2008-9 Sampler  Up a Level         

A Concert overture, inspired by both the stress and vibrancy of twenty-first century life. The harsh and dissonant opening passage is contrasted by a mellow second subject theme in the saxophones. The percussion come to the fore in the middle section, and, at the close of the work then harmonic tension reaches an exhilarating breaking point before resolving on the tonal centre of A. (Grade 6) Performance time 8’ 14’’ Recorded on Polyphonic QPRM151D TIME LINES (Great British Music for Wind Band Vol.12)

Described, by the composer, as “a personal reflection on the events in the USA on the morning of September 11th 2001”. Inspiration came from quotations in the bible. Bright Sunlit Morning features the words of many Psalms and other sections of the Old Testament and are sensitively incorporated in this work for baritone vocal and concert band. Performance time 12'13' (Recorded on QPRM 149D BRIGHT SUNLIT MORNING, Regimental Band of the Coldstream Guards).

This suite – originally a brass band work – was commissioned jointly by the Black Dyke Band and the Brass Band Heritage Trust. The composer later made this version for concert band. The work is intended to be played without a break but divides naturally into three sections. Each section is based upon a traditional Welsh melody treated in free variation manner, respectively Gwyr Harlech (Men of Harlech), Suo-Gan (Cradle Song) and Codiad Yr Hedydd (The Rising of the Lark). There is a momentary reference to Yr Deryn Pur (The White Bird) at the end of the second section. (Grade 4) Performance time: 12:00 Recorded on Polyphonic QPRM152D MOSAIC: Great British Music Vol. 13

This work for solo percussion and concert band was commissioned by Birmingham Symphonic Winds – conductor Keith Allen, for Simone Rebello. The work is based on the canticle written by St. Francis of Assisi. Lines from this work form sub-titles and contrasting sections, all of which should be performed without breaks. (Soloist – Grade 6 Band – Grade 5). Performance time c. 12 minutes. Recorded on QPRM153D MOSAIC: Great British Music for Wind Band Vol.13 (Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra)

Cause for Celebration opens with a fanfare-style idea, followed by two quieter ideas before the fanfare returns, the music moving without a break into the celebration proper. The main idea of the Allegro is an energetic theme for full band which is interspersed with contrasting sections of the band. Eventually the opening fanfare returns but is interrupted by a short, but lively, coda. Recorded on Polyphonic QPRM151D TIME LINES (Great British Music for Wind Band Vol. 12)

This ‘Symphonic Tone Poem for Brass, Wind and Percussion’ was commissioned by Philip Biggs and Richard Franklin for the 2003 All England Masters Brass Band Championship. The work transfers well to the concert band and is already being featured around the world. It is based on two principle themes of love and war which compete against each other in what can be broadly described as a cinematic structure. Performance time 14’05” (Recorded on QPRM 150D CHIVALRY, Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra)

This work was commissioned by, and is dedicated to the Regimental Band of Her Majesty’s Coldstream Guards and their Director of Music, Major O. Jones MBE. The brief was for a piece to celebrate the City of London. The first performance was given by The Regimental Band of Her Majesty’s Coldstream Guards under their music director Major Graham O. Jones MBE, at St. John’s Smith Square, London in September 2005. Grade 6 Performance time 17’40” Recorded on Polyphonic QPRM153D WIND BORNE (Great British Music for Wind Band Vol.14)

This five-movement work was inspired by contrasting paintings by the Spanish artist Salvador Dali. The movements are entitled: The Unicorn : Don Quijote : Elephant Spatial : The Persistence of Memory : Dante’s Inferno – Dali’s Ghastly Images. Brilliant musical observations on magnificent works of art. Grade 6. Performance time 18’11” (Recorded on QPRM 149D BRIGHT SUNLIT MORNING, Regimental Band of the Coldstream Guards)

This work was commissioned by the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall, to celebrate the school’s 150th anniversary. Cast in three movements, Intrada, Processional and Processional the piece reflects music-making in the armed services throughout a long period. Many ‘quotations’ are worked into the main themes driving the work through its various phases. The first and third movements are self contained and may be performed separately. (grade 6) Performance time 16’28’’ Recorded on Polyphonic QPRM153D WIND BORNE (Great British Music for Wind Band Vol.14)

This concert march emulates the type of march – overture which you might encounter in an epic war movie, and is, therefore, cinematic in style. A common phrase from veterans when discussing war service in interviews tells the younger generation ‘never forget those that laid down their lives in the name of freedom’. The title of this march is a small contribution, from the composer, to keeping their memory alive. Performance time 5’06” (Recorded on QPRM150D CHIVALRY, Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra)

Written for SATB (choir with divisions) and accompanying concert band, this new departure for the composer has resulted in a work of unusual beauty and will help bring together various musical departments for a joint collaboration. There are five contrasting movements ranging from a gentle 'Kyrie' into a rhythmically active 'Gloria', through a sensitive 'Sanctus' and a dramatic and cheerful 'Benedictus' before closing with a serene and touching 'Agnus Dei'. The work has been written at a level so that competent choirs and bands can deliver a thrilling and moving performance by turn. American Grade 4 Duration: 14:30

Since a child, the composer has been fascinated by Latin American rhythms – especially the tango, a dance with strong roots in Argentina. This work attempts to capture much of the darkness, violence, mystery and seductive passion that this dance inspires. (Grade 5) Performance time c. 11 minutes. Recorded on Polyphonic QPRM152D MOSAIC: Great British Music Vol. 13

Mosaic is an ancient ornamental art form that involves fitting together small pieces to form a larger design. In a like way, the opening movement of this work contains a number of short musical statements, based around the interval of a tritone, which are used, both melodically and harmonically in its construction. (Grade 5) Performance time 11’44’’ Recorded on Polyphonic QPRM152D MOSAIC: Great British Music Vol. 13 (Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra)

This work follows tragedy in the composer’s family when his younger sister died. The piece brings memories of her life and how the inspiration of his Christian faith led him to come to terms with his emotional feelings. Performance time 8’24” (Recorded on QPRM 149D BRIGHT SUNLIT MORNING, Regimental Band of the Coldstream Guards)

This work was especially composed for Rachel Smith and the Regimental Band of Her Majesty’s Coldtream Guards. It is essentially rhapsodic in nature and derives much of it’s melodic material from the harmonic implication of the ‘Neapolitan Sixth’ chord – that of the flatten supertonic, mostly found in minor key tonalities. The composer gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Rachel Smith in editing the solo part for both performance and publication. Performance time 5’29” (Recorded on QPRM 149D BRIGHT SUNLIT MORNING, Regimental Band of the Coldstream Guards)

This work is cast in four movements: Introit; Impromptu; Elegy (31.12.04); Finale. Grade 5. (Recorded on QPRM150D, CHIVALRY, Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra) PARTITA FOR CONCERT BAND is cast in four movements: Introit – begins majestically with brass, saxes and percussion carrying the main theme from which most of the following ideas originate. It is repeated by the woodwinds and moves via a solo side drum into the piu mosso. New ideas are introduced by trombones, the horns and euphoniums leading to the central idea played by oboe. This leads, in turn, via full band to the closing movement. 2. Impromptu –once again the opening theme is the basis of the whole movement, using most of the composer’s tricks, augmentation, retrograde, inversion and fugato, it moves along in a very confident style. A muted solo trumpet links into the third movement. Elegy (26/12/04) – this movement was prompted by the devastating events of Boxing Day 2004, the Asian Tsunami. The movement opens bleakly until a solo flute gives us the main theme over a troubled accompaniment. The opening mood returns but timpani and tam-tam herald return of the main theme for the full band. The opening theme is heard again as the music subsides but never settles. Finale – this spirited 6/8 vivo opens up with percussion and horns and trumpets announce the main idea, punctuated with short chords from the lower band. A new four bar theme is heard over a bass tread, the theme overlaps itself and quavers swirl up and down the band. Material from the first movement is heard transformed by the energy of the finale and the music surges towards a sudden close.

This concert march was commissioned by the BBC for the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) as their entry in the march style new music composition. This outstanding march was the outright winner. Grade 4. Performance time 3’40” (Recorded on QPRM150D CHIVALRY, Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra)

SPECTRUM. This work caused much consternation when it was used as the brass band test piece at the 1969 British Open Competition. The score is an uncompromising one and as colourful as its title suggests. The various episodes of the work are each named after a colour from the spectrum – Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Purple (changed from Violet when Vinter became conscious of his failing health). It is a piece of violent mood swings challenging all sections of the band. Many consider this to be the finest of Vinter’s small output for band. Recorded on Polyphonic QPRM151D TIME LINES (Great British Music for Wind Band Vol.12)

Symphony for the Millennium is cast in two contrasting parts and each part consists of different sections. Part one begins with Dawn AD 1000 and proceeds through the conflicts of mankind with Part two ending in triumph looking to the prospect that mankind will scale new heights in the third millennium. (Grade 6) Performance time 15’28” (Recorded on QPRM 149D BRIGHT SUNLIT MORNING Regimental Band of the Coldstream Guards)

TIME LINES. The time line is a western musicological device that allows us to define many of the rhythms used in sub-Saharan music. It is essentially a 12-beat pattern that can be subdivided as 6x2, 2x6, 4x3, or 3x4, which generates many of the polyrhythms that are common in African music. Time Lines is a single continuous work made up of four contrasting sections which are based on various aspects of African dance and choral music. The slow introduction introduces many of the rhythms that the piece is based on and is followed by a fast section which quotes a South African hymn. Abasundu Nabamhlope (the first line of which translates as ‘Black and whites, let them give thanks together’. The chorale section which follows makes use of phrases from the hymn Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika (Lord Bless Africa) which was written in 1897 and has since been adopted as the national anthem of several countries in southern Africa. The final allegro section sees the drawing together of the various dance and choral elements used in the piece with the percussion section playing rhythmic patterns generated by the time line. Recorded on QPRM151D TIME LINES: Great British Music for Wind Band Vol.12 (Royal Northern College of Music)

This work is subtitled Prelude and Transfigurations for Brass, Wind and Percussion. It is derived from Wagner’s Prelude to his opera Tristan and Isolde and consists of a series of tableaux-mood pictures which alternate between a romantic idiom and tritone-style aggressive music. The work is cast as a prelude and ensuing set of fourteen variations and is meant to be played as a continuous piece. (Grade 5) Performance time 16’25’’ Recorded on QPRM152D MOSAIC: Great British Music for Wind Band Vol.13 (Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra)

This work is cast in three movements. 1. Panache 2. Elegy 3. Mosaic. This work makes many demands on the soloist giving opportunities to display both technical and lyrical prowess. The themes and undercurrents owe much to dance forms. (Soloist – Grade 6 Band – Grade 5) Performance time: 15:00 (The movements may be played independently) Recorded on QPRM151D TIME LINES: Great British Music for Wind Band Vol.12 (Royal Northern College of Music)

Via Crucis (commissioned by Dr.Mathew J. George and the Symphonic Wind Ensemble of the University of St.Thomas at St.Paul, Minnesota) was inspired by a work of the same name by Franz Liszt. It describes the journey of Christ carrying the Cross, and is divided into fourteen stages or ‘stations’. The instrumentation is for Solo Cello and Concert Band. Grade 5/6. Performance time 13’31” (Recorded on QPRM148D VIZCAYA, Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra)