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Barney was a very laid back and happy soul, not the brightest-ever retriever, but with the potential for a little mischief when the mood took him.
This piece was written with the intention of being eminently playable so both the range and the technical demands are carefully controlled and the scoring is designed to make the music sound strong with a band of less experienced players.
This prelude, De Madrugada, was written during the time Rob was living in Spain. In the early morning the rising sun would quickly banish the night and no sooner was the day under way than the church bells would ring to let the whole village know that it was time to embrace the new day.
Rob's fanfare Shining Sword was performed at West End Heroes 2014, a charity gala performance in aid of Help For Heroes at the Dominion Theatre on Sunday 28th September.
A 5 year project, Music of the Great War, was launched on November 11th with Rob's arrangement Songs of the Great War. Its aim is to use music from the time of WW1 to educate and encourage schools, colleges, town bands, and the wider public across the UK and the world to learn in a positive way about the events and the experiences of the troops involved from all sides and how music played its part.
For more information, and to download the Wind Band or Brass Band version of the medley, please visit the Commonwealth Education Trust page. For more information on how to get involved in the project please visit the Music of the Great War website.
Spider Legs sees Rob return wholeheartedly to latin rythmns, one of his favourite types of music, for the first time since he wrote Tiptoe Tune in 2001. The title comes from the nickname given to his recently born granddaughter Emma Louisa Wiffin!
A new CD - ‘Sinfonietta’ by the Central Band of the RAF has recently been released. It features Rob’s dramatic and exciting work of the same name, Sinfonietta.
Blue & Orange, a song and dance for flute with wind band accompaniment, these two pieces are as contrasting as possible, just like the colours of the title.
Christmas in the Nursery is a selection of well-known Christmas Carols set in the style of Rob's Dancing ‘round the Nursery arrangement.
At the Splash with Sim is a gentle, tranquil piece which gets its title from a favourite swimming place of Rob's dog, Simba.
Siciliano is an arrangement of the middle movement of Bach’s Sonata in E-flat major for flute or recorder and harpsichord.
During the last weekend of September the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra recorded Rob’s Trombone Concerto, a musically and technically demanding 3 piece concerto which was commissioned by Brett Baker following an earlier piece I had written for him called Shout!; and Still Waters, an atmospheric solo for oboe. These works will be included on the new ‘Great British Music for Wind Band’ CD.
Crimbledance is a selection of Christmas music recast in Riverdance form; Drummers Drumming is a Christmas version of Rob's Dancing and Drumming arrangement, and Fairy Doll is a version of Bizet’s Farandole using Christmas melodies.
The programme included Dancing 'round the Nursery, a selection of well-known children's tunes, and Farandole, a version of the famous Bizet work.
The workshop featured the first performances of Divertimento, a tuneful and rhythmic five movement suite, and What the Heart Knows, an extended, slow and reflective piece for band.
The first months of 2014 have been extremely busy and have included several wind band workshops. Firstly there was a visit to the Isle of Man Wind Orchestra in February where amongst the works played were Rob's bright and attractive concert overture, Chase the Sun; Cornish Pastiche, a three movement suite depicting aspects of Cornish life and culture; Dancing 'round the Nursery, a selection of well-known children's tunes; Heavier Water, a funk arrangement of excerpts from Handel's Water Music; a version of Bizet's famous Farandole and; The Dancing Master, an arrangement of three country-dancing tunes from Playford's The Dancing Master.