SKU: A0.1494824

Growing up in Michigan brings with it the appreciation of living in a place of vibrant seasonal changes. The first snowfall of the year with its cold air and clear skies always is impressive and an attention getter. Imagine standing on top of a ski slope or snow board run covered in fresh snow and you are about to start that first exhilerating downhill ride. The air is clean and crisp and the slope is challenging with twists and turns that are both rhythmic and technical. This work has a few. The time signature changes with fun technical scale passages during the 3/4+ 4/4 section should glue together rather effortlessly with consistent percussion. The brisk, driving tempo makes Crisp, Cold Air a wonderful piece to program and prepare for band festivals. Maybe there will even be a Snow Day tomorrow!

SKU: A0.1306632

Walking in the Air is a song written by Howard Blake for the 1982 animated film 'The Snowman' based on Raymond Briggs's 1978 children's book of the same name. The song, performed by Peter Auty, forms the centrepiece of the film, which has become a seasonal favourite on British television, inspiring a sequel in 2012 (‘The Snowman and the Snowdog’). The song was released as a single by Aled Jones in 1985 and reached number 5 in the UK, becoming firmly associated with the performer since then and covered by around 40 other artists over the years. Let this magical song become a Christmas favourite for your band to return to each year….

SKU: 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 Bands
in 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!

SKU: A0.874250

Https://youtu.be/_e_043JWML4

Des pas sur la neige is a musical composition by French composer Claude Debussy. It is the sixth piece in the composer's first book of Preludes, written between late 1909 and early 1910. The title is in French and translates to Footprints in the Snow

.

The piece is one of four Debussy preludes in book # 1.

Thought to be inspired by the hugely popular French impressionist painting , called Snow at Louveciennes,

Debussy's inspiration from Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky is evident in this piece through his utilization of a block-like dissonant chord just before the middle part of the piece

 My own personal touches on this piece, included extended chord progression and formation with small variants on melody and counter melodies, Also, more importantly, the expression of the performers interpretation as well as my own for the creation  and  musically paint a magical snow scene.

Arranged and scored for piccolo, 6 flutes in c, alto flute in g, bass flute , opt. contra bass flute and / or optional cello.

Perfect for large and small ensembles. Perfect for winter  concerts, prelude services, recitals, concerts. 

I thought this impressionist piece, much like the the famous french paintings are a perfect pairing for winter, snow days, and environmental effects . Obviously, this is a professional arrangement, and super difficult to find on SHeetMusicPLus  , compared to so many other simple and basic , cookie-cutter formatted arrangements

This arrangement, however is true professionally arranged and definitely will stand out and shine for you ensemble or choir.

A must for flute choir libraries!!

SKU: A0.1369577

Since relocating to Southern Chile in 2016, composer Edgar Girtain has been immersed in the music of his adopted home, frequently performing with folk musicians in rural areas through the Los Lagos region. Two Andean Airs draws on a folkmusic style native to northern Chile (cultures of the Andean Plateau). The first piece was drawn from the third of composer's well-known Trios for Flute, Violin and Cello, while the second comes from a suite of Huaynos composed and arranged for a latin-american orchestra of
students that the composer co-directs in Puerto Montt. Both are outdoor style pieces, typical of what might be heard performed by brass or pan-flute bands at religious festivals in the deserts of northern Chile.