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OBP Goes Large with Richard Strauss

Almost all of our music for obvious reasons is for quintet or similar size ensemble. However for our next release we have changed it up by adding two sixteen piece Richard Strauss Motet transcriptions that make up his Zwei Gesänge.

The first music we have released from Festmusik: A Legacy, prepared by Dave Gordon Shute and Matt Smith, Der Abend and Hymne are now the largest scores available here on OBP. Scroll down to have a listen on Spotify.

Perfect for any music college or conservatoire they are scored for 4 trumpets, 2 flugelhorns, 2 horns in F, 4 trombones, 2 bass trombones and 2 tubas. Zwei Gesänge or Two Songs bring the late Romantic Strauss awesome majesty of sound to the large brass ensemble.

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Two Jackson Pieces Published Ready for PJIBEC

Over the years, our Composer-in-Association Timothy Jackson has contributed greatly to the repertoire of Onyx Brass and by association the wider brass quintet diaspora with a myriad of compositions, transcriptions and arrangements. However, we are so proud that his two most seminal works, Two Haiku and Seventeen Variations on a Theme by John Dowland, are now available for download here at Onyx Brass Publishing.

Featured on the recordings Trisagion and Fantasias, Pavans and Variations respectively, they explore the advanced technique of the individual brass player and combined ensemble.

Also as they have been chosen for use in the Philip Jones International Brass Ensemble Competition, we hope they will now receive the wider audience they deserve.

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The Mighty Pencil by Trish Clowes Available Soon

Following on from the imminent release of Gwilym Simcock’s Stomper, we are pleased to announce that the fourth piece from the popular recording, Onyx Noir, is to be made available exclusively here at Onyx Brass Publishing.

The Mighty Pencil by Trish Clowes forms one of the twelve works that Onyx Brass recorded on their critically acclaimed jazz inspiration disc, with Trish as instrumentalist and composer being described by the Guardian as “one of the most agile and original jugglers of improv and adventurous composition to have appeared in the UK in recent times” The Mighty Pencil does exactly that with a delightful fusion of classical and jazz harmony alongside chances to bring elements of Improvisation into the music.

The piece opens with the instruction “Have Fun” though while composing The Mighty Pencil, the shooting at the Paris offices of the satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, occurred with the piece taking a darker, more protest like character toward it’s conclusion.

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Gwilym Simcock’s Stomper Landing Soon

We are pleased to announce that we will be releasing Gwilym Simcock’s Stomper for brass quintet for purchase exclusively here on OBP, in what will be one of our largest single pieces to date. Taken from the critically acclaimed recording of Onyx Noir, Stomper will be available to download or via special order for hard copy.

Based on the original jazz form of a Stomp, which has its routes in the early 1920’s in Jelly Roll Morton’s King Porter Stomp, it uses a specific eight bar chord progression from this piece and other examples of this form are Benny Goodman’s Slipped Disc and Duke Ellington’s Bojangles.

Gwilym Simcock, the Welsh pianist and composer who has been variously described as “exceptional”, “dazzling” and “brilliant”, has written a piece that is brimming with unbridled energy from beginning to end. Stomper is a challenge for all ensembles to tackle but will reward players and audiences alike with its infectious rhythms and melodies.

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New Imogen Holst Original Only Available on OBP

Following on the heels of Leiston Suite, we are pleased to announce that a second piece written by Imogen Holst is now available only here from OBP.

Fanfare for the Grenadier Guards was written in 1966, the same year that Leiston Suite was composed and is scored for three trumpets, two trombones and horn in F. The score requests for the trumpets and trombones to be arranged as far apart and opposite each other with the horn, a more distant voice from centre stage. Like Leiston, it is another piece that was recorded by Onyx Brass and directed by John Wilson on their successful Fanfares recording.

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Rameau’s Entrée de Polimnie Available Now

We are very proud to present another new work available for purchase here at OBP. Entrée de Polimnie is taken from Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opera, Les Boreades, and is a sublime opening number for any occasion. Take a look at our popular YouTube clip to get a taste of this Baroque masterpiece.

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Gershwin Novelette arrives at OBP

From 13th September we are pleased to offer a beautifully crafted arrangement of one of George Gershwin’s piano preludes, Novelette in Fourths. Taken from his wider series of preludes, Tim Jackson’s arrangement loses none of the charm and poise of this “cake walk” that Gershwin wrote in 1919.

Initially available in download form, this is the first of a number of new pieces that will be hitting the virtual shelves of OBP this Autumn! Follow us on social media to keep track of when things are available.

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Leiston Suite to be made available in treble clef

In what is a departure for OBP, we have decided to make a version for treble clef instruments that makes it suitable for players who read music for trombone, euphonium or E flat tuba in that clef. Also a part for E flat tenor horn will be included in this version and the two trumpet parts are suitable to be played by two cornets.

To top this all off will will also produce a full version which includes all of the parts from the original and treble clef versions, making it a perfect product for conservatories, colleges or other education establishments where a large number of different instrumental combinations would be able to perform it.

We will announce when this is ready across our social media channels and if it is successful, we will look at trying the same thing for other pieces in the catalogue.