As I Walked Through the Meadow

Pierre La Plante

General Info

Year: 2019
Duration: c. 4:35
Difficulty: III-1/2 (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Folk song
Publisher: C.L. Barnhouse
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $79.00 | Score Only (print) - $8.00

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 Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Bells
Crash Cymbals
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal
Vibraphone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

This well-known writer is renowned for his mastery at adapting tuneful folk songs into Graingeresque settings. This beautifully sensitive pastoral setting will give your ensemble a chance to display its musicianship and expressive playing. The main theme returns after the middle section, building to a climax before ending quietly and wistfully.

- Program Note adapted from publisher

In his collection of 100 English Folksongs, (1918), Cecil Sharp notes the existence of various versions of the song As I Walked Through the Meadow. This band arrangement is based on one of two settings found in this collection.

Briefly summarized, a young man is walking through a meadow when he meets a young lass picking flowers and is of course immediately smitten. After at first refusing his advances, she is won over and becomes his bride the very next day.

The music itself conjures up the images of walking through a meadow on a beautiful spring day, with the sun shining, the flowers blooming, a gentle breeze blowing, and allows time for some peace and quiet, reflect, and, at least for a while, forget the cares of the day.

- Program Note from score

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
Audio CD: Washington Winds (Edward S. Petersen, conductor)

State Ratings

Alabama: Class BB

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Hanover Wind Symphony (Whippany, Penn.) (Matthew Paterno, conductor) - 16 February
Lake Forest (Ill.) College Concert Band – February 2020

Works for Winds by This Composer

All Ye Young Sailors (as arranger) (2005)
American Riversongs (1991)
American Sketches (2014)
As I Walked Through the Meadow (2019)
At the Old Camp Ground (2017)
The Band in the Square (2006)
The Cat's Pajamas (2018)
Caribbean Rondo (2009)
Come to the Fair!
A Cowboy Symphony (2008)
Early One Morning (as arranger) (2005)
English Country Settings (1997)
Fantasy on a Fiddle Tune (2005)
Great American West Suite, The (2013)
In the Forest of the King (2000)
La Bonne Aventure (2010)
Legends and Heroes (2003)
Minka's Sleigh Ride (2007)
Music for the King's Delight (2007)
Overture on a Minstrel Tune (1979)
Prairie Songs (1998)
Prospect (1983)
Red River Valley, The (as arranger) (2001)
Song of the Mountain Horn (as arranger) (2013)
Songs of the Plains (2015)
Suite of English Country Dances (2022)
Suite of Old French Songs (2015)
The Thunder and the Roar (2004)
Travelin' Music (2018)
The Voyageurs (2002)
A Walk in the Morning Sun (2010)
Winds A' "Whispering" (as arranger) (1920/2009)
Yorkshire Folk Song Suite (2016)

Resources

Perusal score
Pierre La Plante website Accessed 15 February 2022