Les Preludes (arr Hindsley)

Jules Massenet

General Info

Year: c. 1848 / 197-?
Duration: c. 14:20
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Hindsley Transcriptions
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $130.00 | Score Only (print) - $32.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo/Flute I
Flute II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-III
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Harp
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Crash Cymbals
Snare Drum

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Franz Liszt’s inspiration for Les Preludes came from the poetry of Alphonse Lamartine (1790-1869), an aristocratic French author and diplomat. When Liszt read the lines, “What is life? Only a series of preludes to that unknown song whose first solemn note is tolled by death,” he had the title for his most famous symphonic poem. Liszt’s composition approximates the succession of images in Lamartine’s poem -- the mysterious opening, the crescendo to the first transformation of the theme, the tranquil version of the opening phrase, another crescendo to “the tragic storm that cuts short the illusions of youth,” a calm interlude, and the final triumphal sounds that signal that “the soul has proved itself in battle” -- the music sums up the temper of the mid-19th century in a manner no historian can equal.

- Notes from Program Notes for Band

Commercial Discography

Audio CD: University of Illinois Concert Band (Mark Hindsley, conductor)

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

Alabama: Class AA
Arkansas: V
Florida: VI
Georgia: VI
Kansas: VI
Louisiana: V
Mississippi: VI-A
Oklahoma: V-A
South Carolina: VI
Tennessee: VI
Texas: V. Complete
Virginia: VI

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Works for Winds by This Composer

Fantasy and Fugue on the Name of BACH (arr. Tamura) (1870/2006/2019)
Friska (arr. Glover) (1847/2012)
Grand Galop Chromatique (arr. Coley) (1838/2015/2017)
Hungarian Attack March (tr. Singleton) (2012)
Hungarian Rhapsody No 1
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (arr. Oliver) (1853)
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (tr. McAlister; ed. Reed) (1853/2002)
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (arr. Williams) (1853/2001)
Hungarian Rhapsody No 3 (arr. Duthroit)
Les Préludes (arr. Brown) (c. 1848/1936)
Les Préludes (tr. Hindsley) (c. 1848/197-?)
Liebestraum (arr. Mortimer) (1850/2003)
Mazeppa (arr. Kindig; rev. Gruentzel) (1851/1905)
Rapsodie Espagnole (arr. Morita) (1858/2015)
Via Crucis (orch. Beischer-Matyó) (1874-1879/1999-2000)

Resources

Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 382.