Old Home Days

From Wind Repertory Project
Charles Ives

Charles Ives (trans. Jonathan Elkus)


General Info

Year: 1954 / 1979
Duration: c. 9:20
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Peer Music Classical
Cost: Score and Parts - $150.00   |   Score (Purchase) - $24.95


Movements

1. Waltz - 1:25
2. The Opera House - 1:55
3. Old Home Day - 1:05
4. The Collection - 1:05
5. Slow March - 1:10
6. London Bridge Is Fallen Down - 1:05


Instrumentation

Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-III
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani/Chimes
Percussion, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Cymbals
  • Glockenspiel
  • Parade Drum
  • Snare Drum
  • Tenor Drum
  • Triangle


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

The songs and sketches assembled in this suite reflect Ives's lifelong love of familiar tunes and home grown music making.

1. Waltz begins and ends by quoting from Michael Nolan's popular Browery waltz "Little Annie Rooney." Ives's own verses to the song imagine Annie, now a bride, and her festive wedding party at "the old dance ground."

2a. The Opera House is the first part of the song Memories, and the text, also by Ives, recalls a youngster's breathless expectancy as the pit band strikes up the overture.

2b. Just as the curtain rises, a drum roll-off takes our thoughts outdoors again to "march along down Main Street behind the village band," amid the ringing of the church and schoolhouse bells. Old Home Days is the nostalgic title of the song from which this section is taken, and the obbligato line played during the repeat features bits and pieces of The Girl I Left Behind Me, Garryowen, and Auld Lang Syne.

3. The title of The Collection refers to a church offering. This setting of George Kingsley's hymn-tune Tappan introduces first "The Organist," then "The Soprano," and lastly a "Response by Village Choir."

4. Slow March, the earliest surviving song by Ives, was composed for the funeral of a family pet. Inscribed "to the Children's Faithful Friend," it opens and closes with a quotation from the Dead March of Handel's oratorio Saul.

5. London Bridge is Fallen Down! is a tonal and rhythmic "take-off" on the familiar tune, which we may imagine to be typical of young Ives's unruly keyboard improvisations. This arrangement is based on Kenneth Singleton's realization for brass quintet of Ives's sketches for organ or piano, which date from about 1891.

- Program Note from Score by Jonathan Elkus


Media


State Ratings

  • Texas: Grade II (any two mvts.
  • Texas: Grade III (any three mvts.)
  • Texas: Grade IV


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Luther College (Decorah, Ioiwa) Symphonic Band (Cory Near, conductor) - 14 November 2023
  • University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) Symphonic Band (Jerry Luckhardt, conductor) - 17 October 2023
  • University of Cincinnati (Ohio) College-Conservatory of Music Wind Ensemble (Kevin Michael Holzman, conductor) - 17 October 2023
  • California State University Northridge Wind Ensemble (Lawrence Stoffel, conductor) - 28 February 2023
  • California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Wind Orchestra (Nicholas P. Waldron, conductor) – 26 February 2022
  • Butler University (Indianapolis, Ind.) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Tyler Long, conductor) - 18 November 2021
  • Stephen F. Austin University (Nacogdoches, Tx.) Symphonic Band (Chris Kaatz, conductor) - 2 March 2021
  • University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Symphonic Band (Jonathan Caldwell, conductor) – 18 February 2020
  • Truman State University (Kirksville, Mo.) Concert Band (Curran Prendergast, conductor) – 4 December 2019
  • West Virginia University (Morgantown) Symphonic Band (Stephen Lytle, conductor) – 24 April 2019
  • Kent State (Ohio) Symphony Band (John Franklin, conductor) – 1 March 2019
  • University of Texas (Austin) Wind Symphony (Scott Hanna, conductor) – 20 February 2019
  • New England Conservatory (Boston, Mass.) Wind Ensemble (Charles Peltz, conductor) – 13 February 2019
  • Bowling Green (Ohio) State University University Band (Bruce Moss, conductor) – 3 December 2018
  • St. Louis (Mo.) Wind Symphony (Thomas Poshak, conductor) - 11 November 2018
  • Western Illinois University (Macomb) Concert Band (Matt Thomas, conductor) – 26 October 2016
  • Ball State University (Muncie, Ind.) Symphony Band (Ryan Lovell, conductor) – 28 September 2018
  • Texas Tech University (Lubbock) Concert Band (Eric Allen, conductor) – 23 September 2018
  • University of Missouri, Kansas City, Wind Ensemble (Joseph Parisi, conductor) – 21 September 2018


Works for Winds by This Composer

This composer primarily wrote orchestral music. Other transcriptions of his works include:


Resources

  • Charles Ives Society website.
  • Ives, C.; Elkus, J. (1979). Old Home Days: Suite for Band [score]. Peermusic: New York.
  • Miles, Richard B., and Larry Blocher. Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 1. GIA Publications, 2010, pp. 521-529.
  • "The President's Own" United States Marine Band. Charles Ives's America. CD album booklet.
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