Three Drummers, The

James Curnow

General Info

Year: 2004
Duration: c. 1:45
Difficulty: I (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Curnow Music Press, through Hal Leonard
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $42.00 | Score Only (print) - $8.50

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute
Oboe
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F
Piano
Percussion I-II-III, including:

Bells
Claves
Cowbell
Snare Drum
Tambourine
Tom-tom (large and small)
Wood Block (small)

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

This percussion feature is based on a French folk song that tells the story of three drummer boys who "were coming home a marching, coming home proud." The music uses imitation, question-and-answer, and stylistic rhythmic figures to challenge these proud musicians. The drummers of the title get to play a variety of instruments, including snare drums, tom toms, claves, a tambourine, and even a cowbell.

- Program Note adapted from publisher

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
Audio CD: Cinco Rancho Junior High School Honors Band (Rory L. Davis, conductor) - 2004

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Harmonie D.O.V. (Wijchen, Netherlands) - 2008
Braddock Secondary School (Burke, Va.) Symphonic Band (Roy C. Holder, conductor) – 16 December 2004 (2004 Midwest Clinic)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Amber Waves of Grain (Flex instrumentation) (1994)
Canticum (Flex instrumentation) (1988/2011)
Fanfare and Flourishes (Flex instrumentation) (1995/2013)
Korean Folk Rhapsody (Flex instrumentation) (1988/2011)
Nathan Hale Trilogy (Flex instrumentation) (1990/2013)
Renaissance Suite (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (c.1551/1983/2016)
Valdres (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1904/1985/2015)

All Wind Works

African Sketches (1992)
Album for the Young (Op. 39) (as arranger) (1878/2007)
Amber Waves of Grain (1994)
Amber Waves of Grain (Flex instrumentation) (1994)
Appalachian Dances (2008)
Apple Island Legend (1997)
Beyond the Stars
Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair (as arranger) (1985)
Blazon (1997)
Bridge of the Gods (2012)
Canadian Sketches (1996)
Canterbury Coronation (1996)
Canticle at Christmastide (2006)
Canticle of the Creatures (1984)
Canticum (Flex instrumentation) (1988/2011)
The Carnival of the Animals (as arranger) (1886/2008)
Celebration Fanfare
Celebration (1994)
Ceremonial Flourishes (1988)
Chinese Folk Fantasy (2013)
Christmas Classics (1993)
Christmas Fancies (2000)
Christmas Flourish, A (1998)
Christmas Prelude (as arranger) (1989)
Christmas Travelogue (as arranger)
Classical Suite for Piano and Band (as arranger) (2006)
Concertino for Tuba and Band (1978/2001)
Concertpiece (1990)
Concertpiece for Clarinet, Winds and Percussion (1990)
Dance Episodes (2006)
Day at the Circus, A (1998)
Day at the Museum, A (1997)
Day in Space, A
Dialogues for Saxophone Quartet, Winds and Percussion (2005)
Dimensions of Seven
Dublin Sketches
Fanfare and Flourishes (1995)
Fanfare and Flourishes (Flex instrumentation) (1995/2013)
Fanfare for Christmas (2004)
Fanfare for Spartacus (1996)
Fanfare Prelude: "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" (1999)
Fanfare Prelude on "God of Our Fathers" (1876/1983)
Fanfare Prelude on "Joy to the World" (1985)
Fantasia di Falcone
Fantasy on a Colonial Air
Festive Fanfare for the Holidays (2006)
Festivity (1993)
Festivo Fantastico (1998)
Fiddle Tunes (as arranger) (2002)
Finale for a Winter Festival (2004)
Folk Dances (as arranger (1942/2000)
Freedom Road (1994)
Freedom's Song (2009)
French Christmas Carol Fantasy (1989)
Golliwog's Cakewalk (as arranger)
Guadalcanal March (as arranger) (1952/1989)
Heroic Tribute (2006)
Illini Fantasy (2006)
In Storm and Sunshine (as arranger) (1884/1986)
In the Valley of the Sun (2013)
International Christmas Salute (1996)
Inventions from the Sacred Harp (2005)
Irish Legends (1994)
Journey (2009)
Jubilee (2012)
Kentucky Kaleidoscope
Korean Folk Rhapsody (1988)
Korean Folk Rhapsody (Flex instrumentation) (1988/2011)
Land of Tomorrow (2010)
Lion of Lucerne (1986)
Lone Star Celebration (1995)
Megaforce (1997)
Midway March (as arranger)
Moment in Time, A
Mutanza (1981)
Nathan Hale Trilogy (1990)
Nathan Hale Trilogy (Flex instrumentation) (1990/2013)
Nexus (2015)
Nulli Secundus (Curnow)
Nutcracker Suite (as arranger) (1891/1987)
Overture to a Winter Festival (1995)
Peter and the Wolf (as arranger) (1936/1986)
Praetorius Variations
Prelude and Celebration (1996)
Prelude on a Hymn of Praise (1996)
Prelude on Lobe Den Herren (1982/1997)
The Promise of Living (as arranger) (1954/2012)
Quintessence
Rejouissance (1988)
Renaissance Festival (as arranger) (2008)
Renaissance Suite (as arranger) (c.1551/1983)
Renaissance Suite (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (c.1551/1983/2016)
Rhapsody for Euphonium and Band (1978/1999)
Rhapsody on American Shaped Note Melodies (1996)
Romanza (2017)
Russian Christmas Music (as arranger) (1944/1990)
Russian Folk Fantasy (1992)
Sea to Shining Sea (2006)
Seacliffe Overture (1983)
Selections from "Slavonic Dances," Op. 46 (as transcriber) (1878/)
Selections from "Suite of Old American Dances" (as arranger) (1950/2005)
Selections from Walt Disney's "Fantasia" (1992)
Slavonic Dances, The (as transcriber)
Songs of the West (as arranger) (1907/1986)
The Sorcerer's Apprentice (as arranger) (1897)
Sovereign Variants
Spirit of the Pioneers (2007)
Suite from "Messiah" (as transcriber) (1741/1989)
Suncatcher (2000)
Symphonic Chorale for Band (1989)
Symphonic Suite from "The Right Stuff" (as arranger) (1983/1984)
Symphonic Triptych (1978)
Symphonic Variants (1998)
Three Colonial Ballads (as arranger)
The Three Drummers (2004)
Toward the Sunrising (1999)
Turkish March (as arranger) (1809/2001)
Valdres (arr Curnow) (as arranger) (1904/1985/2016)
Valdres (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1904/1985/2015)
Vanguard (2003)
Voluntary on Old Hundreth (as transcriber) (/2000)
A Wexford Reverie (as arranger) (2005)
When the Morning Stars Sang (2005)
Where Never Lark or Eagle Flew (1993)
Winds of Change

Resources

None discovered thus far.