Concert Band - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.891956 Composed by A.E.Williams. Arranged by Stephen Davies. 20th Century,Standards. Score and Parts. 74 pages. Stephen Davies #6094485. Published by Stephen Davies (A0.891956).    CLARINET CONCERT CONCERTINO FOR WIND BAND I don’t normally enter long descriptions of my arrangements, nothing worse than seeing that little sign on the bottom right saying ‘see more’, however this piece has a rather interesting story that I’d like to share with you! It was maybe 8 or 9 years ago that I helped in the library of the Band Of The Guards Association, a group of musicians who were all members of the Household Division Bandsin London, that is to say the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish, Welsh, Life Guards and Blues & Royals bands, chiefly known the world over for Changing The Guard at Buckingham Palace and many other ceremonial occasions. The Band Of The Guards Association were privileged to rehearse at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, home of the famous Chelsea Pensioners, renowned for their Redcoats and medals as veterans of the British Army. Our library of music for the band at the time was held in an air raid shelter deep in the cellars underneath the labyrinthine corridors of the old building built by Sir Christopher Wren back in the 1680’s. When I say ‘air raid shelter’, that is exactly what it was like! Can’t go into too much detail, but suffice it to say that it was like being transported back in time! But this is where the library was kept, complete with dusty shelves, blackout warnings, obsolete bulb replacements and tunnels to the Thames! The man in charge of the library was Mr.Gordon ‘Joe’ Stafford, former Solo Clarinet with HM Band Of The Welsh Guards (ret’d), a fine player of that instrument in his day, and revered as such even now. About 8 years ago, our ‘underground ‘ library was deemed a fire hazard, and we were ‘invited’ to move it elsewhere. As we had our practice room nearby in the Chelsea Hospital, we decided to relocate the whole library there, shelving being built and constructed by enthusiastic band members. Joe Stafford and myself were not particularly enthusiastic about this, but it had to be done. Having looked at the enormous amount of music to be moved, we thought about ditching some of the scores which would never be played again, for instance selections of musicals long forgotten, scores with multiple missing parts etc. Lots of that music went to local music organisations simply for sight reading purposes, and the more complete versions went to bands and orchestras to bolster their stock of scores. After the laborious sorting out in the air raid shelter, Joe and I had the unenviable task of discarding the scores and parts that were incomplete, defaced, or just basically useless. It was an arbitrary case of ‘keep or throw’, and at the time we were doing this, Joe was desperate for a pint in the bar! I agreed, and was anyway on my last batch of throwaways when I found a piece titled ‘Clarinet Concerto’, by A.E.Williams. Written in pencil, with ancient sellotape, and signed by all the people who played it many years ago, including the Soloist and composer, I thought that that should not be binned, so I kept it! Joe Stafford suggested that I should ‘get it out there’ , so I have. Incidentally it has a cracking Cadenza towards the end, it was a bit smudged in the original score, but I’ve filled in the gaps!! This would be an ideal addition to the band repertoire for Clarinet!

Concert Band - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1385649 Composed by John Ireland. Arranged by John Ivor Holland. 20th Century,Christian,Classical,Religious. 82 pages. John Ivor Holland #969580. Published by John Ivor Holland (A0.1385649). John Ireland studied piano with Frederick Cliffe and composition with Charles Villers Stanford at the Royal College of Music in London, where he himself taught between 1923 and 1939, his pupils including Benjamin Britten. He worked as organist and choirmaster at St Luke's Chelsea between 1904 and 1926, while developing his career as a composer. Ireland retired in 1953, settling in the hamlet of Rock in Sussex, where he lived in a converted windmill for the rest of his life. It was there he met the young pianist Alan Rowlands who would be Ireland's choice to record his complete piano music.He died of heart failure aged 82 at Rock Mill in Washington, Sussex, and is buried at St. Mary the Virgin in Shipley, near his home. His epitaph reads Many waters cannot quench love and One of God's noblest works lies here. His organ music belongs largely to the early years of his composing career (1902-1911), however, the 'Meditation' on John Keble's Rogationtide Hymn was written in 1958, and was his very last composition. Arranged for concert band, including parts for string bass and contrabass woodwind, as well as attractive moments for Cor Anglais.