Four Maryland Songs

Jack Stamp

General Info

Year: 2000
Duration: c. 10:45
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: C. Alan
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $120.00 | Score Only (print) - $40.00

Movements

1. At the Edge of the Choptank River – 2:45
2. A Maryland Road – 3:10
3. On Chesapeake Shores: A Fisherman's Sonnet – 1:45
4. The Sires of Seventy-Six – 4:15

Instrumentation

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

Bells
Chimes
Marimba
Suspended Cymbal
Triangle
Vibraphone
Xylophone

Soprano

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

This collection of songs for soprano voice and band celebrate Maryland’s heritage by setting four diverse poems to music: At the Edge of the Choptank River, A Maryland Road, On Chesapeake Shores: A Fisherman’s Sonnet, and The Sires of Seventy-Six.

- Program Note from publisher

Four Maryland Songs was commissioned by the University of Maryland chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma (the honorary band service fraternity and sorority). The commission was to honor Director of Bands John Wakefield’s thirty years on the College Park campus. After discussions with Professor Wakefield, I decided to write a work based on poetry about Maryland and feature a soprano soloist with wind ensemble. The poetry, a majority of which was found in the collection Maryland in Prose and Poetry, is as diverse as the music which accompanies it.

At the Edge of the Choptank River, by J.P. Gelletly, is very rhythmic to accentuate the consistent, pounding shore. However, Gelletly brings religious symbolism into the text and the music adjusts accordingly.

A Maryland Road, by W. C. Thurston, is somewhat pastoral, and is reminiscent of the music of Aaron Copland or, at least, has a distinct “American” flavor.

On Chesapeake Shores: A Fisherman's Sonnet, by Albert Dawling, is a humorous look at the “after-life” with or without fishing. The music is rhythmic, earthy, polytonal, and folk-like. There is a brief “tongue-in-cheek” quote of the state song in the translation.

The Sires of Seventy-Six, by John N. McJuton, is the most serious of the four movements. The text deals with our forefathers and their strife for independence. Between verses there is a serious quote of Maryland, My Maryland (which I learned as a fourth grader and can still remember the words).

- Program Note by composer

"Dedicated to the City of College Park, Maryland, the composer's hometown, on its fiftieth anniversary"

- Program Note from score

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
Audio CD: North Texas Wind Symphony (Eugene Migliaro Corporon,conductor) - 1997

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Texas Tech University (Lubbock) Concert Band (Joel Pagán, conductor; Rebecca Wascoe Hays, soprano) - 20 April 2023
University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Symphonic Band (Pamela L. Klena, conductor) – 19 February 2019
Ouachita Baptist University (Arkadelphia, Ark.) Wind Ensemble (Craig V. Hamilton, conductor; Esther Atkinson, soprano) – 6 March 2018
Trinity University (San Antonio, Tx.) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (James Worman, conductor) – 8 November 2017
University of Texas at Arlington Wind Ensemble (Phil Clements, conductor; Soo Hong Kim, soprano) – 21 February 2001 (CBDNA 2001 National Conference, Denton, Tx.)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Gambol (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Pervicacity (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2022)

All Wind Works

AirLink (2009)
Aloft! (1997)
Antithigram (1977/1988)
As If Morning Might Arrive (1994/1996)
Aubrey Fanfare (1998)
Bandancing (2004)
Be Thou My Vision. See: Chorale Prelude: Be Thou My Vision
The Beltway Jam (2006)
Border Dance (2021)
Cage Dance (2020)
Cenotaph (1992)
Cheers! (1995)
Chorale and Toccata (1993)
Chorale Prelude: Be Thou My Vision (1997)
Chorale, Scherzo, and Dance
Cloudsplitter Fanfare (2000)
Concerto for Euphonium (as transcriber) (2018/2020)
Divertimento in F (1995)
Down East Fanfare (2003)
Elegy and Affirmation (1994)
Elegy for English Horn and Band (1999)
Encomium (2022)
Ere the World Began to Be (1996)
Escapade (2007)
Fanfare, from All Hail the Power (2002)
Fanfare for a New Era (1997)
Fanfare for the Great Hall (1992)
Fanfare Furiosity (2018)
Fanfare Saltarello (2021)
Fanfare: Sinfonia (2003)
Fanfare, Song and Fugue (2006)
The Final Beguine (2018)
Five Songs from the Hills (2010)
Forefathers
Four Maryland Songs (2000)
Gambol (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Gavorkna Fanfare (1991)
Held Still in Quick of Grace (1998)
I Have a Rendezvous... (2017)
In Final Obedience (1994)
In the Silence of the Canyon (2019)
In This Hid Clearing... (2001/2006)
Iridium
Irish Tune from County Derry/Shepherd's Hey (as transcriber) (1918/2021)
Melting of Winter's Snow (1999)
Miniature Overture (2010)
No Brief Candle (2019)
Panhandle Prelude (2013)
Past the Equinox
Pastime (1999)
Pervicacity (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2022)
Prayer and Jubilation
Prayers for a Troubled Nation (2016)
Psalm 150 (2013)
Remembrance of Things to Come (1990)
Ricercare (2001)
Rondeau
Rondo alla BCP (2023)
San Luis Snapshots (2016)
Scenes from Terezin (2009)
Skyline
A Song of Hope (2013)
Southpaw (2014)
The Star-Spangled Banner (as arranger) (1814/2002)
Stranger at My Door (2021)
Symphony No. 1 (2006)
Three Places in England
Three Sketches for Wind Band (2018)
Two Overtures for Film (as transcriber) (1957/1967/2021)
Variations on a Bach Chorale (2000)
With Trump and Wing

Resources

Jack Stamp website Accessed 11 November 2017
Stamp, J.; Gellety, J.; Thurston, W.; Dawling, A.; McJuton, J. (2000). Four Maryland Songs [score]. C. Alan Publications: Greensboro, N.C.