Naoya Wada composed Homeward Voyage which he wrote for a school wind band in his homeland to express the emotions that always overwhelm him when travelling from Tokyo to his birthplace. Homeward Voyage describes the passing scenery on the 1000 kilometre-long journey awakens memories and gives us a glimpse of the coming reunion with friends and family.

This work was commissioned by Fanfare Sint-Willibrordus Wintelre from the Netherlands and describes the power and wonders of nature in 4 atmospheric movements: Birth Battle Silence and Water . Wonders of Nature was composed as a soundtrack for a nature film and even without the images the work will appeal to the performers as well as the audience. It appeals to the listener’s own fantasy and imagination as one can attempt to visualise the imagery whilst listening to the music.

This composition was commissioned by the Musique Municipale d’Ingwiller for the occasion of their 150th anniversary. The source of inspiration for this work was the municipality of Ingwiller in the French region Alsace. The title of the work refers to the many buildings there that are made of red sandstone and to the ‘Schlembe’ a train connecting Ingwiller with Bouxwiller for sixty years. It consists of 4 movements all related to the city of Ingwiller and its history. This bright and positive work offers beautiful melodic themes slow passages perfect for working on intonation and phrasing as well as pleasant parts for percussion.

Concert March-I composed Axis as a dedication to my friend Shinya Nakamitsu. He is a wonderful graphic designer who loves wind band music. Some years ago I made a demo CD to hand out to a number of people. He oversaw the jacket design for that project and I composed this traditional march to thank him. Shinya Nakamitsu runs a design company called AXIS: hence the name of the composition.

Blue Hills March is a modern dynamic march that makes a big impression at the beginning or at the end of any concert programme. The melodious passages of the refreshing trio make this march a real must.

as performed by Ed Sheeran- Perfect – written by Ed Sheeran for his girlfriend – was one of the biggest hits of 2017. Filip Ceunen has turned it into a colourful flexible arrangement allowing you to perform it with bands of almost any size.

You will certainly know the hilarious Police Academy film series. Every one of the soundtracks from this series is a masterpiece which is just one more reason for making an arrangement of them. Up until now very few arrangements have been made of this music despite the reputation of these films. The spectacular arrangement of the main theme by Steven Verhaert will accelerate the musical pace for your audience.

Ceremonial Hymn composed by Dutch composer Menno Bosgra is marked by its festive yet regal character. Beautiful majestic melodies float above static rhythmic patterns to create an interesting texture that is suited equally well for festive occasions or for creating a calm and reflective moment during a concert. It can also be used to demonstrate the bands sense of tone and intonation at a festival or competition.

Japanese composer Kohei Mikuni’s colourful concert march captures all the energy of a march and all the wonder of the sky. The beautiful melodies jump from section to section as they modulate to new and exciting keys accompanied by fun sounds and exciting rhythms from the drum set. Stardust in the Sky is an energetic piece that will make a perfect item for any occasion and will also wow the judges at music competitions.

This three-part work was commissioned by Kunstfactor—the Dutch Institute for Amateur Art. Its purpose is to further the repertoire for solo percussionist and orchestral accompaniment—whether brass band fanfare orchestra or wind band. For a good performance the soloist should be well-versed in a variety of techniques and should have a good understanding of the instruments not only technically but also musically. In terms of the selection of instruments and also technique the first and second movement are more classical in style while the final movement—with a set-up of various so-called ‘untuned’ instruments—is more suited to contemporarysolo kit playing. These distinctions will become clear to the soloist while studying the piece. (Menno Bosgra)Movement One requires timpani and tambourine;Movement Two requires marimba and vibraphone;Movement Three is a set-up of: five untuned drums (bongos and toms) large drum (standing) large floor drum or smaller bass drum (lying down) cowbell on a stand suspended cymbals Chinese cymbal and small drum.

The Legend of Ratu Kidul carries us into the world of Indonesian mythology on the island of Java:Once upon a time the Queen of the Southern Seas was a kind and beautiful princess. She was the daughter of Prabu Munding Wangi the favourite ofthe entire court and the local people. Her royal father doted on his daughter. Her name was Dewi Kadita but many called her Dewi Srengenge or the Angry Princess.Prabu Munding Wangi longed for an heir but Dewi Kadita’s mother couldn’t fulfil thiswish. So he took a second wife called Poetri Moentiara who was very jealous of the lovely princess and her mother. She begged the king to banish both her rivals from court. However Prabu Munding Wangi didn’t do as she asked. He loved his first wifeand her daughter. The second wife bore him a healthy heir but the monarch remained firm. So Poetri Moentiara called upon the renowned witch Djahil. She promised her a princely reward if Dewi Kandita and her mother were banished. Djahil thought fora moment and incanted this rapal (spell): “May leprosy befall you both”. Soon both mother and daughter began to suffer this dreadful disease. According to the law of the land they were to be banished to the wild forest high on the mountain. With aheavy heart King Munding Wangi saw the law carried out. So the two set off on their way to the forest covered in terrible sores. A great sadness fell across the land except for Poetri Moentiara the second wife of the king who had achieved heraim. The princess fell on hard times. In the forest lived a hermit who took pity on the mother and daughter. The queen couldn’t bear the shame and within a few days had died. Now Dewi Kandita was all alone in the world. There was still the hermit however who fortunately provided food and shelter in a cave temple. He bound her weeping sores but couldn’t relieve her emotional pain. Dewi Kandita became increasingly bitter and eventually left the hermit. She travelled southward from village tovillage further and further until eventually she reached the shores of the Southern Sea. She climbed upon a high cliff and gazed out onto the sea that spread before her. She was tempted to dive into the deep green and blue. In the cool waters shewould be able to forget all her pain and suffering. Suddenly awaking from these thoughts she jumped into the deep. The gods who had looked on Dewi Kandita throughout her hardships were filled with deep compassion. So they transformed her into apowerful spirit of the netherworld Ratu Kidul and to this day she resides in her grand palace under the sea.

In the 1950 motion picture Quo Vadis starring Robert Taylor and Peter Ustinov still is one of the greatest movies in the history. The music was composed by Miklos Rosza. The Hail Nero - Triumphal March beautifully arranged by Steven Verhaert gives an impression of the greatness of the Roman empire in the days of Emperor Nero.

Ballad is a jazzy flugelhorn solo. After the introduction of the main theme the soloist gets the opportunity to improvise freely. Hereafter the main theme returns slower than in the beginning and ends in a melancholic atmosphere. In this composition the soloist is able to show every aspect of the flugelhorn one of the favorite instruments of the composer.

Townscape was composed for the centenary of the St. Cecilia concertband from Oudenburg a town which also inspired the composer throughout this work. The first part depicts a train slowly approaching from afar and then vanishing into the distance again. This is rendered by a sort of repetitive pulse in the music. This is followed by some serious action with jet skis on the Sinnesael lake. Their spectacular twists and turns are transformed into an exuberant theme and a middle section with several changes of time signature. After that comes a restful lyrical Nocturne a musical painting of the mill at night. The work concludes with a lively finale that is an ode to dailylife in Oudenburg a place where people take initiative and there is plenty to see and do.

Suite for symphonic wind band is a rich orchestral piece that taxes the musicians to the utmost. The first part starts with a lyric melody in the French horn section to be taken over by the full orchestra ending in a kind of anarchistic entrada. The second part starts with a transparently orchestrated polyphonic web slowly passing into a richly arranged wave like movement that stops suddenly leading to the third part's attaca start. This third part is a fragile adagio con tenerezza. The finale is extremely virtuous and feriocious. It is a musical expression of anger fear and despair.

The Last Song is a beautiful and sad choral that begins very slowly and calmly. Gradually the instrumentation increases leading to a big climax. After this Grandioso ma con moto the instrumentation gets smaller and the piece comes to an end with the initial theme but this time even slower than in the opening.

Belisia is the old Merovingian name of the Belgian town of Bilzen who commissioned this composition. It is also the composer’s place of birth. The work has two main themes. The melancholic theme in a minor key refers to the many ravages the town hassuffered through the years and the second theme stately and heroic represents the inner strength and courage of the proud inhabitants of this town.

It is not entirely sure where the melody originates that forms the basis for Norwegian Overture . Most sources point in the direction of a certain J.H. Nebelong in about 1881. It is also possible that he was the first to note down this traditional melody and put his name to it.The lyrics are by a certain A.H. Brorson and were set to the music at a later date. The original title is store hvide flok which means the big white herd. Several composers have used this theme including Edvard Grieg and the Danish Carl Nielsen.

Quest implies exploring or being in search of. This four piece work is a challenge to every fanfare or symphonic wind band. All groups in the orchestra have explicit parts in this composition that is reminiscent of film music. It can serve both for a concert and a contest.

Plusieurs compositeurs tels que Jean-Sébastien Bach ou Georg Friedrich Haendel utilisaient les initiales SDG (Soli Deo Gloria - À Dieu seul la gloire) pour signer leurs œuvres. Parmi les nombreuses formations musicales qui ont également adopté cette expression latine on compte la formation dédicataire de cette œuvre. Sacred Song a une dimension spirituelle. Elle est l’écho d’un élan intérieur qui nourrit l’âme.