Incantation and Dance

From Wind Repertory Project
John Barnes Chance

John Barnes Chance


General Info

Year: 1963 / 2011
Duration: c. 7:50
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
Cost: Score and Parts - $158.44   |   Score Only - $22.82


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute (2 players)
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III (I divisi a3)
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet (doubling String Bass)
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
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass (doubling B-flat Contrabass Clarinet)
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V-VI, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Bongos (2)
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Claves
  • Gourd (or Guiro)
  • Maracas
  • Tam-Tam
  • Tambourine
  • Temple Blocks (5)
  • Timbales (2)
  • Whip


Errata

  • See also Kopetz article in "Resources" (below) for extensive errata list.
  • See also: Topolewski in Resources, below.
  • See also Taking a Chance on Chance

In Parts:

  • Flutes, m.144, beat 1: G should read G sharp.
  • Bassoon, m.8: Add the completion of a tie from the previous measure.
  • Bassoon, m.13: Add a # to the D in the bassoon's bass clarinet cue.
  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet III, m.18: Entrance is p.
  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III, m.54: The ff is printed too soon in the clarinet parts – it applies not to the tied note but to the passage that begins with an accented dotted quarter.
  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet II-III, m.55: Add an accent mark to the 2nd and 3rd clarinets.
  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet II, m.81: Third note should be A flat not B flat.
  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet III, m.92: Rehearsal figure 93 should read 92.
  • E-flat Alto Clarinet, m.81: Add a slur for the last three notes in the part.
  • B-flat Bass Clarinet, m.57-60: The bass clarinet part is printed a third too high.
  • E-flat Alto Saxophones, m.75: Remove the staccato dot from the last note in the alto saxophones; replace the first staccato dot in that measure with an accent mark – do this last in the tenor sax part also.
  • E-flat Alto Saxophones, m.86: Complete the slur from the previous measure.
  • E-flat Alto Saxophone II, m.218, beat 4: Sixteenth notes should read eighth notes.
  • B-flat Trumpet II, m.64: The second trumpets should have B natural, not B flat.
  • B-flat Trumpets I-II, m.149: Add "mute out" [?].
  • B-flat Trumpets I-II m.168: Add "open" [?].
  • B-flat Trumpets I-II, m.212, beat 3: F-flat should read F natural; D should read D-flat
  • B-flat Trumpets I-II, m.226: Rehearsal figure 266 should read 226.
  • B-flat Trumpets III-IV, m.149: Add "mute out" [?].
  • B-flat Trumpets III-IV, m.168: Add "open" [?]. /
  • B-flat Trumpets III-IV, m.187: Add rehearsal figure "187."
  • Horns in F III-IV, m.27: Tempo I [quarter note = 138] should read [quarter note = 54].
  • Horns in F III-IV, m.234, beat 2&: add eighth rest
  • Horns in F III-IV, m.234: Delete final eighth rest.
  • Baritones, m.69: Add a marcato accent to the last note.
  • Percussion II, m.193: Bass Drum part included, but not listed as an instrument on the Percussion II part. The excerpt may belong in the Percussion III part.


Program Notes

The present title of this work suggests a religious orientation, but not towards any of the established religions of a Western or Eastern culture. To the standard deities one offers prayers -- incantations are uttered in rituals of magic, demonic rites, and the conjuring up of spirits, evil and benign. The opening Incantation is full of mystery and expectation, wandering, unstable and without tonality. The Dance also begins quietly, but percussion instruments quickly begin, one by one, to drive a rhythmic pattern of incredible complexity and drive. As other instruments are added, the dance grows wilder and more frenzied. The brasses hammer out ferocious snarls -- the woodwinds fly in swirling scales. Here there is no pretty tune but a paroxysm of rhythm, a convulsion of syncopation that drives on and on, mounting in tension, to a shattering climax of exaltation.

Incantation and Dance was premiered as Nocturne and Dance by Herbert Hazelman and the Greensboro High School Band on November 16, 1960. The original version (saved by Hazelman) has several interesting differences, including 31 additional measures. It was programmed at the NBA convention in New Orleans in June 1995 by Robert Pouliot and the City of Fairfax Band.

- Program Note from Program Notes for Band


For Herbert Hazelman and the Greensboro Senior High School.

- Program Note from score


Incantation and Dance came into being during Chance’s residency at Greensboro. He wrote it in 1960 and originally called it Nocturne and Dance -- it went on to become his first published piece for band. Its initial “incantation,” presented in the lowest register of the flutes, presents most of the melodic material of the piece. Chance uses elements of bitonality throughout the opening section to create a “sound world mystically removed from itself.” This continues as the dance elements begin to coalesce. Over a sustained bitonal chord (E-flat major over an A pedal), percussion instruments enter one by one, establishing the rhythmic framework of the dance to come. A whip crack sets off furious brass outbursts. When the dance proper finally arrives, its asymmetrical accents explicitly suggest a 9/8 + 7/8 feel, chafing at the structure of 4/4 time.

- Program Note from Wind Band Literature


Media


State Ratings

  • Florida: V   ---   (The Florida Bandmasters Association denotes this as "significant literature.")
  • Indiana: Group I
  • Minnesota - Category I
  • New York: VI
  • Maryland: VI
  • Oklahoma: IV
  • Texas: V
  • Virginia: VI

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Cleveland State University (Ohio) Alumni & Friends Band (Rodney Miller, conductor) - 5 October 2023
  • East Carolina University (Greenville, N.C.) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (William Staub, conductor) - 29 September 2023
  • University of North Texas (Denton) Wind Orchestra (Jerianne Larson, conductor) - 21 March 2023
  • Wheeler High School (Marietta, Ga.) (Madison Argo, conductor) - 10 February 2023
  • Western Illinois University (Macomb) Wind Ensemble (Brian Drews, conductor) - 8 December 2022
  • University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) Symphonic Band (Jerry Luckhardt, conductor) - 2 December 2022
  • Indiana University at South Bend Wind Ensemble (Dennis Gamble, conductor) - 16 November 2022
  • Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla) Wind Symphony (David Samson, conductor) - 11 November 2022
  • Kennesaw (Ga.) State University Wind Symphony (Daniel Lee, conductor) - 12 October 2022
  • Metropolitan Winds (Plano, Tx.) (Gregory Hustis, conductor) - 26 March 2022
  • University of Sioux Falls (S.D.) Wind Ensemble (Jason Neiderhiser, conductor) - 7 May 2021
  • Concordia College (Moorhead, Minn.) Symphonic Band (Shauna Pickens, conductor) - 25 April 2021
  • Texas A&M University (College Station) Symphonic Band (Russell Tipton, conductor) - 21 March 2021
  • East Tennessee State University (Johnson City) Wind Ensemble (Christian Zembower, conductor) - 11 March 2021
  • Dordt University (Sioux Center, Iowa) Campus-Community Band (Onsby Rose, conductor) – 3 March 2020
  • Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio) Symphonic Winds (Ryan Scherber, conductor) – 2 March 2020
  • Stetson University (Deland, Fla.) University Concert Band (Doug Phillips, conductor) – 25 February 2020
  • Tallahassee (Fla.) Winds (Patrick Dunnigan, conductor) – 11 February 2020
  • Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio) Symphonic Winds (Ryan Scherber, conductor) – 26 January 2020
  • University of Manitoba (Winnipeg) Concert Band (Jan Michael Bourgeois, conductor) – 6 December 2019
  • California State University, Stanislaus, Wind Ensemble (Stuart Sims, conductor) – 5 December 2019


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources