Fourth of July (Gould)

Morton Gould

Morton Gould

This article is a stub. If you can help add information to it, please join the WRP and visit the FAQ (left sidebar) for information.

General Info

Year: 1948
Duration: c. 2:15
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: G. Schirmer
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown

Instrumentation

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

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Morton Gould wrote several works for band and orchestra in the form of multi-movement suites, including his Pulitzer Prize-winning Stringmusic. Fourth of July comprises the fifth and final movement of Holiday Music, one such suite of short pieces written originally for orchestra and later arranged by the composer for concert band. Each individual movement musically describes a major holiday, from Christmas and Easter to Thanksgiving and Halloween, and Gould even titles some of the movements after iconic American prints and pictures. His intention was to honor both the present-day significance of each of the holidays as well as the grand events and traditions behind their commemoration. The original score provides the notes about Fourth of July: A musical kaleidoscope of the real old-fashioned Fourth of July. One can almost visualize the firecrackers, sky rockets, and pin wheels filling the air with a pattern noise and color. This, together with flags waving, stentorian speechifying, and bands playing, makes for our most exciting national holiday.

- Program Note by Broken Arrow High School Wind Ensemble concert program, 16 December 2015

Media

• Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
• Audio CD: University of Louisville Wind Ensemble (Frederick Speck, conductor - 2007

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

• Keller (Tx.) High School Wind Ensemble (Mark McGahey, conductor) - 16 December 2021 (2021 Midwest Clinic)
• United States Air Force Band (Washington, D.C.) (Don Schofield, conductor) - 3 July 2021
• Broken Arrow (Okla.) High School Wind Ensemble (Darrin Davis, conductor) - 16 December 2015 (2015 Midwest Clinic)

Works for Winds by This Composer

• American Ballads, Settings of American Tunes (1976)
  • Star-Spangled Overture - on "The Star-Spangled Banner"
  • Amber Waves - "America the Beautiful"
  • Jubilo - on "Year of Jubilo"
  • Memorials — on “Taps”
  • Saratoga Quickstep — on “The Girl I Left Behind”
  • Hymnal — on “We Shall Overcome”
• American Patrol (Gould)
• American Salute (tr. Lang) (1943/1971)
• American Salute (arr. Wagner) (1943/2009)
• American Youth March
• Ballad for Band (1946)
• Café Rio (1957)
• Centennial Symphony, Gala for Band (1983)
• Cheers! — A Celebration March (1979)
• Cinerama Holiday (1955)
  • Cinerama March from “Cinerama Holiday” (concert band)
  • On the Boulevard from “Cinerama Holiday”
  • Skier’s Waltz (arr. Cacavas) (1955/1957)
  • Souvenirs of Paris from “Cinerama Holiday”
• Concertette for Viola and Band (1943)
• Cowboy Rhapsody (arr. Bennett)
• Derivations for Solo Clarinet and Band (1955)
• The Deserted Ballroom (tr. Bennett) (1938)
• Dramatic Fanfares (arr. Brunelli) (1964/1967)
• Family Album Suite
  • Outing in the Park
  • Porch Swing on a Summer Evening
  • Nickelodeon
  • Old Romance from “Family Album Suite”
  • Horseless Carriage Galop (trans. Gould) (1951)
• Fanfare for Freedom (1943)
• The First Noel (as arranger) (1949)
• Folk Suite (arr. Lang) (1959)
  • Overture from "Folk Suite" (arr. Lang.) (1955/1959)
• Four Latin American Symphonette (arr. Koekelkoren) (1942/1998)
• Fourth of July (1947)
• Global Greetings(1994)
• Holiday Music (1947)
  • First Thanksgiving from “Holiday Music”
  • Halloween from “Holiday Music”
  • Home for Christmas from “Holiday Music”
• Holocaust Suite (arr. Gould) (1978/1980)
  • Babi Yar, from Suite from 'Holocaust'
  • Berta and Joseph, from Suite from 'Holocaust'
  • Elegy (Epilogue), from Suite from 'Holocaust'
  • Kristallnacht - The Night of the Broken Glass, from Suite from 'Holocaust'
  • Liberation, from Suite from 'Holocaust'
  • Main Theme for Band, from Suite from 'Holocaust'
• Jericho Rhapsody (1941)
• Jingle Bells (as arranger) (1857/1952)
• Jubilo. See: America Ballads, Jubilo - on "Year of Jubilo"
• Latin American Symphonette (arr. Koekelkoren) (1942/1998)
• March of the Leathernecks (arr. Lang) (1943/1944)
• Memorials. See: American Ballads, Memorials — on “Taps”
• Mini-Suite for Band (1968)
• Old Romance
• Overture from “Folk Suite”
• Parade of the Wooden Soldiers (as arranger; trans. Patterson)
• Pavanne (1938)
• Prisms (1962)
• Prologue, from CBS-TV series “World War I”
• Red Cavalry March (tr. Lang) (1943)
• Remembrance Day (Soliloquy for a Passing Century) (1995)
• Revolutionary Prelude, from CBS-TV documentary “World War I”
• Saint Lawrence Suite (1958)
• Santa Fe Saga (1956)
• Saratoga Quickstep. See: American Ballads, Saratoga Quickstep — on “The Girl I Left Behind”
• Sarajevo Suite (1964)
  • Royal Hunt from “Sarajevo Suite”
  • Royal March from “Sarajevo Suite”
  • Serenade of Carols (3rd movement) (1949)
• Skier's Waltz. See: Cinerama Holiday Skier’s Waltz
• Soft Shoe Serenade from “Hoofer Suite” (1956)
• Star-Spangled Overture. See: American Ballads, Star-Spangled Overture - on "The Star-Spangled Banner"
• Symphonette No. 2 (1938)
  • Movement I from “Symphonette No. 2”
  • Pavanne from “Symphonette No. 2” (arr. Yoder) (1939)
• Symphony No. 4 (1952)
• Taps. See: American Ballads, Memorials — on “Taps”
• We Shall Overcome. See: American Ballads, Hymnal
• West Point Symphony. See: Symphony No. 4
• Windjammer (Highlights) (1958)
• Yankee Doodle (tr. Lang) (1945)

Resources

• Gould, M. [1948]. Fourth of July [score]. G & C Music: New York.