Rahoon

Alfred Reed

Subtitle: After James Joyce: A Rhapsody for Solo Bb Clarinet and Band

General Info

Year: 1966
Duration: c. 8:30
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Masters Music
Cost: Score and Parts - $70.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
Solo B-flat Clarinet
Flute I-II-III (III doubling piccolo)
Oboe I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
B-flat Cornet I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Baritones
Basses (Tubas)
String Bass
Harp
Timpani
Percussion I-II, including:

Bells
Crash Cymbals
Suspended Cymbal
Triangle
Vibraphone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Rahoon is a rhapsodic piece by American neoclassical composer Alfred Reed (1921-2005). It was commissioned by the University of Delaware for the clarinetist Eudgene F. Gonzales in 1965, and is notable for being very different in tone and technique from most of Reed’s other pieces. Reed writes this piece is “after James Joyce”. James Joyce (1882 - 1941) was an Irish novelist and poet, author of the well-known works Ulysses (1922), Dubliners (1916), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), and Finnegan's Wake (1939). In 1913, Joyce composed a poem titled She Weeps Over Rahoon, which provided the inspiration for Reed's piece.

She Weeps Over Rahoon

Rain on Rahoon falls softly, softly falling
Where my dark lover lies.
Sad is his voice that calls me, sadly calling
At grey moonrise.
Love, hear though
How desolate the heart is, ever calling,
Ever unanswered – and the dark rain falling
Then as now.
Dark too our hearts, O love, shall lie, and cold
As his sad heart has lain
Under the moon-grey nettles, the black mould
And muttering rain.

Reed’s work encapsulates the haunting and saddened tone of this poem, a work written about the emptiness the narrator feels after her lover passes away. The solo clarinet rises above the band, the sad voice of the lover calling out from the grave, a desolate expression of loneliness which, fittingly, is unanswered. Behind the clarinet, the band sets the scene of the grey darkness, the horns pulsing the rain’s beat while the winds shine the dim moonlight, surrounding the narrator as she contemplates her new existence, empty of love.

- Program Note by Oscar Lewis

Media

Audio CD: United States Coast Guard Band (Lewis J. Buckley, conductor; Michelle Grott, clarinet) – 2002

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

California State University, Los Angeles Wind Ensemble (Emily Moss, conductor) – 28 September 2017
Charlottesville (Va. ) Municipal Band (Stephen R. Layman, conductor; Nancy Garlick, clarinet) – 15 August 2017
Cleveland State University (Ohio) Wind Ensemble (Birch Browning, conductor; Emilio Rosario, clarinet) – 2 March 2017
Encore Concert Band (Mokena, Ill.) (Bill Schuetter, conductor) - 1 March 2015
Mira Loma High School Wind Ensemble (Michael McAllister, conductor; Oscar Lewis, clarinet) – 19 April 2023
New Jersey City University Symphony of Winds and Percussion (Patrick J. Burns, conductor; Joseph D'Auguste, clarinet) - 2 December 2014
United States Coast Guard Band (New London, Conn.) (Lewis J. Buckley, conductor; Michelle Grotto, clarinet) – 21 December 2002 (2002 Midwest Clinic)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Come, Sweet Death (Flex instrumentation) (as transcriber; arr. Benson) (1736/1976/2019)
A Festival Prelude (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Haga) (1962/2019)
Two Bagatelles (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Clark) (1983/1997/2010)

All Wind Works

Acclamation!
Alleluia! Laudamus Te (1973)
Arioso (as arranger) (1729/1998)
Armenian Dances (1972-1978)
- Armenian Dances, Part One (1972/1974)
- Armenian Dances, Part Two (1978)
Around the World in 80 Days: Selections (as arranger; ed. Rogers) (1957/2017)
Autumn Leaves (as arranger; ed. Rogers) (1947/2017)
Ballade (1956/1999)
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 Suite (as arranger) (1965)
Berceuse and Finale from "The Firebird" (as editor; arr. McAlister) (1910/2005)
The Big East March (1997)
Canto e Camdombe
Carmen (as editor; tr. McAlister) (1875/2000)
A Celebration Fanfare (1989)
A Ceremonial Fanfare (1971)
Ceremony of Flourishes (1964)
Chanson Triste (as arranger) (1878/1989)
Characteristic Dances from "The Nutcracker Suite" (as editor with McAlister; tr. Rogan) (1892/2001)
Children's Suite (2000)
A Christmas Suite (1974)
Chorale Prelude in E minor (1953/1966)
A Christmas Celebration (1987)
A Christmas Intrada (1980)
Clear Track Polka (as arranger) (1869/2000)
Come, Sweet Death (as arranger) (1736/1976)
Come, Sweet Death (as transcriber; arr. Benson) (1736/1976/2019)
Concertino (as arranger; ed. McCathren) (1811/1962)
Concertino for Marimba and Winds (1993)
Concerto for Trumpet and Winds (1995/1997)
- Sonata
- Slow Blues, Jazz Waltz
- Song, Samba
Curtain Up! (1991)
Dance of the Hours (as editor; tr. Kennedy) (1876/)
Danza Caribe (1986)
Deck Thyself, My Soul, With Gladness (as arranger) (1653/1724/1990)
Divertimento for Flute and Band (1998)
Double Wind Quintet (1975)
East and West (2003)
El Camino Real (1985)
El Camino Real (arr. Longfield) (1985/2013)
The Enchanted Island (1980)
The Entertainer (as arranger) (1902/1974)
Evolutions (1993)
Exhortation and Praise (2003)
Fanfare and Processional (2005)
The Fantasticks (as arranger) (1966)
Fantasy on "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair" (as arranger) (1973)
A Festival Prelude (1962)
A Festival Prelude (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Haga) (1962/2019)
A Festive Overture (1963)
Fifth Suite for Band (1995)
Fifth Symphony (1995)
Finlandia (as editor; tr. McAlister) (1900/2004)
First Suite for Band (1975)
Five Cameos (2002)
Five Dances for Five Clarinets and Band (1966)
Forget Me Not, O Dearest Lord (as arranger) (c. 1736/1985)
Fourth Suite for Band (1994)
Fourth Symphony (1992)
French Suite
Funiculi Funicula (as arranger) (1880/1994)
The Garden of Proserpine
Giligia (2000)
Golden Eagle (1989/1995)
Golden Jubilee (1987)
The Golden Year (1997)
Greensleeves (1993/2011)
Gypsy Dance (as arranger) (1872/1997)
Havana Moon
Highlights from "Exodus" (as arranger) (1960/1962)
Highlights from Walt Disney's "Mary Poppins" (as arranger) (1963/1965)
The Hounds of Spring (1981)
Huldigungsmarsch (as editor) (1864/2002)
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (as editor; tr. McAlister) (1853/2002)
Hymn Variants (1992)
I Left my Heart in San Francisco (as transcriber; ed. Rogers) (1954/1963)
Imperatrix (1972)
In Dulci Jubilo (as arranger) (1970)
In Memoriam (1972)
Intrada Drammatica (1968/1992)
Jazz Waltz. See: Concerto for Trumpet and Winds
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (as arranger) (1723/1981)
Jidai (2001)
Joyeux Noël (Brass Ensemble) (1998)
Joyeux Noël (Wind Ensemble) (1998/2001/2002)
A Jubilant Overture (1970)
A Jubilant Overture (arr. Conaway) (1970/2011)
The King of Love My Shepherd Is (1995)
L’Arlésienne Suite No 2 (as editor, with McAlister) (1872/2002)
Laid-Back Rag
Light Cavalry Overture (as editor; tr. McAlister) (1866/2003)
A Little Concert Suite (1984)
Lumberjack Overture
Macarena (as arranger) (1992)
Mancini! (as arranger) (1965)
March Grandioso (as arranger) (1901/1969)
Mary Poppins (as arranger) (1964/2006)
Might and Majesty
Millennium III (1999)
Mr. Music (1990)
The Music-Makers (1968)
Music for Hamlet (1973/2018)
Music in the Air! (2000)
The Music Man: Highlights (as arranger) (1957/1959)
My Fair Lady (as arranger) (1956/?)
My Heart Is Filled With Longing (as arranger) (c. 1710/1986)
Nimrod (as arranger) (1899/1965)
Nocturne (as arranger) (1886/1953/1975)
A Nordic Trilogy (with Erickson and Davis) (1967)
A Northern Legend (1972)
O Little Town (as arranger)
O Most Wonderful (as arranger)
Ode for Trumpet (1956)
Old and New (2002)
Othello (1977)
Our Father Who Art in Heaven (as arranger) (1710/1988)
Passacaglia (1967)
Pavane for a Dead Princess (as orchestrator; ed. McAlister) (1899/1988)
Piccolo Concerto in C major (as arranger) (1728-29/1962/1969)
Pilgrim's Chorus (as arranger) (1845/1991)
The Pledge of Allegiance (1970)
Pomp and Circumstance Military March No. 1 (as editor; tr. Retford) (1907/2000)
Pomp and Circumstance Military March No. 2 (as editor; tr. Retford) (1907/2000)
Pomp and Circumstance Military March No. 3 (as editor; tr. Retford) (1907/2000)
Pomp and Circumstance Military March No. 4 (as editor; tr. Retford) (1907/2000)
Praise Jerusalem! (1986)
Prelude IV (as arranger) (1722/1983)
Prelude and Capriccio (1978)
Prelude, Op. 9, No. 1 (as arranger) (1894/1985)
Prelude to Act III from "Lohengrin" (as arranger, with McAlister) (1850/2006)
Presentation of the Silver Rose (as arranger) (1910/1988)
Pro Texana (1984)
Punchinello (1974)
Radetzky March (as arranger) (1848/1993)
Rahoon (1965)
The Ramparts of Courage (1995)
Rosalind in the Forest of Arden (2005)
Rushmore (1981)
Russian Christmas Music (1944)
Russian Christmas Music (arr. Curnow) (1944/1990)
A Sacred Suite
Salutations! (1995)
Samba. See: Concerto for Trumpet and Winds
Seascape: A Dramatic Intermezzo (1962)
Second Century (1986)
Second Suite for Band (1980)
Second Symphony (1979)
Selections from Walt Disney's "Mary Poppins" (as editor; arr. Kostal) (1963/1964)
Serenade (1966)
Seventh Suite for Band (2002)
The Severn Suite (as arranger) (1973)
Siciliana Notturno (1977)
Silver Shadow (1998/1999)
Sine Nomine (as arranger) (1906/1976)
Sixth Suite for Band
Slavonic Folk Suite (1953/1987)
Slow Blues. See: Concerto for Trumpet and Winds
Sonata. See: Concerto for Trumpet and Winds
Song. See: Concerto for Trumpet and Winds
Song of the High Cascades
Song of Threnos (1964)
A Springtime Celebration (1991)
The Strenuous Life (as arranger) (1902/1974)
Sumus Futuro (1999)
A Symphonic Prelude (1963)
Symphony for Brass and Percussion (1952/1967)
Symphony No. 1. See: Symphony for Brass and Percussion
Symphony No. 2. See: Second Symphony
Symphony No. 3 (1988)
- Variations on the Porazzi Theme of Wagner (1882/1988)
Symphony No. 4. See: Fourth Symphony
Symphony No. 5. See: Fifth Symphony
Tannhäuser Grand March (as editor; tr. McAlister) (1847/2005)
Tarantella (1996)
Testament of an American (1974)
Theme from "Lawrence of Arabia" (as arranger) (1963)
Third Suite for Band (1982)
Third Symphony. See: Symphony No. 3
Three Chorales (as arranger; ed. McAlister) (?/2013)
Three Revelations from the Lotus Sutra (1984)
Three Symphonic Preludes (as arranger)
Thunder and Lightning (1999)
The Tsar's Farewell (as arranger) (2001)
Twelfth Night (2003)
Two Bagatelles (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Clark) (1983/1997/2010)
Two Bagatelles (1983/1995)
Two Bagatelles for Concert Band (1983/1997)
Two Bagatelles for Four Trombones (1983)
Variations on the Porazzi Theme of Wagner. See: Symphony No. 3
Victory! (2005)
Vilia (as arranger) (1905/1990)
Vilabella March (as editor) (1970)
Viva Musica! (1984)
Wapawekka (1963)
With Trumpets And Drums (1992)

Resources

Reed, A. (1965). Rahoon: After James Joyce: A Rhapsody for Solo Bb Clarinet and Band [score]. Piedmont Music: New York.