Everything I write is usually done with the Stykkishólmur School Band in mind. When I started working with this band most of the low brass was missing and I decided to make use of piano, guitar and electric bass to make up for this. Today the band is complete, but I still use these extra instruments – not to compensate for what is missing, but rather to enhance the sound of the band. Even though many of my full-band arrangements are written with these extra instruments in mind, it’s still possible to play most of them with a traditional band.
My repertoire consists mainly of Icelandic, Norwegian and South African music. Every piece or arrangement is written with each musician and the entire band in mind. No-one should feel left out – and the band should sound great.
COOL SCANDINAVIAN ARRANGEMENTS
Here are some arrangements of Scandinavian music.
These arrangements can be purchased from
Obligato.
I SKOVENS DYBE, STILLE RO
A folk-song from Langeland in Denmark
KLING, KLANG, KLUKKAN SLÆR
A folk-song from Finland
KRUMMI SVAF Í KLETTAGJÁ
An Icelandic folk-song about a poor raven struggling to survive in the cold winter night. Keyboard and electric guitar play an important role in this arrangement, but as there are plenty of cue-notes it is no problem to play it with a traditional band as well.
KVÖLDA TEKUR SEST ER SÓL
An Icelandic folk-song describing Iceland at dusk. The sun has set and night falls. But it has been a pleasant day and “Kvölda tekur sest er sól” sounds just like that.
THE GREAT ESCAPE MARCH
This heroic march is the main theme from the 1963 movie The Great Escape. The music is by Elmer Bernstein and Al Stillman.
16:44
Every once in a while I find time to write music of my own. 16:44 is describing how time flies when a band come together to rehearse.
HOT SOUTH AFRICAN ARRANGEMENTS
During my year with the Field Band Foundation in South Africa I got to know a lot of fantastic people and a lot of incredible music. Part of my job was to transcribe and rearrange some of this music and 10 of the tunes were published by NMF.
This music can be purchased by Norsk Noteservice right
here.
STAMP
This South African tune is often heard at sports events, but also in weddings and other events. Click
here to buy.
DEMBEZA
This is another South African trad, made famous by the jazz trumpetplayer Brian Thusi. Click here to buy.
AMAVOLOVOLO
Amavolovolo is a traditional wedding song from South Africa, made popular by Amnatshitshi Amhlope fra KwaZulu-Natal. Click here to buy.
CUSTOM ARRANGEMENTS
I also write and arrange music for other ensembles – brass quartets, brass quintets, horn sections in popular music, but also woodwind ensembles and strings. Perhaps you have a project coming up and need someone to arrange some wind or string parts? Please contact me!
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martin markvoll 