed by Steven Walsh and members of the Brighouse and Rastrick Band, conductor David King.
Full recording available on War of the Worlds - The Music of Peter Graham from World of Brass.com

Deliverance is the fourth movement of the suite War of the Worlds which was commissioned by the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music Saxophone Orchestra and first performed by them in the Maeda Hall, Japan on June 29 2012, the composer conducting. The music is dedicated to Professor Shin-ichi Iwamoto. The transcription for brass band was first performed by the Brighouse & Rastrick Band, conductor David King, in the Bridgewater Hall Manchester on September 8 2012.

The suite takes inspiration from the 1953 film script adaptation of the famous HG Wells novel and key scenes from the film are set as individual movements:
Deliverance – survivors seek sanctuary in the Church of Santa Maria, still standing among the burning ruins of Los Angeles, and pray for deliverance from the invaders.

(Each movement of War of the Worlds is available separately allowing for a variety of "mini-suite" combinations eg: Movements 1,2 and 5 or 3,4 and 5 etc. For movements 1, 4 and 5 see the BB Concert Music tab. Complete suite also available.)

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Extract performed by Kevin Crockford (Soprano Cornet) with the Brighouse and Rastrick Band, conductor David King.
Full recording available on War of the Worlds - The Music of Peter Graham from World of Brass.com

Solo for Flugel Horn (or Cornet Bb); 4th Movement from Call of the Cossacks.

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During the 19th century the great instrumental virtuosi reined supreme. Pianists Liszt and Thalberg and violinists Paganini and Saraste amazed audiences with their wide-ranging technical and artistic abilities, fuelled by increasingly difficult paraphrases and variations on popular tunes of the day.

The Fantasy on Sempre Libera looks back with affection to this period and provides an opportunity for present day euphonium virtuoso David Thornton to demonstrate the skills which mark him out as one of the world’s finest players.

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The Torchbearer was commissioned as the test piece for the 2009 National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain and the FABB Open Contest respectively and pays musical tribute to Eric Ball, considered by many to be the 20th century’s most influential composer of brass band music. The thematic material is derived from the first phrase of the trio from Eric Ball’s Salvation Army march, Torchbearers.

Follow the Flame is a main theme from the larger work, now fully metamorphosised and mirroring in music a concept at the centre of Ball’s broader philosophy, that of transformation.

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Extracts performed by Lucy Murphy and the Brighouse and Rastrick Band, conductor David King.
Full recording available on War of the Worlds - The Music of Peter Graham from www.Justmusicuk.com

Variations for cornet or euphonium on Lily of the Valley. broadcast, recorded by David Daws, Steven Mead, Brian Taylor, Roger Webster among others.

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The Great Race, for solo euphonium and band, follows Phileas Fogg on the last stage of his epic journey “Around the World in Eighty Days” (from the novel by Jules Verne). The moto perpetuo nature of the music gives full rein to the soloist’s technical virtuosity. As the work draws to a conclusion, the frantic scramble by Fogg to meet his deadline at the Reform Club in Pall Mall, London, is echoed by the soloist’s increasingly demanding ascending figuration, set against the background of Big Ben clock chimes.

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Written for tenor horn soloist Sheona White, this gorgeous setting has already been performed in Westminster Abbey.

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The main theme from On Alderley Edge was commissioned for euphonium solo by Riki McDonnell. Recorded by both Riki and Morgan Griffiths of Yorkshire Building Society Band.

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Additional Score: £34.95

In League with Extraordinary Gentlemen combines two of composer Peter Graham's life interests - composition and 19th century popular fiction. Each of the concerto’s three movements takes its musical inspiration from extraordinary characters who have transcended the original genre and have subsequently found mass audiences through film, television and comic book adaptations.

The first movement follows a traditional sonata form outline with one slight modification. The order of themes in the recapitulation is reversed, mirroring a plot climax in the H.G. Wells novella The Time Machine (where the protagonist, known only as The Time Traveller, puts his machine into reverse bringing the story back full circle).

The Adventure of the Final Problem is the title of a short story published in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. This is an account of the great detective’s final struggle with his long-time adversary Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. The music takes the form of a slowed down ländler (a Swiss/Austrian folk dance) and various acoustic and electronic echo effects call to mind the alpine landscape. The final bars pose a question paralleling that of Conan Doyle in the story – have we really seen the last of Sherlock Holmes?

The final movement, The Great Race, (available separately) follows Phileas Fogg on the last stage of his epic journey “Around the World in Eighty Days” (from the novel by Jules Verne). The moto perpetuo nature of the music gives full rein to the soloist’s technical virtuosity. As the work draws to a conclusion, the frantic scramble by Fogg to meet his deadline at the Reform Club in Pall Mall, London, is echoed by the soloist’s increasingly demanding ascending figuration, set against the background of Big Ben clock chimes.

In League with Extraordinary Gentlemen was first performed in the brass band version by David Thornton and the Black Dyke Band, conductor Nicholas Childs, at the RNCM Concert Hall Manchester on January 30, 2009.

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Version:

BbEb

For soprano cornet, Eb tenor horn or Bb cornet and band, this lyrical solo is also available with piano accompaniment (see Gramercy Lyric Album below).

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Meditation** is the central theme from The Triumph of Time, a work commissioned for The Black Dyke Band by Music Director Nicholas Childs.
The original brief was for a piece which would showcase the talents of the band's many fine soloists, among them Zoe Hancock on Flugel horn and Baritone soloist Katrina Marzella.

This extract brings both instruments together in an extended stand-alone arrangement.

** Although scored for Flugel and Baritone, a number of options can be explored at the discretion of the conductor (eg. Flugel/Cornet and Euphonium/Trombone; two Bb Cornets etc. in which case cued lines in the Solo Horn and Soprano cornet parts may be played).

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Performed by Zoe Hancock (Flugel Horn) and Katrina Marzella (Baritone Horn) with The Black Dyke Band, Music Director Nicholas Childs.

Solo for Trombone (or Euphonium Bb). Recorded by Brett Baker with the Black Dyke Band on Call of the Cossacks - Music of Peter Graham Vol II.

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A superb euphonium solo from Robin Dewhurst, the easy listening light jazz style employed here is a perfect addition to the repertoire. Panache was commissioned by virtuoso Steven Mead. (Also available with piano accompaniment).

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Additional Score: £34.95

A Portrait of Paris was written for Alexis Demailly and Bastien Baumet of the Paris Brass Band. The three movements, Promenade (aux Champs-Élysées), Sur La Seine and Tour de France, are the composer's musical impressions of some of the city's landmarks and events (with occasional references to a famous Parisian composer thrown in for good measure...)

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Extracts performed by Alexis Demailly (cornet) and Bastien Baumet (euphonium) with the Paris Brass Band, conductor Florent Didier.
Full recording available on Portraits from World of Brass.com

Additional Score: £34.95

As youngsters growing up on the west coast of Scotland, my brother and I fell heir to an old valved radiogram which provided us with our first experiences of radio broadcasts. On the short wave signal, and through the static, we could pick up a whole range of programmes from across the Atlantic. I particularly recall the baseball games, the American accents of the announcers providing a window to a evocative world far removed from our small Ayrshire town. These memories form the basis of Radio City.

The work is set in three movements, each introduced by a pastiche radio announcer narrative written by Philip Coutts. The first, City Noir, is a nod towards Raymond Chandler's eponymous private eye Philip Marlow and the dark cityscape of 1940s California.  

Movement two, Cafe Rouge, takes its title from the main restaurant in New York's famous Hotel Pennsylvania. Two of the most famous band leaders of the 1940s, trombonists Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey, broadcast live from the cafe on numerous occasions and the movement echoes with a collage of imagined sounds from the period.

The finale, Two-Minute Mile, derives from an event dubbed in the USA as  "the most exciting two minutes in sport", namely the Kentucky Derby. The virtuoso soloist figurations have their roots in Kentucky bluegrass fiddle music, with the galloping bluegrass clog-dancing rhythms providing the backdrop.

Peter Graham, Cheshire, January 2013

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Extracts performed by Brett Baker (trombone) with the Black Dyke Band, conductor Dr Nicholas Childs.
Full recording available on Electra from World of Brass.com

Solo for Tenor Horn Eb. The 2nd Movement from Windows of the World.

See also Gramercy Lyric Album below.

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The title of this euphonium solo, The Red Novae, is derived from two sources; the description of a stellar explosion thought to be caused by the merger of two stars, and as a form of anagram of the dedicatee’s name (Dave Thornton).
The work offers the soloist an opportunity to exploit a variety of sound worlds including the use of optional electronics. (Supplied with treble and bass clef soloist parts).

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Extract performed by David Thornton (euphonium) with the Brighouse and Rastrick Band, conductor David King.
Full recording available on War of the Worlds - The Music of Peter Graham from World of Brass.com

Reflections is the second movement of the suite War of the Worlds which was commissioned by the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music Saxophone Orchestra and first performed by them in the Maeda Hall, Japan on June 29 2012, the composer conducting. The music is dedicated to Professor Shin-ichi Iwamoto. The transcription for brass band was first performed by the Brighouse & Rastrick Band, conductor David King, in the Bridgewater Hall Manchester on September 8 2012.

The suite takes inspiration from the 1953 film script adaptation of the famous HG Wells novel and key scenes from the film are set as individual movements:
Reflections – here mankind contemplates a life forever changed as the invaders progress their colonization of Planet Earth.

(Each movement of War of the Worlds is available separately allowing for a variety of "mini-suite" combinations eg: Movements 1,2 and 5 or 3,4 and 5 etc. For movements 1, 4 and 5 see the BB Concert Music tab. Complete suite also available.)

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Extract performed by Lucy Murphy (Flugel Horn) and Leah Williams (Tenor Horn) with the Brighouse and Rastrick Band, conductor David King.
Full recording available on War of the Worlds - The Music of Peter Graham from World of Brass.com

This famous cornet virtuoso piece is now available for cornet or euphonium and band. (Please note: this version is slightly abridged to give a duration of approx. 5 minutes)

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Por una cabeza, literally translated as "by a head [of a horse]" in Spanish (meaning a horse winning a race by one head's distance), is one of the most famous and popular Argentine tangos.
Composer Carlos Gardel (11 December 1890 – 24 June 1935) was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. The music has appeared in numerous TV and Film soundtracks, perhaps most memorably in the famous dancing scene featuring Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman.
This extended arrangement for cornet (or trumpet) incorporates a cadenza and newly written interludes.

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Extracts performed by Stuart Lingard and the Brighouse and Rastrick Band, conductor David King.
Full recording available on War of the Worlds - The Music of Peter Graham from World of Brass.com

Additional Score: £34.95

Turbulence, Tide and Torque can be considered to be a companion piece to my 2008 Euphonium Concerto In League with Extraordinary Gentlemen, and indeed can be performed on Euphonium (vintage or medium bore instrument preferred). Whereas the gentlemen in question in the latter work were fictional (e.g. Sherlock Holmes and Phileas Fogg), the former pays tribute to three real life women who were very much true pioneers and heroines of their age.

Turbulence: Harriet Quimby (b. 1875) was one of the world's best woman aviators, her significant and historic achievement being the first woman to fly across the English Channel. Sadly, in her lifetime very few people were aware of her 1912 accomplishment; potential press coverage was dominated by the sinking of The Titanic only two days before.

Grace Darling (b. 1815) is a name much more familiar to the public today, and in her lifetime she was lauded as a national heroine. A humble lighthouse keeper's daughter from Northumberland, her participation in the rescue of survivors from the wrecked paddle-steamer Forfarshire is well documented (a museum dedicated to her achievements located in Bamburgh, the town of her birth). This movement, Tide, develops a main theme from my large scale work Harrison's Dream, reflecting on the souls lost in the disaster.

The final movement Torque, opens with a sudden gear change such as might have been undertaken by Dorothy Levitt (b. 1882), the woman's world land speed record holder, in her Napier racing car. Levitt, who following her 1906 record-breaking achievement was described as the Fastest Girl on Earth, went on to write extensively about her experiences, encouraging females to take up motoring through her articles in The Graphic newpaper.

Turbulence, Tide and Torque was commissioned by and is dedicated to Katrina Marzella as part of an Arts Council of England funded residency I was awarded with the Black Dyke Band in 2018.

Peter Graham

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Extracts performed by Katrina Marzella (baritone) with the Black Dyke Band, conductor Dr Nicholas Childs.
Full recording available on Spotlight from World of Brass.com

An exciting cornet display piece, recorded by Roger Webster on Call of the Cossacks.

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For brass quartet (2 Trumpets/Cornets, Horn Eb and Euphonium). Commissioned for the 1994 Swiss Quartet Championships. (Horn in F and Euphonium bass clef parts included).

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For brass quartet (2 Trumpets/Cornets, Horn Eb and Euphonium).

Time-shift was commissioned by The Swiss National Committee for the 2015 National Quartet Championships, held in Colombier, Switzerland.

The work is cast in three movements and develops themes taken from my brass band work The Triumph of Time. The three movements are I – Intrada, II – Meditation, III – Toccata.

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