from the ballet 'Solitaire'. Par ARNOLD MALCOLM / SPARKE PHILIP (Arr.). En 1956, Sir Kenneth MacMillan créa un ballet en un acte pour le ballet du théâtre de Sadler?s Wells, à Londres. Il sélectionna la musique de plusieurs des English Dances (Danses anglaises) que Sir Malcolm Arnold avait composées en 1950 et 1951 et avaient été fort bien reçues. Le compositeur écrivit deux nouvelles danses, une Sarabande et une Polka, spécialement pour le ballet, qui fut créé au théâtre de Sadler?s Wells en juin 1956. Devenues des ?uvres à part entière dans les salles de concert, ces nouvelles danses sont typiques d?Arnold : la Sarabande contient l?une de ses mélodies les plus mémorables, tandis que la Polka le montre sous son jour le plus excentrique et spirituel. / Date parution : 2022-10-12/ Répertoire / Brass Band

Handel in the Band is a virtuoso set of symphonic variations on one of Handel’s best known keyboard dances the Sarabande from his Suite in D minor HWV 437 based on the Spanish traditional dance La Folia. Kenneth Downie’s work was commissioned by Brass Band Treize Etoiles for performance at the 2013 Swiss National Brass Band Championships where it was conducted by James Gourlay. The title is a reference to Percy Grainger’s popular Handel in the Strand and is indicative of the witty and theatrical nature of the music which is more playful than conventional competition pieces and as such offers different challenges to brass bands as well as beingthoroughly entertaining for audiences. Kenneth Downie is one of the most respected and experienced brass band composers. His music has been widely performed and published throughout the brass band world since the 1960s.

The three sections of Movements demonstrate the concept of motion in all its orms. The March briskly gets the band going (in motion). section 2 (Sarabande) is solemn and melodious (slow motion) and the Allegro con Brio in section 3 forms an energetic conclusion (commotion) to this enchanting and instructive composition by Patrick Millstone.