The Ringing Isle
by Jonathan Dove
Concert Band - Sheet Music

Concert Band Wind Band

SKU: AP.12-0571566103

Composed by Jonathan Dove. 5 or More; Masterworks; Performance Music Ensemble; Solo Small Ensembles; Wind Band. Faber Edition: Faber Wind Band Series. 20th Century; Masterwork. Score and Part(s). Faber Music #12-0571566103. Published by Faber Music (AP.12-0571566103).

ISBN 9780571566105. English.

Handel called Britain the ringing isle because when he moved to London, he heard bells ringing everywhere: great bells in church towers, and hand bells in some of the first private houses he visited. The sound of people ringing the changes is a peculiarly British sound of celebration, and it seems a good starting point for a piece celebrating British musical life. Within The Ringing Isle, Dove incorporates some traditional change-ringing patterns, from 'Grandsire Doubles', 'Oxford Treble Bob Minor' and his own version of 'Plain Bob Major'. Handel's phrase also conjures up an image of a magical island, and so this is how Dove envisaged how it must have been to approach Britain from an ocean voyage.