Free World Fantasy was commissioned in Holland for celebrations commemorating the liberation of Groningen and therefore symbolises the dream of a world without war. It is the first piece of a series in which composer Jacob de Haan combines concert band music with a pop style.

Songs of Praise is a beautiful adaptation of a Netherlands church melody to Psalm 150. The composer Jacob de Haan shows his deft hand at arranging by setting the melody in creative and varied instrumentations. His Songs of Praise is perfectly suited to worship or indeed as a concert intermezzo.

The Pet Shop Boys are one of the finest examples of an English electro pop group. Since their formation in the early 1980s they have had 38 top 40 hits in the UK and are still often in the charts today. This highly inventive duo owes their long-term career to the ability to bridge melodic pop and dance music with intelligence and style. Go West was one of their hits from 1993 and this arrangement by Ron Sebregts retains all the splendor of the original. A fantastic pop arrangement which will have all your audience dancing in the aisles.

Mame became Broadway Grammy winning composer Jerry Herman’s second international success following that of Hello Dolly! . Naohiro Iwai has chosen the biggest hits from Mame for his medley.

from 'Der Bettelstudent'-Karl Millöcker (1842-1899) compte parmi les plus éminents représentants de « l’opérette viennoise dorée ». Sa musique toujours rafraîchissante et bien écrite dénote une certaine académisation stylistique. Der Bettelstudent (L'étudiant pauvre) créé à Vienne en 1883 constitue une des œuvres maîtresses de l'opérette viennoise. Non seulement la musique est magistrale mais le livret est excellent. Grâce au succès de cette opérette Millöcker put acquérir une indépendance financière qui lui permit de se consacrer entièrement à la composition.

Barocco est une pièce majestueuse et lyrique aux sonorités amples et rondes. Composée dans un style quasi baroque cette œuvre empreinte de sérénité exploite la générosité et la finesse de la palette sonore de l’orchestre.

The source of inspiration for the composer was the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl in Russia. The first movement Ostinato expresses desperation helplessness fear and anger. The themes from the first movement are further exposed in the second movement Fantasia which has a spectacular finale.

Through time many composers have written music for their loved ones. This lovely piece features the alto saxophone.

Moonlight Serenade is often said to be the Glenn Miller Orchestra’s signature tune capturing the very best of what it had to offer. It was recorded for the first time in 1939 and only made the B-side of the disc with Sunrise Serenade featuring on the A-side. Moonlight Serenade gained very rapid and unexpected success and this arrangement will give your concert band that famous big band sound!

This fantasy tells the story of Oregon one of America's north-western states. Traveling by train on the Northern Pacific Railroad the listener is taken through the fascinating Oregon landscape. Indians cowboys golddiggers and hooded wagons will file past on this adventurous journey. The piece has some similarities with a soundtrack of a movie. Various melodies which could be the main themes of a movie pass the review.The piece begins in a slow movement introducing the first theme in minor. Then we hear in the following fast movement the trombones imitate the train whistling the steam-flute. We hear the characteristic minor theme again but now in different variants(also in major). The rythmic structure of western stile and rock succeed each other. This is leading to the slow movement where the signals of horns and trumpets introduce a wonderful vocal melody. After this characteristic melody the fast movement appears shortly again the trombones whistling the steam-flute again (now in major). We hear also some musical elements that plays a part in the following Presto. Barchanges jazzy chords interesting rhytmic patterns (with bongo) and an original theme are the characteristics of this Presto. After this the horns announce the last section of the piece. Interesting is the fact that we hear in this Allegro section a variant of the vocal melody in the slow movement. Also the Presto theme returns shortly followed by the Allargando which is a grand characteristic end of a soundtrack. The movie of our travelling fantasy has come to an end.

Jan Van der Roost originally composed each and every note of ‘Slavia’ (as in case in ‘Puszta’ ‘Rikudim’ and ‘A Highland Rhapsody’). Consequently ‘Slavia’ does not contain any arrangement of existing tunes but is an original composition ‘in the style of…’. The introduction has an ABA structure and exposes a broad melodic line. Following a short cadenza there is a second movement in a fast and fiery tempo. The tempi increase gradually culminating in an exciting final climax making this ‘Slavonic Rhapsody’ a spell-binding experience to the very last note.

320 Excercises for Snare Drum-In this book you will find a series of rhythmic patterns (motifs) each of which is followed by eight lines of musical exercises in which that rhythmic motif is incorporated. Lines 9 and 10 have been left blank: it is up to you to think of two exercises using the motif concerned to complete the missing staves. With the exercises in the book together with those you have made up yourself you have a total of 320 exercises. They are all intended to improve your drumming technique by means of ‘drum gymnastics’. It is better and more effective to play one or two exercises often and thoroughly than to rush through a number of exercises. Only an intensive and carefully built-uptraining programme will lead to the improvement and perfection of your technique - don’t give up too easily keep practising and keep going.

In this sparkling composition Harm Evers lets the trumpet section show off their style and versatility. Blow The Trumpets opens with an exciting passage that gives the trumpeters’ tonguing free rein. This is then contrasted with the melodic and somewhat bluesy character of the interlude

Au cours de l’été 1880 le compositeur allemand Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) écrit son Ouverture pour une fête académique op. 80. Elle est contemporaine de l' Ouverture tragique qui en est son pendant. Un an auparavant Brahms avait été fait docteur « honoris causa » de l’Université de Breslau. Dans un premier temps il se contenta d'une simple note manuscrite à titre de remerciement mais comprit rapidement que cela ne saurait suffire. Il composa donc l’ Ouverture pour une fête académique en remerciement pour sa nomination. L’œuvre fut créée à l’Université de Breslau le 4 janvier 1881 sous la direction du compositeur. Sorte de fantaisiepétillante et inventive l’ Ouverture académique est constituée de plusieurs chansons estudiantines allemandes en vogue à l’époque. En raison de son développement accessible riche en expressivité espiègle et lumineux cette ouverture reste très largement appréciée de nos jours.Cette transcription pour Orchestre d’Harmonie signée Tohru Takahashi est fidèle à l’œuvre originale.

Portée par le grain boisé de la voix de velours d’Artie Kaplan la chanson Harmony (1973) connaît un vif succès dans de nombreux pays européens mais passe quasiment inaperçue aux États-Unis. Optimiste et plaisante la mélodie traverse la texture ouatée des chœurs. L’arrangement de Don Campbell reste fidèle à la version originale.

Clarinets to the Fore keeps the promise of its own title: the entire clarinet section of your band is put into the spotlight. The two virtuoso outer sections of this entertaining work are separated by a blues-style middle section. Here’s Harm Evers in top form!

In composing Puszta Jan Van der Roost wrote folk dances related to Slavonic folk music. Its character and sounds are comparable to the Hungarian and Slavonic dances by Brahms and Dvorak and to the Hungarian Rhapsodies by Liszt. All the melodies however are newly composed not adapted from existing dances.

Cette pièce est un voyage musical à travers l’Oregon État du nord-ouest des États-Unis. À bord d’un train de la Northern Pacific Railroad l’auditeur est invité à découvrir les paysages somptueux de l’Oregon. Au fil du trajet sur la route empruntée par les chariots des pionniers on rencontre des Indiens des cowboys et des chercheurs d’or. Et la musique prend la forme d’une aventure digne d’un western.

Song of Liberation-A composition with the liberation from the Second World War as its theme. After a solemn introduction one hears the melody of the hymn Abide with you which was sung a lot during the war. Following there are variations on the theme finally leading to the magisterial conclusion that represents the ultimate liberation.The work may be interpreted as popular music (with the part for drumset) but a more serious version without drums is possible and indeed preferable.

Inspiration was commissioned by the Solothurnischer Kanotonal Musikverband in Switzerland in 1993. The composition begins with an A-theme written in a Phrygian tonality and after an enormous climax moves on into a quicker B-section characterized by the use of wide interval jumps. Then follows the development in which both themes return individually and together. Peace and quiet is restored in the slow middle movement based on the B-theme. The movement comes to a close with a tutti B-theme brutally interrupted by fragments from the A-theme. Without a break the final movement of this contrastive piece develops from these fragments. The theme of this extremelyrhythmical closing movement is built up of elements from the A-theme whilst the B-theme (from the slow middle movement) returns in full once more. Before the piece comes to a close in a resounding fortissimo the cornet soloist performs the A-theme from the back of the auditorium to special effect.