Whirlybird

Todd Stalter

General Info

Year: 2013
Duration: c. 3:05
Difficulty: IV 1/2 (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Alfred Music Publishing
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $78.00; (digital) - $75.00 | Score Only (print) - $10.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
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
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion (8 players), including:

Bass Drum
Bells
Cabasa
Crash Cymbals
Ride Cymbal
Slapstick
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal
Tambourine
Triangle
Wood Block
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

This fast-paced, swirling vortex of sound, with swift melodies and grooving background rhythms, is woven together with changing time signatures and plentiful use of percussion. The slang term for helicopter, "whirlybird", is an aural impression of the whirling rotors and unique maneuvers that only a helicopter can accomplish, and gives every section of the band a chance to shine by featuring daring harmonic contrasts, swift woodwind runs, and bold scoring for brass.

- Program Note from score

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

Alabama: Class BB
Tennessee: IV

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Riverside High School (Painesville, Ohio) Wind Ensemble (David A. Schwartz, conductor) - 14 May 2021
W.H. Oliver Middle School (Nashville, Tenn.) Wind Ensemble (Susan Walters, conductor) – 22 February 2018 (CBDNA 2018 Southern Conference, Tampa, Fla.)
University of Nebraska (Lincoln) Jack R. Snider Concert Band (Douglas W. Bush, conductor) – 27 April 2017

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Escape Route (Flex instrumentation) (2020)

All Wind Works

As the Robin to the Meadow (2006)
The Capital March (as arranger) (1920/2014)
Castles and Dragons (2005)
Christmas Fanfares (2004)
Clouds That Sail in Heaven (2007)
Counterbalance (2013)
Critical Mass (2010)
Cut to the Chase (2012)
The Dragon's Lair (2008)
Dynamo (2015)
Écossaise for Military Band (as arranger)
Escape Route (2020)
Escape Route (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Fighting Falcon March (2006)
Gather Ye Rosebuds (2019)
Glen Crossing (2010)
Ignition (2011)
In tantum lux (2016)
Knox Bridge Jubilee (2018)
Lightning! (2004)
Loco Motion (2015)
Longthorpe Tower (2019)
March, Opus 108 (as arranger) (1841/2011)
Mechanism (2014)
My Soul a Canvas (2019)
Noel! (2010)
Poème (2007)
Quasars (2009)
Rampage! (2009)
Rephrygeration (2016)
Scramble (2012)
Shadows Unseen (2017)
Shady Grove (2011)
Sketches on a Kentucky Hymn Tune (2005)
Three Welsh Songs (2013)
Then I Saw the Lucent Sky (2008)
Trumpets of Symphony Hall (2012)
Two Renaissance Sketches (2009)
Vier Deutsche Weihnachtslieder (as arranger)
Whirlybird (2013)
Wildflowers (2018)
With Uncommon Valor (2017)

Resources

Perusal score
Stalter, T. (2013). Whirlybird [score]. Alfred Music: [United States].