Today we will be listening and watching through some of brass bands most well recognized repertoire along with some of my own personal favorites. To begin lets take a look at one of the most popular pieces performed by brass bands, Resurgam by Eric Ball.
Eric Ball was an English composer born in 1903. He played the piano and organ which eventually led him to work for the Salvation Army musical instrument department. After tragedy struck in his family he left his occupation and decided to join judging panels for brass bands. Erics passion turned to conducting and composing which was when Resurgam came about.
The name comes from the latin translation 'I shall rise again'. The piece touches into powerful themes such as death and ressurection. If you'd like to learn more about the piece please click the link to this article published by Alex Burns in 2021 (link).
Next I'd like to listen to one of my personal favorite pieces of the brass band repetoire, Gaelforce by Peter Graham.
Peter Graham is a Scottish composer who was born in 1958. Many of Grahams works have now become staples within the brass band world.
Gaelforce was published in 2001 as a comission for the brass ensemble Fodens Band based out of Sandbach, England. The three movements are each based on Irish tunes and the Cry of the Celts style. If you'd like to learn more about the piece please click the link to this article published by Alex Burns in 2021 (link).
Another personal favorite of mine I discovered recently is Fanfares Liturgiques by Henry Tomasi.
Fanfares Liturgiques was premiered in 1947 where he had recently become the conductor of an opera. These fanfares come from his opera Don Juan Mañara which wasn't premiered until 1956
I find this next piece to be one of the most moving pieces of musical literature out there. It is called Song For Hope, and it was written by Pete Meechan in dedication to his dear friend Ryan Anthony who unfortunately passed away from cancer in 2020.
Performance by Ryan Anthony, Dave Bilger, Michael Sachs and friends for the 2015 CancerBlows event
This piece materialized from a conversation between Ryan Anthony and Peter Meechan. Ryan adored the middle movement from Peters cornet concerto titled "Song" and asked if he could reuse it into a work with an incredibly uplifting ending. And it was from this discussion that Song for Hope was made. I was lucky enough to hear it performed by the Indiana University Brass Band in 2023 with the three soloists being the trumpet faculty (John Rommel, Joey Tartell, and Jason Bergman).
With whatever time remains after listening through these pieces all attach some more pieces I'd like to do more research on in the future. All of them should be a great listen so I hope you enjoy!
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