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Adagio ma non troppo
Charles Mingus (trans. Patrick Brooks)
General Info
Year: 1964 / 1971 / 2018
Duration: c. 8:40
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Piano
Publisher: Manuscript
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II (I doubling B-flat Soprano Saxophone)
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass I-II
Piano
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Drum Set
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
American jazz bassist, composer and bandleader Charles Mingus recorded Adagio ma non troppo in 1971 on his album Let My Children Hear Music. Adagio began its existence as a piano improvisation titled Myself When I Am Real that appeared on his 1964 recording Mingus Plays Piano. The work was not heard live again until 2017 when the Patrick Brooks transcription for wind ensemble was premiered.
- Program Note from Standard Journal (Rexburg, Idaho)
Charles Mingus’s Adagio Ma Non Troppo was recorded in 1972 for his Columbia Records album Let My Children Hear Music. Mingus hired then New York-based trombonist, arranger, and conductor Alan Raph to orchestrate Adagio as well as some other works for the recording. Adagio first appeared as Mingus’s solo piano composition Myself When I Am Real, which he recorded in 1964.
My transcription follows Raph’s orchestration very closely, differing only in writing out some likely woodwind doublings, and reducing the number of basses from six to two. The transcription was done because no original score or parts for this important work were able to be found. Throughout the process Raph (who also conducted the recording session in 1972) was consulted and ultimately approved this transcription.
The instrumentation for Adagio was actually dictated by Mingus, and closely resembles a slightly downsized wind ensemble with the addition of cello and bass. In general the work is surprisingly accessible and easy to play, with the exception of the cello and bass I parts which require mature players in their solo roles. At present there is no published version of this work or transcription.
- Program Note by Patrick Brooks
American jazz bassist, composer and bandleader Charles Mingus recorded Adagio ma non troppo in 1971 on his album Let My Children Hear Music. Adagio began its existence as a piano improvisation titled Myself When I Am Real that appeared on his 1964 recording Mingus Plays Piano. The work was not heard live again until 2017 when the Patrick Brooks transcription for wind ensemble was premiered.
- Program Note from Standard Journal (Rexburg, Idaho)
Media
(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- University of North Texas (Denton) Wind Orchestra (Andrew Trachsel, conductor) – 28 April 2022
- Idaho State University (Pocatello) Wind Ensemble (Patrick Brooks, conductor) - April 21, 2017 *Transcription Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Adagio ma non troppo (tr. Brooks) (1964/2017)
- The Children's Hour of Dream (ed. Davis) (1962/2022)
- Half-Mast Inhibition (1939)
Resources
- Patrick Brooks, personal correspondence, March 2022
- "Premieres and music by Pocatello area composers featured in ISU Wind Ensemble and Civic Concert Band concert." Standard Journal (Rexburg, Idaho), 10 April 2017. Web. Accessed 5 June 2018