Folk Suite for Band

William Grant Still

General Info

Year: 1966
Duration: c. 9:45
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Bourne Music
Cost: Score and Parts - $57.50 | Score Only (print) - $10.25

Movements

1. Get on Board, Little Children - 1:20
2. Deep River - 3:30
3. Medley (The Old Ark's a-Moverin' and Sinner, Please Don't Let This Harvest Pass) - 4:30

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
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II, including:

Crash Cymbals
Sandpaper Blocks
Snare Drum
Triangle
Vibraphone
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The major part of William Grant Still's creative work has been in the field of original compositions, yet in his Folk Suite for Band, he has made one of his rare excursions into the realm of traditional American melodies, this time in building several of the most widely loved and often sung negro spirituals into a larger work. Wherever American music is known, Get On Board, Little Children, Deep River, The Old Ark's a Moverin', and Sinner, Please don't Let This Harvest Pass are favorites.

The Suite was first performed in Los Angeles on August 18, 1963, by one of the Bureau of Music's symphonic bands, Dale Eymann conducting.

- Program Note from score

William Grant Still (1895-1978) is known for his settings of traditional spirituals. Folk Suite for Band (1963), is one of the latter . Each movement features creative, solo-filled arrangements of traditional spirituals in which the music almost paints an aural image of each spiritual’s context. The first tune, Get on Board, Little Children, is accompanied by incessant rhythmic passages imitating the rattling of a train in motion. The second movement, Deep River, includes a vocal-like, sustained accompaniment with written stylistic breaths imitating a vocalist. The final movement features two spirituals: The Old Ark’s a Moverin’ and Sinner, Please Don’t Let This Harvest Pass. Multiple soloists interrupt sections of ensemble playing in an almost preacher-like fashion. The contrasting moods of the spirituals, joyful and pensive, are reflected in the accompaniment and the work comes to a celebratory, almost dance-like finish.

- Program Note adapted from Florida State University Wind Ensemble concert program, 22 February 2022

Media

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)

State Ratings

California: IV Class B
Virginia: IV

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) Gold Campus Band (Seth Davis, conductor) - 19 October 2023
Missouri University of Science & Technology (Rolla) University Wind Symphony (David Samson, conductor) - 1 October 2023
Appalachian State University (Boone, N.C.) Symphony Band (Jason Gardner, conductor) - 22 September 2023
Cornell College (Mt. Vernon, Iowa) Symphonic Band (Joshua W. Neuenschwander, conductor) - 29 April 2023
University of South Florida (Tampa) Symphonic Band (Tina DiMeglio, conductor) - 22 September 2022
Tufts University (Medford, Mass.) Wind Ensemble (John McCann, conductor) - 11 April 2022
Florida State University (Tallahassee) Wind Ensemble (Matthew Boswell, conductor) - 22 February 2022
Golden Gate Park Band (San Francisco, Calif.) (Robert Calonico, conductor) - 1 August 2021
Brandeis University Wind Ensemble/Metropolitan Wind Symphony (Thomas A. Souza, conductor) - July 2021 (Virtual)
University of Nebraska (Lincoln) Symphonic Band (Anthony Falcone, conductor) - 28 April 2021
University of Florida (Gainesville) Symphonic Band (Jay Watkins, conductor) - 11 April 2021
Racine (Wisc.) Concert Band (Mark Eichner, conductor) - 1 July 2018
California State Northridge Wind Ensemble (Lawrence Stoffel, conductor) - 7 March 2013
San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Wind Orchestra (William V. Johnson, conductor) - 30 January 2005

Works for Winds by This Composer

Africa: Land of Superstition (arr. Tam)
Afro-American Symphony for Band (arr. West Point Military Academy) (1930/1970)
Afro-American Symphony. See also: Symphony No. 1
- Scherzo from "The Afro-American Symphony" (1930/1970)
The American Scene (1957)
Choreographic Prelude (arr. Lloyd) (1970)
Dances in the Canebrakes (as orchestrator; arr. Brown) (1953/)
Entrances of the Porteuses (arr. Perna; ed. Lloyd)
Fanfare for American War Heroes (arr. Lloyd) (1942 / )
Fanfare for the 99th Fighter Squadron
Folk Suite for Band (1966)
Frisco Jazz Band Blues (1919)
From the Delta (1945)
The Hesitating Blues (as arranger) (1916)
Kaintuck' (tr. Perna) (1935)
Land of Peace
Little Folk Suite from the Western Hemisphere
Little Red Schoolhouse (arr. Steele) (1957/1977)
Miniatures (1963)
Old California
Rising Tide. See: Victory Tide
"Scherzo" for Band. See: Afro-American Symphony for Band
Song of the City. See: Victory Tide
Summerland: From Three Visions (arr. Teter) (1937/2013)
Summerland: For Wind Ensemble (arr. Teter) (1937/2013)
Symphony No. 1 (1931/1946)
Symphony No. 1. See also: Afro-American Symphony for Band
To You, America! (1952/1956)
Victory Tide (1939/1942/1945)
Wood Notes (arr. Mauldin) (1948/1959/2022)

Resources

Still, W. (1966). Folk Suite for Band [score]. Bourne: New York.