Jungle Book Suite, The

From Wind Repertory Project
Percy Aldridge Grainger

Percy Aldridge Grainger (arr. Chalon Ragsdale)


General Info

Year: 2011
Duration: c. 11:25
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Various; Grainger wrote different settings
Publisher: Aux Arcs Music, through C. Alan Productions
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $180.00   |   Score Only (print) - $12.50

N.B. Morning Song in the Jungle, The Inuit, and The Beaches of Lukannon are available for purchase individually.


Movements

1. Morning Song in the Jungle – 2:50
2. The Inuit – 2:15
3. Hunting Song of the Seeonee Park 1:30
4. The Beaches of Lukannon – 3:35
5. The Peora Hunt – 1:10


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
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
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
Organ
Timpani
Percussion (up to 8 players), including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Chimes
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Marimbas (2)
  • Orchestra Bells
  • Snare Drum
  • Vibraphone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

In 1947, Grainger wrote: "My Kipling 'Jungle Book' Cycle, begun in 1898 and finished in 1947, was composed as a protest against civilization."

Percy Grainger (1882-1961) studied at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, Germany from 1895-1901 (aged 13-19). Grainger's mother Rose wrote her husband John of her fears that young Percy was becoming "more Germanized every day." In response to Rose's concern, and to "tickle up the British Lion in him," John (who was estranged from Rose) sent Percy, among other things, several books by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936).

Kipling's writings captivated Percy immediately, and he soon started writing choral settings of the poetry, especially those of Kipling's Jungle Books. Grainger's settings of the poetry of Kipling are as extensive as his settings of British folk music; Kay Freyfus's catalog of Grainger's manuscript scores lists 36 settings, though Grainger in a 1926 letter to Kipling mentions "some 40 or 50" settings.

Grainger felt a strong kinship for Kipling's writing, and Kipling appreciated and approved of Grainger's work at setting his poetry. Grainger played several of his choral settings for Kipling during a meeting at Kipling's home in 1905; of Grainger's settings of his poetry, Kipling said, "Till now I've had to reply on black and white, but you do the thing for me in color."

This 5-movement suite contains half of Grainger’s Jungle Book Cycle, including the following: Morning Song in the Jungle; The Inuit; The Hunting Song of the Seeonee Pack; The Beaches of Lukannon, and The Peora Hunt.

- Program Note from publisher


Commercial Discography


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

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