La Bonne Aventure

From Wind Repertory Project
Pierre La Plante

Pierre La Plante


Subtitle: (The Good Adventure). Variants on an Old French Song


General Info

Year: 2010
Duration: c. 6:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Folk song
Publisher: Daehn Music Publishers, through C.L. Barnhouse
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $80.00   |   Score Only (print) - $8.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
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
Trombone I-II
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Bells
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Snare Drum
  • Temple Blocks
  • Triangle
  • Wood Block
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Bring a bit of European flavor to your performances! Using a bright little French children's song as a subject, master writer Pierre La Plante again exhibits his talents in writing for concert band. This set of seven musical variations displays a vast array of instrumental colors before concluding with a rousing can-can. Magnifique!

- Program Note from publisher


La Bonne Aventure (The Good Adventure) is an old French children's song. The singer is a young boy who, when he is good, is rewarded with candy and jam. When he misbehaves, however, he is scolded and severely punished. He then resolves to try to always be good, learn his lessons and please his parents.

This bright little tune gives way to seven varied and contrasting "adventures:"

In Variation 1, the theme I tossed between the low and high woodwinds and brass. Variation 2 is a somewhat free canon. In Variation 3 one can imagine a group of friends strolling down a Parisian boulevard in lively conversation, going back and forth about this and that, almost nonstop. Eventually the conversation fades away as they walk off into the distance. A slow, reflective rendering of the main theme follows (Variation 4).

Variation 5 is a condensation of the first phrase of the tune, using the dotted-eighth, sixteenth note motive as the basis for the variation. Variation 6 is a brief scherzando leading directly to the finale (Variation 7), which is (Voila!) a galop or can-can, bringing the piece to a rousing close.


Commissioned by the Association for Music in International Schools 2010 European Middle School Band, Gordon Graham, conductor.

- Program Note from score


Media


State Ratings

  • Florida: III
  • Georgia: III
  • Louisiana: III
  • Texas: III. Complete


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources