Brass Band

Saying Goodbye

Grade 3 | 4 Mins

Philip Sparke wrote Saying Goodbye specially a CD recording by Brass Band Willebroek late in 2007. It is a response to his increasing unease with brass bands playing arrangements of popular music, most of which don't transcribe well; this is not because he doesn't like 'pop' - he does - but rather because of a growing feeling that brass bands too often play 'in disguise', not being themselves but simply copying rather than performing other styles of music. 

Saying Goodbye is one of a series of original works in pop, rock and swing styles he has composed to try and give brass bands their own popular vocabulary and identity. It could be described as happy-sad in mood, a feature of much of Sparke's slower music.