Cat No. JM30965
Price £65.00
Composer / arranger: Bryan Kelly
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works)

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.