Flourish for Wind Band

From Wind Repertory Project
Ralph Vaughan Williams

Ralph Vaughan Williams


General Info

Year: 1939
Duration: c. 1:55
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Military Band
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Cost: Score and Parts - $21.50   |   Score Only - $20.95


Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
E-flat Clarinet
B-flat Clarinet Solo
B-flat Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contralto Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-II
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Trombone III (bass)
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion, 1-2 players, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Crash Cymbal
  • Snare Drum


Errata

  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet I, 3 after reh. D, beat 1: Should be a half note G (not a quartet note), just like the measure at reh. D


Program Notes

This short work (only about 90 seconds long) was scored for military band with numerous clarinets, cornets, saxophones, euphoniums and timpani. Having been written as an overture to a pageant in the Royal Albert Hall, the score was then lost -- only to reappear in 1971. Upon its discovery the work was adapted twice by Roy Douglas -- first for brass band and then for symphony orchestra. The orchestral version is scored for wind instruments, together with double basses, timpani and percussion. This version had its first performance by the Tunbridge Wells Symphony Orchestra in 1974. The original and the adaptations have all been published by Oxford University Press, although no recordings are known.

- Program Note by Steve Schwartz


Ralph Vaughan Williams, a highly respected English composer, wrote some of the earliest works for twentieth-century concert band, with many of his pieces considered pillars of band literature. Flourish for Wind Band was written as an overture to the pageant Music and the People performed in the Royal Albert Hall in 1939. The score was then lost, only to reappear in 1971. It was not made available to American bands until it was published in 1972. Flourish for Wind Band followed on the heels of Vaughan Williams’ great masterworks for band, English Folk Song Suite and Toccata Marziale, and is significant, in part, because it is a relatively easy work (grade 3), by a composer of high stature and skill.

- Program Note by the Creekside Middle School Wind Symphony concert program, 20 December 2013


Media


State Ratings

  • Alabama: Class CC
  • Arkansas: III
  • Georgia: III
  • Iowa: III
  • Indiana: ISSMA SENIOR BAND GROUP III
  • Louisiana: II, IV, V
  • Maryland: III
  • Massachusetts: IV
  • Michigan: Senior High C
  • New York: Concert Band IV
  • North Carolina: IV
  • South Carolina: IV
  • Texas: IV and V. Complete
  • MusicFest Canada: B300


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Texas Tech University (Lubbock, TX) Concert Band (Joel Pagan, conductor) - 3 February 2024
  • Golden Gate Park Band (San Francisco, Calif.) (Craig McKenzie, conductor) - 4 September 2023
  • Toronto (Ont., Can.) Youth Symphonic Winds (Dan Horner, conductor) - 30 April 2023
  • James G. Gunn Honor Band (Thomasville, Ala.) Tombigbee Band (Tyler Strickland, conductor) - 4 March 2023
  • West Valley Wind Ensemble (Sun City West, Ariz.) (Clark Chaffee, conductor) - 5 February 2023
  • Association of Texas Small School Bands (ATSSB) All-State Concert Band (BJ Brooks, conductor) – 11 February 2023 (2023 TMEA Conference, San Antonio)
  • Eastman School of Music (Rochester, N.Y.) Wind Orchestra (Mark Scatterday, conductor) - 25 January 2023
  • Northwest Wind Symphony (Centralia, Wash.) (Dan Schmidt, conductor) - 21 January 2023
  • Oberlin (Ohio) High School Concert Band (Ryan Jaeckin, conductor) - 8 December 2022
  • Town and Gown Community Band (Canyon,Tx.) (Gary Garner, conductor) - 5 December 2022
  • University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) North Star Campus Band (Lauren Visel, conductor) - 30 November 2022
  • West Valley High School (Yakima, Wash.) Symphonic Band (Kirk Knight, conductor) - 3 November 2022
  • River Valley Wind Ensemble (Kankakee County, Ill.) (David Conrad, conductor) – 30 October 2022
  • The University of Texas at El Paso Wind Symphony (Jonathan Sweet, conductor) - 29 September 2022
  • Banda dell'Esercito Italiano (IRome) (Filippo Cangiamila, conductor) – 22 September 2022
  • Southwest Civic Winds (Durango, Colo.) (Rhonda L. Muckerman, conductor) – 4 May 2022 (ACB 2022 Annual Convention (Santa Fe, New Mexico))
  • Bishop Carroll High School (Calgary, Alb., Can.) Wind Ensemble (Chris Herard, conductor) - 16 May 2022
  • Tyler (Tx.) Junior College Symphonic Band (Eddie W. Airheart, conductor) - 12 April 2022
  • Keokuk (Iowa) High School Symphonic Band (Jesse Deese, conductor) - 15 March 2022
  • High School Concert Band [Interlochen, Mich.] (Frederick Fennell, conductor) - 1 August 1986


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

  • Miles, Richard B., and Larry Blocher. (2010). Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 1. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 319-325.