Commissioned as the Championship section Test Piece for the National Brass Band Championship on October 9 1983 at the Royal Albert Hall, London, which was won by the Cory Band of Wales. Ballet for Band is the music for an imaginary ballet. The characters and plot were quite clear in my mind before composing it, but I prefer the audience to exercise its own imagination rather than to be influenced by mine.

The work is in three main linked sections, the central one being the most lyrical. All the themes are directly or more subtly derived from the opening fanfare motif, which is also heard at the end.