Moon River
Henry Mancini (arr. Michael Brown)
Subtitle: From the Paramount Picture 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.'
General Info
Year: 1961 /
Duration: c. 3:30
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra and voice
Publisher: Hal Leonard
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $55.00; (digital) - $55.00 | Score Only (print) - $5.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Vocal Solo
B-flat Trumpet/Clarinet Solo
E-flat Alto Saxophone Solo
C Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass 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
Trombone I-II
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:
- Bell Tree
- Bells
- Crash Cymbals
- Gong
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Vibraphone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Moon River is a song composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It received an Academy Award for Best Original Song for its performance by Audrey Hepburn in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). It also won Mancini the 1962 Grammy Award for Record of the Year and won Mancini and Mercer the Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
The song's success was responsible for relaunching Mercer's career as a songwriter, which had stalled in the mid-1950s because rock and roll had replaced jazz standards as the popular music of the time. Comments about the lyrics have noted that they are particularly reminiscent of Mercer's youth in the southern United States and his longing to expand his horizons. Robert Wright wrote in The Atlantic Monthly, "This is a love sung to wanderlust. Or a romantic song in which the romantic partner is the idea of romance." An inlet near Savannah, Georgia, Johnny Mercer's hometown, was named Moon River in honor of him and this song.
- Program Note from Wikipedia
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Atascadero (Calif.) Community Band (Randy Schwalbe, conductor) - 5 March 2023
- Centenary College of Louisiana (Shreveport) Wind Ensemble (Thomas Hundemer, conductor) - 21 November 2021
- Gold Coast Wind Ensemble (Newberry Park, Calif.) (Michael Doty, conductor) – 18 January 2020
- Kenosha (Wisc.) Pops Concert Band (Craig Gall, conductor) – 12 June 2019
- Triangle Wind Ensemble (Cary, N.C.) (Evan Feldman, conductor; Mac Callahan, bass-baritone) – 26 May 2019
- Iowa State University (Ames) Wind Ensemble (Michael Golemo, conductor) - 9 May 2018 (London)
- Burbank (Calif.) Community Band (Paulette Westphal, conductor) – 25 February 2017
- San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Wind Orchestra (Jennifer Martin, conductor; Deanna Delore, soprano) – 25 September 2016
- Allan Hancock College (Santa Maria, Calif.) Concert Band (Greg Stoll, conductor) – 14 May 2016
- Orchestre d'Harmonie de Cluses (France) (Patrick Montessuit, conductor; Tiffany M., vocalist) – 30 January 2016
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Baby Elephant Walk (arr. Vinson) (1962/2007/2013)
- Peter Gunn (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Murtha) (1958/2015)
- The Pink Panther (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brown) (1963/2011)
All Wind Works
- Baby Elephant Walk (arr. King) (1962)
- Baby Elephant Walk (arr. Moss) (1962/1996)
- Baby Elephant Walk (arr. Vinson) (1962/2007/2013)
- Baby Elephant Walk (arr. Vlak) (1962)
- Days of Wine and Roses (arr. Krance) (1962/1967)
- Drummer's Delight (arr. Erickson) (1969)
- The Great Race March (arr. Moss) (1965/2005)
- The Great Waldo Pepper March (arr. Moss) (1965/2005)
- Henry Mancini's Concert Band Medley (arr. Warrington) (1966)
- Inspector Clouseau Theme (arr. Kazik) (1976/2015)
- It Had Better Be Tonight (arr. Brown) (1963/2013)
- Jesus Christ Superstar (as arranger, with John Moss) (1970/2004)
- Mancini! (arr. Bulla) (2000?)
- Mancini! (arr. Reed) (1965)
- Mancini Magic (arr. Brubaker) (1990)
- Mancini Spectacular (arr. Barker) (1980-1985)
- Moon River (arr. Bilik) (1961/1963)
- Moon River (arr. Brown) (1961)
- Moon River (arr. Powers) (1961/1969)
- Mr. Lucky. See: Selections from "Mr Lucky"
- Pennywhistle Jig (arr. Moss) (1970/1999)
- Peter Gunn (arr. Faini) (1958/)
- Peter Gunn (arr. Murtha) (1958)
- Peter Gunn (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Murtha) (1958/2015)
- Pie in the Face Polka (arr. Vinson) (1965/2012)
- The Pink Panther (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brown) (1963/2011)
- The Pink Panther (arr. Edmondson) (1963/1984)
- The Pink Panther (arr. Frackenpohl) (1963)
- The Pink Panther (arr. Warrington) (1963/1964)
- Selections from "Mr Lucky" (arr. Krance) (1959/1961)
- Selections from "The Great Race" (arr. Bulla) (1965/2015)
- Toy Tiger
Resources
- Moon River. Wikipedia. Accessed 18 May 2016
- "Moon River by Henry Mancini." Wind Band Literature, 12 December 2023 Accessed 12 December 2023