The pieces [on this recording] guide the listener along a 15-year musical time-line, from his first major brass band composition, Dimensions, to his latest work, On Alderley Edge.' When I first read those comments in late September 1997 I realised that the works being reviewed represented a distillation of my compositional practice. As I write these words eighteen months later it occurs to me that in fact twenty years have passed since my first composition for brass band, a concert march, was written and subsequently published by the Salvation Army. Being brought up in the Salvation Army it was almost inevitable that I would join the local corps brass band and ultimately arrange and compose music for it. Despite receiving piano and theory lessons independently it was my musical experiences within the Salvation Army, as brass performer, singer, pianist, conductor and arranger, which I now believe have shaped my approach to composition. The majority of Salvation Army music is functional, providing both accompaniment to congregational singing and concert music at various levels of difficulty (a latter-day gebrauchsmusik perhaps). Almost exclusively tonal, the music serves to communicate with audiences and rarely exploits what may be considered the more esoteric twentieth century compositional techniques. There are obvious parallels with many of the functional test-pieces contained in this collection, though the music under review here is not unique in this respect ... for the most part, brass bands play fine and rarified proletarian music. Fundamentally it is the need to communicate which I believe is the key part of my compositional make-up. This in turn dictates what some may consider the conservative style of most of this music. That is not to say that I believe the music should stand still in terms of some kind of musical 'time-warp'. I have a particular sympathy with the view held by Philip Wilby, that: Composing for brass bands demands that there is a consensus between the composer, players and audience. With each new test-piece the composer can provide the audience with increasing demands without repelling them. If you break this consensus then I'm afraid it doesn't work and you are back to square one. In deciding which works to include in the collection, a number of factors came into play. The degree 'by published works' is without precedent at Salford and, perhaps inevitably, the publications bestride the previously mentioned musical time-line of around fifteen years. Another factor in determining the choice of material was the decision that the collection should be seen to both relate to current Music Department teaching and research, and satisfy the criteria outlined in the University Regulations: 1. That the collection be a "coherent" body of work and a natural extension of the portfolio requirements of the MA compositional studies programme at Salford; 2. That the collection be seen to foster an ethos in which band styles are seen as susceptible to the same serious and dedicated study as accorded to classical "art" music genres. Both brass and wind works are included, the brass music being genre type contest pieces of the kind previously discussed. The characteristics of the latter include the exploitation of specific instrumental techniques (triple-tonguing etc.) and wide dynamic, stylistic and tempo ranges. These parameters are dictated by the rules and pragmatics of contests and may appear to present an unacceptable restriction of compositional freedom. Ironically, my experience has been that, confronted with such a wide range of constraints, the creative process is actually strengthened. This experience is one which is not uncommon to composers of all kinds: ... my freedom will be so much the greater and more meaningful the more narrowly I limit my field of action and the more I surround myself with obstacles. Whatever diminishes constraint, diminishes strength. The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one's self of the chains that shackle the spirit. Technical challenges aside, the works demonstrate a range of compositional techniques including exploration of colour and texture, symphonic argument embracing tonal conflicts and resolutions and (briefly) more contemporary techniques including minimalism and aleatory music. It is with these points in mind that the following works are presented: Brass Band Dimensions (1983) 9' Symphonic Study No. 1 Boosey & Hawkes Prisms (1988) 13' Symphonic Study No. 2 Rosehill Music Publishing The Essence of Time (1990) 13' Variations Rosehill Music Publishing On Alderley Edge (1997) IT Tone Poem Gramercy Music Publishing Wind Band Symphony for Winds (1998) 17' Rosehill Music Publishing Pentium (1998) 6' Overture Gramercy Music Publishing.

No description available.

This thesis investigates the social and cultural history of the seaside bands in Bridlington, Scarborough, Blackpool, Southport, and Douglas (Isle of Man), from 1865, the start of the Bridlington era, to 1911, the end of the long Victorian period. It pays particular attention to the Bridlington Quay Parade Band as the starting point of the thesis. The bands will be looked at in terms of repertoire, personnel, instruments, function, management, and their relationship with the local councils, management boards and owners. Extensive discussion of the Bridlington band will centre on the social, economic and management aspects of the Parade band, which taken in conjunction with other bands will give new insights into the barely researched world of the late Victorian and Edwardian seaside band. To facilitate the research, archives and libraries in the relevant seaside resorts have been visited. Primary sources have been rich in some categories, e.g. local newspapers, and limited in others, e.g. programmes and local records. The main sources for this enquiry have been the newspapers of the period. They frequently reported on council meetings, and where local records have survived generally gave much more detail than the official council minutes. They have provided a wealth of information on the conductors, the bands, how the visitors and residents regarded the bands, and the importance of the bands and conductors to the seaside resorts. With the exception of the Scarborough Spa, very few programmes have survived for the period 1865-1900. Local records for this period are also scarce. Primary sources for the period 1900-1911 are more abundant, with some programmes and local records generally surviving. The available programmes have provided information on the bands and repertoire, whereas local records, for example council minutes, do not often go into detail and so information is patchy. It has also been possible to locate primary sources through Internet searches; this has resulted in original pictures of bands and conductors, several programmes, and contemporary picture postcards of the selected seaside resorts and has enabled the assembly of a personal archive.

„Im Freien“ für 6-7-stimmigen Posaunenchor Der Titel „Im Freien“ verweist zunächst einmal darauf, dass die Musik für Freiluftaufführungen vorgesehen und dafür geeignet ist. Darüber hinaus hält sich die Komposition in einem „freien Gelände“ der Formgebung auf. Zwar ist eine Gliederung A-B-A‘-B‘-A“ unschwer zu erkennen. Jedoch sind insbesondere die jeweils im piano beginnenden A-Teile mit ihren unvorbereiteten und sich aufwärts auflösenden Vorhalten sehr unterschiedlich gestaltet. Die fünfteilige Reihungsform wird überdies überlagert von der Idee der zunehmenden Verkürzung der Abschnitte (A und A‘: je 10 Takte, A“: 5 Takte, B: 12 Takte, B‘: 8 Takte) und der dynamischen Intensivierung: Die späteren Teile sind jeweils tendenziell lauter als die Teile bei ihrer erstmaligen Vorstellung. „Frei“ ist teilweise auch die Rhythmik, so z. B. in der Überleitung T. 21-22. Bei einer weniger großen Bläserbesetzung könnte das doppelchörige Prinzip der B-Teile durch eine entsprechende räumlich getrennte Aufstellung der hohen und tiefen Stimmen verdeutlicht werden. Die Aufführungsdauer liegt bei etwa 2‘45“ bzw. bei exakt 3 Minuten, wenn aufgrund der akustischen Probleme einer großen Besetzung als Tempo Viertel = 60 gewählt wird. Die Mitwirkung von Tiefbassinstrumenten ist, abgesehen von den Takten 12-15, ausdrücklich erwünscht.

„Kontraste” entstand als Kompositionsauftrag des Kirchenkreises Soltau 2019. In den vier Sätzen werden bestimmte Gegensätze ausgetragen. Damit werden kirchliche Posaunenchöre mit zum Teil ungewohnten Anforderungen konfrontiert.:Seite 1 1. hoch-tief Seite 3 2. kurz-lang Seite 6 3. langsam-schnell Seite 10 4. Solo-Tutti und laut-leise

This thesis presents research into the history and contemporary context of brass bands in the Scottish Borders. It discusses how the survival of the brass bands in the Scottish Borders can be accounted for over the last 150 years, in particular with regard to the continuity of their interaction with the community which has enabled them to overcome cultural, social and demographic changes. The textile industry which provided a stimulus for the formation of the brass bands in the nineteenth century has largely disappeared, but the traditional role of the bands has been carried forward to the present day. Previous study of the social and cultural history of the brass band movement has concentrated on the history of brass banding in the North of England. Although research into the history of brass bands has been carried out in other areas of Britain such as the South of England this is the first in-depth study of these bands in a region of Scotland. This research follows previous studies of amateur music-making in specific locations by studying in detail the brass bands that exist in seven towns and one village of the Scottish Borders where the bands can date their formation to the mid-nineteenth century. Historical and archival research has provided most of the data relating to the first hundred years, including the use of individual band archives, local newspaper archives and museum records. Ethnographic methods, including interviews and participant observation, have provided the data for more recent times. Details of brass band repertoires have been extracted from various sources including musical examples taken from individual band libraries. A central research finding is the strong relationship of the brass bands with their local communities, particularly the support given to the bands by local people and the way in which the bands support their communities by providing music for civic and community events. The close relationship of the brass bands with their local communities has been fundamental in providing the means by which the bands have been sustained over time. There is a strong Scottish Borders identity that links the towns, especially through family ties, and this is also found in a musical repertoire with songs that are specifically connected to the region and to individual towns. By playing this music for civic and community events, especially at the time for the Common Ridings which are annual events unique to the Scottish Borders, the brass bands have provided a service to the community which has ensured their survival.

When assessing the quality of a brass instrument the player must consider a number of factors, the main consideration being the playability of the chosen instrument. The playability of an instrument is a broad term used to describe how well the instrument plays; this includes how in tune the resonant modes are, how easy it is to start and move between notes, how easy it is to bend notes and the degree of spectral enrichment during a crescendo that is able to be produced. The starting transient is known to be of crucial importance for both the musician and listener, and previous work in the field has been mainly concerned with such starting transients; this work focusses on inter-note transitions. Transitions between notes include both starting and finishing transients as the initial note is ended and the next begun. Using high speed photography images synchronised with pressure signals from the mouthpiece and bell end, the internote transitions are explored. Results from these experiments are compared with those from a simple one dimensional time domain model. Other techniques used to determine the playability of a specific instrument include the rate at which the instrument timbre becomes `brassy' due to nonlinear effects, that are a consequence of loud playing. The relative significance of viscothermal wall losses and nonlinear effects within realistic brass instruments have been explored here using experiments on cylindrical tubes of different internal diameters. These experimental results are compared with results from a computational model that uses weakly nonlinear wave propagation theory and includes viscothermal losses. It is also possible on some brass instruments, when playing loudly, to achieve what are known as super high notes; these notes are above the frequency where the instrument has well defined resonances. Experimental results are presented here using optical techniques to visualise the motion of the player's lips during playing of these super high notes.

für 10 Blechbläser und Schlagwerk (Glsp. u. Bongos); Spieldauer: 6 Min.; Partitur und 11 Stimmen; 1995

Zum Choral „Tu mir auf die schöne Pforte” (Evangelisches Gesangbuch, Nr. 166) liefert der Dresdner Komponist Matthias Drude (geb. 1960) das vorliegende unveröffentlichte Werk für vierstimmigen Posaunenchor und Orgel, das sich in ein Vorspiel und einen Choralsatz gliedert. Es eignet sich sowohl für den gottesdienstlichen Gebrauch als auch für den konzertanten Vortrag.

Brass Bands have become a clichéd representation of northern working-class culture. Hence, in 1974, Peter Hennessy described a band contest at the Albert Hall: A roll call of the bands is like an evocation of industrial history. From Wingates Temperance and Black Dyke Mills to more modern conglomerates [...]. Grown men, old bandsmen say, have been known to cry at the beauty of it all […]. Of all the manifestations of working-class culture, nothing is more certain than a brass band to bring on an attack of the George Orwells. Even the most hardened bourgeois cannot resist romanticizing the proletariat a little when faced with one. This stereotype, which emerged in the nineteenth century, generated the following research questions: What musical and social elements in the performance of brass band music strengthened working-class cultural identity in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? How did bands, which thrived in large numbers in the Southern Pennines, emerge as a musical and cultural metonym of the industrial landscape? This thesis therefore examines internal and external reporting of elements of brass musicianship in brass bands that constructed working class and northern identities. An outline of music-making in the north shows how the region supported bands’ development when they began to emerge from the 1830s. Brass musicianship and musical performance strengthened working-class cultural identity. Explorations of musical performances, leisure, rational recreation, social networks, gender and region, all combine to produce a fuller understanding of the northern working class between c.1840 and 1914. Such influences – of class, gender and region – contributed to brass bands producing primary examples of working-class identity. Not only have brass bands been under-explored in the history of leisure, but they also add to the understanding of the origins of stereotypes about working-class culture and northern identity that emerged, and came under scrutiny, in this period.