Clef Club, The
James Reese Europe (arr. James Lamb)
Subtitle: Grand March and Two Step
General Info
Year: 1912 / 2016
Duration: c. 3:00
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Piano
Publisher: James Lamb
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $60.00; (digital) - $60.00 | Score Only (print) - $25.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
E-flat Alto Clarinet
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
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Percussion, including:
- Bass Drum
- Snare Drum
- Crash Cymbals
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
The Clef Club March is a historic American composition written in a grand march style played with a biting attack and an infectious rhythm.
Organized in 1910 by James Reese Europe, the Clef Club was the first trade union for New York's black performers. This was a 125-piece orchestra made up of traditional instruments plus large numbers of mandolins, guitars, banjos and upright pianos. In 1912 the Clef Club March opened the first of three historic Carnegie Hall engagements that presented Concert(s) of Negro Music. These were the very first performances of a black ensemble at Carnegie. New York, wrote one critic after their first performance, woke up to the fact that it had something new in music. The music performed by Jim Europe and the Clef Club was a proto-jazz mixture of ragtime, blues, and minstrel songs that paved the way for the coming Jazz era.
- Program Note from publisher
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- University of Georgia (Athens) Hodgson Wind Symphony (Jeremy Smith, conductor) - 19 April 2023
- University of Georgia (Athens) Hodgson Wind Symphony (Cynthia Johnston Turner, conductor) - 21 April 2021
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Castle House Rag (arr. T. Clark) (1914)
- Castle House Rag (orch. Smith) (1914/)
- The Castle Walk (with Ford T. Dabney) (1914)
- Castles in Europe (arr. T. Clark) (1914)
- Castles in Europe (arr. Wilson) (1914/2020)
- The Clef Club (arr. Lamb) (1910/2016)
- Congratulations Waltz (arr. J. von der Mehden) (1914)
- The Final Countdown (arr. John Glenesk Mortimer)
- James Reese Europe and His Society Orchestra (arr. Lamb) (1914/2016)
- James Reese Europe's 369th Hellfighter Band (arr. Lamb) (1917/2017)
Resources
- Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "James Reese Europe." Accessed 20 April 2021