Tales from Andersen

From Wind Repertory Project
Martin Ellerby

Martin Ellerby


General Info

Year: 2006
Duration: c. 9:25
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Studio Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - £60.95   |   Score Only (print) - £12.25


Movements

1. Overture - The Steadfast Tin Soldier
2. Soliloquy - The Little Match Girl
3. Scherzo - The Emperor's New Clothes
4. Idyll - The Snow Queen
5. Finale and Chorale - The Red Shoes


Instrumentation

Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium I-II
Tuba I-II
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Crash Cymbal
  • Glockenspiel
  • Mark Tree
  • Ratchet
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Tambourine
  • Tom-tom
  • Triangle
  • Tubular Bells
  • Vibraphone
  • Wood Block
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Having immersed himself in a translated volume of the most popular [Hans Christian] Andersen fairy tales the composer selected five contrasting stories and shapes them into a miniature suite. The movements are: 1. Overture - The Steadfast Tin Soldier. 2. Soliloquy - The Little Match Girl. 3. Scherzo - The Emperor's New Clothes. 4. Idyll - The Snow Queen. 5. Finale and Chorale - The Red Shoes.

- Program Note from publisher


Ellerby completed Tales from Andersen in 2005, the result of a commission by the City of Edinburgh Council for the Edinburgh Schools Wind Ensemble and their conductor, Stephen Callaghan. This piece also coincided with the Hans Christian Andersen Bicentenary held in the same year.

Upon immersing himself in a translated volume of over fifty of Andersen’s most famous fairy tales, Ellerby selected five contrasting stories to depict in a musical suite. Each movement is designed to portray the essence of each text and, like Andersen’s tales, these “snapshots” seem light on the surface, but have rather dark undertones. In his notes to the score, Ellerby provides a brief description of each of the five movements:

Overture—The Steadfast Tin Soldier: Cast as a march or military procession that comes towards us, passes by, and fades into the distance

Soliloquy—The Little Match Girl: A tender reminiscence concluding with the gentle ascent to heaven of the protagonist

Scherzo—The Emperor’s New Clothes: A second martial-style procession but this time conveying the humour of the little child who sees all, and the folly of the Emperor who sees what he wants to see

Idyll—The Snow Queen: A nostalgic Adagio, set in the manner of a wordless song

Finale and Chorale—The Red Shoes: Rather like a scene de ballet working its way towards a concluding chorale reflecting the music of the opening movement

- Program Note from Calvin University Wind Ensemble concert program, 12 November 2022


Media


State Ratings

  • Louisiana: III
  • Louisiana: IV
  • Texas: III. (play mvt 2 or 4, plus two additional mvts)
  • Texas: IV. Complete


Performances

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Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources