Fantasy on a Fiddle Tune

Pierre La Plante

General Info

Year: 2005
Duration: c. 3:50
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: LudwigMasters Publications
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $70.00 | Score Only (print) - $10.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Bells
Crash Cymbals
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal
Wood Block
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Brimming with life, it's what we've grown to expect from this popular band composer. Bright and brisk from the very start, Old Joe Clark never sounded better. This familiar folk song is presented in a joyful fantasy of contrasting styles, tempi, and dynamics, with plenty of challenges and rewards for everyone. It captures all the good-natured, foot-tapping feel of the original fiddle tune.

- Program Note from publisher

To Carol Katshear.

- Program Note from score

Old Joe Clark is a U.S. folk song, a mountain ballad that was popular among soldiers from eastern Kentucky during World War I and afterwards. Its lyrics refer to a real person named Joseph Clark, a Kentucky mountaineer who was born in 1839 and murdered in 1885. The "playful and sometimes outlandish verses" have led to the conjecture that it first spread as a children's song and via play parties. There are about 90 stanzas in various versions of the song.

Old Joe Clark has been described as "one of the most widely known of all Southern fiddle tunes [as of the late 20th century. ... It] has, to a degree, become part of the [United States] national repertory. One may hear it in bluegrass jam sessions, old-time fiddle sessions, and country dances throughout the United States."

- Program Note from Wikipedia