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  • Hoofers
    Hoofers ThumbnailHoofers Thumbnail

    arr Jim Parker

    Hoofers

    • £13.75

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    • Product Details
    • Composer Biography
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    Instrument: oboe and piano
    Grade: slightly difficult
    Catalogue No: 4304
    ISMN No: 9790570660698

    First performed by James Turnbull and Libby Burgess at the Barnes Festival on March 10th 2016.

    The Flying Scotsman
    One of my early passions was collecting train numbers. The nearest mainline station was Darlington and the highlight of a visit to the station was The Flying Scotsman, a non-stop express running between London and Edinburgh. As we stood on the footbridge we could hear the faint sound of the approaching train getting louder until eventually it roared beneath our feet and disappeared in the distance.

    Banjolele
    As its name implies, the banjolele is a hybrid instrument using the relatively simple tuning of the ukulele with the percussive sound of the banjo. I was prompted to write this piece after reading a story by PG Wodehouse, Thank You Jeeves, in which Bertie Wooster is evicted from a series of lodgings because of his insistence on practising the banjolele. Eventually even Jeeves, his faithful manservant leaves. I hope our audience is more forgiving.

    Lonely Ballerina
    This is a reworking of a theme which I used in the long-running TV series Midsomer Murders. In this version it depicts a retired dancer who is reminiscing about her career on stage.

    Hoofers
    Some years ago, Wally K Daly and myself were commissioned by Granada Television to write a musical about Margaret Kelly, better known as Miss Bluebell. At that time Bluebell was running The Lido, a famous Parisian nightclub. The main attraction at The Lido was a troupe of dancers called The Bluebell Girls and we were rigorous with our research into this aspect of the story. It was, as they say, tough but someone had to do it. This piece is reminiscent of that time. "Hoofers", as its name implies, is show business slang for dancers.

    Recorded on the CD "Travelling Light" (Divine Art dda 25146) by Richard and Janet Simpson.

    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.

    Sample: Banjolele

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