Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer: Kenneth Hesketh
Brass Band Grade 4: Advanced Youth and 3rd Section
Duration: 12 minutes
THE TERM ‘Danceries’ can be found in a copy of Playford’s Dancing Master, an extensive collection of folk and popular tunes of the seventeenth century. This publication was used by master fiddle players to teach the various dance steps of the day to a nobleman’s house or a king’s court. In Danceries, by Kenneth Hesketh, the melodies themselves are a mixture of old and new. Where the old occurs it has been adapted in mood and composition and is often interspersed with completely new material. The contemporary harmonies and rhythms bring a breath of new into these themes and add drama to the suite.
Lull Me Beyond Thee Gentle and lilting, almost a barcarole, this movement is very much a reverie. The original tune had the name ‘Poor Robin’s Maggot’—a rather disconcerting title; ‘maggot’, however, in seventeenth-century parlance meant whim or fancy. This theme can also be found in The Beggar’s Opera by John Gay (first performed in 1728) under the title ‘Would you have a young lady’.
Catching of Quails A colourful, buoyant scherzo on an original melody. The thematic material is shuttled around the band to contrast with full-bloodied tuttis. The last few bars fade to almost nothing—before a final surprise!
My Lady’s Rest A tender pavane, also on an original melody, with Moorish leanings. Beautiful solo passages, expressive contrapuntal writing and warm tuttis provide an opportunity to show off the most lyrical of playing.
Quodling’s Delight A clever combination of the seventeenth-century melody, ‘Goddesses’, with an original contrasting melody, creating a rousing and exuberant finale to the work.
The composer would like to express his most sincere gratitude to Phillip Littlemore for his assistance in the preparation of this score.
Grade equivalents for Brass Band test-pieces where there is considerable overlap at the higher levels, depending on the level of competition (local, regional or national):
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer: Kenneth Hesketh
Brass Band Grade 4: Advanced Youth and 3rd Section
Duration: 12 minutes
THE TERM ‘Danceries’ can be found in a copy of Playford’s Dancing Master, an extensive collection of folk and popular tunes of the seventeenth century. This publication was used by master fiddle players to teach the various dance steps of the day to a nobleman’s house or a king’s court. In Danceries, by Kenneth Hesketh, the melodies themselves are a mixture of old and new. Where the old occurs it has been adapted in mood and composition and is often interspersed with completely new material. The contemporary harmonies and rhythms bring a breath of new into these themes and add drama to the suite.
Lull Me Beyond Thee Gentle and lilting, almost a barcarole, this movement is very much a reverie. The original tune had the name ‘Poor Robin’s Maggot’—a rather disconcerting title; ‘maggot’, however, in seventeenth-century parlance meant whim or fancy. This theme can also be found in The Beggar’s Opera by John Gay (first performed in 1728) under the title ‘Would you have a young lady’.
Catching of Quails A colourful, buoyant scherzo on an original melody. The thematic material is shuttled around the band to contrast with full-bloodied tuttis. The last few bars fade to almost nothing—before a final surprise!
My Lady’s Rest A tender pavane, also on an original melody, with Moorish leanings. Beautiful solo passages, expressive contrapuntal writing and warm tuttis provide an opportunity to show off the most lyrical of playing.
Quodling’s Delight A clever combination of the seventeenth-century melody, ‘Goddesses’, with an original contrasting melody, creating a rousing and exuberant finale to the work.
The composer would like to express his most sincere gratitude to Phillip Littlemore for his assistance in the preparation of this score.
Grade equivalents for Brass Band test-pieces where there is considerable overlap at the higher levels, depending on the level of competition (local, regional or national):
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer: Kenneth Hesketh
Danceries Set II was commissioned by Keith Allen and Birmingham Symphonic Winds, supported by PRS for Music Foundation and the RVW Trust. The world première of this work was given by Birmingham Symphonic Winds, conducted by Keith Allen, at the CBSO Centre, Birmingham in 2011. This second set of Danceries continues the format established in Danceries (Set I), namely in using material taken from Playford's Dancing Master, a collection of folk and popular tunes published in the seventeenth century, to form the basis of an extended dance suite. In this set, the melodies have been more abstracted and project only a distant echo of their original forms, but as before, each movement is self-contained, colorful, and direct---with its own distinct mood. Arranged for brass band.
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer: Kenneth Hesketh
Danceries Set II was commissioned by Keith Allen and Birmingham Symphonic Winds, supported by PRS for Music Foundation and the RVW Trust. The world première of this work was given by Birmingham Symphonic Winds, conducted by Keith Allen, at the CBSO Centre, Birmingham in 2011. This second set of Danceries continues the format established in Danceries (Set I), namely in using material taken from Playford's Dancing Master, a collection of folk and popular tunes published in the seventeenth century, to form the basis of an extended dance suite. In this set, the melodies have been more abstracted and project only a distant echo of their original forms, but as before, each movement is self-contained, colorful, and direct---with its own distinct mood. Arranged for brass band.
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer: Philip Sparke
Dances and Alleluias was commissioned by the British Federation of Brass Bands for the inaugural English National Brass Band Championships, held in the LyricTheatre at The Lowry, Salford Quays, on July 1” 2006.
Four short mp3 audio extracts are provided here to give you a sample of this work. Access them by clicking on the "MORE DETAILS" button.
In this fantastic new work the composer mixes wonderful slow music,vocal in nature and ecstatic in mood,along with faster dances to create a challenging new piece,that will bring out the best in any band.
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer / arranger: Philip Sparke
Dances and Alleluias was commissioned by the British Federation of Brass Bands for the inaugural English National Brass Band Championships, held in the Lyric Theatre at The Lowry, Salford Quays, on July 1st 2006.
Fou short mp3 audio extracts are provided here to give you a sample of this work. Access them by clicking on the "MORE DETAILS" button.
In this fantastic new work the composer mixes wonderful slow music,vocal in nature and ecstatic in mood,along with faster dances to create a challenging new piece,that will bring out the best in any band.
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer: Edward Gregson Difficulty level: Championship
Commissioned by the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain with funds from the Arts Council of Great Britain
Written in 1984
Duration in 13.00 Minutes
Click on MORE DETAILS to view an image of the Solo Cornet part and the percussion plan.
This work was commissioned by Boosey & Hawkes Band Festivals (with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain) for the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, held at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 7th October 1984.
Composers Programme Note :
Dances and Arias is in one continuous movement, but as the title suggests is a series of alternating fast and slow sections as follows: Dance - Aria I - Dance (scherzo) - Aria II - Dance. The opening dance is energetic and introduces a four-note motif (on trombones) which is the basis for much of the melodic material in the work. Throughout, there is a continuous process of thematic cross-reference and transformation.
The first aria unfolds a long melody on solo cornet, eventually continued by all the solo cornets, and dissolving into a shimmering harmonic background (muted cornets, horns and baritones) over which is heard a brief self-quotation on solo tuba. This leads into the second dance, a frenetic scherzo, followed by the second aria, in the style of a lament (solo euphonium, followed by two flugel horns). This builds to a powerful climax which subsides, leaving the percussion to introduce the final toccata-like dance. It transforms material from the opening before a coda brings the music to a triumphant close. The percussion section (requiring three players) is an integral part in the work and uses a wide variety of instruments including four timpani, glockenspiel, vibraphone, xylophone, tubular bells, tom-toms, snare drum, bongos and tam-tam.
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