Summer Dances
General Info
Year: 2000
Duration: c. 6:05
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: FJH Music Company, Inc
Cost: Score and Parts - $90.00 | Score - $12.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
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
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:
- Bass Drum
- Crash Cymbals
- Glockenspiel
- Hi-Hat
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tambourine
- Tom-Tom (low)
- Triangle
- Vibraphone
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Exciting woodwind flourishes set the stage for the heroic main motive of the piece, stated by the brass. This theme is woven throughout the piece in contrasting settings, styles, and colors. A beautiful, lyric chamber section gives way to a stately dance presented by the full ensemble. A powerful ending caps this dynamic piece.
Summer Dances was written for the Columbia Concert Band.
- Program Note from publisher
Summer Dances was written for the Columbia Concert Band in Columbia, Maryland, for an outdoor summer concert. The piece was written to capture the beauty and spirit of the many festivals and events associated with the season. In writing the piece, elements were included to make it very appropriate to perform in or out of the concert hall. The piece thrives on rhythmic pulse throughout. The fast rhythmic figures of the opening are contrasted with the more stately motives presented later in the piece in the slower, more lyrical section.
- Program Note by Baylor University Concert Band concert program, 29 April 2018
Summer Dances is a light and lively piece worthy of its namesake. Structured in contrasting sections, ABA’, the piece opens with the effervescence of sparkling woodwinds followed immediately with the energetic main theme played by the trumpets and horns. The theme returns frequently accompanied in a new manner with each reprisal. The slow, lyrical B section contains its own miniature rounded binary form (aba’), with frequent use of chamber-like scoring. After its return to the “energetically” section, the piece ramps up again with an extended transition of woodwind polyphony before the main theme returns in the trumpets and horns.
Whether it is actually summer or winter, Balmages’s Summer Dances strives to emulate the many summer music festivals and civic celebrations around Columbia, Maryland.
- Program Note by Myron Peterson for the University of Iowa University Band concert program, 5 December 2022
Media
- Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
- Audio CD: VanderCook College of Music (Chicago, Ill.) Symphonic Band (Charles T. Menghini, conductor) – 2000
State Ratings
- Texas: IV
- Virginia: V
- Georgia: IV
- Iowa: IV
- Louisiana: IV
- Maryland: V
- Mississippi: VI
- North Carolina: V
- Oklahoma: IV
- South Carolina: V
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Reedley (Calif.) High School Symphonic Band (Daniel Paulsen, conductor) - 24 March 2023 (2023 Sutherland Wind Festival (Fresno, Calif.)
- First Coast Wind Symphony (Jacksonville, Fla.) (Paul Weikle, conductor) - 19 February 2023
- University of Iowa (Iowa City) University Band (Myron Peterson, conductor) - 5 December 2022
Susquehanna University (Selinsgrove, Penn.) Symphonic Band (David Rohrer, conductor) - 3 December 2022
- Normal (Ill.) Community High School Wind Ensemble (Paul Carter, conductor) - 10 November 2022
- Willamette Valley Concert Band (Albany, Ore.) (Charles Haugen, conductor) – 16 March 2019
- Orcas Island (Eastsound, Wash.) Band (Karen Kay Speck, conductor) - 2 Jun 2018
- Baylor University (Waco, Texas) Concert Band (Steve Dailey, conductor) – 29 April 2018
- Appalachian State University (Boone, N.C.) Wind Ensemble (John Stanley Ross, conductor) – 23 April 2018
- University of Texas, Arlington, Symphonic Winds (Douglas Stotter, conductor) – 20 October 2016
- McCracken Middle School (Skokie, Ill.) (Chip De Stefano, conductor) – 28 April 2016
- Brookville High School Symphonic Band (Matthew Farley, conductor) - 21 May 2013
- VanderCook College of Music (Chicago, Ill.) Symphonic Band (Charles T. Menghini, conductor) – 22 December 2000 (2000 Midwest Clinic)
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Arabian Dances (Adaptable Band) (2009/2021)
- Arith-Metric No. 1 (Adaptable Band) (2020)
- Blue Ridge Reel (Adaptable Band) (2013/2020)
- Colliding Visions (Adaptable Band) (2010/2020)
- Focal Point (Adaptable Band) (2021)
- Focal Point. See also: Suite Treats
- Jungle Dance (Adaptable Band) (2011/2022)
- A Little Matrix Music (Adaptable Band) (2020)
- Moscow, 1941 (Adaptable Band) (2006/2020)
All Wind Works
- 3, 2, 1... (2019)
- Action Scene (2022)
- African Journey (2001)
- Always United, Forever Strong (2013)
- American Big Top (2018)
- Among the Clouds (2004)
- Apollo (2008)
- Apparitions (2010)
- Arabian Dances (2009)
- Arabian Dances (Adaptable Band) (2009/2021)
- Arctic Wars (2020)
- Arith-Metric No. 1 (Adaptable Band) (2020)
- The Awakening (2003)
- Backstage Pass (2015)
- Beyond the Summit (2004)
- Blue Ridge Impressions (2001)
- Blue Ridge Reel (2013)
- Blue Ridge Reel (Adaptable Band) (2013/2020)
- Boom and Bust (2018)
- Breaking Point (2019)
- Breaking Through (2021)
- Bright Morning Stars
- Bringer of War (2017)
- The Broken Marionette (2014)
- Call of the Wild (2013)
- Camptown Variations (2001)
- Centennium (2021)
- Central Junction (2011)
- Chant and Savage Dance (2005)
- Chesapeake Serenade (2002)
- Clutch (2023)
- Colliding Visions (2010)
- Colliding Visions (Adaptable Band) (2010/2020)
- Comet Ride (2006)
- Concerto for Two Hands (2015)
- Conquest (2003)
- Courtly Dance and Procession (2004)
- Creatures in the Attic (2010)
- The Crystal Fountain (2022)
- Dragonfly (2001)
- Eagles Among Us (2017)
- Electricity (2009)
- Elements (2010)
- Emblazoned (2023)
- Enchantment (2013)
- Endless Rainbows (2013)
- Escapades (2005/2017)
- Escape from the Deep (2010)
- Etowah (2008)
- Evocatio (2014)
- Falcon Fanfare (2012)
- Fanfare Canzonique (2003)
- Fanfare Forza (2022)
- Fanfare Heroica (2011)
- Fanfare and Fireworks (2012)
- Fanfare on a Theme of Imagination (2015)
- A Festive Fanfare (2017)
- A Festive Finale (2019)
- Fiesta de los Toros (2017)
- The Fire's Fury (2022)
- Flight (2005)
- Flight of the Griffin (2003)
- Focal Point (Adaptable Band) (2021)
- Focal Point. See also: Suite Treats
- Forever... (2014)
- Fusion (2007)
- Gateways (2018)
- Gettysburg (2002)
- Grace (2016)
- Gravity Wave (2011)
- Groove Music (2013)
- Haunted Clocks (2014)
- Heart of Gold (2020)
- A Hero's Destiny (1999)
- Homage to Bharat (2018)
- A House Divided (2013)
- Hypnotic Fireflies (2012)
- Ichabod Fanfare (2011)
- Images of Ireland (2004)
- In Nature's Glory (2002)
- Incantation and Ritual (2004)
- Industrial Loops (2017)
- Infinite Hope (2018)
- Instant Christmas Spirit (2001)
- Into the Arctic (2015)
- Invictus (2000)
- Jingle Bell Tones (2004)
- Journal for a Soldier (2010)
- Journey By Night (1998)
- Joy in All Things (2012)
- Joy of Life (2015)
- Jungle Dance (2011)
- Jungle Dance (Adaptable Band) (2011/2022)
- Kilauea (2005)
- Kindred Spirits (2009)
- Kitsune: The Fox Spirits (2010)
- Kyiv, 2022 (2022)
- Legacy (2002)
- Legend (2001)
- Legend of the Drop Bear (2016)
- A Life Worth Living (2023)
- A Light at the End of Forever (2016)
- A Little Matrix Music (Adaptable Band) (2020)
- Lone, Wild Bird (as arranger) (c. 1835/2023)
- Loudoun Praises (2005)
- Love and Light (2020)
- Lullaby to the Moon (2017)
- Majestica (2006)
- Marche Diabolique (2014)
- Metal (2013)
- Metamorphic Dances (2019)
- Midnight on Main Street (2009)
- Midnight Suite
- Midnight Mission (2005)
- Midnight Sky (2006)
- Midnight Madness (2007)
- Miles of Blue (2020)
- Miramar Fanfare (2003)
- Moscow, 1941 (2006)
- Moscow, 1941 (Adaptable Band) (2006/2020)
- Motion (2006)
- Nevermore (2011)
- Not Afraid to Dream (2006)
- The Nutcracker (as arranger) (2008)
- O Mio Babbino Caro (2000)
- Of Emperors and Chariots (2000)
- Olympia (2005)
- On Top of the World (2017)
- Open Space (2014)
- Parade of the Jesters (2002)
- Pele (2004)
- Phasing Thunder (2014)
- Pikes Peak (2019)
- Pixelated World (2020)
- Pride of the Clipper (2020)
- Primal Dances (2018)
- Proclamation (2000)
- Proudly We Hail (as arranger) (1814/2002)
- Radiance (2018)
- Raging Machines (2008)
- Rain (2008)
- Rapture (2022)
- Renaissance Reimagined (2017)
- Reverberations (2009)
- Rhythms and Riffs (2008)
- Rippling Watercolors (2015)
- Rise of the Bladesmith (2012)
- Rite of Passage (2000)
- Rocky Mountain Romp (2007)
- Sapier's Story (2002)
- Scenes from an Ocean Voyage (2009)
- A Scottish Festival (2021)
- Shadow Waltzes (2016)
- Shadows Unleashed (2013)
- Shenandoah Triptych (2002)
- Shrine of the Fallen (2016)
- Silence Overwhelmed (2010)
- Smithsonian Suite (2003)
- A Solitary Wish (2017/2018)
- Sound Prisms (2002)
- Sparks (2007)
- The Spirit of Aloha (2015)
- Spirit of the Stallion (2016)
- Spontaneous Beings (2017)
- Stages (2021)
- Stampede (2010)
- Star Above, Shine Brightly (2001)
- The Star-Spangled Banner (as arranger) (1814/2014)
- Starscapes (2007)
- Starsplitter Fanfare (2009)
- Still (2012)
- Suite Treats. See: Focal Point
- Summer Dances (2000)
- Summer Resounding! (2008)
- Summit City (2006)
- Sun Cycles (2012)
- Super (Em)Powers (2020)
- Swirling Prisms (2017)
- Symphonic Episodes (2004)
- Symphony No. 1 for Brass (1998)
- Synthesis (2016)
- The Tears of Arizona (2016)
- Temple of the Murals (2011)
- That Which Binds Us (2015)
- Three Celtic Dances (2008)
- Thrill Ride (2019)
- Through Courageous Eyes (2003)
- Through the Mist (2009)
- Thunderbolt Fanfare (2019)
- To Dance Among the Stars (2020)
- Tomorrow's Yesterdays (2011)
- Trust in Angels (2017)
- Twittering Machine (2017)
- Unknown (2022)
- A View of the World (2001)
- Waves (2007)
- Whale Warriors (2009)
- What I Do Today... (2022)
- When Spirits Soar (2006)
- Whispering Winds (2003)
- The Wild One! (2023)
- Winged Victory (2007)
- Wings to the Mind (2021)
- Winter Dances (2001)
- Within the Castle Walls (2012)
Resources
- Brian Balmages website Accessed 15 September 2020
- Dunker, Amy. Analysis of Summer Dances