Cakewalk

Hershy Kay

General Info

Year: 1951 / 2013
Duration: c. 4:00
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Hal Leonard
Cost: Score and Parts - $75.00 | Score Only - $7.50

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra Alto Clarinet
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
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III

Bass Drum
Snare Drum
Crash Cymbals
Maracas
Tambourine
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Known for his extensive orchestration work with Leonard Bernstein and numerous Broadway hits, Hershy Kay was a notable composer in his own right. This movement is taken from his popular Cakewalk ballet suite for orchestra, which was based on piano melodies of Louis Moreau Gottschalk. The style of this music adapts beautifully for band in this effective setting by Robert Longfield.

- Program Note from publisher

Hershy Kay adapted and arranged the piano music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk to create the 1951 ballet titled Cakewalk. It was commissioned and premiered by the New York City Ballet Company with Leon Barzin conducting. In the ballet suite, the composition now arranged for concert band by Robert Longfield was titled the Grand Walkaround, its source material derived from Gottschalk's Bamboula (1848).

From his early days in New Orleans, Gottschalk was exposed to the rhythms of Cuban and Caribbean music. In fact, before the cakewalk became stylized through its incorporation in minstrel shows and popular dance, its history reaches back to the pastimes of slaves on the Southern plantations. The novelty of Gottschalk's piece was his use of the cakewalk rhythm (essentially a habanera figure) and cross-rhythms with syncopations in way that foreshadowed ragtime.

- Program Note by the Louisville Concert Band

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Cupertino (Calif.) Symphonic Band (Jason McChristian, conductor) – 11 June 2017
Tucson (Ariz.) Concert Band (Lorelei Allison Conrad, conductor) – 9 October 2016
Louisville (Ky.) Concert Band (Brad Rogers, conductor) - 19 December 2013 (2013 Midwest Clinic)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Cakewalk Suite (arr. Chaloner)
Cakewalk (arr. Longfield) (1951/2013)
Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly (arr. Grundman) (1967/1969)
Joy to the World (arr. Grundman) (1970)
Pat-a-Pan (1970)
Three Christmas Songs (arr. Grundman) (1970)
Variations on Joy to the World
Water Music Suite (as arranger)

Resources

Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Hershy Kay." Accessed 16 October 2016