The Concert Band at Home

Letter from Sado is an exciting new piece for young band based on a Japanese haiku of the same name. Sado refers to Sado Island in Japan in which various artists religious and military leaders were sent in exile many years ago. The island has historically had a strong community of taiko drummers and as such the piece incorporates optional homemade taiko drums. Blackshaw writes: To capture the idea of interpretation and the concept of reading between the lines the students are invited to become decision makers about particular sections in the music. For example the opening and closing sections of the piece use the same material which is a selection of repeated melodic figures.The students themselves decide how to play these figures as individuals in small teams and then as a whole band. Their decisions include ideas regarding tempo (how fast') dynamics (how loud') and articulation (smooth short or hard'). To inspire them we use the haiku poem; i.e. the opening section invites the students to play the material as if it were a 'stormy wild sea' and the closing section invites the students to play the same melodic figures but this time draw their inspiration from 'Heaven's River ' or as we know it the Milky Way. In-between there is an elaborate heavily textured section that becomes increasingly powerful. The music doesn't rest harmonically until the whole band plays in unison. These multiple layers of sound represent the many thoughts and ideas that would have surrounded those individuals sent to Sado Island in exile the final unison is representative of their own breakthrough experience sending them on a pathway to inner peace and acceptance. Embrace your players' creativity offer them your trust and see how far Letter from Sado can take your band!

BandQuest Series Grade 4-The Odyssey was written by Homer about 2700 years ago and tells of the adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus during his harrowing return trip home after fighting the Trojan Wars. This work is suggestive of his dramaticencounter with the sirens famous for luring sailors to their death with their beguiling wind-like song. In this descriptive piece you can hear the wind-song becoming evermore insistent the rocking of the ship Odysseus' screams and finally the sirens plunging to their death as they fail in their attempt to lure Odysseus.

Par ZIEGELBACK ANDREAS. Bleak Forest is a piece for smaller concert bands and offers the musicians above all space to improve their sound and their effect playing. The technical requirements are therefore deliberately kept low. With this piece, the composer won the VLAMO International Composition Contest 2022. Thematically, the work is influenced by the composer's childhood memories. In his hometown there was a dark and mysterious forest, that seemed to the children in the small village to be magical. Without a reasonable explanation, every trip into the woods was exciting and somewhat terrifying. There were tales of dangerous animals, which can be heard at the beginning of the piece, as well as magical beasts. The magic of the forest is depicted musically from bar 70 in the andante section. The snapping of the fingers represents single raindrops. From bar 99 onwards, we hear the trek home, with the occasional moments of trepidation as the children spook each other with their fanciful tales. In the end, though, we arrive safely at home because after all, magical beasts only exist in fairy tales… don’t they? Andreas Ziegelbäck studied music education at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, and history at the Paris Lodron Universität, Salzburg. In addition to his studies, he trained in ensemble conducting for wind orchestra with conductor and composer Thomas Doss. It was Doss who sparked Ziegelbäck’s interest in composing. In 2021, Andreas Ziegelbäck completed his composition studies with Johannes Maria Staud. In 2020, he took part in a brass band composition masterclass in Bern with Oliver Waespi, followed by a premiere by the Swiss Army Brass Band. / Date parution : 2023-10-31/ Répertoire / Concert Band / Harmonie

'Letter from Home was commissioned as a patriotic work in 1944 by Paul Whiteman and his Radio Hall of Fame Orchestra. Composed toward the end of the Second World War this music suggests the emotions of a soldier reading a letter from home. The music has been described as Copland's 'most sentimental' and reflects his own homesickness while visiting Mexico. This sensitive transcription by Brian Belski has produced another wonderful wind band setting from America's most iconic composer.” - Craig Kirchoff (Windependence Series Editor)Instrumentation: flute I flute II oboe clarinet I in Bb clarinet II in Bb clarinet III in Bb bass clarinet in Bb bassoon soprano saxophone in Bb alto saxophone in Eb tenor saxophone in Bb baritone saxophone in Eb trumpet in Bb I trumpet in Bb II trumpet in B

Arr. Bryan Kidd. Home on the Range est une ancienne mélodie country qui plonge ses racines dans l’Amérique de l’Ouest. Cette mélodie a récemment fait le tour de monde, après avoir été intégrée dans la bande originale du film d’animation La ferme se rebelle produit par les studios Disney. Bryan Kidd en a réalisé une version très créative avec des harmonies surprenantes et des lignes expressives. Une composition fun et divertissante. / Niveau : 2.5 / Pièce de concert / Répertoire / Concert Band

Arr. Bryan Kidd. Home on the Range est une ancienne mélodie country qui plonge ses racines dans l’Amérique de l’Ouest. Cette mélodie a récemment fait le tour de monde, après avoir été intégrée dans la bande originale du film d’animation La ferme se rebelle produit par les studios Disney. Bryan Kidd en a réalisé une version très créative avec des harmonies surprenantes et des lignes expressives. Une composition fun et divertissante. / Niveau : 2.5 / Pièce de concert / Répertoire / Concert Band ou Harmonie

Vulcan for Concert Band is Grammy award winning composer Michael Daughertys first work for the high school and intermediate level college band. The work is a colorful homage to Gene Roddenberrys interstellar universe as depicted in theclassic American television series Star Trek (1966-69). The title refers to the fiery planet Vulcan home world of half-human half-Vulcan Mr. Spock. As the rational-minded science officer aboard the starship Enterprise (commanded by thehot-blooded Captain James T. Kirk) Mr. Spock grapples with the ?fascinating? predicament of making decisions predicated on human emotion versus Vulcan logic. Daugherty has composed stirring yet highly structured music that alludes to the Vulcan?Pon Farr? ritual Vulcan telepathic mind-melds and the volcanic planet itself. At the the Ann Arbor Michigan world premiere (utilizing the combined forces of the Pioneer Huron and Skyline High School bands) Vulcan was an immediate hit andwill surely become one of Daughertys most performed works.

Durkle Bandrydge is the name of the composers imaginary world but it could very well be anyones invisible dream world with a different name. In this very versatile suite by Bruce Fraser 8 characters are featured each with its ownpeculiarities making Durkle Bandrydge such a colourful place. Do these characters differ that much from us? That is for you to find out! In the last part all characters come together in a special way.Durkle Bandrydge exists at the end ofyour street. It is invisible to humans but Durkle Bandrygators can watch us with great interest. The music will introduce you to some of the characters who live in this unusual place. The parts: Somnanbulyss who is a giant trollguarding the entrance to Durkle Bandryde. At least he is supposed to but he tends to sleep most of the time. His music is therefore very slow moving and sleepy. Long Gwysteen is a tall mysterious and somehow sophisticated character who walls around with a shell on his back. His music glides along rather gracefully. Squelfitch is a rather unpleasant and smelly character who lives in a bog which is why his music sounds rather slimy and a bit like trying to walkthrough quicksand. Perfydlia is a meddling old woman who gossips about everybody and squeals with sudden delight at the small exciting bits of tittletattle about others in the village. In the music you can hear her sudden little squealsof delight. Maryann Lovely is a beautiful young lady graceful gorgeous absolutely devine and her music is obviously just the same. Thistledoo Nicely is a lively character who spends and spends and spends with her credit card buying the latest fashion and never worries about having to pay the bills. Her music reflects her excitement when shopping and het ‘happy go lucky’ approach to life. Marsyn Edginton is the Lord of the manor the richest man in town the‘big cheese’ the man with all the power and of course the biggest house. He is very grand and his music like he could be a king. Jimmy McScotsmyn is a red haired scotsman wearing tartan cap. He misses his home country terribly and eatslots of shortbread oatcakes scotch eggs porridge and drinks an enormous amount of Scotch Wisky which helps him to have fond memories of the kind of music he would like to dance to when he was a younger man. His favourite dance is a Jig andthis is the music he remembers. Grand March of the Durkle Bandrydgators. We hope that you have enjoyed meeting these characters from Drukle Bandrydge and would invite you to listen to all the villagers now march along in a grand parade -it is a pity that you can not see them what is a wonderful sight. If you listen carefully you will hear the melodies which belong to the characters as they march past. Oh what a grand spectacle!

In Greek mythology Boreas is the God of the North Wind. When thinking of the north wind we particularly think of the bleak wind coming from the freezing cold north but in Homers' work we see a more varied picture. As shown in the following two stories Boreas often does play the role of a storm wind that blows forth heavy dark clouds while whipping up the dark waves of the tempestuous sea to mountainous heights. When the stake of the fallen Patroclos refuses to burn Achilles begs for some wind. When Iris the swift messenger of the Gods asks the winds for assistance they raise themselves up with tremendous roaring and rush to Troy. Upon theirarrival they blow the divine fire of Patroclos' stake far up into the sky. When Troy was destroyed the Greeks returned home. After many wanderings Odysseus however ends up with the beautiful nymph Calypso who keeps him as a prisoner. As ordered by Zeus Calypso frees him and sends him off on a handmade wooden raft. At sea Odysseus is threatened by the aggressive sea god Poseidon who stirs up the winds and thrashes the waves with his trident. The goddess Athena stems the violence of all the winds except for the north wind and thus it is Boreas who sends Odysseus to the land of the hospitable Phaiakes. Jan Bosveld composed Boreas for OLTO a music association in Loenen The Netherlands for which he had served as conductor for many years. Turbulent movement in both tempo and dynamics characterize this composition. The result is a whirling piece that races by in a positive manner. Boreas is in de Griekse mythologie de god van de noordenwind. Bij noordenwind denken wij vooral aan de gure wind uit het ijskoude noorden bij Homerus echter zien we een meer gevariëerd beeld. Natuurlijk speelt Boreas zoals uit de twee onderstaande verhalen blijkt meestal de rol van de stormwind die de zware zwarte wolken voor zich uit blaast en de donkere golven van de onstuimige zee torenhoog opzwiept.

Par SPARKE PHILIP. In Letter from Home Philip Sparke portrays the many feelings and emotions that a letter from home can evoke. This intimate work opens with a gentle woodwind melody, which gradually becomes more confused as new emotions are introduced. Finally resignation sets in, but a sense of peace and balance is restored with the final chorale. In this emotional work Philip Sparke truly captures the highs and lows of being away from home. / Niveau : 4 / Pièce de concert / Répertoire / Concert Band ou Harmonie

Originally commissioned for the celebration of Tennessee's “Homecoming '86 ” Jug Blues & Fat Pickin' is inspired by recordings of the Memphis Jug Band the most recorded and perhaps most popular of the jug bandsto spring up on Memphis' Beale Street in the late 1920's and also bluegrass banjo pickin'. Freund's composition is a unique musical offering that melds “blues elements” with minimalist technique. (Grade 5) Dur: 8:00