Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo

From Wind Repertory Project
Malcolm Arnold

Malcolm Arnold (trans. John P. Paynter)


This work is also known by its original title Little Suite for Brass. It bears the designation Opus 80.


General Info

Year: 1963 / 1979
Duration: c. 7:45
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Brass Band
Publisher: Carl Fischer, Inc.
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $115.00   |   Score Only (print) - $20.00


Movements

1. Prelude – 2:05
2. Siciliano – 3:15
3. Rondo – 2:05


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
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
String Bass
Harp (with optional Celeste)
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Glockenspiel
  • Maracas
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Tam-tam
  • Triangle
  • Vibraphone
  • Xylophone (3.5 octaves)


Errata

In Parts:

  • Tuba, Mvt. 1/m. 9 (rehearsal A): Add an accent on the octave G dotted half note
  • Percussion I, Glockenspiel, Mvt. 2/m. 24 (4 bars after rehearsal C): The printed G5 on beat 4 should be a F5

- Potential errata noted by Wind Repertory Project


Program Notes

Born to a family of shoemakers in 1917, British composer Malcolm Arnold became a sought-after composer and trumpet performer before his twenty-fifth birthday.  Arnold completed his Little Suite for Brass in 1963, adding to the competitive repertoire of British-style brass bands.  Consisting of three short contrasting movements, the piece is used to this day as a “test piece” in various brass band competitions – providing a single work that all competing bands are required to perform.  This suite was transcribed for full concert band in 1979 and given the name Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo showcasing John P. Paynter’s considerable skill as a transcriber as well as his apparent disapproval of the Oxford comma.

- Program Note by Christopher M. Nelson for Indiana University All-Campus Band concert program, April 2023


This work was first written in 1963 for brass band under the title Little Suite for Brass. Paynter's arrangement for wind bands includes woodwinds and additional percussion but retains the breezy effervescence of the original work. All three movements are written in short, clear, five-part song forms. The A-B-A-C-A is instantly apparent to the listener while giving the composer's imaginative melodies a natural, almost folklike, settings. The Prelude begins bombastically in a fanfare style but reaches a middle climax and winds down to a quiet return of the opening measures, which fade to silence. The liltingly expressive Siciliano is both slower and more expressive than the other movements, thus allowing solo instruments and smaller choirs of sound to be heard. It also ends quietly. The rollicking five-part Rondo provides a romping finale in which the technical facility of the modern wind band is set forth in boastful brilliance.

- Program Note from Program Notes for Band


Media


State Ratings

  • Florida: V
  • Georgia: V
  • North Carolina: V
  • Texas: II (Rondo)
  • Texas: III (Rondo and Siciliano)
  • Texas: IV. Complete
  • Virginia: V


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Ohlone Symphonic Band (Fremont, Calif.) (Chris Nalls, conductor) - 17 March 2024
  • Memorial University of Newfoundland (St. John's) Wind Ensemble (Dylan Rook Maddix, conductor) - 17 March 2024
  • Satellite High School (Satellite Beach, FL) Wind Ensemble (Joseph Leites, conductor) - 12 March 2024
  • Kansas State University Wind Symphony (Alex Wimmer, conductor) - 28 November 2023
  • University of Kentucky (Lexington) Concert Band (Brian Froedge, conductor) - 20 November 2023
  • Eastern Kentucky University (Richmond) Concert Band (Rebekah Daniel, conductor) - 26 September 2023
  • Golden Gate Park Band (San Francisco, Calif.) (German Gonzalez, conductor) - 17 September 2023
  • Bemidji (Minn.) State Symphonic Band (Ryan Webber, conductor) - 25 April 2023
  • Dr. Lawrence R. Sutherland High School Honor Band (Fresno, Calif.) (Myra Rhoden, conductor) - 26 March 2023 (2023 Sutherland Wind Festival (Fresno, Calif.)
  • Buchanan High School (Clovis, Calif.) Symphonic Band (Joey Neuenschwander, conductor) - 24 March 2023 (2023 Sutherland Wind Festival (Fresno, Calif.)
  • Indiana University of Pennsylvania Symphony Band (Zach Cheever, conductor) - 9 March 2023
  • Michigan State University (East Lansing) Campus Band (Andrew Bohn, conductor) - 12 October 2022
  • Hartwick College (Oneonta, N.Y.) Wind Ensemble (Andrew Pease, conductor) - 6 October 2022
  • Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) Dorian Summer Camp High School Band (Cory Near, conductor) - 25 June 2022
  • Banda de Sabaneta (Antioquia, Colombia) (Rubén Darío Gómez, conductor) - 15 May 2022
  • Cornell College (Mt. Vernon, Iowa) Symphonic Band (Joshua W. Neuenschwander, conductor) - 18 February 2022
  • Orange High School (Pepper Pike, Ohio) Wind Ensemble (Alfred Watkins, conductor) – 14 February 2022
  • Kings County (N.Y.) Concert Band (Jasmine Britt, conductor) - 12 December 2021
  • OMEA District 4 & 7 Hoosier Band (Rodney Dorsey, conductor) – 13 November 2021 (OMEA All-State Conference 2021, Cleveland State University)
  • Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla) Wind Symphony (David Sampson, conductor) - 25 April 2021
  • Stephen F. Austin University (Nacogdoches, Tx.) Symphonic Band (Chris Kaatz, conductor) - 25 April 2021
  • Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Concert Band (John Korak, conductor) – December 2020
  • East Texas Baptist University (Marshall) Symphonic Band (Nathan G. Phillips, conductor) - 20 November 2020
  • University of Kentucky (Lexington) Symphony Band (Michael Hudson, conductor) – 16 November 2020


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources