Congestion Charge - Nigel Hess

Congestion Charge is the third movement of Nigel Hess's New London Pictures and depicts London traffic. Thislight-hearted work includes musical images of frustrated rush hour traffic, leading to a freer flowing galop.

Cryptogram - Kit Turnbull

Cryptogram (krip-to-gram): anything written in cipher. Cipher (si'fer): a secret code.Commissioned for the 50th Birthday of Paul Patterson, the composer has taken the letters P, A, U and L and adapted their Morse Code dots and dashes as a basis for the piece. Combinations of rich brass writing, juxtaposed with florid upper wind writing, provides a stimulating piece for an intermediate level band. The finale to the work superimposes both elements for a grand ending.

Danceries - Kenneth Hesketh

In Danceries, by Kenneth Hesketh, the melodies themselves are a mixture of old and new. Where the old occurs it has been adapted in mood and composition and is often interspersed with completely new material. The contemporary harmonies and rhythms bring a breath of new into these themes and add drama to the suite.Duration: 12 minutes.Score & Parts

Danceries (Set II) - Kenneth Hesketh

Danceries Set II was commissioned by Keith Allen and Birmingham Symphonic Winds, supported by PRS for Music Foundation and the RVW Trust. The world premire of this work was given by Birmingham Symphonic Winds, conducted by Keith Allen, at the CBSO Centre, Birmingham in 2011. This second set of Danceries continues the format established in Danceries (Set I), namely in using material taken from Playford's Dancing Master, a collection of folk and popular tunes published in the seventeenth century, to form the basis of an extended dance suite. In this set, the melodies have been more abstracted and project only a distant echo of their original forms, but as before, each movement is self-contained, colourful and direct, with its own distinct mood.The outer movements - Jennie's Bawbee and Peascod's Galliarda - share a use of driving percussion writing with a military air. Tom Tinker's Toye and Heart's Ease (movements two and three) are both settings of original melodies. All movements are more extended than in the first set, with a freer use and approach to the material; melodies now occur in various keys and are supported by a greater variety of harmonic colouring. The result is a richer, even more exhilarating set of dances. Danceries has come of age!

Danzas Cubanas (c b) - Robert Sheldon

Der Aufstand - Gavin Higgins

Der Aufstand (German for 'riot') is not a descriptive work, nor is it solely based on the riots of 2011. It does, however, draw on the idea of opposing forces and escalating anger. The work falls into two contrasting sections that are linked by a series of repeated, 'screaming' chords. A slow build drives the first section from a single pitch to a blazing orchestral tutti. The second section is a fast and wild series of fanfares and driving rhythms that ultimately cannot be sustained. In many ways this mirrors the first. Both sections open on single tones (Bb and E) and grow to a climax of brass and hammered chords. The first performance took place on the last day of the 2012 Olympic Games. Der Aufstand is a noisy antithesis to the celebratory fanfare.Wind Band Grade: 6 (Professional and elite student and 'national' bands)Duration: 10 minutes

Diaghilev Dances - Kenneth Hesketh

As a young musician, Hesketh was spellbound by the sounds and colours of the ballet music commissioned for the Ballets Russes company by Serge Diaghilev-- the great ballets by Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel and Prokofiev. Diaghilev Dances is Hesketh's homage to this great legacy, which he describes as 'a miniature ballet consisting of an introduction, three dances and three entr'actes'.

East Coast Pictures - Nigel Hess

East Coast Pictures was commissioned by the British Youth Wind Orchestra with funds from the National Westminster Bank plc. These three short 'pictures' were inspired by several visits to a small part of the American East Coast, an area that provides great extremes in the geography and the people. Movement 1: Shelter Island is a small island situated near the end of Long Island, a few hours drive east of New York. In the summer it becomes a crowded tourist trap; but in the winter it is gloriously deserted and bravely faces the onslaught of the turbulent Atlantic, shrouded in sea mists and driving rain. This 'picture' is a fond memory of a winter weekend on Shelter Island. Movement 2: In upstate New York lie the Catskills Mountains--an extraordinary combination of tranquillity and power, peace and majesty. Once seen, they call you back again and again. Movement 3: New York - or to be more precise, Manhattan. For anyone who is familiar with this bizarre and wonderful city, here is a 'picture' that needs no explanation. For those not yet hooked this is a foretaste of things to come!

Four Cornish Dances - Malcolm Arnold

Ray Farr's arrangement of Malcolm Arnold's Four Cornish Dances suite brilliantly retains the atmosphere of the orchestral original with its evocation of Cornish sea-farers, of deserted tin mines, of marching bands, Methodism, May Days and Moody and Sankey hymns. Wind Band Grade 5: Advanced Duration: 10 minutes

Global Variations - Nigel Hess

Around the world in just over eight minutes! Although commissioned for a Youth Band, no concessions are made here for lack of technical ability, particularly in the percussion department. The chimes of Big Ben herald the start of a whistle-stop global journey, calling in turn at France, Spain, South Africa, Egypt, Russia, India, China, Australia, South America, and the USA, with a final detour through Ireland and Scotland before hearing Big Ben once more as we arrive home!