SKU: A0.883769

I recently published Romeo & Juliet Tchiakovsky which is a big bridge musically technically and and needs a big chunk of stamina. Before I did this there was another work on my mind of an opposite challenge for band in the orch rep dep.

An impressionist work of great delicacy, subtle beyond belief, the fabric is fragile like lace with a feeling of transparency and lucidity and must move as if played by one person, colour and timbre, light, lithe, the orchestration a masterpiece, utilising fx from all dep’s often at ppp and most difficult to replicate at all for brass band.

And, it’s a fair cop! The purists outsiders will say that this is the last piece that should be arranged for a brass band. So why arrange the greatest impressionist work ever written, for Brass Band?Well, because it’s there, and I believe it can be played with the above requirements by band. The work was written in the summer of 1894, and finished in the September. Three months later in December the Societe Nationale de Musique conducted by Gustave Doret with Marcel Moyse playing the opening flute solo gave the first performance. The concept of the piece was built around a poem by Stephan Mallarme, who describes the wishes and dreams of a faun in the heat of a summer afternoon. Prep for tres difficile?

SKU: A0.966760

Originally recorded by the English Synth-pop Duo Yazoo, comprised of Alison Moyet & Vince Clarke, this classic song from their debut album Upstairs At Eric's reached Number 2 in the UK Charts in 1982. Further success followed a year later when the song was released by the 'a cappella' vocal group The Flying Pickets when it was crowned 'Christmas Number 1' in the UK Charts and stayed there for 5 weeks.

This arrangement will enhance any programme throughout the year, not just at Christmas and should sound effective played by brass bands from any section.