Prelude: The New Commonwealth

Ralph Vaughan Williams

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General Info

Year: 1940 / 2006
Duration: c 2:30
Difficulty: II (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Daehn Publications

Cost: Score and Parts - $66.00 | Score Only - $6.00

Instrumentation

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Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Ralph Vaughn Williams was asked in 1940, at age 68, if he would write an original score for the motion picture 49th Parallel. It was the first of eleven film scores he wrote. The spirit and resolve of the British people are expressed, as well as the composer's strong sense of patriotism. An emotional and magnificent tribute to God and Country.

-Program Note from publisher

Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote music for the World War 2 propaganda film The 49th Parallel. It celebrated the longest unguarded border in the world, separating the United States and Canada. Originally written for chamber orchestra, it was arranged for band and it concluded America’s salute to the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 75th Anniversary at a Command Performance by the United States Air Force Band of the Rockies at the Manitoba International tattoo.

- Program Note from Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Flint (Mich.) Concert Band (Bruce Nieuwenhuis, conductor) - 1 May 2015

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Folk Songs from Somerset (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
My Bonny Boy (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Seventeen Come Sunday (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)

All Wind Works

Concerto for Bass Tuba (arr. Wick and Chambers) (1954/1992)
Concerto Grosso (arr. Grechesky) (1924)
Concerto in F minor for Tuba and Winds (arr. Hare) (1954/1992)
England's Pleasant Land (arr. Noble) (1938/2017)
English Folk Song Suite. See: Folk Song Suite
English Folk Song Suite (arr. Villanueva) (1924/)
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (arr. Bocook) (1910/2006)
Fantasia on Greensleeves (arr. Wagner) (1934/2011)
Five English Folk Songs (arr. Feldman) (1913/2009)
Five Variants of "Dives and Lazarus" (arr. Gregson) (1939/2004)
Flourish for Glorious John (or. Boyd) (1957/1998)
Flourish for Wind Band (1939)
Folk Song Suite (1924/2008)
Folk Songs from Somerset (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Golden Vanity, The (arr. Wagner) (1933/2009)
I Vow to Thee, My Country (as setter; ed. Grechesky) (1921/1988)
Lark Ascending, The (tr. Silvester) (1914/1925/2003)
Linden Lea (arr. Wagner) (1902/2013)
Linden Lea (arr. Stout) (1902/1984)
The Lowlands of Scotland (arr. Daehn) (1912/2006)
March Past of the Kitchen Utensils (arr. Erwin) (1909/2010)
My Bonny Boy (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Norfolk Rhapsody (tr. Robert O'Brien) (1905)
Norfolk Rhapsody No. 2 in D minor (tr. O'Toole) (1906/2014?)
Overture to "The Wasps" (tr. Frank Hudson) (1909)
Prelude, 49th Parallel (arr. van der Beek) (1960/2018)
Prelude: 49th Parallel (arr. Noble) (1941/2014)
Prelude: 49th Parallel (arr. Winkler) (1941/1960)
Prelude from "49th Parallel" (tr. Osmon) (1941/1960/1987/2002)
Prelude on Three Welsh Hymn Tunes (arr. Curnow) (1954/1982)
Prelude: The New Commonwealth (arr. Grauer) (1940/2006)
A Ralph Vaughan Williams Portrait (arr. Wagner) (2018)
Rhosymedre (tr. Beeler) (1920/1972)
Rhosymedre (tr. Johnston) (1920/2011)
Rhosymedre (tr. Baldwin) (1920/)
The Running Set (arr. Daehn) (1933/2007)
Running Set, The (tr. Silvester) (1933)
Scherzo alla Marcia (1956)
Sea Songs (1925)
Sea Songs (arr. Longfield) (1925/2006)
Seventeen Come Sunday (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Sine Nomine (arr. Cacavas) (1906/1998)
Sine Nomine (arr. Houseknecht) (1906/1960)
Sine Nomine (arr. Reed) (1906/1976)
Songs of Travel (arr. Patterson) (1901-4)
Three Dorset Songs (arr. Stotter) (1902-1903/2003)
Three Studies in English Folk Song (arr. Harbinson) (1927/1999/2003)
Toccata Marziale (1924)
Toccata Marziale (ed. Battisti) (1924/2005)
Variations for Wind Band (trans. Hunsberger) (1957/1988/1997)
Vaughan Williams Christmas, A (arr. Wagner) (1999)
Wassail (arr. Smith)

Resources

Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Ralph Vaughan Williams." Accessed 3 May 2015.