Jungle Dance

Brian Balmages

Brian Balmages

General Info

Year: 2011
Duration: c. 3:00
Difficulty: II-1/2 (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: FJH Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $55.00   |   Score Only (print) - $9.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F
Trombone I-II
Euphonium
Tuba
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V, including:

• Agogo Bells
• Cabasa
• China Cymbals
• Claves
• Conga
• Cowbell
• Crash Cymbals
• Guiro
• Marimba
• Shakers
• Suspended Cymbal
• Temple Blocks
• Tom-Tom
• Vibraphone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

This captivating musical celebration portrays the strong energy of all life in a jungle. The piece cleverly uses a melody that never changes throughout the entire work — rather, all the surrounding harmonies and textures constantly evolve as the music develops. Ultimately, the melody is layered on top of itself numerous times along with the countermelodies that have been heard throughout the work. A large battery of percussion completes the orchestration.

- Program Note by publisher

Jungle Dance is a new type of piece for me. It depicts a celebration in the middle of a jungle. It is not specific to people -- it actually represents the celebration of all living things -- animals, plants, and people-- all coming together in a high energy celebration of life and nature. The melody itself is quite infectious and is treated as a passacaglia... The melody repeats constantly while the textures, rhythms and harmonies around it change and develop.

- Program Note by composer

Commissioned by the Lawton C. Johnson Middle School Bands, Summit, New Jersey; Michelle Brick, director.

- Program Note from score

Commercial Discography

• Audio CD: Springdale Har-Ber Wind Symphony (Jeremy Ford, conductor) – December 2011

Media

• Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

• Georgia: III
• Indiana: ISSMA JUNIOR BAND GROUP II
• Michigan: Junior High B
• Michigan: Senior High D
• South Carolina: II
• West Virginia: II

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

• Michigan State University (East Lansing) Campus Band (Brent Echols, conductor) – 24 April 2019
• North Smithfield (R.I.) Middle School Band (John Kanasas, conductor) – Spring 2016

Works for Winds by this Composer

• African Journey (2001)
• Always United, Forever Strong (2013)
• American Big Top (2018)
• Among the Clouds (2004)
• Apollo (2008)
• Arabian Dances (2009)
• The Awakening
• Backstage Pass (2015)
• Beyond the Summit (2004)
• Blue Ridge Reel (2013)
• Breaking Point (2019)
• Bright Morning Stars
• Bringer of War (2017)
• Call of the Wild (2013)
• Camptown Variations
• Chant and Savage Dance (2005)
• Chesapeake Serenade
• Comet Ride
• Conquest
• Courtly Dance and Procession
• Dragonfly
• Eagles Among Us (2017)
• Elements (2010)
• Enchantment (2014)
• Endless Rainbows (2013)
• Escapades
• Etowah
• Evocatio (2014)
• Falcon Fanfare (2012)
• Fanfare Canzonique (2003)
• Fanfare on a Theme of Imagination (2015)
• A Festive Fanfare (2017)
• A Festive Finale (2019)
• Fiesta de los Toros (2017)
• Flight
• Flight of the Griffin
• Forever... (2014)
• Fusion (2007)
• Gettysburg (A Civil War Portrait)
• Grace (2016)
• Groove Music (2013)
• Haunted Clocks (2014)
• A Hero's Destiny
• Homage to Bharat (2018)
• A House Divided (2013)
• Hypnotic Fireflies (2013)
• Images of Ireland
• Incantation and Ritual
• In Nature's Glory
• Industrial Loops (2017)
• Infinite Hope (2018)
• Instant Christmas Spirit
• Into the Arctic (2015)
• Invictus
• Jingle Bell Tones
• Journey By Night
• Journey for a Soldier (2010)
• Joy in All Things (2012)
• Joy of Life (2015)
• Jungle Dance (2011)
• Kilauea (The Volcano's Fury)
• Kindred Spirits (2009)
• Legacy (Processional for Band)
• Legend
• Legend of the Drop Bear (2016)
• A Light at the End of Forever (2016)
• Loudoun Praises
• Love and Light (2020)
• Lullaby to the Moon (2017)
• Majestica
• Marche Diabolique (2014)
• Metal (2013)
• Metamorphic Dances (2019)
• Midnight on Main Street (2009)
• Midnight Suite
  • Midnight Mission
  • Midnight Sky (2006)
  • Midnight Madness
• Miramar Fanfare
• Moscow, 1941 (2006)
• Motion (2006)
• Nevermore (2011)
• Not Afraid to Dream (2006)
• O Mio Babbino Caro
• Of Emperors and Chariots
• Olympia
• Open Space (2014)
• Parade of the Jesters
• Pele (2004)
• Phasing Thunder (2014)
• Pikes Peak (2019)
• Primal Dances (2018)
• Proclamation
• Proudly We Hail
• Raging Machines
• Rain (2008)
• Renaissance Reimagined (2017)
• Reverberations (2009)
• Rhythms and Riffs‎
• Rippling Watercolors (2015)
• Rite of Passage (2000)
• Rocky Mountain Romp
• Sapier's Story
• Shadow Waltzes (2016)
• Shadows Unleashed (2013)
• Shenandoah Triptych
• Shrine of the Fallen (2016)
• Silence Overwhelmed (2010)
• Smithsonian Suite
• A Solitary Wish (2017/2018)
• Sound Prisms (2002)
• Sparks (2007)
• Spirit of the Stallion (2016)
• Spontaneous Beings (2017)
• Star Above, Shine Brightly (2001)
• The Star-Spangled Banner (as arranger) (1814/2014)
• Starscapes (2007)
• Summer Dances (2000)
• Summer Resounding!
• Summit City
• Sun Cycles (2012)
• Swirling Prisms
• Symphonic Episodes
• Symphony No. 1 for Brass
• Synthesis (2016)
• Temple of the Murals (2011)
• That Which Binds Us (2015)
• Three Celtic Dances (2008)
• Thrill Ride (2019)
• Through Courageous Eyes
• Trust in Angels (2017)
• Twittering Machine (2017)
• A View of the World
• Waves
• When Spirits Soar (2006)
• Whispering Winds
• Winged Victory (2007)
• Winter Dances
• Within the Castle Walls (2012)

Resources

• Balmages website
• Bright, Jeff. "Jungle Dance." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 11, Compiled and edited by Richard Miles, 225-231. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2018.
• Perusal score