SKU: P2.80034
Three Expeditions is a collection and adaptation of the three solo movements from my work Summit, originally commissioned by Drs. Jerry and Barbara Young for premiere at the 2010 International Tuba Euphonium Conference. That work, as premiered by Brian Bowman, Neal Corwell, Steven Mead, John Mueller, and David Werden requires substantially more forces than are often available for most opportunities at most venues. The present work allows for an artistically satisfying transformation of its parent, offering the willing soloist an opportunity to perform a completely new work in a very practical, though no less exciting, way.
SKU: CF.CPS216
ISBN 9781491152423. UPC: 680160909926.
Cosmic Expedition takes performers on a musical journey far across the galaxy via three main sections. This fanfare composition would be perfect for opening a concert. It has bold brass fanfare figures over textural woodwinds to start and then takes the listener on a sonic journey through a variation of harmonic colors, tambural and textural shifts.Cosmic Expedition takes performers on a musical journey far across the galaxy via three main sections. The first, a rather celebratory and triumphant fanfare in Bb major begins with the upper woodwinds and percussion creating a sound-screen, that is a busy texture consisting of a flurry of repeated notes over which the horns and alto saxophones present the opening theme. The sound-screen should be carefully balanced and give way to the melody at m. 5, which should be played extremely marcato. The timpani solo beginning in m. 11 must not be understated. A brief percussion interlude separates a restatement of the opening theme, this time with the addition of the trumpet, tenor saxophone, and euphonium, and a counter melody by the low winds. The percussion interlude is playful, light, but full of vigor and energy. An Ab in the low winds pulls the harmony towards G minor in m. 40 to start the second section, a more serious fanfare. Here, the marimba repeats an ostinato that is complemented by the bass drum and woodblock. The upper woodwinds with the xylophone and snare drum dance over the stern secondary fanfare. A longing call lead by the trombones, interrupted by a subtle snare drum beckons to the clarinets and horn who begin the third section of the piece at m. 68. This haunting melody in C minor is legato, and starkly contrasts all which came before it. A relentless concert tom-tom played with hard mallets keeps the momentum persistent, and a heartbeat-like pulse is felt from the tuba and baritone saxophone. The melody rises towards m. 84 when the brass harken back to the fanfare style before fading back into another lush woodwind strain.A recapitulation of the low winds’ call is heard at m. 100 which in this occasion intensifies into an emphatic statement by the battery percussion instruments. Now in Eb major, the opening fanfare theme is heard again once more before fading into the beginning of the piece’s conclusion.To end, the counter melody from the opening section duels with chromatic tension above before swelling to an arrival in the original key of Bb major. The full ensemble celebrates the piece’s resolution, and after a few crunchy power chords the journey is completed.
SKU: CF.CPS216F
ISBN 9781491153109. UPC: 680160910601.
SKU: HL.234744
9.0x12.0x0.035 inches.
Composer's Note: The Lullaby from The Unicorns arose from an opera libretto I commissioned from John Heath-Stubbs (1918-2006) in the late 1960s. In his story two unicorns are discovered in a remote part of Africa. Both the East and West want to obtain them for research so they send out rival expeditions. The Western technique is to lure the unicorn with a young girl singing a lullaby. Both East and West capture unicorns but the mythical animals escape in the end. I never completed the opera but I made a six-movement suite from it called The Unicorns. There are three songs and three instrumental numbers and the first performance was given with Elisabeth Soderstrom and Solna Brass under Lars-Gunnar Bjorklund at Ekensbergskyrkan, Solna, Sweden on 31 October 1982. This version was recorded and my arrangement of the three songs for voice and piano was recorded by Marilyn Hill Smith. The career of the Lullaby continued with a version for clarinet and piano, which I premiered with Jack Brymer aboard the Sea Princess in the Mediterranean on 29 September 1986. The oboe version was for Sarah Francis, and Duke Dobing and I have recorded it for flute an piano. Lullaby can be played with a variety of solo instruments and is also available for piano left hand and piano solo.
SKU: AP.46626
UPC: 038081534923. English. 14th Century Melody.
A fantasia on In Dulci Jubilo, this setting includes each of the three melodic statements building in orchestration and intensity, taking both the musicians and audiences on a musical expedition. With both expressive and energetic elements, this piece is a solid musical choice for both holiday concerts and festival programs! (2:45).
SKU: HL.44005181
UPC: 073999888768. 8.5x11 inches. English-German-French-Dutch.
Great Britain has had a National Youth Brass Band since 1952, which caters for players between the ages of 12 and 18 and has produced many outstanding instrumentalists in its distiguished history. An exciting development took place in July 2004 when the first summer course of a new National Children's Brass Band of Great Britain, for players between the ages of 8 and 13, was held in Bromsgrove, Worcester. Renowned cornet soloist and conductor Lynda Nicholson was appointed music director and she commissioned Philip Sparke to write a piece for this inaugural course. The Pioneers was the result. The title refers to the fact that the NCBBGB was starting out on a new adventure but is also a salute to the bicentenary of an expedition by two of the composer's heroes - Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. They were commissioned by US President Thomas Jefferson to find the headwaters of the Mississippi and a route to the Pacific following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, which doubled the size of USA. They set out, as the “Corps of Discovery,” from Louisville, Kentucky, in May 1804; not only did they succeed in reaching the Pacific through hostile territory, but also found their way back - in three years! The piece is not descriptive of the journey but gives the composer the opportunity to celebrate the 200th anniversary of this amazing feat.
SKU: AP.46626S
UPC: 038081534930. English. 14th Century Melody.
