Initiatives:Small Band Repertoire
The following information is part of the Small Band Repertoire initiative, formed by Clifford Towner (Georgia College) and James Adams (Northeastern State University). From the Initiative:
One of the greatest challenges and responsibilities of a collegiate band director is selecting repertoire that will challenge, educate, and inspire his/her musicians. This can be an especially difficult task for directors at small band programs where limitations on ensemble numbers, instrumentation, and musician quality pose an even greater challenge. The majority of college-level music is written for fully staffed ensembles, yet the majority of wind bands fall into the small band program category. Too often, programming inferior or lower level literature in order to sound polished or playing quality collegiate level repertoire at a substandard level seem to be the only options. Neither option serves students well, and both options may alienate students that either are not challenged by the first option, or that are overwhelmed by the second. Yet, between these two realms, there are quality, high-level pieces of literature that are ideally suited or can be effectively adapted for smaller college ensembles.
The purpose of this project is to use the collective experience and wisdom of the greater collegiate director community to collect and compile these high quality works that have worked for small band programs. The following is a (partial and growing) listing of music that is suitable and appropriate for smaller university and college programs that face limited instrumentation challenges. Links to associated Wind Repertory Project (WRP) entries for the music designated are provided wherever available. In the discussion section of those associated pages (reached via the Discussion tab in the upper left side of the WRP window), the researcher may find descriptions of the challenges and rewards that each piece may bring to the smaller university ensemble.
If you would like to submit a work for the purposes of this project, you may do so by following this link to submit.
Repertoire List
- O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht, arr. Westover
- Prelude and Fugue in B-flat Major, trans. Moehlmann
- Sure on this Shining Night, tr. Saucedo
- Second Prelude (arr. Krance)
- Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak, ed. Fennell
- Concerto No 2 for Piano, Winds, and Percussion
- Give Us This Day (Short Symphony)
- Mother Earth
- On This Bright Morning
- Nessum Dorma, tr. Joseph Turrin
- Lights Out (Adaptable Band)
- Off the Edge (Adaptable Band)
- Paper Cut (Adaptable Band)
- Passages
- Rock Music (Adaptable Band)
- Tight Squeeze (Adaptable Band)
- Folk Dances, arr. Reynolds
- Waltz No. 2
- With Pleasure, arr. Schissel
- Perpetuum Mobile, arr. Reed
- Das Pensionat, scored Lake, rev. Whear
- March Slav (tr. Daehn)
- Five Variants of "Dives and Lazarus", arr. Gregson