Categories: SOLOS - B♭. Cornet/Trumpet with Piano, Michael Bennett Collection Composer: Michael Bennett
In the 1960s Malcolm Arnold wrote a series of unaccompanied fantasies for the trumpet, horn,trombone and tuba. The pieces became very popular with generations of brass players. It was a great pleasure to meet Sir Malcolm a few years before he died and present him with copies of my Fantasies, telling him his own compositions were a great influence on me.
The Fantasy for Trumpet opens with a call in C major but immediately rises a semitone to Db major. This move perpetuates throughout.
The slower section in five time includes calls using ‘’half-cocked valves’’ which gives the effect of being played off stage.
The Scherzando is based on the opening bars of the piece , there is then a short recapitulation of the main theme followed by two octave harmonic leaps which brings us to a close.
Category: Duets Composer: George Bizet Arranger: Robert Childs
Euphonium Duet
Bizet’s opera, The Pearl Fishers, has the exotic setting of a quiet fishing village on the island of Ceylon in the time of antiquity. The plot revolves around best friends Zurga and Nadir, who swear an oath of friendship, vowing never again to let the love of a girl, Leila, come between them. However, when Leila returns, Nadir ignores his promise. Zurga wishes to kill them both but remembers an earlier act of loyalty and instead masterminds a selfless plot to save their lives. The opera is filled with rich melodies, particularly the tenor and baritone duet 'Au fond du temple saint', where Zurga and Nadir swear their oath of friendship. This has become known to audiences as The Pearl Fishers Duet.
A short mp3 audio extract is provided here to give you a sample of this work.
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You can buy the full recording of this work on the CD section of our site.
The recording is POLES APART - Riki McDonnell & Alexandra Kerwin on Doyen DOY CD222
