SKU: A0.1027894

Programme Notes

Boudicca became the Queen of the Iceni upon the death of her husband, Prasutagus. The Iceni had lived in relative peace with the Romans, with Prasutagus living as a client king, paying tribute to Rome. The Romans refused to accept a woman as the ruler, and sought to assume total control. To demonstrate its superiority, a Roman Legion attacked the Iceni, captured Boudicca and made her watch as her daughters were raped. She sought revenge, allying the Iceni with the Trinovantes under her command, and wreaked havoc, destroying many Roman settlements. Boudicca was only stopped when Rome sent one of the best generals of the time, Seutonius Paulinus. Seutonius has been depicted offering Boudicca surrender with honour and her life, but when she rejected this, his tactical acumen proved superior, and all the Iceni and Trinovantes were wiped out.

1 – Boudicca Unites the Tribes

The piece opens with the initial statement of Boudicca’s theme. Figure 3 depicts Boudicca’s reign as the leader of the Iceni, interspersed with a sadder theme depicting her lonely widowhood. Figure 4 sees the tribes called together with a drinking song and Figure 5 is the war cry, as Boudicca gives a rousing speech, first to her own warriors then to the Trinovantes. The second time bar before Figure 7 sees the tribes fall into a restless sleep. Amid early morning mists, Figure 7 sees restless horses, with distant fanfares heard, signalling the coming of the Romans. The Romans main theme is at Figure 8, with a constant fanfare over the top, signalling the confidence of the leaders. Figure 10 sees the Iceni and Trinovantes coming slowly out of hiding, and Boudicca’s theme growing in volume until the death chords signify the tribes have prevailed.

2. The Bards Sing

The tribes sing a hymn to an unnamed Pagan God. At Figure 13, the Euphonium develops Boudicca’s theme depicting Taranis, the Bard of the Iceni, singing wistfully of happier times. He then makes an impassioned speech for peace, before cutting off in mid sentence. He then sits quietly (Figure 16) fearing the future. Figure 17 gives a euphoric and hopeful rendition of the hymn, as if Taranis has not been heard.

3 – Epping

NB: It is my piece, and I say Epping is as credible as anywhere as the site of the final battle, and will not enter into any correspondence on the matter!

A fanfare awakens the two tribes. Figure 18 sees the tribes prepare for a final battle, and the repeated section depicts two victories at Verulanium (St Albans) and Londinium (London – then a small barracks). At Figure 20 Taranis has a vision, and tries to change Boudicca’s mind about another attack. Boudicca listens to him, but tells him the die is cast, and there is no going back. Death or Glory… The war cry ensues at Figure 21, but at Figure 22 it is the Romans’ theme heard, and the death chords (Figure 24) signify that it is the two tribes that are being slaughtered this time. Brave souls (Repiano and Flugel at 24) fight on in vain to allow Boudicca to escape. At Figure 25 Boudicca prays, but realising all is lost, at Figure 26 drinks poison. As she dies, the last thing this brave British heroine hears is the sound of the Roman’s theme, signifying Seutonius’ total victory.

William Elsom, December 2004

SKU: A0.1411739

Scored for 2 B flat Trumpets, Horn in F, 2 Trombones and Tuba, Weekend in Paris is a bright jazz waltz intended to convey the excitement and anticipation of a trip to Paris. The music is to bring to mind pleasure in sightseeing, wandering around cafe's, seeing children at play, people dancing and laughing and families gathering in a happy relaxed atmosphere in the glorious sunshine.

The piece is in concert F major establishing the bright swingy rhythm, this then flows into the second section which is more lyrical and legato and is in E flat major. A short bridge section follows keeping the motif's heard in the first section but exploring the lower registers and remains largely legato. The first two sections are then heard again before a modulation takes place to give the piece a final lift before the end. The piece concludes quietly with a snippet of the opening motif.

I have set it to intermediate level but the whole score is on the youtube link for you to assess suitability.

The music would be a great addition to any repertoire as a happy piece, programmatic with a world/travelling theme in mind.

Full score 16 pages-parts 4 pages each. 4 mins 15 in length.

Price is for score and all parts.

NB Versions for Flute choir (4 C flutes, Alto and Bass Flute) and Flute Ensemble of 6 C Flutes are also available as is a Clarinet Choir version.

SKU: A0.905182

This is an arrangement for brass quintet of Ed Sheeran's best-selling song, Perfect. Ed described his song as the best love song of his career. It was the best selling song in the 1st half of 2018, reaching no.1 in the US, UK and in 16 other countries around the world.

The arrangement features the trumpets, starting with a beautiful solo for 2nd trumpet, before the melody is passed on to the 1st trumpet. The other instruments have interest with rhythmic accompaniment, counter-melodies and lush harmonies. The accompaniment has a 1950's 'doo-wop' feel. There is a gradual crescendo throughout the piece, with a final uplifting chorus featuring the whole group before calming to a quiet and reflective finish.

This arrangement is for a classical brass quintet, and could form part a mixed concert programme, or would work well as a stand-alone piece.  

Please see my other arrangements for brass, including hits by Ed Sheeran, The Killers, Shakira, Seal and The Bangles! https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/publishers/lucy-wilson/9925

SKU: A0.563879

Yesterday is a song by English rock band the Beatles written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and first released on the album Help! in the United Kingdom in August 1965. McCartney composed the entire melody in a dream one night in his room, and upon waking, he hurried to a piano and played the tune to avoid forgetting it. McCartney's initial concern was that he had subconsciously plagiarised someone else's work. As he put it, For about a month I went round to people in the music business and asked them whether they had ever heard it before. Eventually it became like handing something in to the police. I thought if no one claimed it after a few weeks then I could have it. I have arranged the melody here as a solo trombone feature which has been successfully performed in concert many times.

SKU: A0.767318

This is a brand new work for brass quartet, using brass band instrumentation: Cornet (doubling Flugelhorn), Tenor Horn, Baritone Horn and Euphonium.

It was written as a submission for a new brass quartet (A4 Brass Quartet) comprising musicians from the RNCM, but didn't get selected. Each movement is based on the ensemble's name and contains a pun on A4. Each movement also has fourths involved in it somewhere.

The first movement is called Aforethought (because it contains my initial ideas) and it uses a mixture of tonal and quartal harmonies. Melodies and harmony are based around fourths and fifths. It requires all players to be able to flutter-tongue. After the opening fanfare, there is a march-like melody on the cornet, accompanied by the rest of the ensemble. This is followed by a contrasting tune using intervals of a fourth. These ideas are developed over several keys until the first march-like melody returns. The fanfare idea closes the movement.

The second movement is called Aforementioned. It takes its ideas from the first movement, but gives them a bluesy style. The cornet player changes to the flugelhorn for this movement which has a beautiful languid melody. The horn shares some of the glory towards the end.

The third and final movement is called Aphorhythm (A4 rhythm) and is in 7/8 time. The jerky little melody plays with the pulse of the 7/8 and smoothly morphs into a steadier 'middle 8' section before reprising the opening music.

Altogether, this is an enjoyable and exciting piece for brass quartet.

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SKU: A0.808687

    Brahms completed Six Pieces for Piano in 1893, just four years before his death. It was the second from last work he would write for solo piano, an introspective composition that he dedicated to Clara Schumann. To four of the six pieces he attached the label Intermezzo. Although the term originally defined a composition that was inserted between two other pieces-say, the movements of a suite or the acts of an opera-Brahms wrote them as independent works. And of these, the most popular is this, the Intermezzo in A major, andante teneramente. As described on the website Favorite Classic Composers, It's a sweetly melancholy piece, with a strong tinge of melancholy.
    Except for a few items, this arrangement is not technically difficult. For the most part, Trumpet 1 plays the melody. Some of the notes are relatively high, the highest being C6 (high D for B-flat trumpet); there are several of those. Trumpet 2 has one brief A5 (high B). Trombone carries the heavy load; it has lots of oodle-oodles in the form of up-and-down eighth notes and triplet figures plus one F2. In the tuba part the range of notes is E1 to F3 and it contains a number of octave jumps. This is a beautiful piece, but it does require that each musician listen to the other four while playing.
    This arrangement was completed in 2018, and performance time runs about 4 minutes, 55 seconds. The arranger, Les Smith, would be very interested in your comments; contact him at lessmith@ufl.edu or leave a review on the SheetMusicPlus website. For more arrangements by Les, enter Sweetwater Brass Press (without the quotation marks) in the search box. (Also, purchase of this piece entitles you to your choice of another of his arrangements at no charge; send a copy of your purchase receipt directly to him at lessmith61@bellsouth.net.)