Children's Folksong Suite

Kevin Walczyk

General Info

Year: 2007
Duration: c. 8:40
Difficulty: III+ (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Keveli Music
Cost: Score and Parts - $95.00 | Score Only - $15.00

Movements

1. Túrós (Girls') Game – 1:25
2. They Brought Up the Rooster – 2:35
3. Go Round, Sweetheart, Go Round – 1:15
4. Dawn, O Day! – 1:50
5. Parsley & Celery – 1:30

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II (II doubles piccolo)
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V-VI, including: (V-V-VI optional)

Bass Drum
Crash Cymbals
Glockenspiel
Marimba
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal
Tambourine
Triangle
Vibraphone
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Children's Folksong Suite for concert band is based on five Hungarian folk melodies with a simple, child-like character that have been culled from sources published between 1813 and 1896. The five melodies are also found in a collection of Hungarian and Slovakian folk songs in Bela Bartok's piano collection entitled For Children. As with Bartok's Mikrokosmos and his Forty-four Violin Duets, For Children is an expression of Bartok's interest in composing accessible works for young musicians that introduces them to contemporary harmonic resources rarely encountered at the beginning level.

Similarly, the five folk melodies set in Children's Folksong Suite have been completely re-harmonized and, in some instances, expanded. Although not bound by common-practice theoretical expectations, Children's Folksong Suite preserves each piece's unique, child-like character.

Children's Folksong Suite is dedicated to the members of the Leslie Middle School Band (Salem, Oregon) and their conductor Dr. Danh Pham, who commissioned the work.

- Program Note from publisher

Children’s Folksong Suite is based on five Hungarian folk melodies used by Béla Bartók in his piano collection, For Children. Each movement uses timbral changes to develop the folk melodies and all movements, except the fourth, introduce a secondary melody to create contrast.

The first movement is intended to be whimsical and utilizes contrasting dynamics, styles, and tempi in order to create the sections of the form. The second movement is a three-voice chorale performed by groups of similar instruments until a final statement is presented by the full ensemble. The third movement disrupts traditional metrical hierarchy as a means to disorient the sense of steady pulse while also highlighting the percussion. The fourth movement contains a single melody which the composer fragments to build transitions in between melodic statements. The final movement, similar to the first, uses the same compositional techniques to create formal structure. Throughout the movement, moments of silence interrupt the fast-moving melody and create a sense of unpredictability.

- Program Note from University of North Carolina, Greensboro, University Band concert program, 18 November 2021

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

Louisiana: IV. Complete
Texas: III. (Any three mvts.)
Texas: IV. Complete

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Kent State University (Ohio) Symphony Band (Darin Olson, conductor) - 7 March 2023
Bemidji (Minn.) State University Symphonic Band (Ryan Webber, conductor) – 15 November 2022
University of North Carolina, Greensboro, University Band (Cole Hairston, conductor) - 18 November 2021
Texas Tech University (Lubbock) University Band – 6 May 2018
Illinois State University (Normal) University Band (Marykatheryne E. Kuhne, conductor) – 5 October 2017
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne Symphonic Band (Daniel Tembras, conductor) – 8 October 2015

Works for Winds by This Composer

Celebration Fanfare (2003)
Centenary Anthem
Children's Folksong Suite (2007)
Concerto Gaucho (2007)
Concerto Scion
Divertimento for Brass Quintet
Elegy for the Wall's Unnamed (2015)
Eloi, Eloi (2015)
Emblems of Sacrifice (2016)
From Glory to Glory (2011)
Lateral Perspectives
Peloton (2018)
Planted on the Crystal Sea (2018)
Sojourn of Dreams (2015)
Songs of Paradise (1941/2011)
Star Dust (arr Walczyk) (as arranger) (2013)
Symphony No. 2 (2010)
Symphony No. 3 (2013)
Symphony No. 4 (2017)
Symphony No. 5 (2018)
Visionplace of Souls (2001/2008)
Winter Ricercar (2014)

Resources

Pham, Danh T. "Children's Folksong Suite." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 9, edit. & comp. by Richard Miles, 336-344. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2013.
Walczyk, K. (2007). Children's Folksong Suite: For Concert Band [score]. Keveli Music: McMinnville, Ore.