William's Cracking Journey

In January 2021, using funding awarded by Arts Council England through the ‘Grants for the Arts’ programme, Foden’s Band commissioned five of its members to write three brass solos each. These solos are varied in difficulty, corresponding approximately to Grades 1-5 and, as part of the project funding, brass trio accompaniment videos were produced to allow players to play the pieces along with musicians from the band.

William’s Cracking Journey is part of that collection and is of approximately Grade 2 standard.

The first movement features three of the most famous pieces from the The Nutcracker – the Overture, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Trepak – all woven together in less than a “mi-nut(e)”. The second movement, Forgotten Journey, is an original slow melody by Nick looking back at journey from his childhood. We finish with the Galop from Wiliam Tell , which most brass players will remember from the 1996 hit film ‘Brassed Off’.

NB: Playalong videos should be used in conjunction with the parts linked from the video description. Published versions have been transposed and will not always match the pitch of the videos.

Instrumentation:
Brass soloist with piano accompaniment

Solo parts are provided as follows:
Treble Clef
Bass Clef

Also published as part of In the Spotlight .