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Kolo
General Info
Year: 2015
Duration: c. 7:00
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Mühltal Musikpresse, through Derek M. Jenkins
Cost: Score and Parts - $150.00 (print) or $40.00 (digital) | Score Only - $30.00 (print) or $10.00 (digital)
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
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
Tenor Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V, including:
- Bass Drum
- Crash Cymbals
- Glockenspiel
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tambourine
- Triangle
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Merrily, merrily whirled the wheels of the dizzying dances
Under the orchard-trees and down the path to the meadows;
Old folk and young together, and children mingled among them.
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Evangeline
A kolo, which translates to round or circle, is a fast and lively traditional folk dance that originated in the Balkans. The music accompanying a kolo dance is characteristically quite repetitive. The primary melodic material is introduced at the beginning, and it continues to appear and reappear throughout the duration of the dance. Several composers, including Antonín Dvořák, have adapted the kolo into concert pieces for orchestra. These are often fast and exhilarating showpieces that portray the virtuosity of the entire ensemble.
My piece, Kolo, continues this concert adaption tradition, and it follows the basic structure of the traditional dance with the exception of the middle section. I was fortunate to spend about two weeks in Zagreb and several days in Dubrovnik during the spring of 2009.Looking out upon the Adriatic Sea atop of Dubrovnik’s historic city wall, I was struck by an overwhelming sense of tranquility, and that feeling has become the strongest association I have with my time in Croatia. In order to depict this musically, I forewent the continuation of the fast and lively character of the middle section of my Kolo and instead replaced it with music that is peaceful and reflective. The melody used in this slow section comes from a folk song, “Oj, mlađano mlado mom(če),” in Béla Bartók and Albert B. Lord’s folksong collection Serbo-Croatian Folk Songs. This middle section was my chance to return, if only in my mind, to the Adriatic coast.
Kolo was commissioned in 2014 by Lee Hartman and the Mid America Freedom Band.
- Program Note by composer
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Arkansas State University (Jonesboro) Concert Band (Steven Riley, conductor) - 24 February 2022
- SUNY New Paltz Symphonic Band (Adam Fontana, conductor) - 30 November 2021
- Mid America Freedom Band (Kansas City, Mo.) (Lee Hartman, conductor) - 25 October 2020 [Online]
- Mid America Freedom Band (Kansas City, Mo.) (Lee Hartman, conductor) - 26 April 2015 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Fountains (Adaptable Band) (2014/2020)
- Kolo (Flex instrumentation) (2015/2020)
- Solar Flare (Flex instrumentation) (2019/2020)
All Wind Works
- Blue Marble: A Symphony for Wind Ensemble
- Boreas: The North Wind
- Eosphorus: The Morning Star
- Fountains (2014/2017)
- Fountains (Adaptable Band) (2014/2020)
- in transit
- inertia
- into air, into thin air (2023)
- Kolo (2015)
- Kolo (Flex instrumentation) (2015/2020)
- Rock Bottom (2020)
- Solar Flare (2018)
- Solar Flare (Flex instrumentation) (2019/2020)
- Quintet for Winds No 1
- We Seven (2014)