76 Trombones (arr Iwai)

Meredith Willson

Subtitle: From the Musical The Music Man

General Info

Year: 1957 / 1992
Duration: c. 3:25
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: De Haske Publications
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $117.00 | Score Only (print) - $27.00

Instrumentation

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

Bass Drum
Crash Cymbals
Snare Drum
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Seventy-Six Trombones is the signature song from the musical play The Music Man (1957), which was written by Meredith Willson. The song also appeared in the 1962 film and in the made-for-TV movie adaptation in 2003. It is also a piece commonly played by marching and military bands.

In the musical, "Professor" Harold Hill uses the song to help the townspeople of River City, Iowa, visualize their children playing in a marching band by recalling a time when he saw several famous bandleaders' bands in a combined performance. While an average-sized high school marching band might have about 10 musicians playing the trombone, and a large college marching band seldom has more than 30 trombonists, the band that Harold Hill describes to the villagers includes 76 trombones, 110 cornets, "more than a thousand reeds", double bell euphoniums, and "fifty mounted cannon" (which were popular in bands of the late 19th century).

The love ballad Goodnight My Someone, which immediately precedes Seventy-Six Trombones in the musical, has the same tune but is played in 3/4 time, at a much slower tempo. In Willson's hometown of Mason City, Iowa, the song is honored (along with the whole plot of The Music Man) in a building called "Music Man Square," which is located next to Willson's boyhood home. In one large room, there are 76 donated trombones hanging from the ceiling.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
Audio CD: United States Air Force Heritage of America Band

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Sacramento (Calif.) State University Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Matthew Morse, conductor) - 8 March 2023
Binghamton (N.Y.) University Wind Symphony (Daniel Fabricius, conductor) - 10 December 2021
University of Kansas (Lawrence) University Band (John Leonard, conductor) - 2 May 2021
Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind.) Wind Ensemble (Jay Gephart, conductor) – 22 November 2020
W.D. Packard Band (Warren, Ohio) (Stephen L. Gage, conductor) – 9 June 2019
Central Iowa Wind Ensemble (Mark A. Doerffel, conductor) – 5 May 2019
University of Iowa (Iowa City) Concert Band (Kevin Kastens, conductor) – 30 April 2018
Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge) Symphonic Band (Kelvin Jones, conductor) – 5 March 2018
San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Wind Orchestra (David Rackley, conductor) – 24 September 2017
Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) (Mark Humphreys, conductor) – 6 May 2017 (ACB 2017 Annual Convention (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.))
University of Texas at San Antonio Harmonie Wind Ensemble (Michael Steiner, conductor) – 9 April 2017
Phoenix (N.Y.) Community Band (Guy Johanson, conductor) – 16 May 2016
Shizuoka Community Band (Japan) (Takahiro Unno, conductor) – 2 March 2016 (81st Annual ABA National Convention)
Banda Musical de Fajões (Portugal) (Bruno Costa, conductor) – 9 January 2011

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brown) (1951/1979/2019)

All Wind Works

76 Trombones (arr. Iwai) (1957/1992)
76 Trombones (arr Cable) (arr. Cable) (1957/)
76 Trombones (arr. Anderson, adapt. Bocook) (1997)
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (arr. Moss) (1951/2004)
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brown) (1951/1979/2019)
May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You (arr. Leidzen) (1950/1951)
The Music Man (arr. Buckley) (1957/2002)
The Music Man: Highlights (arr. Reed) (1957/1959)
Selections from "The Music Man" (arr. Lang) (1957/1958)
Selections from "The Music Man" (arr. Vinson) (1957/2000)
Unsinkable Molly Brown, The: I Ain't Down Yet (arr. Yoder) (1961)

Resources

Seventy-Six Trombones, Wikipedia
Willson, M.; Iwai, N. [1993?]. 76 Trombones [score]. De Haske: Heerenveen, Netherlands.