Band

1.Pulham Prelude 2.Diss Dance 3.Lopham Lament 4.Garboldisham Jig Norfolk is one of the most beautiful countries in England, famous for its charming villages and boundless broads, a popular center for sailing holidays. It is also the home of one of the best known of all British composers, Sir Malcolm Arnold. The date of the premiere of this piece was to fall close to his 80th birthday, so Philip Sparke decided to write something of a birthday tribute. Some of Arnold's best-loved orchestral works are his sets of dances: there are two sets of English Dances, Four Scottish Dances, Four Cornish Dances and others, most of which have been arranged for concert band at one time or another. Sparke thought it would be appropriate for the concert band to have its own set of dances and wrote Four Norfolk Dances very much in the style of Arnold's suites.

Four Sketches for Band consists of four short movements of varied character that depict the atmosphere of an old fashioned fairground. The melodies are delightfully entertaining yet have a simple rhythmic structure. The instrumentation of this composition is perfect for bands without a full contingent of players, and each movement can be used as stand-alone concert item. Dur: 4:50