Valdres (arr Bainum)

From Wind Repertory Project
Johannes Hanssen

Johannes Hanssen (arr. Glenn Bainum)


Subtitle: Arranged for Band and Optional Antiphonal Trumpets


General Info

Year: 1904 / 1963
Duration: c. 3:25
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Score and Parts - $85.00   |   Score Only - $5.95


Instrumentation

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

  • Bass Drum
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Snare Drum


Errata

In Parts:

  • C Flute & Piccolo, m.38, beat 1e: F-flat should read F natural.
  • C Flute & Piccolo, m.101, beat 2&: C should read D-flat.
  • C Flute & Piccolo, m.102, beat 2&: G-flat should read E-flat.
  • Oboe I, m. 34, beat 2: Add mordent on B-flat (similar to m.36)
  • B-flat Cornet I, m.50 (solo), beat 1-1e: Slur first two notes (D to C)
  • B-flat Cornet I, m.50 (solo), beat 2: Dotted eighth-sixteenth note should read two eighth notes
  • B-flat Cornet It, m.54 (solo), beat 1-1e: Slur first two notes (G to F-sharp)
  • B-flat Cornet I, m.54 (solo), beat 2: Dotted eighth-sixteenth note should read two eighth notes
  • B-flat Cornet I, m.54 (tutti), beat 2&: Clarify tenuto mark
  • B-flat Cornet I, m.58 (solo), beat 1-1e: Slur first two notes (E-flat to D)
  • B-flat Cornet I, m.62 (solo), beat 1-1e: Slur first two notes (D to C)
  • Trombone III, m.37, beat 1a: B natural should read B-flat


Program Notes

Valdres is one of the most famous marches ever composed. The fact that it is evocative and expressive of its land of birth, Norway, is also significant. While march enthusiasts have typically been drawn to the vastly larger and better known repertoires of the United States, Germany, England, and Spain, Valdres remains a greatly loved petite Norwegian tone poem in march time. Its composer, Johann Hanssen, began his career as a tenor-horn player in the Oslo Military Band in 1900. In 1903-1904, he composed Valdres.

The opening tune is a bugle call from the Valdres Battalion; Valdres is a valley is southern Norway. The second subject is an old tune for hardanger-fiddle; the trio is a pentatonic tune based upon Norwegian folk music.

- Program Note by Loras John Schissel


Hanssen began writing this march in 1901; it was not completed until 1904. Followings its premiere, during an open-air concert in Oslo, the composer (who was playing trumpet in the band) heard only two people applaud -- his two best friends. He then arranged the work for the Orchestra of the National Theater, but Johan Halvorsen, the conductor (and also a composer), turned it down. Later he sold the march to a publisher for 25 kroner (about five dollars). From this inauspicious beginning, Valdres March has become known in almost every country where these are brass or wind bands. Although it was his first composition, Hanssen admitted near the end of his life that he had never written anything better.

The title has both geographic and musical connotations. Valdres is a beautiful region between Oslo and Bergen. The first three measures contain the old signature fanfare for the Valdres Battalion, an ancient melody formerly played on the lur (or lure) -- in this instance a straight wooden "trumpet" which was long enough to play the same partials played on a modern bugle. Other melodies derive from a Haranger fiddle tune and a pentatonic fold tune, above a typical Norwegian drone bass.

- Program Notes from Program Notes for Band


Media


State Ratings

  • Indiana: ISSMA SENIOR BAND GROUP I
  • Iowa: IV
  • Kansas: IV
  • Minnesota: I


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Cleveland (Ohio) Youth Wind Symphony Group I (Darren Allen, conductor) - 29 February 2024
  • Mercyhurst University (Erie, Penn.) Wind Ensemble (Scott Meier, conductor) - 8 October 2023
  • Eastern Kentucky University (Richmond) Concert Band (Rebekah Daniel, conductor) - 26 September 2023
  • University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) Festival Wind Ensemble (John R. Locke, conductor) - 4 February 2023
  • Cleveland State University (Ohio) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Birch Browning, conductor) – 18 November 2022 (OMEA Districts 4 & 7 Festival 2022)
  • Bluewater Wind Ensemble (Sarnia, Ont., Can.) (Charles Dalmas, conductor) – 20 October 2022
  • Tufts University (Medford, Mass.) Wind Ensemble (John McCann, conductor) – 11 April 2022
  • Coastal Communities Concert Band (San Diego, Calif.) (Tom Cole, conductor) – 23 May 2021
  • University of Central Florida (Orlando) Wind Ensemble (Danny Santos, conductor) – 17 September 2020
  • Mankato (Minn.) West High School Wind Ensemble (Brady Krusemark, conductor) – 7 March 2020
  • Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro) Symphonic Band (Craig Cornish, conductor) – 5 March 2020
  • University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) Symphonic Band (Jerry Luckhardt, conductor) – 17 October 2019
  • Atascadero (Calif.) Community Band (Randy Schwalbe, conductor) – 11 June 2019
  • University of Georgia (Athens) Hodgson Symphonic Band – 18 February 2019
  • Interlochen Center for the Arts (Michigan) Adult Band Camp (Thomas Riccobono, conductor) 12 August 2018
  • University of Texas (Austin) Texas Concert Band (Scott S. Hanna, conductor) - 22 April 2018
  • Iowa State University (Ames) Wind Ensemble (Michael Golemo, conductor) - 13 April 2018
  • Wartburg College (Waverly, Iowa) Symphonic Band (Scott Muntefering, conductor) – 7 April 2018
  • California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Wind Orchestra (Christopher J. Woodruff, conductor) – 3 March 2018
  • Henry M. Gunn High School (Palo Alto, Calif.) Wind Ensemble (Todd L. Summers, conductor) – 23 February 2018
  • University of Iowa (Iowa City) Symphony Band (Mark Heidel, conductor) - – 21 February 2018


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

  • Valdres (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Curnow) (1904/1985/2015)


All Wind Works


Resources

  • Hanssen, J.; Bainum, C. (1963). Valdres: Norwegian March [score]. Boosey & Hawkes: [s.l.]
  • Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications, pp. 271.