Ghosts

Stephen McNeff

General Info

Year: 2001
Duration: c. 20:15
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Maecenas Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $161.00 | Score Only (print) - $44.00

Movements

1. The Haunting - 2:45
2. The Gray Lady - 2:25
3. The Dog of Godley - 3:05
4. The Bank of England Clerk - 1:35
5. The Girl in the Tower - 2:15
6. The Oldham Coliseum Ghost - 1:15
7. The Blackpool Tram- 3:30
8. The Polish Sailor - 1:55
9. Chorale 1:45

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass 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
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II, including

Bass Drum
Chains
Crash Cymbal
Low Drum (or small Bass Drum)
Ship's Bell (or large Triangle)
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal
Tambourine
Tam-tam
Temple Block
Tenor Drum (or Tom-tom)
Triangles
Tubular Bells (or Glockenspiel)
Vibraphone
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Ghosts is complete fantasy. It is a type of (not very strict) theme and variations starting with The Haunting, followed by seven episodes suggested by famous ghosts and other spectral occurrences, with a short epilogue. The sections are:

1. The Haunting
2. The Gray Lady who left money in her will which was never paid. Disconsolately she haunts the churchyard of St. Giles, Oxford.
3. The Dog of Godley said to be as big as a bull and able to vanish and reappear at will. Don’t let it overtake you!
4. The Bank of England Clerk A cashier who stood nearly eight feet tall and is reputed to have been buried inside the bank to thwart the activities of grave-robbers.
5. The Girl in the Tower who, when her father forbade her marriage to a man below her status, threw herself to her death.
6. The Oldham Coliseum Ghost: Mr. Harold Norman who was killed in a sword fight during a performance of – Macbeth!
7. The Blackpool Tram which runs up and down the seafront on stormy nights.
8. The Polish Sailor. No one knows who he is – perhaps a shipwrecked captain? – but he haunts a lonely beach at Sandwood Bay in the Highlands.
9. Chorale to conclude the work and finally lay the ghosts – but perhaps they still walk....

- Program Note from score

Ghosts was first performed by the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra, conductor Clark Rundell, at the BASBWE Festival of Wind, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, 6 April 2001.

- Program Note by World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE)

Awards

Ghosts has been recommended as interesting, serious and distinctive music by members of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE).

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
Audio CD: Philharmonia a Vent Wind Orchestra (John Boyd, conductor) - 2005

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Lake Park Wind Ensemble (Roselle, Ill.) – Fall 2012
Farragut High School (Knoxville, Tenn.) Symphonic Band (Ron Rogers, conductor) – 24 February 2010 (CBDNA 2010 Southern Division Conference, Oxford, Miss.)
Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester, Eng.) Wind Orchestra (Clark Rundell, conductor) - 6 April 2001 *Premiere Performance*

Works for Winds by This Composer

Clarinet Concerto (2005)
Concerto for Flute and Wind Orchestra (2014)
The Darkling Serenade (2016)
Do Not Go Gentle
Ghosts (2001)
Image in Stone (2007)
Moving Parts (2003)
Rant! (2002)
Wasteland Wind Music (2001)
Wasteland Wind Music 2 (2001)
The Winged Lion (2003)

Resources

Boyd, John P. "Ghosts." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 6, edit. & comp. by Richard Miles, 641-651. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2007.
McNeff, S. (2001). Ghosts [score]. Maecenas Music: Godstone, UK.
Perusal score
Stephen McNeff website Accessed 2 August 2016
World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) Accessed 2 August 2016