Blue-Bop

James Syler

Subtitle: For 5-Part Flexible Instrumentation

General Info

Year: 2020
Duration: c. 4:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: James Syler
Cost: Score and Parts (digital) - $75.00

Instrumentation (Flexible)

Full Score
Part 1

Piccolo
Flute
B-flat Soprano Clarinet
E-flat Soprano Saxophone

Part 2

Flute
B-flat Soprano Clarinet
E-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone

Part 3

B-flat Soprano Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet
Flugelhorn
Marimba

Part 4

Bassoon
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
Flugelhorn
F Horn
Euphonium
Marimba

Part 5

B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Blue-Bop is a fusion of the virtuosity of bluegrass and bebop styles from country music and jazz. This fusion is symbolic of the meeting of country and city in American music. Fiddle styles of bluegrass combine with the speed and licks of bebop to create a hybrid of uniquely American sounds -- a kind of Bill Monroe meets Charlie Parker. Originally the final movement of my String Quartet No. 1 (2003) and later incorporated into my American Dances for string orchestra, this version for chamber winds can be performed in a variety of flexible instrumentations.

- Program Note by composer

Performance Notes

Depending on the instrument, the tongueing of sixteenth-note triplets on the same pitch may not be possible. Substitute two sixteenths and an eighth note, or its inversion, an eighth note followed by two sixteenths. There are also moments where octave transpositions would be appropriate, again depending on the instrument being used.

Media

Audio: Reference recording. MIDI realization

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Blue-Bop (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Hard Times Come Again No More (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1854/2020)
Mam-Blu (Flex instrumentation) (2006/2020)
The Road Not Taken (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2020)
Scintilla (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)

All Wind Works

Blue-Bop (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
A Blue Streak
Cantique (2012)
Congo Square (2016)
Country Bandstand (2002)
Fantasia on Brother James' Air (2023)
Fantasia on "Silent Night" (2011)
Fields (1994)
Galop (as transcriber) (c. 1909/2013)
Gearbox (2009)
Hard Times Come Again No More (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1854/2020)
The Harmonious Blacksmith (as arranger) (1720/2020)
Hocus Pocus (2013)
The Hound of Heaven (1988)
Hymn for Emmanuel (2015)
Love Among the Ruins (2016)
Mam-Blu (Flex instrumentation) (2006/2020)
Minton's Playhouse (1994)
O Magnum Mysterium (1996)
The Road Not Taken (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2020)
Scintilla (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)
Seasons (2022)
Silent Shadows to the Last (2017)
Sinfonietta (2012)
Storyville (1996)
Suite Louisiane (2018)
Symphony No. 1, “Blue” (1999)
Symphony No. 2 (2019)
Tattoo (2005)
The Temptation of St. Anthony (2014)
Suite Argentine (2020)
Wu Xing (2016)

Resources

Creative Repertoire Initiative
James Syler website Accessed 4 July 2020
Perusal score