Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer: Kevin Houben
Grade 3 Duration 11:40
The Broken Sword is one of the five ceremonial swords kept in the Tower of London and is used during the coronation of a new king or queen. Legend has it that an angel broke off the tip of the sword in an effort to prevent an unjust killing. Composer Kevin Houben lets his music retell this intriguing legend. Broken Sword resembles a film score in many ways and will paint vivid images as the band plays its way through the legend. Many different moods create a contrast-rich work that makes for an exciting listening and playing experience every time!
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer: Bert Appermont
Duration 16.25 Grade 6.0
This is the test piece for the 166th contest of the 2018 British Open Championship which is to be held at Symphony Hall, Birmingham on Saturday 8th September.
The attacks in Brussels on 22 March 2016 created a shockwave throughout Belgium and the rest of the world. Equally, the attacks in Paris and Nice led to great public indignation, fear and disbelief. What has happened to the western world? Have our cultures grown apart to such an extent that we do not understand each other anymore? Bert Appermont’s intention was to voice certain emotions that these acts of terror have caused: particularly fear, grief, anger, and helplessness. He uses the French children’s song Au Claire de la Lune as a connecting thread throughout the work. This piece is also about hope and faith in another world, and is meant to pay homage to all victims, resulting in a dignified remembrance. The musical development is presented in four through-composed parts, titled Innocence, In Cold Blood, In Memoriam – We Shall Rise Again and A New Day.
This work was commissioned by the Brassband Oberösterreich (Brass Band Upper Austria) to be played at the European Brass Band Championships 2017.
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer: Bert Appermont
Duration 16.25 Grade 6.0
This is the test piece for the 166th contest of the 2018 British Open Championship which is to be held at Symphony Hall, Birmingham on Saturday 8th September.
The attacks in Brussels on 22 March 2016 created a shockwave throughout Belgium and the rest of the world. Equally, the attacks in Paris and Nice led to great public indignation, fear and disbelief. What has happened to the western world? Have our cultures grown apart to such an extent that we do not understand each other anymore? Bert Appermont’s intention was to voice certain emotions that these acts of terror have caused: particularly fear, grief, anger, and helplessness. He uses the French children’s song Au Claire de la Lune as a connecting thread throughout the work. This piece is also about hope and faith in another world, and is meant to pay homage to all victims, resulting in a dignified remembrance. The musical development is presented in four through-composed parts, titled Innocence, In Cold Blood, In Memoriam – We Shall Rise Again and A New Day.
This work was commissioned by the Brassband Oberösterreich (Brass Band Upper Austria) to be played at the European Brass Band Championships 2017.
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer: Franco Cesarini
Bulgarian folk music has a long tradition and numerous typical characteristics, such as particular dissonances and complex, irregular rhythms. In Bulgarian Dances (Part II) (which can be performed together with the previously published title Bulgarian Dances) Franco Cesarini has preserved the original spirit of Bulgarian folk music, yet has imbued it with a symphonic character and brought it into the concert hall. The three different movements give us a meditative, moving folksong and a lively dance, before a distinctly symphonic part leads to a glittering finale.
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer: Franco Cesarini
Bulgarian folk music has a long tradition and numerous typical characteristics, such as particular dissonances and complex, irregular rhythms. In Bulgarian Dances (Part II) (which can be performed together with the previously published title Bulgarian Dances) Franco Cesarini has preserved the original spirit of Bulgarian folk music, yet has imbued it with a symphonic character and brought it into the concert hall. The three different movements give us a meditative, moving folksong and a lively dance, before a distinctly symphonic part leads to a glittering finale.
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer: Alan Fernie
Set as the 4th.Section Testpiece for the 1998 Finals of the British Brass Band Championships - and more recently as the 4th. Section Testpiece for the 2010 Pontins Championships.
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer: Bruce Broughton
Previously used as a Second Section testpiece.
Click on MORE DETAILS to view the Solo Cornet part.
California Legend was inspired by Las Sergas de Esplandian by Garci Ordonez de Mantalvo, published in Seville in 1510. Quoting from ‘A Companion to California’, the story recounts the fictional adventures of Esplandian. Among the places he visits is one “on the right hand of the indies, an island called California, very near to the Terrestial Paradise, which was peopled with black women, accustomed to live after the fashion of Amazons, there arms were full of gold. The land was ruled by a Queen named Calafia.”
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer: Bruce Broughton
Previously used as a Second Section testpiece.
Click on MORE DETAILS to view the Solo Cornet part.
California Legend was inspired by Las Sergas de Esplandian by Garci Ordonez de Mantalvo, published in Seville in 1510. Quoting from ‘A Companion to California’, the story recounts the fictional adventures of Esplandian. Among the places he visits is one “on the right hand of the indies, an island called California, very near to the Terrestial Paradise, which was peopled with black women, accustomed to live after the fashion of Amazons, there arms were full of gold. The land was ruled by a Queen named Calafia.”
To view 