Miniatures for Wind Band

William Walton

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General Info

Year: 1940(?) / 1974
Duration: c. 13:35
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Piano
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown

Instrumentation

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Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The ten charming and quirky settings in William Walton’s Miniatures for Wind Band have led an interesting existence, receiving no less than three transformations from Walton’s original version. Walton’s original manuscript, finished sometime before the spring of 1940, bears the simple title, Tunes for my niece: for Elizabeth. The nine movements for solo piano were intended for his niece, Elizabeth Walton – the daughter of his older brother, Noel. Bringing in his nephew Michael, Walton rescored the solo as a piano duet (Duets for Children – piano, four-hands). This manuscript bears the date 15 May 1940. Shortly thereafter, Walton rescored the entire work for orchestra, and added a tenth movement to close Music for Children. With Basil Cameron leading the London Philharmonic, Music for Children received its premiere on 16 February 1941 in London at Queen’s Hall.

A noted composer and arranger for brass band, Bram Wiggins rescored Music for Children for winds in 1974 and re-titled the work Miniatures for Wind Band. Oddly, though, Wiggins also removed Walton’s original, cleverly pictorial movement titles which are as follows:

I. The Music Lesson
II. The Three Legged Race
III. The Silent Lake
IV. Pony Trap
V. Swing-Boats
VI. Puppet’s Dance
VII. Song at Dusk
VIII. Hop-Scotch
IX. Ghosts
X. Trumpet Tune

- Program Note from Crane Wind Ensemble concert program, 28 March 2012

Media

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State Ratings

Louisiana: IV
Michigan: Senior High A
Virginia: V

Performances

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University of North Carolina, Greensboro, University Band (William L. Lake, Jr., conductor) – 23 February 2016

Works for Winds by This Composer

Coronation Te Deum (arr. Naylor) (1953/1982)
Crown Imperial (arr. Duthoit) (1937)
Crown Imperial (arr. Bocook) (1937/1998)
Crown Imperial (arr. Noble) (1937/2014)
Façade (1922/1951)
March for "A History of the English Speaking Peoples," A (arr. Noble) (1959/2011)
Miniatures for Wind Band (arr. Wiggins) (1940(?)/1974)
Orb and Sceptre (arr. Noble) (1953/2014)
Prelude and Fugue (arr. Noble) (1961/2011)
Scapino (arr. Taylor) (1941/1950/)
Spitfire Prelude (arr. Bashford) (1942/1968)
Suite from "Henry V" (tr. Phillips) (1944/1980)

Resources

Walton, W.; Wiggins, B. (1974). Miniatures for Wind Band [score]. Oxford University Press: London.