Flourish for Wind Band

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
Eb Clarinet
Bb Clarinet Solo
Bb Clarinet I-II-III
Eb Alto Clarinet
Bb Bass Clarinet
Eb Contralto Clarinet
Bb Contrabass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone I-II
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone
Cornet (in Bb) I-II-II
Trumpet (in Bb) 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
• Cymbal (crash)
• Snare Drum

Errata

None discovered thus far.

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

Commercial Discography

• Audio: Royal Northern College of Music (Timothy Reynich, conductor) - 1999

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
• Mississippi: 5-A
• New York: Concert Band IV
• North Carolina: IV
• South Carolina: IV
• Texas: IV and V. Complete

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

• Central DeWitt (Iowa) High School Concert Band (Josh Greubel, conductor) – 9 March 2020
• Ball State University (Muncie, Ind.) Concert Band (Adam Friedrich, conductor) – 26 February 2020
• Western Illinois University (Macomb) Showcase Honor Band (Robert Meunier, conductor) – 22 February 2020
• Kings County Concert Band (Brooklyn, N.Y.) (Jasmine Britt, conductor) – 14 December 2019
• Skidmore Community Concert Band (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) (Milton Lee, conductor) – 5 December 2019
• Marietta (Ohio) College Wind Ensemble (Christopher Schletter, conductor) – 20 November 2919
• Kennesaw (Ga.) State University Wind Symphony (Debra Traficante, conductor) – 18 November 2019
• Kansas State University (Manhattan) Concert Band (Allegra Fisher, conductor) – 24 October 2019
• Parkland College (Champaign, Ill.) Concert Band (Larry Stoner, conductor) - 20 October 2019
• Lakeshore Wind Ensemble (Manitowoc, Wisc.) (Marc Sackman, conductor) – 19 October 2019
• Oneonta (N.Y.) Community Concert Band (Andrew Pease, conductor) – 9 September 2019
• Carthage College (Kenosha, Wisc.) Concert Band (James Ripley, conductor) – 17 May 2019
• Smoky Hill High School (Aurora, Colo.) Symphonic Winds (Zak Ruffert, conductor) – 26 April 2019
• Syracuse University (Syracuse, N.Y.) Concert Band (Ken Pfromm, conductor) – 25 April 2019
• Thiel College (Greenville, Penn.) Concert Band (Brian T. Harris, conductor) - 7 April 2019
• University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) Red Concert Band (Benjamin Lorenzo, conductor) – 3 March 2019
• Texas Tech University (Lubbock) University Band (Kerri MacPhee, conductor) – 3 March 2019
• Tualatin (Ore.) Valley Community Band (Kevin Soon, conductor) – 2 December 2018
• University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) Symphonic Band (Jerry Luckhardt, conductor) – 29 November 2018
• University of Arizona (Tucson)Wind Symphony (Chad Shoopman, conductor) – 27 November 2018
• The Ohio State University (Columbus) Collegiate Winds (David Hedgecoth, conductor) – 13 November 2018
• University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) White Concert Band (Jamal Duncan, conductor) – 22 April 2018
• High School Concert Band [Interlochen, Mich.] (Frederick Fennell, conductor) - 1 August 1986

Works for Winds by this Composer

• Concerto for Bass Tuba (arr. Wick and Chambers) (1954/1992)
• Concerto Grosso (arr. Grechesky) (1924)
• Concerto in F minor for Tuba and Winds (arr. Hare) (1954/1992)
• England's Pleasant Land (arr. Noble) (1938/2017)
• English Folk Song Suite (1924)
• Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (arr. Bocook) (1910/2006)
• Fantasia on Greensleeves (arr. Wagner) (1934/2011)
• Five Variants of "Dives and Lazarus" (arr. Gregson) (1939/2004)
• Flourish for Glorious John (or. Boyd) (1957/1998)
• Flourish for Wind Band (1939)
• Golden Vanity, The (arr. Wagner) (1933/2009)
• I Vow to Thee, My Country (as setter; ed. Grechesky) (1921/1988)
• Lark Ascending, The (tr. Silvester) (1914/1925/2003)
• Linden Lea (arr. Wagner) (1902/2013)
• Linden Lea (arr. Stout) (1902/1984)
• March Past of the Kitchen Utensils (arr. Erwin) (1909/2010)
• Norfolk Rhapsody (tr. Robert O'Brien) (1905)
• Overture to "The Wasps" (tr. Frank Hudson) (1909)
• Prelude: 49th Parallel (arr. Noble) (2014)
• Prelude from "49th Parallel" (tr. Osmon) (1941/1960/1987/2002)
• Prelude on Three Welsh Hymn Tunes (arr. Curnow) (1954/1982)
• Prelude: The New Commonwealth (arr. Grauer) (1940/2006)
• A Ralph Vaughan Williams Portrait (arr. Wagner) (2018)
• Rhosymedre (tr. by Beeler) (1972)
• Running Set, The (tr. Silvester) (1933)
• Scherzo alla Marcia (1953-5)
• Sea Songs (1925)
• Sea Songs (arr. Longfield) (1925/2006)
• Sine Nomine (arr. Reed) (1976)
• Sine Nomine (arr. Houseknecht) (1906/1960)
• Songs of Travel (arr. Patterson) (1901-4)
• Toccata Marziale (1924)
• Toccata Marziale (ed Battisti) (ed. Battisti) (1924/2005)
• Variations for Wind Band (trans. Hunsberger) (1957/1988/1997)
• Vaughan Williams Christmas, A (arr. Wagner) (1999)
• Wassail (arr. Smith)

Resources

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