Fortinbras March from "Hamlet"

Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich (trans. Benjamin Suchoff)

General Info

Year: 1967
Duration: c. 2:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: MCA
Cost: Score and Parts – Out of print

For availability information, see Discussion tab. above.

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
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 Cornet I-II-III
B-flat Trumpet
Horn in F I-II-III
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Crash Cymbals
Snare Drum

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The Soviet production of Hamlet that Shostakovich wrote his 1932 incidental music for was banned after the first performance. According to the composer it was the "most scandalous production in the history of Shakespeare." The stage director, Akimov, had some funny ideas for his production of Hamlet: Hamlet (who was not even the main character in this production) was an obese drunken man who made up the story of the ghost to scare his mother and uncle, Ophelia was quite a lady of the night, and the plot was terribly twisted. Predictably, the production was immediately banned and all that has remained is the music from Shostakovich's score.

Shostakovich's music matches Akimov's dark ideas of the production. The suite is a tour de force of ironic farce for Shostakovich. The Fortinbras March is the last of the 13 movements.

In 1963 Shostakovich also wrote an original soundtrack for the movie Hamlet directed by Grigori Kozintsev. This music is available as a suite of 23 movements.

- Program Note from Hillcrest Wind Ensemble YouTube – 23 October 2011

Media

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State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Encore Concert Band (Mokena, Ill.) (Bill Schuetter, conductor) – 1 May 2016

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

Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Dmitri Shostakovich." Accessed 13 August 2022.
Shostakovich, D.; Suchoff, B. (1967). Fortinbras March : From the Music to "Hamlet" [score]. MCA Music: New York.