Boulevard
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Jim Parker

Boulevard

  • £22.50

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  • Product Details
  • Composer Biog
  • Instrumentation

Instrument: wind quintet score and parts
Grade: slightly difficult
Catalogue No: 3601
ISMN No: 9790570275250

Scored for Wind Quintet ~ flute • oboe • clarinet in Bb • horn in F • bassoon ~

A boulevard at lunchtime in a city. A streetband appears, playing a lively piece. A beggar and his dog are sleeping on the pavement The dog wakes up and ignores the band but his attention is drawn to an organ grinder playing a sad song in another part of the street. He goes to investigate but soon gets bored, returns to his owner and falls asleep again. Further along the street two ladies are having lunch and are having a serious conversation about their children, their husbands and the results of an expensive but triumphant morning spent in the shops. The organ grinder is still playing his sad melody but appears to be having respiratory trouble. This gets progressively worse until finally he expires on the pavement and departs to the great organ grinders’ convention in the sky. There is consternation and sadness from the assembled crowd but life goes on. The band strikes up a fast number with a Latin beat and a hat is passed round for contributions. The crowd is generous with its applause but is suddenly afflicted with myopia and deafness when asked for money.

... Street Band • The Beggars Dog • Ladies At Lunch • Death of an Organ Grinder • Three Cheers for the Band

"... The name Jim Parker is synonymous with brass bands and television show themes; the composer was responsible for the catchy ditties for the likes of Ground Force and Midsummer Murders. Parker is also no rookie when it comes to composiing for wind ensemble - his Mississippi Five is a truly fine work. Boulevard is an exciting and rewarding work of programme music, with a sound understanding of the ensemble. The witty and detailed scenario evokes - whether intentional or not by the composer - the market scene from Stravinsky's Petrushka." Reviewed 'Music Teacher'
Jim Parker
After graduating as an oboe player at the Guildhall School of Music Jim played with leading London orchestras and chamber groups before joining The Barrow Poets as a performer and composer. He had success in the recording studios with a series of records in which he set to music the poems of Sir John Betjeman, spoken by the poet and conducted by the composer. These and subsequent records, including 'Captain Beaky' with words by Jeremy Lloyd which topped the charts as both a single and album led to work in television as well as in the London West End theatre and at Chichester.

He has written the scores for over a hundred TV programmes and has won the BAFTA award for best television music four times. Television drama series include 'The House of Eliott', 'Soldier Soldier', 'Tom Jones', 'Midsomer Murders', and 'Born and Bred'. Film scores include 'A rather English Marriage', 'Lost for Words', and the classic silent film 'Girl Shy', by Harold Lloyd.

Concert works have been written for The Nash Ensemble, Philip Jones Brass, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Albion Ensemble, The Wallace Collection, The Raphael Ensemble and Poems on the Underground. His published compositions include 'A Londoner In New York' for ten brass, 'Mississippi Five' for wind quintet, 'The Golden Section' for brass quintet and a 'Clarinet Concerto'. He is also the recipient of an honorary degree from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Instrumentation Sample

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