Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer / arranger: Bryan Kelly
Previously set as a 2nd. section testpiece, this piece has now been set as the 4th. section testpiece for the 2005 Regional Championships.
Four short mp3 audio extracts are provided here to give you a sample of each movement & the Solo Cornet part.
Access them by clicking on the "MORE DETAILS" button.
You can buy the full recording of this work on the CD section of our site.
The recording is REGIONALS 2005 on Doyen DOY CD181
First performed by the National Brass Band of Scotland in 1969, it was selected as the test piece for the 2nd. section Finals of 1972 - since then it has been performed very regularly. A divertimento is literally a diversion or an entertainment.
There are four movements in Bryan Kelly's Divertimento.
1. Prelude is full of catchy tunes and clever counterpoint. Despite its irregular rhythms it seems to portray a kind of parade, perhaps as in a ballet.
2. March is a more stately affair, full of interesting sectional writing and built on two main ideas. at its climax these are heard in combination before the music subsides into a quiet ending.
3. Intermezzo is slow and beautiful, the main theme is introduced by the flugel horn against a somewhat discordant trio of basses. The baroque like middle section features an etheral soprano solo, its melody being taken up basses and then by a combination of cornets & horns.
4. Scherzo the final movement is in compound time, but with periodic irregular bars. there are several musical ideas here, but the movement is held together by the first pseudo bugle tune. The movement forms a light hearted but ebullient ending to a work full of interesting harmony, counterpoint and timbre.
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer / arranger: Darrol Barry
Set as the Fourth Section test piece for the 2018 National Finals of the British Brass Band Championships of Great Britain - The Centaur, Cheltenham Saturday and Sunday 15th. & 16th. September.
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer / arranger: Darrol Barry
Set as the Fourth Section test piece for the 2018 National Finals of the British Brass Band Championships of Great Britain - The Centaur, Cheltenham Saturday and Sunday 15th. & 16th. September.
Dedicated to the West Glamorgan Youth Brass Band, and specially published for the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain.
Set as a Third Section Testpiece in 1990.
Click on "MORE DETAILS" to view the Solo Cornet part.
The three movements are : 1. Festival - 4.00 2. Romance 3.30 3. March 2.45
Percussion Requirements :
Percussion 1 - timpani, Xylophone, Glockenspiel, Tambourine and Maracas. Percussion 2 - Side Drum, Bass Drum, Suspended Cymbal, Tambourine, Triangle and Wood Block.
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer / arranger: John Ireland
Previously set as both Championship and First section testpieces. First used in the 1930's.
You can listen to an extract of this work on your computer, by clicking on the "MORE DETAILS" button on the right - this will reveal the audio extract(s) for you to sample.
If you enjoyed listening to this extract, you can buy the full recording of this work on the CD section of our site. If you want to perform this work with your band, you can of course purchase the score and parts here right now, by clicking on "BUY NOW".
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works) Composer: Dream Sequence
Duration 11.24
Grade - 3rd. Section upwards
Denzil Stephens writes -
A DREAM SEQUENCE came about 3 or 4 years ago after listening to an orchestral concert on TV of mainly progressive music. I could not sleep that same night as my mind was in turmoil thinking how I could get away from writing ‘safe’ traditional music for lower section bands. My mind came up very quickly with some ideas which I translated into brass band idiom, hence the work A Dream Sequence, which does not stray all that much from traditional writing, but is certainly a different style for me as a composer.
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