In our last update at the end of February we told you about three more new releases due at the end of March.
The first of these, The Promised Land from Cory Band, was received into stock last week and many of you have already spotted it on the World of Brass website, placed your orders and received your copies. This CD can be seen as a worthy successor to the band’s successful Brass Band Classics series and includes five substantial works by composers all born within eight years of each other. Incidentally, the sheet music for The Promised Land is also now available and is sure to be of interest to Championship Section bands considering their options for future ‘own choice’ contests.
Unfortunately, there have been further delays on the launch of Grimethorpe in Concert Volume III from Grimethorpe Colliery Bandbut we can assure you that the disc will be worth the wait!
Other new recordings available since our last update include the latest recording from Brett Baker who this time has teamed up with Kew Band Melbourne to bring a programme containing an interesting mix of new and old material for trombone and brass band. Norman Bearcroft celebrated his 80th birthday last year and our cameras were at Regent Hall, London to record the tribute concert for DVD. The concert featured Household Troops Band, International Staff Songsters, Kevin Ashman (cornet), Derick Kane (euphonium) along with spoken tributes from several of Norman’s friends, colleagues and family.
Last month we told you about the upcoming availability of some of our titles as MP3 downloads. As a prelude to the launch of our own MP3 download site, we have entered into a partnership with www.theclassicalshop.net to offer you the ability to obtain tracks from CDs recently deleted from our catalogue. Selected new titles will also be available from www.theclassicalshop.net from mid-April. We will bring you the exciting news about our own World of Brass download site in the next few weeks.
Brasscast, the weekly brass band podcast from the USA is this week featuring the Greater New York Salvation Army Youth Band from the USA.
Musical numbers played by the bands include
* Let there be Praise by Barrie Gott 2:18 from their “The Triumph of Peace” CD * The Last Spring by Edward Greig arranged by Ray Steadman-Allen from their “Classic Melodies” CD * March Salvation’s Song by William Gordon from their Celebrate CD * A Burt Mason Trombone Solo So Glad by William Himes from their Celebrate CD
These numbers are interspersed with banding snippets and news about brass bands.
The Army’s New York Staff Band was in Toronto at the beginning of March to perform at a downtown music festival organized by the Hannaford Street Silver Band, Canada’s only fully professional brass band. Conductor Ronald Waiksnoris talks about the NYSB’s mission and how he approaches programming for non-Salvationist audiences.
Music: On The King’s Highway (Mississauga Temple Band) CD: Credo Star Lake No. 2 (New York Staff Band) CD: On The Road Exultate (International Staff Band) CD: Glory, Glory!
Euphonium Recital and CD Release on the ARKTOS LabelMatthew Clark, euphonium and Janet Scott Hoyt, pianoSaturday, March 31st, 2007
7:30 pm.
McDougall United Church
On Saturday, March 31st, Matthew Clark presents a euphonium recital and release of his new CD titled Euphonium. Janet Scott Hoyt will join him at the piano. The concert will be held at McDougall United Church, 10025-101 Street and will begin at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $12 adults and $10 for seniors/students. Tickets are available at the door or in advance from TIX on the Square (420 1757 or www.tixonthesquare.ca).
The euphonium is a tenor-voiced member of the tuba family and as its name implies, its sound in the hand of a master is sweet, pleasing, luscious, lyrical, dark, virtuosic and explosive. The concert will feature original works by Philip Wilby, Philip Sparke, Brian Bowen and Hiroshi Hoshina; an arrangement of Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise; as well as a spectacularly agile set of variations on Auld Lang Syne by Simone Mantia.
Matthew Clark is quickly being recognised as one of Canada’s premier euphonium soloists. He is the euphonium soloist of The Royal Canadian Artillery Band, one of only six professional military bands in Canada, and based at the Edmonton Garrison.
Janet Scott Hoyt is one of the most sought-after collaborators in the Canadian music scene and is on the faculty of the Department of Music at the University of Alberta, where she supervises a graduate program in piano pedagogy.
Brasscast, the weekly brass band podcast from the USA is this week featuring the Central University Brass Band from the USA.
Musical numbers played by the bands include
* Finale of Symphony No 4 Tchaikowski arr Gordon Horton * Fanfare and Jubiloso by James Curnow * Praise by Wilfred Heaton * I know Thou art mine by Leonard Ballentine
These numbers are interspersed with banding snippets and news about brass bands.
* Aces High by Goodwin Bryce * Life on Mars by Bowie Bemaerts * Once Upon a Time in the West Composer by Ennio Morricone Arranged by Andrew Duncan * I Don’t Know How To Love Him by Andrew Lloyd Webber arranged by Graham Walker
National Brass Band Championships 2006 is the complete record of last year’s National Championships Finals as it includes all five winning performances from the five sections. Essential Dyke Volume VII is the latest in the Essential Dyke series and includes the band’s winning performance of Philip Wilby’s Vienna Nights, the test piece of the 2006 British Open Brass Band Championships. Kirsty Abbotts is acknowledged as one of the finest principal cornet players around and is renowned for her lyrical tone. This can be heard to great effect on her first solo CD Soliloquy where she is accompanied by her band, Carlton Main Frickley Colliery. Many of the finest trumpet players in the world were brought together last year by Paul Archibald to present a concert at the Royal Academy of Music, London. The line-up included Hans Gansch,Florian Klingler,Rod Franks and Maurice Murphy. You can hear this star-studded collection of trumpeters on the latest CD on the Brass Classics label, Proclamation.
Arriving towards the end of March will be three more new releases. Grimethorpe in Concert Volume III is the latest release from Grimethorpe Colliery Band and their first since reverting to their original name following a change of sponsor. In November, Grimethorpe narrowly managed to complete a double hat-trick at the Brass in Concert Championship having been pipped at the post by Brighouse and Rastrick Band. Our latest DVD includes the winning programme from Brighouse and Rastrick Band and also features the whole of the World of Brass in Concert featuring Grimethorpe Colliery Band and the sensational Brass Band of Central Florida. There was so much great material from this year’s event that we found it impossible to squeeze everything onto two discs, hence our decision to make it a triple DVD this time. The own choice test piece section of the European Brass Band Contest 2006 was won by Buy As You View Band playing Kenneth Downie’s specially commissioned The Promised Land. They have now made a studio recording of this wonderful music along with some other brass band blockbusters. The Promised Land is surely an early contender for CD of the Year. The band has also reverted to its original name, Cory, as the three year sponsorship agreement with Buy As You View comes to an end.
The deadline for entries for the European Soloists Competition 2007 is Wednesday 28th February. The cornet solo chosen for the final round is Robert Redhead’sLife Abundant. Up to now, this solo has not been commercially available but we are pleased to announce that the original manuscript has now been originated and is available in our Judd Street Collection format.
During the course of next week our administration and warehouse operations will be re-locating to Wellingborough. This means that our offices are now closed until Monday 5th March although you will still be able to place your order at www.worldofbrass.com. Orders for UK and European countries within the European Union will be despatched from our London shop but the re-location will mean a delay in the despatch of orders to the rest of the world. We thank you in advance for your patience during this period.
Finally, we always try our best to help, so we’d love to hear from you if you think there’s anything we could do better. Please call our Mail Order department on their new number 01933 445445 from Monday 5th March, email us at worldofbrass@sp-s.co.uk or write to us at World of Brass, Salvationist Publishing and Supplies Ltd. 66 - 78 Denington Road, Wellingborough, Northants. NN8 2QH.
To make sure that World of Brass email updates continue to reach you, please add mailing@worldofbrass.com to your address book or contacts.
The Canadian Staff Band recently travelled to Southern California to participate in the Tournament of Roses parade. While there they gave a number of concerts and performances. Pasadena Tabernacle has posted an MP3 download of the concert with their youth chorus.
The program and timings are listed below:
0:00:00 - Fanfare and Flourishes 0:03:21 - Amazing Love - Congregational Song 0:09:31 - We Crown You 0:12:45 - My Life is in His hands 0:18:22 - Start it Up 0:22:21 - Call of the Cossacks 0:35:48 - Jubilance 0:44:18 - Wade in the Water 0:47:38 - Always 0:54:22 - O Magnify the Lord with me 0:58:46 - Toccata in D 1:04:56 - Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho 1:11:31 - Russian Sailors Dance 1:15:14 - Joy 1:19:15 - In the Sanctuary 1:24:04 - Gift for Thine Alter 1:31:13 - Devotional 1:37:06 - Hymn to Christ 1:48:52 - Manhattan 1:52:59 - Gaelic Blessing
My brother was asking some sources of brass band MP3 files on the Internet. Thus far, I haven’t come across a “master site” of brass band recordings online. With a little digging I’ve turned up a few links to odds and ends:
Internet Bandsman’s “Everything Within” has a page of resource links. Any link with a speaker icon beside it has some sort of audio file(s) available.
Curnow Music has a page of MP3 downloads. A number of them are demo clips, but some, like the DeHaske Brass Band James Curnow series are complete recordings.
The Brass Band portal has a page of downloads. Again, some are sample clips and some are complete.
Salvo Audio has dozens of complete CD’s ripped to mp3 files; everything from the International Staff Band to the Buenos Aires Central Corps Band. Not sure how legal this is, but for now it flourishes.
Brasscast. These fellows produce a weekly podcast of brass band music interspersed with interviews and announcements. 20 - 25 minutes in length.
The Chandos collection of brass band recordings are available for purchase and download. I’ve bought a couple or three albums from here.
The World of Brass has a streaming radio show called World of Brass Radio. Click the graphic halfway down the page.
