Danza Final from "Estancia"

From Wind Repertory Project
Alberto Ginastera

Alberto Ginastera (trans. David John)


General Info

Year: 1941 / 1965
Duration: c. 4:45
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Score and Parts - $95.00   |   Score Only - $15.50


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo I-II
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-III
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Harp
Timpani
Percussion (6 players), including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Castanets
  • Gong
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Tambourine
  • Tenor Drum
  • Triangle
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

An estancia is a large Argentinian cattle ranch. In his ballet, Alberto Ginastera depicts the hustle and bustle of a busy day on an estancia. The story is centered around a love triangle between a city boy who falls in love with a beautiful ranch girl. Unfortunately, she dismisses him as unworthy in comparison to the other more masculine gauchos (horsemen) who work on her father’s estancia. However, the city boy follows her to the ranch, determined to prove himself.

A malambo is a quick and vigorous Argentinean folk dance in which male dancers compete to demonstrate their agility and machismo. The dance itself is a series of “anything you can do, I can do better” moments after which the “winner” is the last man standing. In the final movement of Estancia, Ginastera utilizes the malabo to present the city boy competing with the gauchos for the heart of his beloved ranch girl.

- Program Note by the Westlake High School Wind Ensemble concert program, 21 December 2013


The first half alternates between deranged tick-tock material used as introduction and transitions and a nervous dance melody. The second half is a driving, percussion-jangled toccata, sometimes shrill but always compelling through its propulsive perpetual motion.

- Program Note from publisher


Estancia, (Argentine Spanish: “Ranch”) is an orchestral suite and one-act ballet by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera that, through its references to gaucho literature, rural folk dances, and urban concert music, evokes images of the diverse landscape of the composer’s homeland. The work premiered in 1943 in its four-movement orchestral form and in 1952 as a ballet.

The Estancia ballet, somewhat more than half an hour in length, tells the story of a city boy in love with a rancher’s daughter. At first, the love affair is one-sided, as the girl finds the boy spineless, at least in comparison with the intrepid gauchos. By the final scene, however, the hero has won the girl’s heart by outdancing the gauchos in a traditional contest on their own terrain.

The ballet was commissioned in 1941 by American dance impresario Lincoln Kirstein for the troupe American Ballet Caravan. The work was to have been choreographed by George Balanchine, but the dance company disbanded in 1942, before it was able to perform the piece. Estancia did not premiere as a ballet until after World War II. In the interim, Ginastera extracted four dances from the score — Los trabajadores agricolas (“The Farm Workers”), Danza del trigo (“Wheat Dance”), Los peones de hacienda (“The Cattlemen”), and Danza Final ("Malambo") — for use as a concert suite. Estancia is most often heard in its orchestral version, and the concluding movement, inspired by the flamboyant malambo dance of the Argentine gauchos, has become one of Ginastera’s most popular works.

- Program Note from Encyclopaedia Britannica


Danza Final (1953) is a dance movement from Ginastera’s ballet Estancia. The work was commissioned in 1941, but because the commissioning troupe was disbanded it was not performed until 1952. In the meantime, Ginastera extracted a four-movement suite for orchestra. The work became extremely popular and was transcribed for the United States Navy Band.

- Program Note from University of North Texas Wind Ensemble concert program, 16 February 2017


Media


State Ratings

  • Georgia: VI
  • Iowa: V
  • Kansas: VI
  • Louisiana: V
  • Michigan: Senior High AA
  • Minnesota: I
  • New York: Concert Band VI
  • North Carolina: VI
  • South Carolina: VI
  • Tennessee: V
  • Virginia: VI


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro) Wind Ensemble (Denny Hawkins, conductor) - 24 October 2023
  • University of Massachusetts (Amherst) Wind Ensemble (Matthew Westgate, conductor) - 20 October 2023
  • University of Ottawa (Ont., Can.) Wind Ensemble (Douglas Sturdevant, conductor) - 16 February 2023
  • La Sierra University (Riverside, Calif.) Wind Ensemble (Giovanni Santos, conductor) – 15 May 2022
  • Southern Illinois University (Edwardsville) Wind Symphony (Ruben Dario Gomez, conductor) - 27 April 2022
  • University of Florida (Gainesville) Wind Symphony (David A. Waybright, conductor) - 11 April 2021
  • University of Central Arkansas (Conway) Wind Ensemble (Ricky Brooks, conductor) - 16 March 2021
  • Virginia Tech (Blacksburg) Wind Ensemble (Derek Shapiro, conductor) – 1 March 2020
  • University of Kentucky (Lexington) Wind Symphony (Brent M. Johnson, conductor) – 1 February 2020
  • Eastman School of Music (Rochester, N.Y.) Wind Ensemble (Mark Scatterday, conductor) – 27 January 2020
  • Ripon (Wisc.) College Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Tobin Shucha, conductor) – 17 November 2019
  • Lawrence University (Appleton, Wisc.) Symphonic Band (Matthew Arau, conductor) – 19 October 2019
  • U.S. Fleet Forces Band (Gregory Fritz, conductor)– 13 June 2019 (Hampton, Va.)
  • Western Illinois University (Macomb) Wind Ensemble (Mario Andrey Cruz Vargas, conductor, conductor) – 8 December 2018
  • University of Cincinnati (Ohio) College-Conservatory of Music Wind Ensemble (Thomas Gamboa, conductor) – 28 November 2018
  • Central Michigan University (Mount Pleasant) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (John Campbell, conductor) – 29 November 2018
  • Youngstown (Ohio) State University Wind Ensemble (Stephen L. Gage, conductor) – 19 October 2017
  • University of Florida (Gainesville) Symphonic Band (John M. Watkins, Jr., conductor) – 13 April 2017
  • Ithaca (N.Y.) College Wind Ensemble (Justin Cusick, conductor) – 31 March 2017
  • University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) Wind Ensemble (Travis J. Cross, conductor) – 9 November 2016
  • San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Wind Orchestra (Jennifer Martin, conductor) – 15 May 2016


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • Estancia, Encyclopaedia Britannica Accessed 2 March 2016
  • Ginastera, A.; John, D. (cop 1965). Danza Final: From Estancia [score]. Boosey & Hawkes: [New York].
  • Girsberger, Russ. Percussion Assignments for Band & Wind Ensemble. Volume I: A-K. Galesburg, Md.: Meredith Music Publications, 2004, 108. Print.
  • Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 232.
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