Only In Sleep: Brass Band

This piece brings the warmth and accessibility that made Ešenvalds' choral version an audience favorite directly into the brass band repertoire. The Flugel Horn solo frame that opens and closes the work gives your band a luminous focal point, while Littlemore's arrangement respects the delicate orchestration of the original, asking your ensemble to find subtlety and breath within the brass sound. It's the kind of contemporary work that programs beautifully alongside both traditional brass band music and other modern pieces, instantly elevating any concert's artistic vision.

Only in Sleep unfolds like a memory half-recalled: luminous and tinged with longing, yet never heavy-handed. The opening Flugel Horn voice emerges from silence with incandescent clarity, while undulating harmonies beneath create a dreamlike suspension of time. As the piece winds toward its close, every gesture dissolves into silence, leaving listeners in the contemplative space between waking and sleep.

Intermediate brass bands at 2nd Section and above will find this piece both musically rewarding and accessible. It suits ensembles comfortable with contemporary harmonic language and looking to expand beyond traditional brass band fare without overextending technically. This is ideal for bands whose conductors want to introduce their audiences to music by a major living composer.

• Balance the Flugel Horn soloist carefully in the opening and closing sections; this voice should feel intimate rather than soloistic, as if the dreamer is drifting in and out of memory.
• Shape the arabesques and flowing lines across your full ensemble as if they were a single melodic phrase, even when distributed across multiple voices. Avoid letting individual sections punch through; let the sound float.
• Approach the chordal oscillations as gentle undulations rather than static harmonic blocks. Slight dynamic swelling and receding will animate what might otherwise feel static.
• Allow the final descent into nothing to happen gradually; resist the urge to rush it. The tempo should feel unhurried, giving the audience space to sit with the piece's closing reverie.

Program this as a centerpiece for a concert exploring contemporary music or as an elegant encore that shifts the emotional tenor of your finale. It pairs particularly well with other introspective modern works or can stand alone as a palate cleanser between more dramatic pieces. The piece works equally well in community band settings, educational concerts, and competitive environments where contemporary repertoire is valued.

• Sustaining long, lyrical lines with consistent tone quality across the full ensemble
• Balancing solo voices against underlying harmonic texture without sacrificing ensemble unity
• Shaping contemporary harmonic language with sensitivity to color and blend
• Responding to subtle dynamic and tempo nuances that drive emotional expression rather than technical display
• Reading and executing the distributed melodic writing typical of contemporary brass band scores