Liberty Song ’76

From Wind Repertory Project
Paul Creston

Paul Creston


This work bears the designation Opus 107.


General Info

Year: 1975 / 1980
Duration: c. 8:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: G. Schirmer, through Hal Leonard
Cost: Score and Parts - $65.00   |   Score Only - $6.00


Instrumentation

C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contralto Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
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
Baritone
Tuba I-II
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Crash Cymbal
  • Glockenspiel
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Tambourine
  • Tenor Drum
  • Triangle
  • Vibraphone
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Liberty Song '76 is based on three principal songs of the Revolutionary period: The Liberty Song, the first American patriotic ballad, written by John Dickinson to the tune of "Hearts of Oak" by William Boyce; Enraptured I Gaze by Francis Hopkinson, the earliest American composer of secular music and a signer of the Declaration of Independance; and the ubiquitous Yankee Doodle, the only true tune which Ulysses S. Grant could identify ("I only know two tunes" Grant said, "one is Yankee Doodle, and the other isn't").

The eleven-measure introduction presents the three themes in fragmentary suggestion, and affirms the emotional basis of the piece. Each tune is first presented in its original form, and then harmonized and developed in 1976 style. Yankee Doodle is in the unorthodox fugal style, and the concluding measures of the fugue combines all three tunes is a quasi-stretto.

Liberty Song '76 was commissioned by Ithaca College for the Walter Beeler Series memorializing his many contributions to the band world. The first performance of the work was by the Ithaca College Band conducted by the composer on February 9, 1976.

- Program note by publisher


Media

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Ithaca (N.Y.) College Band (Paul Creston, conductor) - 9 February 1976 *Premiere Performance*


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • Creston, P. (1980). Liberty Song '76: Opus 107 for Band [score]. G. Schirmer: New York.