Accolade (Phillip Littlemore)
Accolade - meaning an award, an honour or a laudatory notice. This fanfare leads with a battery of percussion in to the lower band's statement of the theme before passing through the middle of the band that builds with a series of interjections. The theme is then restated in the upper band before the battery of percussion returns to end.

Air from the Suite in D (Johann Sebastian Bach arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Bach’s Suite No. 3 in D, from a set of four such suites, was recreated from a set of autographed parts  from around the 1730s, as no score had survived. The Air, perhaps the most famous movement from all the Suites, has been arranged as a tenor horn feature with low brass accompaniment. 

Anvil Chorus from 'Il Trovatore' (Giuseppe Verdi arr. Phillip Littlemore)
The Anvil Chorus from Verdi's opera Il Trovatore is from Act II. The original Italian is 'Coro di zingari' (Gypsy chorus), and it depicts the Gypsy men striking their anvils (hence the English name) and singing the praises of hard work, good wine and their women! 

Blaenwern (William Rowlands arr. Iain McKnight)
Commonly used as a setting for the hymn ‘Love Divine, All Loves Excelling’, Blaenwern is one of the most popular choices for hymns selected for weddings and featured at number 5 in the BBC Songs of Praise ‘Top 10 Hymns of All Time’.

Bolero (Maurice Ravel ar. Phillip Littlemore)
Ravel's one-movement orchestral piece Bolero was written in 1928 and was last pieces he composed before illness forced him into retirement. The original version has a duration of approximately 18 minutes, but this arrangement is significantly shorter, lasting a mere 4 minutes or so. There is also an 'extra' ending, similar to that used in the musical sensation Blast!

By The Beautiful Blue Danube (Johann Strauss II arr. Phillip Littlemore)
The Blue Danube  or, to be more precise, By the Beautiful Blue Danube  was composed by Johann Strauss II in 1866. It has remained one of the most consistently popular pieces of music in the classical repertoire although its initial performance was considered only a mild success. 

Can-Can from 'Orpheus in the Underworld' (Jacques Offenbach arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld is an  irreverent parody and scathing satire on Gluck and his Orfeo ed Euridice and culminates in the risqué 'Infernal Galop' which is now known as the Can-can. This version is a straight-forward transcription directly from the orchestral original.

Chanson De Matin (Edward Elgar arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Chanson de Matin is typical of Elgar’s wistful style . Elgar presented his publisher with this work, originally written for violin and piano, shortly after the success of his Enigma Variations. Elgar referred to piece as something he had found and dusted off, which thought it would serve as a suitable companion piece to the Chanson de Nuit, written a few years earlier.

Crown Imperial (William Walton arr. Phillip Littlemore)
 Walton composed Crown Imperial for performance at the coronation of King Edward VIII but, due to the abdication, it was performed at the Coronation of King George VI. It has been used at all Royal events since, most notably the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III. The scoring of this new brass band transcription is in keeping with contemporary brass band voicings and corrects errors in the previous brass band transcription by Frank Wright.

Cuban Overture (George Gershwin arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Cuban Overture is a rich and exciting work illustrating the influence of Cuban music and dance. Although it received it’s première under the title Rumba, but was renamed Cuban Overture three months later at a benefit concert at the Metropolitan Opera. The overture is dominated by Caribbean rhythms and native Cuban percussion.

The Fairy Garden from 'Mother Goose Suite' (Maurice Ravel arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Ravel wrote his five short piano pieces entitled Ma Mère l'Oye (Mother Goose) about an enchanted world of childhood through these atmospheric tales. The final part of Ravel's suite is a grand finale, although where Ravel got his inspiration for the fairy garden is unknown. Whatever its origin, it certainly is a delightful piece of music - slow in tempo, quiet to start, with rich harmonies and delicate solos, all leading to a tumultuous climax.

Fanfare from 'La Péri' (Paul Dukas arr. Phillip Littlemore)
La Péri  is a one act ballet about a man's search for immortality and an encounter with a mythological Péri (a winged, fairy-like creature). The  ballet  is preceded by this brilliant fanfare. This arrangement is for full brass band, and would make a good opener for any concert or event. It can also be performed with or without percussion.

Fêtes from 'Nocturnes' (Claude Debussy arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Debussy’s Nocturnes are a set of three orchestral pieces inspired by paintings by Whistler. The second movement, Fêtes (Festivals) offers a dancing, vibrating rhythm with sudden flashes of light. There is also a procession, described by Debussy as a dazzling fantastic vision, which passes through the festive scene and becomes merged in it. 

Fugal Overture (Gustav Holst arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Despite its name, the overture is not strictly fugal. The fugal subject is full of spiky cross-rhythms first introduced in the basses, with the upper parts persisting with a pentatonic chord. The headlong pace slackens for a central interlude, introduced by the solo horn solo. However the festivities soon return driving headlong towards its conclusion.

Gymnopédie No.1 (Erik Satie arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Erik Satie's Gymnopédies are a series of three short atmospheric piano pieces, all written in 3/4 time and sharing a common theme and structure, Gymnopédie No.1 is divided into two almost identical parts, with a steady accompanying rhythm that remains constant throughout.

Humming Chorus from 'Madam Butterfly' (Giacomo arr. Phillip Littlemore)
In Puccini's opera Madam Butterfly, the Coro a bocca chiusa ( Humming Chorus)  hums a wordless, melancholy tune off-stage whilst Butterfly begins the long wait for husband Pinkerton to return after many years away. This arrangement features four flugel horns, each of which plays into the bell of a bass whilst the bass player moves the valves - creating that unique humming sound.

I Vow To Thee, My Country (Gustav Holst/Geoff Knorr arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Within Holst's Jupiter, from The Planets, lies a tune that Holst later used to set the poem by Cecil Spring-Rice, I Vow To Thee, My Country.  He adapted it as a hymn tune and called it Thaxted, named after the village where he lived for many years. The American composer, Geoff Knorr, incorporated Holst’s music into his score for the strategy-based video game Civilisation V, where it is used to depict the England of Elizabeth I, from which this transcription is made.

Jerusalem (C. Hubert H. Parry arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Parry wrote the hymn Jerusalem for the ‘Fight for Right’ movement, formed to sustain the resolve of Britain during the Great War. A year later it was sung at a suffrage demonstration concert and was adopted by the Women's Institute as their anthem in 1924. This brass band arrangement is based on Parry’s original orchestration from 1916.

Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity (Gustav Holst arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Holst first became interested in astrology around 1912/13 and so began the gestation for a series of pieces that would ultimately become the suite The Planets. Holst portrays Jupiter's characteristic "abundance of life and vitality" with music that is both buoyant and exuberant in equal measure. Driven by big tunes throughout, not least the solemn hymn-like (and later a patriotic song) I Vow to Thee, My Country. this piece is a magical tour de force..

The Last Spring (Edvard Grieg arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Grieg's song Våren (meaning The Last Spring). Våren, the poem, is spoken by someone who senses that life is drawing to a close, and that this Spring will be their last. Composed in 1880, it is the transcription for string orchestra from which this arrangement is adapted.

Light Cavalry Overture (Franz von Suppé arr. Phillip Littlemore)
The operetta Light Cavalry has a plot concerning a love intrigue which is resolved by the Hungarian Hussars (Light Cavalry). The Overture consists of a fanfare, a faster section, and an Hungarian-styled slow section which are interspersed with the famous galop. This music has been much copied, parodied and often used for cartoons.

The Magic Flute Overture (W. A. Mozart arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Mozart’s The Magic Flute is a two–act opera composed in the year of his death. It is noted for its prominent Masonic elements and the number three is indicative of Masonic symbolism. The music is written in the key of E flat, which has  3 flats, the opening chords sound three times. Tamino, one of the main characters, tries to open the three doors of the temple. There are three attendants to the Queen of the Night, and three boys who serve as guides.

March Slav (Pyotr Tchaikovsky arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Tchaikovsky loved Russian folk music—looking to it for inspiration throughout his career—and he makes considerable use of it here. From the opening theme to the final glorious statement of the Czarist national anthem, the march draws on the music of his motherland.

March to the Scaffold from 'Symphonie Fantastique' (Hector Berlioz arr. Phillip Littlemore)
The March to the Scaffold is the fourth of a symphony that tells the story of a troubled young man and his quest to find his true love. This movement takes on a nightmarish character as having taken opium, the young man dreams that he has killed his true love and is about to be executed for his crime. The music is an unrelenting forced march to the scaffold and, just before the guillotine strikes the young man’s head, the movement comes to an end with a perversely joyous conclusion.

The Marriage of Figaro Overture (W. A. Mozart arr. Phillip Littlemore)
The Marriage of Figaro is based on a scandalous play that offered political commentary on the excesses of the aristocracy. For the opera, much of the political commentary, including some more risqué elements, were moderated. The Overture, while containing none of the opera’s melodic themes, sets the tone and pace of the action to follow.
 
Mars, The Bringer of War (Gustav Holst arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Holst first became interested in astrology around 1912/13 and so began the gestation for a series of pieces that would ultimately become the suite The Planets. So, in 1914, came the insistent rhythmic tread of Mars, The Bringer of War . The sketches were completed prior to the outbreak of the First World War, so the music is less a reaction the the declaration of war itself, but more an impending sense of inevitability of a war to unfold. Its insistent 5/4 rhythm, coupled with the winding melody line, the juxtaposition of keys such as D flat and C major all point to a sense of foreboding.

Night on Bare Mountain (Modeste Mussorgsky arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Mussorgsky claimed to have been inspired by the confession of a witch who was burned at the stake in the 1660s. Bare Mountain is in fact Mount Triglav near Kiev, and the music depicts the legendary Sabbath celebrations of Russian witches held on the eve of St. John's Feast. Following Mussirgsky's death in 1881, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov reimagined the work and gave it the name we know today as Night on Bare Mountain.

Nimrod from 'Enigma Variations' (Edward Elgar arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Enigma Variations is without a doubt Elgar’s best-known large scale composition. Each variation is an affectionate portrayal of one of his circle of close acquaintances and the ninth, Nimrod, is dedicated to Augustus J. Jaeger, Elgar’s publisher at Novello & Co. and also his editor and close friend. Often used for solemn occasions, it is the most poignant and beautiful pieces of British music.

Only in Sleep (Ēriks Ešenvalds arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Only in Sleep is a nostalgic vision of childhood re-experienced through dreams. It is a work of subtlety, yet powerful and expressive with an incandescent freshness. The Flugel Horn soloist,  heard at the opening,  returns at the close, almost lost in reverie, whilst florid arabesques float over one last pair of chordal oscillations, winding down to nothing.

O Salutaris Hostia (Ēriks Ešenvalds arr. Phillip Littlemore)
O Salutaris Hostia is a gentle meditation for two soloists drifting across the soft band accompaniment, alternately echoing and imitating each other or joining together in thirds. The effect is quietly ecstatic, a brief moment of adoration and wonderment. This arrangement can be played with either two cornets or two euphoniums as soloists as the accompaniment works just as effectively with either.

Os Justi (Anton Bruckner  arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Bruckner's four-part setting Os Justi was completed in 1879, the same year that he began work on the sixth symphony. He created an extraordinary motet in the Lydian mode, which achieves striking harmonic effects without using either a sharp or a flat. It concludes with a plainchant Alleluia.

Pavane (Gabriel Fauré arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Fauré described his Pavane as 'elegant, but not otherwise important' yet from the outset it enjoyed great popularity. The music flows delicately and gracefully with a persistent pulse beating gently and constantly beneath the arching melody lines.

Pomp & Circumstance March No.1 (Edward Elgar arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Elgar's Pomp & Circumstance March No. 1 was completed in July 1901 although the 'big tune' actually dates from earlier in that same year. Premièred in Liverpool by the Liverpool Orchestral Society, it was repeated in London a few days later at the Promenade concerts. The result was sensational, the audience roared its applause, and refused to allow the concert to continue. In order to restore order, Wood conducted the march three times - the only time in the history of the Promenade concerts that an orchestral item was accorded a double encore in Wood's lifetime.

Pomp & Circumstance March No.2 (Edward Elgar arr. Phillip Littlemore)
What is not commonly known is that the initial sketches for what was to become the Pomp & Circumstance March No. 2 were written first! Due to the successes of the first march, not least because it now features at every Prom concert, it is forgotten that not only did Elgar submit the manuscript for both marches to his publisher at the same time, but both marches were premièred at the same concert and both performed a few days later at the same Promenade Concert.

Pomp & Circumstance March No.4 (Edward Elgar arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Like the first march, this one contains an equally impressive ‘big tune’ in the trio section, but it also matches No.1 in that it has a lively, rhythmic march element to envelope it. Elgar cleverly superimposes one on top of the other for the final, extended coda.

Semiramide (Gioacchino Rossini arr. Phillip Littlemore)
The Rossini Overture is practically a genre unto itself.  Characteristically, Rossini uses several themes from the opera as the basis for this instrumental prelude. This overture became extremely popular in Rossini's day but it proved to be the last opera Rossini wrote in his native Italy. After a brief sojourn in London, he moved to Paris the following year and settled permanently in the French capital.

Slavonic Dance No.1 (Antonin Dvořák arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Dvořák composed his first set of eight Slavonic Dances in 1878. Originally written for piano duet, the dances were inspired by Brahms’ Hungarian Dances. The music is lively and overtly nationalistic, although the tunes themselves are all original. Slavonic Dance No.1 is high-spirited and in the style of a furiant, the boldest of Czech dances. Although written in 3/4 metre throughout, Dvorak creates cross-rhythms that shift the metre in to 2/4, which is an important characteristic of the dance.

Slavonic Dance No.8 (Antonin Dvořákarr. Phillip Littlemore)
It was indeed the first set of Slavonic Dances that finally launched Dvořák as a composer beyond his native Bohemia. Such were the popularity of the original dances, he wrote a second set of eight in 1886. As with the first, Slavonic Dance No.8 is high-spirited and in the style of a furiant. Written in 3/4 metre throughout, Dvorak creates cross-rhythms that shift the metre in to 2/4, an important characteristic of the dance.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Paul Dukas arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Dukas'  symphonic poem, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, was inspired by Goethe's 1797 poem of the same name. By far the most performed and recorded of his works, perhaps the most notable appearance was in the Walt Disney animated film Fantasia, which led to the piece becoming more widely known. This brass band transcription has been abridged yet retains the urgency, magic and colour of the original. 

Starlings (Alan Fernie)
Starlings  is a beautifully reflective piece influenced by the birds' extraordinary murmuration. It is dedicated to the memory of Steve Munn, who sadly passed away in December 2022 from bowel cancer. A contribution from each sale of this work will be donated to Bowel Cancer UK.

Stars (Ēriks Ešenvalds arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Stars is one of the most popular of all contemporary choral works by Latvian composer Ešenvalds. The music begins with water-tuned glasses playing a sequence of chord clusters, which are heard throughout the whole piece. It creates an evocative effect, which is both imaginative and inventive producing an ethereal shimmering beauty which will bring a moment of enthralling stillness to any concert programme.

The Stars and Stripes Forever (John Philip Sousa arr. Phillip Littlemore)
The patriotic American march  The Stars and Stripes Forever is the official National March of the United States of America, and is probably Sousa's most famous composition. According to his Sousa's autobiography, Marching On, he composed the majority of the work on Christmas Day in 1896 while aboard the S.S. Teutonic on his return to the United States from Europe.

Symphonic Dance No.3 (Sergei Rachmaninov arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Completed in 1940, the dance  is a kind of struggle between the Dies Irae theme, representing Death, and a quotation from Rachmaninov’s own Vespers (also known as the All-night Vigil, 1915), representing Resurrection. The Resurrection theme proves victorious in the end as the composer actually wrote the word ‘Hallelujah’ at the relevant place the score.

Toccata from 'Symphony No.8' (Ralph Vanughan Williams arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No.8 was composed in 1956, when he was in his 84th year. It is scored for an unusually large percussion ensemble including vibraphone, xylophone, tubular bells, glockenspiel, tuned gongs and celeste. In the Toccata, he uses the enlarged percussion forces extensively. This brass band transcription tries to remain as true to the original percussion writing as possible, but with the omission of the tuned gongs and celeste—for obvious practical performance reasons.

Viennese Spirit (John Strauss II arr. Phillip Littlemore)
This waltz was written to celebrate the wedding of Archduchess Gisela Louise Maria and Prince Leopold of Bavaria. The performance brought Strauss together with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time – they had dismissed him previously as a frivolous pop composer!

Voices of Spring (Johann Strauss II arr. Phillip Littlemore)
Voices of Spring is one of the Strauss' later waltzes, and it is unusual in that it was introduced not as an instrumental work, but as a vehicle for a coloratura soprano (coloratura meaning prone to elaborate ornamentation). The worked dropped out of the repertoire fairly quickly only to emerge as one of the all-time classics once in orchestral form. It is a staple of the concerts by André Rieu and his orchestra.

William Tell Overture (Gioacchino Rossini arr. Phillip Littlemore)
The overture to Rossini's opera William Tell is a fairly large scale work in four sections and lasting some twelve minutes. However, it is the finale of the overture which is one of  the most iconic pieces of music. This 'March of the Swiss Soldiers' is a dynamic cavalry charge and galop often used in popular media to denote galloping horses, a race, or a hero riding to the rescue. Its most famous use in that respect is as the theme music for the radio and TV show The Lone Ranger!