Bring Him Home (from Les Miserables)

For male vocal solo and orchestra. Key: A Range: e-a1

Road Home : Trumpet and Concert Band - Set

Far From Here : Song Cycle for Chorus and Orchestra

Written for the Greenwich High School choir and orchestra, Emmy award-winning and Grammy-nominated musician, and GHS parent, Rob Mathes, wrote a song cycle entitled Far From Here as a tribute to the GHS students' and their upcoming graduation. The three movements include: Yesterday/My Home, Where Shall I Go?, You'll Find Me Singing, to create an impressive showcase for high school musicians.

Flowers of Dreams : In bloom in the Rokko Mountain

This work was commissioned by the Rokko Verde Wind Orchestra in Japan. Musically it depicts aspects of both the beautiful, open-minded home of the Wind Orchestra - the Kobe City of Hyogo Prefecture - as well as the hope felt following the difficultyof the 1995 Hanshin-Awaii earthquake. Satoshi Yagisawa uses an impressive chorale as a cornerstone of this piece, which is written in his recognisable energetic style.

The Planetarium

The Planetarium was commissioned by CMV Advendo Franeker to celebrate their 100th Anniversary in 2022. The inspiration for the work is the world-famous Royal Eise Eisinga Planetarium in the orchestra’s home town of Franeker in the Netherlands. In this continuous seven-movement work, the composer pictures the sun as well as the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Also featured throughout the work is a brief quotation from the chorale ‘Psalm 150’. A work that rises above the mundane!

Paradise Cave : Symphonic Poem

The 31 kilometer (19 miles) long beautiful Thien Duong Cave or Paradise Cave lies in one of Vietnam’s national parks and was not discovered until 2005. Composer Jan de Haan visited this unearthly looking place. The grandnessand astounding splendour of this natural wonder made such an impression that it inspired him to write this composition. He experienced Paradise Cave as art, albeit formed by nature across millions of years. Back home, he renderedthe imposing experience in music. This resulted in a colourful and spectacular concert work for fanfare band. Paradise Cave is dedicated to the World Music Contest (WMC).

Missa Katharina

Missa Katharina is a mass - comprising of the standard movementsKyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei. In additionto this the composer has added additional instrumental movements- Prelude, Offertory, Postludium and the massmovements Alleluiaand Amen. Missa Katharina was primarily written for choir, sopranosolo and concert band but can also be performed with a choir,accompanied by an organ or piano only. If there is no good solosoprano voice available, the sopranos canalso sing the sopranopart tutti, standing before the choir. A truly flexible work that willbe equally at home performed in the church or in the concert hall.Choral parts available separately.

Monastery Tales

Within the old monastery walls that today are home to the school that commissioned this work, a school orchestra is rehearsing: young people who stay together and make music; a teacher, who does what he can to bring the students, the music and the orchestra together. The concerts begin and the first successes soon follow. Then comes a tragic death that brings the project to its knees. The mood is forlorn. No one expects to continue with it. But ‘now more than ever!’ rings out. The message of this musical story is that when a teacher has ideals and commitment to his students, anything is possible.

Equestrian Symphonette : (2nd Symphonette for Symphonic Band), Op. 52

Equestrian Symphonette was written for the Orchestre d’Harmonie de Laval, France. Laval is the capital town of the department of Mayenne, and the surrounding countryside is home to many thoroughbred race horse stables. The composition incorporates the principal gaits of the horse (walk, trot, canter and gallop) as the musical cornerstones of this work and incorporates into the composition colourful depictions of the natural environment and surroundings as well as the characteristics of each stride. Interesting rhythmical patterns, together with rich melodies, are interwoven throughout this original piece which makes it an excellent choice for a contest or as anenterprising part of your concert.

A Little Stress Music : Satire in Four Parts

A Little Stress Music was commissioned by the Lenzing Werkskapelle from Austria and comprises of four sections. ‘Rush Hour’ depicts a Friday evening during which everyone wants to get home after work. Unfortunately, traffic jams and gridlock stand in the way! In ‘Promenade Waltz’ you can picture an evening walk along the beautiful lakeside, then a glass of wine loosens you up leading to the third movement: ‘Romance’, which starts with a promising conversation…The funny finale ‘Monday Morning’ brings you back to reality and the score provides the option of the band applauding itself for a job well done! A humorous and joyful new piece by Thomas Doss!

Niels Marthinsen: Snehvides Spejl / Snow White's Mirror (Score)

Snow White's Mirror is a full scale two act dramatic opera written for the Danish National Opera. The opera is a modern re-telling for grown-ups of the brothers Grimm's fairy tale: Snow White is a self-centered teenage narcissist and the villain of the opera; she ends up loosing everyone but herself, either because she kills them, or because they decide they can't stand being around her anymore. But apparently she's o.k. with that... The music is intended for a large audience: it's basically pop music done with all the craftmanship of a classical composer who's equally at home with large scale symphonic form, avantgarde technique, opera singing - and modern pop.

De Ruigewaard : Introductie en variaties over het Dies Irae

De Ruigewaard is a large polder (reclaimed land protected by dykes) in the Dutch province of Groningen. Shortly after the land was reclaimed around 1500, a settlement was established at the location of the current village of Grijpskerk. This was the source of inspiration for this concert work, together with a 13th-century Gregorian theme - the Dies Irae - which is used as a leitmotiv.After the introduction follow five variations, in randon order - however, each one of them carries us back to a striking moment in the history of Grijpskerk, home of the Excelsior Christian Music Association (CMV), who commissioned this work on the occasion of its participation in theWMC in Kerkrade (the Netherlands) in 2013.

Panoptikum : Scenes from Lake Constance

Armin Schaer commissioned this work in his search for a new piece for the tuba. More specifically, he wanted a work that showed off the versatility of this splendid instrument, written in a musical style that is both fresh and modern, while not banishing the orchestra to a simple supporting role. Taking all these specifications into account, Thomas Doss created a work that allows stylistic leaps and is fun, exciting, romantic, and virtuosic, but does not lose sight of the thread that connects the opening measures to the very last.Armin Schaer describes his Panoptikum as follows:Panoptikum is a show of appreciation for my beautiful home and community at LakeConstance, an eventful life, the people that have enriched this life, and a fascinating instrument: the tuba. This work musically embodies the many different moods found around theBodensee - cheerfulness and melancholy, departures and longing, calm and agitation. The roles of the soloist and the orchestra were consciously crafted in a way that does not follow the usual conventions of the genre. The work should spark emotions, address broad segments of listeners, and persuade them of the tuba’s ability to be a solo instrument as well as the richness symphonic wind ensembles have to offer. I hope this work enriches the lives of all the soloists and orchestras that cross its path, as well as everyone in the audience who gets to partake!

Ostinati

It may be surprising to see a fanfare piece commissioned by a Japanese ensemble, since fanfare orchestras are typically found in Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg, and also France and Switzerland. Senzoku Gakuen is one of the largest and mostprestigious music universities in Japan, and home to a wide variety of ensembles and orchestras. Since 2006 they have had a fanfare orchestra, which was started by Sotaru Fukaishi, a euphonium teacher who felt further performance opportunity wasneeded for saxhorn instruments. Fukaishi had loved the sound of fanfare orchestras ever since visiting the World Music Contest in Kerkrade (Holland) several years earlier. Jan Van der Roost was involved with this new initiative from the beginning,and they were also joined by Manu Mellaerts for certain projects. The Dean of the music department, Professor Kazuo Tomioka, fully supports the ensemble and commissioned Ostinati. The première took place on June 11th at Maeda Hall inMizonokuchi (Kawasaki) where Senzoku Gakuen is based. The piece opens with an impressive timpani solo, followed by brass and saxophone. The rhythmical pulse remains constant and the music is fiery and assertive in character. A pentatonic melodygradually emerges and the music loses its vehemency and softens. The initial percussion ostinati subsequently recurs and the first section of the piece concludes in a similar mood to the opening. The second movement is sweet and melodic, opening witha long passage for the saxophone family in a minor key. The same theme then appears in the major and is developed upon; the music builds to a majestic orchestral forte, reminiscent of a pipe organ in its sonority. The theme returns in the originalminor key with a change in instrumentation leading the movement to a quiet and peaceful end on a soft E minor chord. The finale starts with percussion: a four-bar pattern is repeated several times over which the movement’s melodic themes areintroduced. These melodic elements are varied and used in different versions and the ostinato idea, which characterizes the entire piece, is highlighted. The theme travels through the orchestra, appearing on various instruments and in variousregisters. It captures the listener’s attention and displays the full range of sound and colour within the fanfare orchestra.

Poul Ruders: The Thirteenth Child - A Fairytale Opera In Two Acts (Score)

The Thirteenth Child - A Fairytale Opera In Two Acts by Poul Ruders (2014-15). Libretto by Becky Starobin and David Starobin. Scenario by Becky Starobin. Suggested by 'The Twelve Brothers' by the Brothers Grimm. SYNOPSIS Act 1, Scene 1 The neighboring Kingdoms of Frohagord and Hauven are in crisis. Following a warning by his embittered cousin Drokan, Regent of Hauven, King Hjarne of Frohagord is convinced that his twelve sons are plotting to overthrow him. The twelve princes, oblivious to their father's paranoia, play in the courtyard. The enraged King threatens the safety of his sons, telling his pregnant wife, Queen Gertrude, that she must provide him with a female heir, as "only she shall wear the crown".  Gertrude calms Hjarne and they sing of the Lilies of Frohagord, magical flowers that protect the kingdom.  When Benjamin, the youngest prince, innocently plucks a lily from the garden, Hjarne flies into a mad rage and strikes Gertrude.  Drokan, observing the encounter, admits his love for Gertrude and feels "the trembling of the earth". Act 1, Scene 2 Eighteen years have passed and King Hjarne has just died. At Hjarne's funeral Frederic, Drokan, and the mourners tell of the mysterious disappearance of the King's thirteen children and the shadows that haunt the kingdom. Queen Gertrude, now mortally ill, and her daughter, Princess Lyra, enter the Royal Chapel. Gertrude is repelled by the sight of Drokan, while Frederic is drawn to Lyra. Drokan plots to usurp the Kingdom of Frohagord and Frederic dreams of the day when Lyra will be his. Act 1, Scene 3 Queen Gertrude is on her deathbed, attended by Princess Lyra.  Lyra asks her mother why she was sent away.  Gertrude has Lyra open a secret drawer where Lyra finds twelve shirts embroidered with the red Lilies of Frohagord. Gertrude reveals that the shirts belong to her missing brothers, who were sent to the forest, taking the lily bulbs with them.  Before dying, Gertrude begs Lyra to find her brothers and heal the family's wounds.  Lyra vows to find the twelve Princes.   Act 2, Scene 1 Lyra wanders through an enchanted forest, coming upon a cottage with twelve lilies in bloom. She encounters Benjamin, whom she learns is the youngest of her brothers. In the distance the older brothers are heard as they return home from a hunt.  Benjamin, who fears that his brothers will seek revenge against Lyra, hides her. After his brothers assure him that they will do no harm, Benjamin reveals Lyra, much to the joy of all. Preparing for a celebratory feast, Lyra cuts the red lilies, unintentionally casting a spell that transforms her brothers into ravens. She is devastated by her tragic mistake. Act 2, Scene 2 Queen Gertrude appears as an apparition and tells Lyra that in order for her brothers to return to human form, she must remain mute for seven years. Act 2, Scene 3 Almost seven years have passed, and Frederic's search for Lyra is rewarded. A great wedding celebration is planned by the people of Hauven. Drokan jealously plots to destroy the couple and gain the throne of