Joyride

Andrew Boysen, Jr.

General Info

Year: 2003 / 2008
Duration: c. 6:40
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Neil A Kjos Music
Cost: Score & Parts - $90.00 | Score Only - $10.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
Bassoon I-II
Soprano Saxophone
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
String Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V, including:

Bass Drum
Bongos
Celesta
Crotales
Finger Cymbals
Glockenspiel
Gongs
Marimba
Mark Tree
Ratchet
Slapstick
Snare Drum
Splash Cymbal
Suspended Cymbal
Tam Tam
Timpani
Tom-Toms (3)
Triangle
Tubular Bells
Vibraphone
Woodblock
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Joyride was commissioned by the North Jersey School Music Association in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the North Jersey Region I High School Band Concerts and premiered at their festival in 2003.

The genesis for the composition occurred while I was doing doctoral work at the Eastman School of Music in 1996-1998. I began work on a piece for orchestra in which I hoped to explore some of the sounds and concepts of composers like John Adams, who have created a music which has been labeled as post-minimalism. Although I abandoned work on that particular piece, some of my ideas for it continued to percolate, and the commission from the North Jersey School Music Association finally allowed them to be realized.

There are many processes at work in Joyride, most notably the fairly constant repetition of a chord that initially consists of the notes C, F and G. This set of pitches is the main unifying feature of the piece, controlling most of the underlying harmonies, establishing melodic material, and even dictating the large-scale sections of the piece (the four main sections of the work are in C Phrygian, F Phrygian, G Mixolydian, and C Major). Joyride also uses a technique called metric modulation, in which each new tempo is related metrically to the previous tempo. Finally, the first half of the piece is essentially repeated in the second half of the piece, although the overall effect is completely altered because the keys and tempos have changed. All of this, however, is simply intended to create a piece that will be a rhythmic, exciting, and enjoyable "joyride" for its listeners.

- Program Note by Andrew Boysen, Jr.

Media

Audio: at Neil A. Kjos Music Company

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

University of Central Arkansas (Conway) Symphonic Band (Ricky Brooks, conductor) – 10 October 2019
University of Nevada (Reno) Wind Ensemble (A. G. McGrannahan III, conductor) – 12 March 2010 (CBDNA 2010 Western/Northwestern Division Conference (Reno, Nev.)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Alchemy (2008/2013)
All the Pretty Little Horses. See: Three Folk Song Settings for Band
Ancient Runes (2017)
Apples (2018)
Branden's Rainbow (1997/2002)
Bright Sunny Days (2013)
By My Side (2018)
Casus Belli (2018)
Celebration In Brass (1995)
Concerto for Percussion (as transcriber) (1994/1997)
Conversations with the Night (1994)
Dance, from All Hail the Power
December Dance (2005)
Diamond Jubilee Suite (2018)
Distorted Images: A Jazzman's Nightmare (1989)
A Fallen Leaf (2004)
Fanfare: In Memoriam (2015)
Fantasy on a Theme by Sousa (2003)
Frenzy (2010)
The Four Horsemen (1989)
A Glimpse through the Trees (2014)
Grant Them Eternal Rest (2003)
Havener Fanfare (2012)
Heirloom (2009)
I Am (1990)
John Henry (1990)
Joyride (2003/2008)
Kinetic Energy (1994)
Kirkpatrick Fanfare (1999)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (2006)
Metamorphosis (2013)
Old Ben's Farm (2016/2019)
On the Merrimack (2010)
Ovations (1995)
Phoenix (2020)
Poor Wayfaring Stranger. See: Three Folk Song Settings for Band
Relentless (2000)
Scarborough Fair. See: Three Folk Song Settings for Band
Scherzo (1995)
Scherzo No 2 (2013)
Shades of Ivory (1996)
Simple Song (1995)
Snowflakes Dancing (2012/2016)
Song for Lyndsay (2005)
Song for My Children (2013)
Song for My Parents (2020)
Song of Loudest Praise, A (2010)
Song of the Sea Maidens (1994)
Stamp, from A Jack Stamp Suite (2017)
Star-Crossed (2013)
Symphony No. 1 for Winds and Percussion (1997)
Symphony No. 3 (1999)
Symphony No. 4 (2006)
Symphony No. 6 (2012)
Symphony No. 8 (2015-2016)
- Winter of the World
Symphony No. 10 (2019)
This Is the Drum (2013)
Thoughts of You (1998)
Three Folk Song Settings for Band
- Poor Wayfaring Stranger (2007/2012)
- All the Pretty Little Horses (as arranger) (2014)
- Scarborough Fair (as arranger) (2013)
Time Streams (After Tricycle) (2011)
To Break Earth's Sleep (2015)
Tricycle (1997)
Twilight of the Gods (2010)
An Uncommon Man (1993)
Unraveling (2006)
Urban Scenes (1993)
The Vikings (2015)

Resources

Andrew Boysen Jr. website
Boysen, A. (2008). Joyride [score]. Neil A. Kjos: San Diego, Calif.