Annabel Lee
General Info
Year: 2000
Duration: c. 4:25
Difficulty: II (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Alfred Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $55.00; (digital) - $55.00 | Score Only (print) - $10.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F
Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:
- Bass Drum
- Bells
- Chimes
- Gong
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Triangle
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
This rich, expressive original by Douglas Wagner is inspired by the exquisitely beautiful Edgar Allan Poe poem Annabel Lee. The main thematic material, which recurs as a dialogue between the two lovers, unites the work. The harmonic colors and lyrical lines make this a thoroughly enjoyable piece.
- Program Note from publisher
Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849), America's earliest master of horror in short story and poetry, let a life that paralleled his Gothic themes. Even in his exquisitely beautiful poem Annabel Lee, written during his final year, the subject is believed by most to be his own wife, Virginia Clemm, who succumbed to tuberculosis in 1847.
This work for concert band follows the three based sections of the poem – Life, Death, and Remembrance – with the main thematic material reoccurring as a sort of dialogue in counterpoint between the two lovers in the first and last sections. With the air of muffled snare drum, expansive harmonies, and a persistent bass part, the middle section paints the picture of the desolation of a cold, windswept shoreline. Introduced at the beginning by the flute section, the Annabel Theme is stated again, five measures from the end, giving final witness to the bonds of love that even death could not separate.
Commissioned by the Edgard Allen Poe Middle School of Annandale, Virginia, June Monterio, principal, and the Poe Band Parents' Association in honor of the Poe Symphonic Band, Deidra M. Denson, director.
- Program Note from score
Media
- Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
- Audio CD: Grand Ledge High School Wind Symphony (John Whitwell, conductor) – 2000
State Ratings
- Alabama: Class D
- Georgia: II
- Indiana: ISSMA JUNIOR BAND GROUP II
- Michigan: Junior High C
- Michigan: Senior High D
- North Carolina: III
- Oregon: II-A
- South Carolina: III
- Tennessee: III
- Virginia: III
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Leesville Road High School (Raleigh, N.C.) Ninth Grade Band – 8 May 2019
- Grand Ledge (Mich.) High School Wind Symphony (John Whitwell, conductor) – 21 December 2000 (2000 Midwest Clinic)
Works for Winds by this Composer
Adaptable Music
- You'll Be Back (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2015/2020)
All Wind Works
- American Salute (as arranger)
- Annabel Lee (2000)
- And All the Bells on Earth Shall Ring
- Appalachian Tapestry (2009)
- Baba Yetu (as arranger) (2005/2015)
- Beetlejuice (as arranger) (1988/2015)
- Brother James' Air (as arranger) (1915/1995)
- Canticle (1996)
- Carols from the British Isles (as arranger) (2013)
- A Celtic Christmas
- Children's March (as arranger) (1919/2000)
- Christmas Bells Overture (2010)
- Christmas from the '50s (2009)
- A Classic Christmas
- Cole Porter Classics (as arranger) (2004)
- Colonial Song (as arranger) (1919/2014)
- The Dam Busters March (as arranger) (2004)
- Doctor Who (as arranger) (1963/2015)
- Down in Some Lonesome Valley (2002)
- Ellan Vannin Suite
- Engines of Change (2015)
- Festivo (as arranger) (1968/2008
- From Sea to Shining Sea (as scorer; arr. Whitney) (1882/1963/2017))
- Glory! (2016)
- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (as arranger) (1944/2006)
- Hymn for Those Who Serve (2015)
- I Got Plenty O' Nuttin' (as arranger)
- I'm Seventeen Come Sunday (as arranger) (1905-12/1999)
- Irish Suite: The Last Rose of Summer (as arranger) (1950/2010)
- Irish Suite: The Wearing of the Green (as arranger) (1947/2009)
- Japanese (as arranger) (2006)
- March for a Norwegian Penguin
- March On, America! (as arranger) (2014)
- Morris Dance Tunes (as arranger) (1910/2010)
- On a Tune of William Billings (2015)
- Over the Sea to Skye (as arranger) (2014)
- Promenade (as arranger) (1945/2017)
- A Quiet Music (2007)
- A Ralph Vaughan Williams Portrait (as arranger) (2018)
- Santa in the Mix (as arranger) (2021)
- Screamers! (as arranger) (2013)
- Selections from Leroy Anderson's "Irish Suite" (as arranger) (2011)
- Slane (as arranger) (1994)
- Three Movements from "Water Music" (as arranger) (1715/2014)
- To Reap the Blessings of Freedom (2002/2005)
- Two Variants on Dives and Lazarus (2014)
- United States Armed Forces Salute (as arranger) (2020)
- U.S. Field Artillery March (as arranger)
- A Vaughan Williams Christmas (as arranger) (1999)
- We Will Remember Them (2021)
- Welcome Christmas (as arranger) (1997/2013)
- Windforce (2016)
- You'll Be Back (as arranger) (2015/2020)
- You'll Be Back (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2015/2020)
Resources
- Douglas Wagner website – Accessed 7 July 2022
- Perusal score
- Wagner, D. (2000). Annabel Lee [score]. Belwin Mills: [s.l.].