Category: SOLOS - Euphonium Composer: David Harrington
Phoenix Song is a dramatic and challenging fantasy for Euphonium and Piano. The piece was inspired by the myth surrounding the great firebird of Persian legend. According to the story, the Phoenix spends 1000 years living on earth before returning to its nest, only to incinerate itself in enveloping flames as if part of an eternal ritual. The spirit of the bird is then released and reborn in a new body. I wanted to recreate this enchanting lifecycle in music using the Euphonium to personify the legendary bird, and capture the song that the Phoenix sings on its perpetual journey.
The work is divided into a storyboard of events beginning with the bird's flight back to the nest, a reflection on the nostalgia of its heroic life, moving onto the discovery of the nest, the incineration and finally the rebirth of the bird.
The Euphonium part is highly decorated and aims to sound organic and improvisatory, particularly during the quasi-cadenza at the very beginning. Virtuoso, precise and expressive playing is required in the faster sections. The Euphonium is given much lyrical writing in equal measure to passages requiring aggressive gusto and command by contrast.
The role of the accompaniment is to reinforce the scene painting, whilst twisting and turning the thematic material, propelling the story forward. The very heavy sounding piano passages extending to all registers of the instrument reflect the vast life span of the bird, coupled with violent flutter tonguing from the Euphonium (towards the end of the work) to resemble the furious flames of the nest.
The final section is very tonal, with celestial semi-quaver decorations in the piano part and a warm, cantabile Euphonium theme that should sing high in the instrument's range, soaring like the firebird it seeks to represent.
This publication comes complete with composer biography and performance tips from David Childs
Tiamat is an exploratory programmatic work for solo euphonium and brass quintet. The title hails the name of a dragon, from the fantasy role-playing adventure game and the 1980s children's cartoon: Dungeons & Dragons. Tiamat is a five-headed dragon. Each head is a different colour and has its own elemental properties:
The instruments of the quintet each represent one of these heads. Each element has its own specific theme in the piece, introduced by its relative instrument. The thematic ideas for each element are intended to be a musical representation of its properties and effects.
LIGHTNING- disjointed staccato notes.
ACID- repeated 3-note pattern, overlapping in texture, abrasive.
ICE- repeated staccato (and stopped) notes with a dim. Brittle, yet sharp.
The ‘rip's in the quintet are intended to be the snapping and biting of the jaws of the dragon.
The solo euphonium takes the role of the hero in the tale, who has sworn to defeat the dragon and restore peace to the surrounding lands.
This publication comes complete with composer biography and performance tips from David Thornton. The work can also be heard on David Thornton’s CD Parallel Realities
Category: SOLOS - Euphonium Composer: Amanda McBroom Arranger: Rob Westacott
This classic song has been entertaining audiences around the globe since it was originally written back in 1977. It didn’t reach world-wide success until the piece was recorded by artist Bette Midler and featured in the film, The Rose. Songwriter, Amanda McBroom recalls that she wrote the piece in just 45 minutes. The work has now been arranged as a gorgeous Euphonium solo with lower brass (flugelhorn down the band) accompaniment and is a great new addition to a soloist’s repertoire. The work is not technically demanding and the lyrical tone of the piece is one that will allow players of all ages to shine with this solo
Category: SOLOS - Euphonium Composer: Anthony Ritchie
This concerto was commissioned by euphonium soloist Byron Newton to perform with the Wellington Brass Band and the Royal Air Force Band in 2015, with financial assistance from Creative New Zealand. It is in four movements, but can be performed as a three-movement work also, by omitting the first movement:
Category: SOLOS - E♭.Soprano Cornet Composer: Mark Taylor Arranger: Philip Sparke
Grade 4.0 Duration 4.40
Mark Taylor wrote the trumpet feature Scream Machine for a vinyl album by the Army Blues Jazz Ensemble in 1985. It was later published in a slightly simpler version called Brass Machine. This brass band arrangement by Philip Sparke has been arranged directly from the published jazz ensemble score and features soprano cornet and four solo cornets.
Trombone players in Bass Clef will love this collection of 101 film favourites! Songs include:
Against All Odds - Beauty and the Beast - Can't Help Falling in Love - Chariots of Fire - Endless Love - Eye of the Tiger - Footloose - Forrest Gump - Main Title - Jailhouse Rock - Let It Go - Live and Let Die - Luck Be a Lady - Mission: Impossible Theme - My Heart Will Go On - Nine to Five - The Pink Panther - Puttin' on the Ritz - Skyfall - Somewhere Out There - Stayin' Alive - Take My Breath Away - Time Warp - The Way We Were - and many more.
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