Rocky Point Holiday

From Wind Repertory Project
Ron Nelson

Ron Nelson


General Info

Year: 1969
Duration: c. 5:30
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Boosey and Hawkes
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $110.00   |   Score Only (print) - $21.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
Condensed Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III (all div. a2)
E-flat Alto Clarinet (div. a2)
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium (div. a2)
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Harp
Celesta (doubling Piano)
Percussion I-II (8-9 players), including:

  • Anvil
  • Bass Drum
  • Bongos
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Field Drum
  • Glockenspiel (extended range required (high D#6))
  • Maracas
  • Marimba
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Tam-tam
  • Tambourine
  • Triangle
  • Vibraphone (4.0 octaves; with motor)
  • Xylophone


Errata

In Parts:

  • Piccolo, m.25 (rehearsal 25), beat 1: Add an accent on the F
  • Piccolo, m.178 (3 bars before rehearsal 15), beat 3: Accent on the A should not be there
  • Piccolo, m.185-186 (5-6 bars after rehearsal 15): There should be no "8va" marking
  • Piccolo, m.188 (7 bars before rehearsal 16), and of beat 1: Add a "sffz" dynamic marking to the A quarter note
  • Piccolo, m.224 (1 bar before rehearsal 19): Trill should go through this measure
  • Piccolo, m.228 (1 bar before rehearsal 20), beat 1: There should be a crescendo starting on beat 1 and ending before beat 2
  • Piccolo, (2 bars before rehearsal 24), beat 2: The hairpin crescendo 1 measure before 24 should be extended to beat 2 2 bars before rehearsal 24
  • Flute I, rehearsal number 25: Rehearsal number is missing in the part; it should be at m.294 (13 bars after Rehearsal 24)
  • English Horn, (4 bars after rehearsal 4): Add an "espr." marking starting on beat 1
  • English Horn, (7 bars before rehearsal 5), and of beat 1: "mf" dynamic marking should be a "mp"
  • English Horn, (9 bars before rehearsal 8), beat 2: Add a tie connecting the G# on this measure to the G# on the next measure
  • English Horn, m.100: Rehearsal 8 should be placed here instead of at measure 92 (in other words, move this rehearsal mark down one stave)
  • English Horn, m.193 (2 bars before rehearsal 16): Run should be transposed up a 4th to read "C-D-E-F" instead of "G-A-B-C"
  • Bassoon I, m.13 (rehearsal 1): Hairpin cresc should stop before the preceding measure
  • Bassoon I, m.19 (6 bars after rehearsal 1): Add a tie connecting the A in m.19 to the A in m.20
  • Bassoon, m.37 (2nd bar of rehearsal 3): Add hairpin crescendo through the measure
  • Clarinets, m.362 (3/4 bar six measures from the end): Rhythm should be 8th, 8th, dotted quarter, 8th (instead of quarter, quarter, dotted quarter, 8th)
  • Baritone Sax, m.82 (2 bars before rehearsal 7): First note should be C-natural, not C-flat
  • Trombone I: Rehearsal number 2 should be at m.25 instead of m.19.
  • Trombone I, m.48 (1 measure after rehearsal 4): Add "mute"
  • Trombone I, m.64 (4 measures after rehearsal 5): Add “open”
  • Trombone I, m.87 (4 measures after rehearsal 7), beat 1: C-natural should be C-sharp
  • Trombone I, m.134 (11 meas. after the actual rehearsal 10): Remove superfluous "10"
  • Trombone I, m.341 (5 measures before rehearsal 30): Add “open” to end of measure
  • Trombone I, m.366 (2 measures before the end), beat 1: Add ledger line to C
  • Trombone II, m.179 (2 bars before rehearsal 15): "f" should be "sfz"
  • Trombone II, m.181 (rehearsal 15): "sffz" should be "ff"
  • Trombone II, m.191 (4 measures before rehearsal 16), beat 1: Add hairpin crescendo through entire measure
  • Trombone II, m.231 (3 measures after rehearsal 20): Add “mute”
  • Trombone III, m.181 (rehearsal 15): "sffz" should be "ff"
  • Euphonium, (6 measures after rehearsal 23): Should be solo until rehearsal number 24.
  • Timpani, m.1-3 (12 measures before rehearsal 1): Multi-measure rests should read 3 instead of 4
  • Percussion I, Glockenspiel, m.225 (rehearsal 19), beat 1: Add the lower octave B-flat4 to the printed B-flat5
  • Percussion I, Marimba, m.225 (rehearsal 19), beat 1: Add the higher octave B-flat5 to the printed B-flat4
  • Percussion I, Marimba, m.226 (1 bar after rehearsal 19), beat 1: Add an accent on the F3
  • Percussion I, Marimba, m.328 (1 measure before rehearsal 28), beat 4: Printed C6 on the "a" of beat 4 should be a C-sharp6 (identical to the previous 2 beat run in that measure on beats 1 & 2 but an octave higher)


Program Notes

Rocky Point Holiday was a commission from Frank Bencriscutto and the University of Minnesota band for a tour of Russia. It was composed between 1968 and 1969. Bencriscutto had heard Nelson's orchestral work Savannah River Holiday and decided he wanted something virtuosic to take with him on the Russian tour. When asked about the limitations of the band, Bencriscutto told him there were none. "I'm going to write a tremendously difficult piece," Nelson warned him. "That's fine," replied Bencriscutto, and thus Rocky Point Holiday was born. Nelson says, "This was a pivotal moment in my notion of wind ensemble scoring, in which I focused on orchestrating in an extremely transparent way."

The bulk of the work on the composition occurred while Nelson was on vacation at a Rhode Island seaside resort. Rocky Point is an amusement park over a hundred years old, located in Warwick Neck, RI. It was closed down in the mid-1990s due to a lack of funds.

- Program Note by Nikk Pilato


Media


State Ratings

  • Alabama: Class AA
  • Arkansas: VI
  • Florida: VI
  • Georgia: VI
  • Iowa: V
  • Indiana: ISSMA SENIOR BAND GROUP I
  • Kansas: VI
  • Louisiana: V
  • Maryland: VI
  • Michigan: Senior High AA
  • Minnesota: I
  • Mississippi: VI-A
  • New York: Concert Band VI
  • North Carolina: VI
  • Oklahoma: V-A
  • South Carolina: V
  • Tennessee: VI
  • Texas: V. Complete
  • Virginia: V


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Texas Tech University (Lubbock) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Dillan Francis, conductor) – 1 February 2024
  • Michigan State University (East Lansing) Wind Symphony (Michael Parker, conductor) – 19 November 2023
  • University of Illinois (Champaign) Illinois Wind Symphony (Kevin M. Geraldi, conductor) - 29 September 2023
  • Florida State University (Tallahassee) Wind Orchestra (Rodney Dorsey, conductor) – 22 September 2023
  • Floyd Central High School (Floyds Knobs, Ind.) Wind Symphony (Harold Yankey, Conductor) – 29 April 2023
  • Naperville (Ill.) Winds (Sean Kelley, conductor) – 23 February 2023
  • University of Southern California (Los Angeles) Thornton Winds (Sharon Lavery, conductor) – 1 April 2022
  • Oklahoma City University Wind Ensemble (Matthew Mailman, conductor) – 16 September 2021
  • Atlanta (Ga.) Wind Symphony (David Kehler, conductor) – 16 December 2021 (2021 Midwest Clinic)
  • University of Delaware (Newark) Wind Ensemble (Lauren Reynolds, conductor) – 13 October 2021
  • University of Cincinnati (Ohio) College-Conservatory of Music Wind Ensemble (Thomas Gamboa, conductor) – 12 September 2021
  • Vandegrift High School (Austin, Tex.) Wind Ensemble (Mike Howard, conductor) – 14 April 2021
  • Tyler (Tx.) Junior College Wind Ensemble (Jeremy M. Strickland, conductor) – 13 April 2021
  • Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah) Wind Symphony (Donald Peterson, conductor) – 9 April 2021
  • Angelo State University (San Angelo, Tx.) Wind Ensemble (Jonathan Alvis, conductor) – 28 March 2021
  • West Virginia University (Morgantown) Wind Symphony (Scott C. Tobias, conductor) – 23 February 2021
  • Clovis (Calif.) East High School Wind Ensemble (Marco Mellone, conductor) – 6 March 2020
  • United States Army Band (Ft. Meyer, Va.) (Andrew Esch, conductor) – 22 February 2020
  • University of Illinois (Champaign) Wind Orchestra (Beth Peterson, conductor) – 28 February 2020
  • Western University (London, Ont., Can.) Wind Ensemble (Colleen Richardson, conductor) – 11 February 2020
  • North Carolina State University (Raleigh) Wind Ensemble (Paul Garcia, conductor) – 5 December 2019
  • Central Michigan University (Mount Pleasant) Wind Symphony (James Batcheller, conductor) – 26 November 2019


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association. (2013). "AR Required Music List by Grade (12-5-13)". Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association. pp. 34.
  • Ron Nelson website
  • Miles, Richard B., and Larry Blocher. (2002) Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. Volume 4. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 880-886.
  • Peterson, Stephen. (1994) “Profile of Composer Ron Nelson.” The Instrumentalist 48, no. 11 (June 1994): pp. 49–50.
  • SCORE STUDY EPISODE #6: ROCKY POINT HOLIDAY." YouTube. Uploaded by Anthony O'Toole, 23 July 2018. Accessed 22 August 2023
  • Slabaugh, Thomas, II. (2004) “Ron Nelson.” In A Composer’s Insight, Volume 2, Timothy Salzman, ed,. Galesville, Md.: Meredith Music Publications, pp. 138–151.