Commissioned by the 2007 Albemarle County High School Honors Band (Crozet, VA), this piece takes its inspiration from the rich maritime history of the Chesapeake Bay - from colonial lighthouses to Civil War ironclads; from its vital role in the underground railroad to Blackbeard and other real-life pirates. Adventure is paramount as swashbuckling themes are developed in the opening and closing sections of this work and beautifully contrasted with the haunting lyrical section reminiscent of "Oh Shenandoah." (4:45)
Category: BIGGIES - Grade 3.5 Composer: Scott Director
Grade: 3.5
Here's a fun, fresh and innovative interpretation of a day in the life of a band program. It alternates between the point of view of students and that of the band directors. The music is reflective of the lively, fast-paced, and sometimes frenzied atmosphere that generates the energy and excitement of a typical day. Innovative and exciting!
Category: BIGGIES - Grade 3.5 Composer: Scott Director
Grade: 3.5
A Day In The Life (concert band score)
Here's a fun, fresh and innovative interpretation of a day in the life of a band program. It alternates between the point of view of students and that of the band directors. The music is reflective of the lively, fast-paced, and sometimes frenzied atmosphere that generates the energy and excitement of a typical day. Innovative and exciting!
Category: BIGGIES - Grade 3.5 Composer: William Owens
Grade 3.5 - 4.0 Duration 3.00
The awe-inspiring legacy of the Pony Express comes alive in this audacious musical tale of one of America’s greatest institutions! This adrenaline-fueled work yields heroic melodic statements, brilliant runs and a beautifully contrasting 3/4 section. Get ready for a wild ride !
Martin Mailman (1932-2000) composed "Alarums for Band, Op. 27" in 1962 in Greenville, North Carolina. The word "alarum" means a "call to arms." The piece was originally titled "Overture for Band" and was later changed to "Alarums for Band" sometime between its completion in 1962 and publication in 1969 with John Barnes Chance, Mailman's colleague and friend, probably suggesting the change in title sometime during this period. Bold and commanding, a cherished addition to the Belwin Classic Band series.
Category: BIGGIES - Grade 3.5 Composer: Martin Mailman
Grade: 3.5
Martin Mailman (1932-2000) composed "Alarums for Band, Op. 27" in 1962 in Greenville, North Carolina. The word "alarum" means a "call to arms." The piece was originally titled "Overture for Band" and was later changed to "Alarums for Band" sometime between its completion in 1962 and publication in 1969 with John Barnes Chance, Mailman's colleague and friend, probably suggesting the change in title sometime during this period. Bold and commanding, a cherished addition to the Belwin Classic Band series.
Category: BIGGIES - Grade 3.5 Composer: Gary Fagan
Grade: 3.5
An ethereal opening features solo alto saxophone leading to a tuneful and poignant legato theme. The second half of the piece features a rhythmic driving Allegro that leads to a rousing conclusion. (5:25)
An ethereal opening features solo alto saxophone leading to a tuneful and poignant legato theme. The second half of the piece features a rhythmic driving Allegro that leads to a rousing conclusion. (5:25)
Category: BIGGIES - Grade 3.5 Composer: Samuel R. Hazo
Grade 3.5 Duration 5:00
This impressive work by Samuel Hazo begins and ends with a unifying dramatic and powerful fanfare theme. In contrast, the middle section is built around faster and modern-sounding rhythms and harmonies, while incorporating traditional melodies (including a hint of Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring) lending a unique and timeless quality to the music. Commissioned as a tribute from one band director to his predecessor, this is a rewarding and effective work for today's bands.
This transcription of Asturias from Issac Albeniz's Suite Espanola, Op. 47 brings new life to the work originally composed for piano and is brilliantly colored, filled with suggestive harmonies and complex textures, and richly evocative.
This transcription of Asturias from Issac Albeniz's Suite Espanola, Op. 47 brings new life to the work originally composed for piano and is brilliantly colored, filled with suggestive harmonies and complex textures, and richly evocative.
High jinks and dark deeds in the Caribbean. What really happened on Pythagoras’s cruise ? Find out with this racy, thrilling piece, and don’t forget the sun-tan cream. Essential repertoire for accomplished school bands and upwards.
Category: BIGGIES - Grade 3.5 Composer: Steven Bryant
Grade 3.5 Duration 6.25
Bloom is a moderate-tempo work celebrating the warmth and joy of Spring. The music blossoms from an initial tranquil pulse into a rapturous tide of warmth and beauty. Playable by younger bands, this work provides a mature musical experience for middle school, junior high, high school and college-level ensembles.
Category: BIGGIES - Grade 3.5 Composer: Oliver Waespi
Difficulty: 3.5
Duration: 9m01s
In Caledonia, Oliver Waespi adapted three well-known Scottish folk songs into a rhapsodic suite for wind orchestra. The first, rather humorous song, The Devil Came Fiddling Through the Town, tells the story of a devil who, as he passes through the streets of the town, catches the tax inspector and carries him off, much to the delight of the inhabitants. The second song, Ye banks and braes, is gentle and melancholy and based partly on the folk song Hey, tuttie tattie. Oliver Waespi took a symphonic approach to the adaptation of these lovely songs, which makes this a unique and innovative suite that can be performed at a concert or contest. The individual parts can also be performed separately.
Category: BIGGIES - Grade 3.5 Composer: Michael Ball
Grade 3.5 Duration 11.00
Chaucer’s Tunes (two sections of which began life in less extended form as theme music for a BBC radio series The Road to Canterbury) was originally written for wind band, commissioned by the British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles for its 1993 conference.
The work consists of six interconnected sections which can equally well be played as one complete continuous movement or as independent individual pieces (playing either ‘to continue’ of ‘to finish’ as appropriate).
The Intrada, for example, or Chauntecleer and the Fox (perhaps together with the Finale) would make effective concert openers of finishers, whilst other movements, such as the carol arrangement Es ist ein’ Ros’, may prove useful in a seasonal context.
The opening an closing sections were developed from a song for baritone voice and instrumental ensemble (including such instruments as alto trombone and handbells) with the 14th century text Of fantasy is all our fare / But make we merry and slay care / And each man cherish each others’ cheer.
The ensuing Fantasia follows Chaucer’s Prioress’s Tale in the story of the small boy who fell in love with the plainsong anthem Alma redemptoris mater and was taught the tune phrase by phrase, reflected in the canonic dialogue between principal cornet and euphonium in the first section; the fuller subsequent sections are lyrical and rumbustious by turn, celebrating further this attractive melody.
The Intermezzo The Wife of Bath is a playful and robust contrast, followed by an arrangement of the old German carol Es ist ein’ Ros’ entsprungen. The Chase (of the cock Chauntecleer by the fox, from Chaucer’s Nun’s Priest’s Tale) leads directly into the Finale, a telescoped version of the initial Intrada plus an extended coda.
Category: BIGGIES - Grade 3.5 Composer: Jerry Brubaker
Grade 3.5 Duration 7.37
Inspired by the beautiful and bountiful Chesapeake Bay in the Maryland and Virginia areas of the United States, Jerry Brubaker begins this odyssey on a quiet morn, with sounds of gulls riding the winds above gentle waves. The sections of this suite are entitled Chantey Power and Sail and Festival With nautical flavorings throughout, Chesapeake is a celebration of nature’s gift to all who live on, work on, or simply enjoy the waterways of our great nation.
Commissioned by the 2007 Albemarle County High School Honors Band (Crozet, VA), this piece takes its inspiration from the rich maritime history of the Chesapeake Bay - from colonial lighthouses to Civil War ironclads; from its vital role in the underground railroad to Blackbeard and other real-life pirates. Adventure is paramount as swashbuckling themes are developed in the opening and closing sections of this work and beautifully contrasted with the haunting lyrical section reminiscent of "Oh Shenandoah."
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