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Ye Banks and Braes O' Bonnie Doon (arr Ragsdale)

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Percy Aldridge Grainger

Percy Aldridge Grainger ("dished up" for wind band and large mallet ensemble by Chalon Ragsdale)


General Info

Year: 1901 / 1036 / 2008
Duration: c. 3:20
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Men's chorus and whistler
Publisher: Aux Arcs Music Publishing
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $40.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
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
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion, including:

  • Chimes
  • Marimbas I-II
  • Orchestra Bells
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Vibraphone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Grainger considered the folk singers the "kings and queens of song...lords in their own domain -- at once performers and creators." He once described concert singers as slaves to tyrannical composers. It was for the wind band, a "vehicle of deeply emotional expression," that Grainger made some of his most memorable folk song settings, several of which are now cornerstones of band repertoire. Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon is a slow, sustained Scottish folk tune. Grainger's original setting of this was done in 1901 for "men's chorus and whistler," and the version for band was published in 1936.

- Program Note from Program Notes for Band


Percy Grainger’s folk-song settings are nothing short of legendary. In this work, he succeeds not only in capturing the essence of a song, but also in infusing the work with captivating charm, piquant harmonies, and resplendent sonorities. Only two 17-measure strophes in length, this relatively simple setting features a drone background, a tender countermelody, and tempo rubato. Grainger’s original musical adventure with this song was penned some 34 years earlier, for “men’s chorus and whistlers,” but he has surely eclipsed that original version in the work for the wind band, which was for him a “vehicle of deeply emotional expression.”

- Notes by Brian Casey


Grainger’s arrangement of the Scottish song The Caledonian Hunt’s Delight became Ye Banks and Braes O Bonnie Doon. The river Doon flows gracefully between the Loch Doon and the Firth of Clyde in Stirlingshire, Scotland. It was inspired by Robert Burns poem, The Banks of Doon, written in 1783. The piece was originally scored in 1901 for a chorus of women’s unison voices, accompanied by men’s voices, whistlers, and harmonium or organ at will. This was one of Grainger’s earliest folk-music arrangements, and it was dedicated to his dear friend Sigurd Fornander. The setting for band was completed in 1932 (British Folk-Music Setting Nt. 31).

- Program Note by the Boise State University Symphonic Winds concert program, 5 March 2015


Percy Grainger would approve of the concept of an arrangement of Ye Banks and Braes O’ Bonnie Doon for large percussion ensemble. Given that his band arrangement of Ye Banks and Braes was partly written as an experiment in elastic scoring and designed so that discrete choirs of flute and double reeds, clarinet choir, saxophone choir, or brasses within the band arrangement can perform it independently, it would seem that providing the same opportunity for Grainger's beloved tuneful percussion is a natural extension of that philosophy.

- Program Note from publisher


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

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Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

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