I'm Seventeen Come Sunday

From Wind Repertory Project
Percy Aldridge Grainger

Folk song gathered by Percy Aldridge Grainger (arr. Larry Daehn)


General Info

Year: 1905 / 1987
Duration: c. 2:45
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Voices
Publisher: Daehn Publications, through C.L. Barnhouse
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $50.00   |   Score Only (print) - $15.00


Instrumentation

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

  • Bass Drum
  • Snare Drum


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Dedicated to the memory of Percy Aldridge Grainger.

- Program Note from score


Seventeen Come Sunday is an English folk song which was used in the first movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams' English Folk Song Suite and a choral version by Percy Grainger. The words were first published between 1838 and 1845. According to Roud and Bishop:

"This was a widely known song in England, and was also popular in Ireland and Scotland. It is one of those which earlier editors, such as Sabine Baring-Gould and Cecil Sharp, felt obliged to soften or rewrite for publication. It was also common on broadsides throughout the nineteenth century.

An earlier version was first printed on a broadside of around 1810 with the title Maid and the Soldier. Early broadside versions were sad songs focused on the abandonment of the girl by the young man. Later broadside and traditional folk versions celebrate a sexual encounter. A censored version published by Baring-Gould and Sharp substitutes a proposal of marriage for the encounter.

- Program Note from Wikipedia


Originally scored for chorus and brass band, I'm Seventeen Come Sunday was written in 1905 and is dedicated to Edvard Grieg. It is No. 8 of Grainger’s British Folk Song Settings, and represents some of his earliest folksong collecting. In Larry Daehn’s arrangement the voicings and harmonies have been faithfully preserved for wind band.

- Program Note from Stiles Middle School Honors Band concert program, 17 December 2015


I’m Seventeen Come Sunday, originally set for voices, originates from the 1905 North Lincolnshire Musical Competition where Grainger first heard the principal melody. The second melody was collected by Cecil Sharp in 1904 and was later used by Grainger prior to the work’s premiere performance in May of 1906.

“...Where are you going, my pretty fair maid? Where are you going, my honey?
She answered me right cheerfully, I’ve an errand for my mummy.
How old are you, my pretty fair maid? How old are you, my honey?
She answered me right cheerfully, I’m seventeen come Sunday...”

- Program Note from the Coppell North Honor Winds concert program, 12 February 2016


Media


State Ratings

  • Arkansas: III
  • Florida: V
  • Kansas: IV
  • Louisiana: III
  • Maryland: IV
  • Minnesota: III
  • Oklahoma: IV-A
  • Texas: III. Complete


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

  • Grainger, P.; Daehn, L. (1987). I'm Seventeen Come Sunday [score]. Daehn Publications: New Glarus, Wisc.
  • Perusal score
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