Folk Dances

This work has been identified for inclusion in the Small Band Repertoire Initiative. You may find discussion of the work's challenges and merits under the Discussion tab above. You may also contribute your own thoughts and recommendations by joining the WRP.

Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich (arr. Vakhutinskii, trans. H Robert Reynolds)

General Info

Year: 1942 / 1979
Duration: c. 4:15
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Carl Fischer Music
Cost: Score and Parts - $95.00 | Score Only - $20.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
Piccolo (ad lib.)
Flute
Oboe I-II
Bassoon
Eb Soprano Clarinet
Bb Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
Eb Alto Clarinet
Bb Bass Clarinet
Eb Alto Saxophone I-II
Bb Tenor Saxophone
Eb Baritone Saxophone
Bb Cornet I-II
Bb Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium (Baritone B.C./Bb Baritone T.C.)
Tuba
Percussion I-II, including:

• Bass Drum
• Cymbals (crash & suspended)
• Snare Drum
• Triangle
• Tambourine

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Composed in Shostakovich's light-hearted style, this single-movement work is filled with the joy and exuberance of the Russian people. The many folk melodies are combined in a string so that musical energy abounds and the spirit of folk dances can easily be imagined.

- Program Note by publisher

This popular wind band work by the Soviet-era composer Dmitri Shostakovich was originally composed in 1943 as the third movement, Dance of Youth, of My Beloved Country, Op. 63. It was first arranged for Russian bands by Mark Vakhutinskii in 1970 and edited for American bands by H. Robert Reynolds nine years later.

- Program Note from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Wind Orchestra concert program, 23 November 2013

Shostakovich wrote the suite Op. 63, Native Leningrad, in 1942 as a tribute to the courage of the citizens of Leningrad. This suite was culled from the incidental music for a "concert play spectacle" entitled Native Country or Motherland. It was scored for tenor and bass soloists, choir and orchestra, and was premiered on November 7, 1942, at the Dzerzhinsky Central Club.

The suite has four movements: Overture – October 1917, Song of the Victorious October (Song of the River Neva), Youth Dance (Song of the Sailors), and Song of Leningrad. The Youth Dance is the movement transcribed as Folk Dances. It first received this name when transcribed for piano by Lev Solin. The name stuck when retranscribed for military band by M. Vakhutinsky. H. Robert Reynolds rescored Vakhutinsky's transcription, making it suitable for American wind bands.

While the melodies used in Youth Dance are reminiscent of folk tunes, Shostakovich's work is original. Considering the programmatic nature of the work, it is justifiable to assume Shostakovich wished to evoke an overt Russian sentiment in the same way that Gustav Holst's First Suite in E-flat and Gordon Jacob's An Original Suite sound and feel distinctly British.

- Program Note from State University of New York, Potsdam, Symphonic Band concert program, 13 April 2017

Commercial Discography

None discovered thus far.

State Ratings

• Alabama: Class A
  
• Arkansas: IV
  
• Georgia: V
  
• Iowa: V
  
• Massachusetts: IV
  
• Michigan: Class AA
  
• Oklahoma: Class AA
  
• South Carolina: V
  
• Texas: IV
  

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

• University of Oregon (Eugene) Wind Ensemble (Ryan McCue, conductor) – 11 March 2020
• University of Maryland (College Park) Wind Symphony (H. Robert Reynolds, conductor) – 29 February 2020
• Kent State University (Ohio) Symphony Band (Kate Ferguson, conductor) – 28 February 2020
• Austin (Tx.) Symphonic Band (Richard Floyd, conductor) – 1 February 2020
• Penn State University (University Park) Campus Band (Margaret Pedlow Smith, conductor) – 9 December 2019
• Michigan State University (East Lansing) Campus Band (Arris Golden, conductor) – 19 November 2019
• Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge) Symphonic Winds (Weston Lewis, conductor) – 15 October 2019
• U.S. Fleet Forces Band (Gregory Fritz, conductor)– 13 June 2019 (Hampton, Va.)
• Virginia Tech (Blacksburg) Wind Ensemble (Jonathan Caldwell, conductor) – 5 May 2019
• Messiah College (Mechanicsburg, Penn.) Wind Ensemble (James Colonna, conductor) – 28 April 2019
• University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (Chickasha) Concert Band (Kaleb Benda, conductor) - 15 April 2019
• James Madison University (Harrisonburg, Va.) Symphonic Band (Stephen Bolstad, conductor) – 13 March 2019
• Pacific Lutheran University (Parkland, Wash.) Wind Ensemble (Edwin Powell, conductor) – 10 March 2019
• University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) Maroon Campus Band (Cassandra Bechard, conductor) – 7 March 2019
• West Virginia University (Morgantown) Symphonic Band (Stephen Lytle, conductor) – 5 March 2019
• Ithaca (N.Y.) College Wind Symphony (Joseph Missal, conductor) – 4 March 2019
• Baylor University (Waco, Texas) Symphonic Band (Isaiah Odajima, conductor) – 4 March 2019
• University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) Wind Symphony (W. Dale Warren, conductor) – 3 March 2019
• Northern Symphonic Winds (Potsdam, N.Y.) (James T. Madeja, conductor) – 26 January 2019
• University of Illinois (Champaign) Hindsley Symphonic Band (Barry L. Houser, conductor) – 11 December 2018

Works for Winds by this Composer

• Allegro from "Symphony No. 10" (tr. Fisher) (1954/2010)
• Batterie from "The Nose" (arr. Schaefer) (1928/1978)
• Dance I. See under: Jazz Suite No. 2
• Excerpts from "Symphony No. 5" Finale (arr. Longfield) (1937/2007)
• Festive Overture (tr. Hunsberger) (1954/1965)
• Festive Overture (tr. Martin) (1954/2016?)
• Festive Overture (tr. Patterson) (1954)
• Festive Overture (tr. Takahashi) (1954/1998)
• The Fire of Eternal Glory (tr. Timothy Rhea) (1960/2011)
• Fire of Eternal Glory (arr. Curnow) (1960/2011)
• Folk Dances (tr. Reynolds) (1949/1979)
• Folk Dances (arr. Erickson) (1949/1979)
• Folk Festival (tr. Hunsberger) (1971)
• Fortinbras March from "Hamlet" (tr. Suchoff) (1932/1967)
• The Gadfly (tr. Patterson) (1955/)
• Galop (tr. Hunsberger) (1959/1971)
• Galop (from "The Limpid Stream") (tr. Miller) (1935)
• Hamlet Suite (tr. Suchoff) (1964/1975)
• Jazz Suite No. 2 (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
  • March (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
  • Lyric Waltz (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
  • Dance I (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
  • Dance II (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
  • Waltz No. 2 (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
  • Finale (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
• March (arr. Curnow) (2014)
• March (arr. de Meij). See: Jazz Suite No. 2
• March of the Soviet Militia (ed. Iakubov) (1970/2006)
• October, Op 131 (arr. Mitchell) (1967)
• Overture on Russian and Kirg (arr. Janssen)
• Overture on Russian and Kirghiz Folk Songs (tr. Duker) (1963/1989)
• Overture to The Gadfly (arr. Geert Flik) (1984)
• Piano Concerto No 2 (tr. Pontini) (1957/2012)
• Piano Concerto No 2 in F Major (arr. Bamonte)
• Piano Trio No. 2 (arr. Graham)
• Priest and His Servant Balda, The (1934)
• Prelude, Op. 34, No. 14 (arr. Reynolds) (1988)
• Spanish Dance from "The Gadfly" (arr. Curnow)
• Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich) (tr. Scarbrough) (1924-25)
• Symphony No. 5, Mvmt I (tr. Schaeffer)
• Symphony No. 5, Mvmt II (tr. Smith) (1937/1944)
• Symphony No. 5: Finale (tr. Righter) (1937/1947)
• Symphony No. 5, Mvmt IV (tr. Rogers) (1937/2003)
• Symphony No. 5, Mvmt IV (tr. Bocook) (1937/2005)
• Symphony No. 9 (arr. Mertens and Suykerbuyk) (1945/1986)
• Symphony No. 9 (tr. Schaefer) (1945/1976)
• Symphony No. 10, Mvt. II (tr. Fisher) (tr. Fisher) (1954/2010)
• Symphony No. 10, Mvmt II (tr. O'Brien) (1954)
• Tahiti Trot (tr. Brubaker) (1927/2009)
• Two Scarlatti Pieces (1928)
• Waltz No. 2 (arr. Connery) (post 1956/1996)
• Waltz No. 2 (arr. Curnow) (post 1956/2010)
• Waltz No. 2 (arr. de Meij). See under: Jazz Suite No. 2

Resources

• Miles, Richard B., and Larry Blocher. 2002. Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. Volume 4. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 482-486.
• Shostakovich, D.; Reynolds, H. (1979). Folk Dances for Concert Band [score]. Carl Fischer: New York.