Folk Festival

Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich (trans. Donald Hunsberger)

General Info

Year: 1955 / 1971
Duration: c. 2:40
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Boston
Cost: Score and Parts – Out of print.

For availability information, see Discussion tab, above.

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
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 Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III-IV
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Harp
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bells
Snare Drum
Tambourine

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Earning money as a piano player for silent films, Shostakovich had a love for movies and frequently composed soundtracks in addition to his major symphonies, concertos, and chamber works. The music for The Gadfly was completed and released in 1955, a year after Festive Overture. Often described as “Festive Light,” this movement from the orchestral suite features Shostakovich’s notorious hybrid of lyrical, flowing melodies overlapped with technical flourishes in the winds. This transcription for wind ensemble by another legend in our field, Donald Hunsberger, was recently re-published and now available through Ludwig Masters.

- Program Note by the Clear Creek High School Wind Ensemble concert program, 20 December 2013

The Gadfly (1955) was a highly successful film inside the Soviet Union, a sugary and entertaining drama based on a popular historical novel by the English writer Ethel Voynich. Published in 1897, it is set in 1840s Italy under the dominance of Austria, a time of tumult, revolt and uprisings. The story centers on the life of Arthur Burton. A tragic relationship between Arthur and his love, Gemma, simultaneously runs through the story. It is a story of faith, disillusionment, revolution, romance, and heroism. Folk Festival, from the orchestral suite, features Shostakovich’s notorious combination of lyrical, flowing melodies with technical flourishes in the winds.

- Program Note by the San Jose Wind Symphony concert program, 9 March 2014

In 1956, Levon Atovmyan arranged portions of Shostakovich’s Gadfly music into an orchestral suite. Folk Festival, from the orchestral suite, features Shostakovich’s notorious combination of lyrical, flowing melodies with technical flourishes in the winds. Listeners familiar with Stravinsky’s Petrushka know the madcap, frenetic activity of a Russian fair. Here, Shostakovich presents a Neapolitan carnival scene with a Russian/Soviet accent.

- Program Note from University of North Texas Concert Band concert program, 5 October 2016

Media

Audio CD: Texas All-State 4A Symphonic Band (James A. Keene, conductor) - 2009

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

University of Cincinnati (Ohio) College-Conservatory of Music Wind Ensemble (Kevin Michael Holzman, conductor) - 17 October 2023
Eastman School of Music (Rochester, N.Y.) Wind Orchestra (Mark Scatterday, conductor) - 25 January 2023
Central Iowa Wind Ensemble (Des Moines) (Christian Carichner, conductor) - 1 May 2022
Heart of Texas (San Antonio) Concert Band (R. Mark Rogers, conductor) - 21 November 2021
Virginia Tech (Blacksburg) Symphony Band (Dave McKee & Chad Reep, conductor) – 1 March 2020
Penn State University (University Park) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Dennis Glocke, conductor) – 5 March 2020
Florida All-State Symphonic Band (Tampa) (David Waybright, conductor) – 11 January 2020
University of Cincinnati (Ohio) College-Conservatory of Music Brass Choir (Kevin Michael Holzman, conductor) – 7 October 2019
University of Florida (Gainesville) Wind Symphony (David Waybright, conductor) – 26 September 2019
Illinois Valley Community College (Oglesby, Ill.) Wind Ensemble (Gene Montgomery, conductor) – 5 May 2019
Stephen F. Austin State University (Nacogdoches, Tx.) Wind Ensemble (Fred J. Alen, conductor) - 29 April 2018
Texas Tech University (Lubbock) Concert Band (Sarah McKoin, conductor) – 28 November 2017
University of Oregon (Eugene) Wind Ensemble (Rodney Dorsey, conductor) – 5 February 2017
University of North Texas (Denton) Concert Band (Jack A. Eaddy Jr., conductor) - 5 October 2016
University of Florida (Gainesville) Wind Symphony (David Waybright, conductor) – 31 March 2016
Encore Concert Band (Mokena, Ill.) (Bill Schuetter, conductor) - 1 March 2015
Nazareth College Wind Symphony (Jared Chase, conductor) - 15 February 2015, 7 March 2015 (New York State Band Directors Association Conference)
Eastman Wind Orchestra (Mark Davis Scatterday, conductor) - 24 November 2014
San Jose (Calif.) Wind Symphony (Edward C Harris, conductor) - 9 March 2014
Clear Creek High School (League City, Tx.) Wind Ensemble (Stephen Meyer, conductor) – 20 December 2013 (2013 Midwest Clinic)
TMEA 5A Region 26 Symphonic Band (Kevin Sedatole, conductor) - 16 January 2010

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Waltz No. 2 (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brown) (post 1956/2021)

All Wind Works

Allegro from "Symphony No. 10" (tr. Fisher) (1954/2010)
Ballet Suite #4 (arr. Pappajohn) (1953)
Batterie from "The Nose" (arr. Schaefer) (1928/1978)
Concertino (orch. Singleton) (1953/)
Dance I. See: Jazz Suite No. 2
Ein Volksfest (arr. Rembach) (1955/1995)
Ein Volksfest. See: Folk Festival
Excerpts from "Symphony No. 5" Finale (arr. Longfield) (1937/2007)
Festive Overture (arr. Frost) (1954/2016)
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) (1942/1979)
Folk Dances (arr. Erickson) (1942/1979)
Folk Dances (arr. Curnow) (1942/2000)
Folk Festival (tr. Hunsberger) (1955/1971)
Folk Festival. See also: Ein Volksfest
Fortinbras March from "Hamlet" (tr. Suchoff) (1932/1967)
The Gadfly (1955/)
The Gadfly (tr. Patterson) (1955/)
Galop (tr. Hunsberger) (1959/1971)
Galop (from "The Limpid Stream") (tr. Miller) (1935)
Hamlet Suite (tr. Suchoff) (1964/1975)
Intermezzo (arr. Cahn) (1928/1986/1994)
Jazz Suite No. 1 (1934)
Jazz Suite No. 2 (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
- March (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1994)
- Lyric Waltz (arr. de Meij) (post-1956/1995)
- 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) (1955/2006)
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)
Prelude 21 and Fugue 1 (arr. McCullough) (1952/)
Prelude (Variations) from "Ballet Suite No. 4" (arr. Blankenship) (1953/)
Romance (arr. Peel) (1955/1985)
Spanish Dance from "The Gadfly" (arr. Curnow)
Suite for Jazz Orchestra no. 1. See: Jazz Suite No. 1
Symphony No. 1 (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)
Symphony No. 11: Second Movement Excerpts (arr. Daehn) (1957/1989)
Tahiti Trot (tr. Brubaker) (1927/2009)
Three Symphonic Preludes (arr. Reed)
Two Scarlatti Pieces (1928)
Waltz No. 2 (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brown) (post 1956/2021)
Waltz No. 2 (arr. Connery) (post 1956/1996)
Waltz No. 2 (arr. Curnow) (post 1956/2010)
Waltz No. 2 (arr. De Meij). See: Jazz Suite No. 2

Resources

Shostakovich, D.; Hunsberger, D. (1971). Folk Festival: From the Motion Picture The Gadfly [score]. Boston Music Co.: Boston.