In The Pioneers Philip Sparke salutes the bicentenary of an expedition by two all time American heroes - Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. They were commissioned by US President Thomas Jefferson to find the headwaters of the Missouri and a route to the Pacific following the Louisiana Purchase which doubled the size of the USA. They set out as the ‘Corps of Discovery’ from Louisville Kentucky in May 1804 and not only did they succeed in reaching the Pacific through hostile territory but also found their way back - in 3 years! The piece is not descriptive of the journey but gives the composer the opportunity to celebrate the 200th anniversary of this amazing feat. Add a touchof the wild-west to any concert with this exciting work.

25 Famous Carols-Philip Sparke’s Classic Christmas brings together 25 of the most popular Christmas carols which can either be played with the CD accompaniments or with organ or piano using the separate accompaniment book which fits with all the instrumental books. They can be performed as solos and are all in suitable keys to accompany congregational singing. Twenty-five famous Christmas carols for Instrumental solos or Ensembles with the same instruments. Includes a Play along CD of accompaniments and demonstration tracks.

Morning Song features the horn quartet mostly in a soloistic role - indeed there is an accompanied cadenza towards the end of the piece - but there are moments where the horns assume their conventional concert band role as harmonic support or playing the counter melody. This expressive composition shows all the versatility of the horn quartet and gives them the chance to be in the spotlight.

from Cantata No 208 'The Hunt Cantata'-There are just over twenty secular cantatas in Bach's prolific output which include The Coffee Cantata (No 211) The Wedding Cantata (No 202) Phoebus and Pan (No 201) and the Hunt Cantata (No 208) which contains the famous aria Sheep May Safely Graze. Written for four vocal soloists it was originally scored for a relatively large orchestra (including flutes (recorders) oboes and horns) and mixed choir. Although secular in character the words describe how well a faithful shepherd keeps watch over his flock and hence has obvious allusions to the teachings of the Christian church. Bring a bit of the Baroque era to your concert with this first class arrangement by Philip Sparke.

Band director and radio presenter Yutaka Nishida hails from Tokyo and has long been a friend of composer Philip Sparke. As well as conducting bands and teaching he also presents a weekly two-hour music programme focusing on both brass and concert bands on the Japanese national radio station Digital Radio Musicbird.The programme is called The Bandwagon and the radio station commissioned Philip Sparke to write a march which could be used as a theme tune for the programme. The result is this bright and breezy march in simple ABA form.

The history of rock and roll can be traced back as far as the musical influence of the first African slaves to arrive in North America. The style borrows heavily from rhythm and blues and early rock stars such as Ike Turner Bill Haley Chuck Berry Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley had a huge influence through the newly-invented juke box and liberated the youth of the day by giving them a music of their own. Rockin? Tumpets gives the young band a chance to rock and roll with the trumpets taking the lead. Treat your trumpets to this lively solosection feature.

Philip Sparke’s Starter Studies is the first volume of a progressive series of study books that takes the young wind player from beginner to accomplished musician.This collection of 65 studies offers a choice of starting note to suit individual tastes and carefully introduces new musical elements such as articulation dynamics and key signatures in a structured progression to speed the learning process.

This celebratory work which Philip Sparke wrote for the 20th anniversary of the Nottingham Concert Band starts with a hymn-like theme played as a fanfare in the brass. With a change of mood from ‘solemn’ to ‘merry’ and back to ‘majestic’ together with an unusual orchestration in which may different instruments feature and in which at points the entire wind orchestra shimmers in tutti passages A Nottingham Festival is a real pleasure for musicians and public alike.

Spirit of Endeavour is a virtuosic piece of music with a positive musical message. It tells the story of a wind band embracing hard work friendship musical excellence love marriage and birth as well as the sad loss of cherished members. Composer Philip Sparke decided to salute the history of the Canadian concert band ‘Harmonie de Charlesbourg’ with a work that falls into two contrasted sections. One Vision deals with forming the band and the subsequent united desire to create an ensemble espousing the idea of musical perfection. The Pursuit of Excellence salutes the 20 years of hard work of the wind band. This concert work ends with a chorale of thefull band symbolising the fulfilment of a united dream!

England enjoys a rich folk song tradition. Composers such as Cecil Sharp and Vaughan Williams rekindled an interest in this heritage at the beginning of the 20th century by arranging numerous songs some of which were transcribed for the _x001F_first time. Philip Sparke selected three songs from the 18th and 19 century for his Three Folk Song Miniatures : the _x001F_sherman’s song Dance to Your Daddy the love song O Waly Waly and Bobby Shafto a song from the northwest of England.

Festival Prelude ‘Ad Excel’ was commissioned by the AD Concert Band from Solihull in the UK to celebrate their 40th Anniversary in 2016. The title Ad Excel is a play on words: it is Latin for ‘to excel’ but also celebrates the band’s anniversary as XL is 40 in Roman numerals. The work opens with a bright fanfare with frequent changes of meter. This leads to a playful main subject played first by woodwinds followed by full band. A bridge passage leads to a legato second subject played twice. The bridge passage returns to introduce the both main melodies in new keys and instrumentations before a coda derived from the opening fanfare brings the work to a close.

In Letter from Home Philip Sparke portrays the many feelings and emotions that a letter from home can evoke. This intimate work opens with a gentle woodwind melody which gradually becomes more confused as new emotions are introduced. Finally resignation sets in but a sense of peace and balance is restored with the final chorale. In this emotional work Philip Sparke truly captures the highs and lows of being away from home.

Quelle est cette odeur agreable-‘Whence is that Goodly Fragrance Flowing?’ is the first line of an old French Christmas song that originated in the 17th century. In 1728 John Gay used this joyous and markedly festive melody that honours Jesus Christ and His miraculous birth in his Beggar’s Opera . Philip Sparke has given this melody a new lease of life with his charming and imaginative arrangement for the Christmas season.

This contrasting work builds up twice from quiet relaxation or meditative calm to a climax for the entire ensemble before the main section a rhythmic vivo begins. Golden Winds ensures truly precious moments in your concert right up to thelast note! This contrasting work builds up twice from quiet relaxation or meditative calm to a climax for the entire ensemble before the main section a rhythmic vivo begins. Golden Winds ensures truly precious moments in your concert right up to the last note!

Cette marche de Noël a été réalisée spécialement pour permettre aux Orchestres Juniors d’ouvrir ou de clore avec éclat un concert autour de la Nativité. Le thème principal est un thème original sur lequel viennent se greffer deci delà de nombreux courts fragments mélodiques extraits de célèbres noëls tels qu’ Adeste Fidelis Deck the Halls Good King Wenceslas et Jingle Bells . God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen constitue la ligne mélodique du trio.

for Baritone and Brass Band- Score and parts for Philip Sparke's Scaramouche composed for Baritone/Euphonium Concert band.

Jubiloso s’inscrit dans la lignée des marches Slipstream et The Bandwagon : un style « broadwayien » des mélodies fortement syncopées un trio cantabile assez conventionnel et quelques surprenantes mesures irrégulières qui viennent troubler le rythme régulièrement cadencé de la marche. Une marche idéale pour une ouverture de concert.

Lion City Festival was commissioned as one of the test pieces for the Singapore Youth Festival 2010 an annual event at which school ensembles from throughout Singapore can receive gold silver or bronze awards for their performance. The English name for Singapore comes from Malay Singapura which has Sanskrit roots meaning ‘Lion City’. Lion City Festival is in the form of a quick march in ABA form. An opening fanfare leads to a perky march tune which is taken up by the full band. A change of key heralds a legato trio section before the main theme returns in varied form. Roaring fun!

Five States of Change was commissioned by Kunstfactor for the 4th section of the Dutch National Brass Band Championships (NBK) 2011. It is dedicated to Jappie Dijkstra and the Music Information Centre (MUI) Arnhem Holland in acknowledgement of their outstanding work in developing band repertoire.The composer writes: The idea for the piece came when I was reading an article about a branch of Chinese philosophy which is abbreviated as Wu Xing* which has no exact translation but can mean for example five elements five phases or five states of change . It is central to all elements of Chinese thought including science philosophy medicine andastrology and in simple terms tries to create various cyclic relationships between five elements in all walks of life.An example is: Earth - Metal - Water - Wood - Fire - (Earth) etc. where (in one cycle) earth bears metal metal changes to liquid (water) when heated water helps trees grow wood burns to create fire fire produces ash (earth) and the cycle continues.I was particularly interested in the cycle of emotions:- Meditation - Sorrow - Fear - Anger - Joy - (Meditation) etc. and thought this cyclic principle would provide an effective emotional journey for a piece of music. So Five States of Change has five equal sections which loosely characterise this emotional cycle. I have tried to make the music grow organically with minimal repetition and each movement evolves from the musical elements at the end of the previous one with the opening material appearing transformed at the end of the piece to complete the cycle. *in full Wu zhong liu xing zhi chi or the five types of chi dominating at different times

Bohemian Rhapsody is undoubtedly one of the most important songs in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. The song defied all convention in terms of form. It has no chorus. Instead it comprised of an introduction ballad guitar solo operatic interlude hard rock section and coda. Perhaps the most mystifying aspect of the song is the lyrics which are commonly thought to be autobiographical although members of the band have never fully explained them. Bring the house down with Philip Sparke’s authentic arrangement!