Band

The Hymn, To My Country, is the trio part of the second movement, entitled In the Country, from the third Symphony To My Country by the Dutch composer Bernard Zweers. This symphony was written at a time when a lot of composers were largely inspired by patriotic feelings.

Johan de Meij's orchestration of 'Trois Rag-Caprices' for symphonic band is a most welcome addition next to the original band works of Milhaud, such as 'Suite Franaise' and 'West Point Suite'.

The four tunes used in this suite have been made universally popular in Sir Henry Wood's,Fantasia on British Sea Songs, which is an ever-present ingredient in The Last Night of the Proms. He introduced this colourful suite into the Proms in 1905, to celebrate the centenary of Nelson's brilliant victory at Trafalgar, when Britannia really did rule the waves. Bring the excitement of The Last Night of The Proms to any concert with this stirring new edition.

Mozart originally wrote this concerto for a clarinet with an extended lower range, compared to the conventional instrument. As early as 1802, published versions appeared with registral changes, which made the concerto playable on instruments without the extra keys. When producing an edition for the conventional clarinet there are two choices to be made about the extra notes; Is it better to maintain the musical line, and hence transpose whole phrases or passages up an octave, rather than single notes, or is the chalumeau tone more important, in which case it may possibly be better to alter one or two notes to keep the correct octave. In this edition Philip Sparke has usually gone for the former so thesequences make musical sense, but have taken the second option in some places. This fantastic work will prove popular with soloist, band and audience alike.

The Battell was written during the late 14th Century when England was in a mood of national celebration after victory over the Spanish and French Armadas. The movement which Byrd called Marche Before The Battell became known as The Earl of Oxford's March and it appears with that title in an early manuscript copy of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. Written while Byrd was at the height of his powers, it still stirs the soul to this day. A perfect opener for your concert performances.

The original concept for this work was a suite of short movements, each with its own character, but by the time the first movement was complete it was clear that a conventional three-movement format was going to work out better. The opening movement contains much syncopation and is almost rag-like in style. The slower second movement explores the unsurpassable ability of the euphonium to play lyrically, with a theme that is later taken up by the band whilst the soloist weaves a filigree descant. This leads straight into the third movement, which is almost bebop in style and shows off the jazzier capabilities of the euphonium. The concerto was composed for the virtuoso soloist, Steven Mead. A version for euphonium and piano is also available.