Linden Lea

Ralph Vaughan Williams

General Info

Year: 1902 / 2013
Duration: c. 2:15
Difficulty: I (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Voice and piano
Publisher: Alfred Publishing
Cost: Score and Parts - $50.00 | Score Only - $9.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute
Oboe
English Horn
B-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet
Horn in F
Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Snare Drum
Bells
Chimes
Suspended Cymbal
Triangle

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Linden Lea, the first published composition of Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1902, is a setting for voice and piano of a poem by William Barnes (1801-1886):

Within the woodlands, flowery gladed, by the oak trees’ mossy moot;
The shining grass blades, timber shaded, now do quiver underfoot;
And birds do whistle overhead, and water’s bubbling in its bed;
And there for me, the apple trees do lean down low in Linden Lea.

The lyric folk song quality of the tune makes it an irresistible choice for the concert band idiom. While the tune remains intact, and a few of the composer’s harmonic shadings have been retained, most of the accompaniment is original to this arrangement, written specifically to enhance performances by younger players.

- Program Note by the Creekside Middle School Wind Symphony concert program, 20 December 2013

Originally for voice and piano, Linden Lea is the first work published by Ralph Vaughan Williams at the age of 29. During his lifetime, Williams worked to preserve various English folk songs that were forgotten during the 19th and 20th centuries; this piece is based on a poem by William Barnes, written in an English dialect from the region of Dorset, England. The poem describes an orchard in the country side of England that the author is remembering fondly. The original score calls for an unspecified voice and piano, with two different settings of the poem: in the Dorset dialect, or modern English.

Since the original performance, Linden Lea has been arranged for different kinds of ensembles: SATB choirs, duets and for wind band/ensembles. The arrangement performed is by John Stout, who arranged the piece in 2004. Although this performance will not incorporate the poem by William Barnes, the arrangement itself pays tribute to the original setting provided by Vaughan Williams.

- Program Note from Illinois State University Symphonic Band concert program, 5 October 2017

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

Florida: I

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Michigan State University (East Lansing) Campus Band (Arris Golden, conductor) – 4 October 2018
Illinois State University (Normal) Symphonic Band (Polly K. Middleton, conductor) – 5 October 2017
Creekside Middle School (Carmel, Ind.) Wind Symphony (Michael Pote, conductor) – 20 December 2013 (2013 Midwest Clinic)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Folk Songs from Somerset (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
My Bonny Boy (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Seventeen Come Sunday (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)

All Wind Works

Concerto for Bass Tuba (arr. Wick and Chambers) (1954/1992)
Concerto Grosso (arr. Grechesky) (1924)
Concerto in F minor for Tuba and Winds (arr. Hare) (1954/1992)
England's Pleasant Land (arr. Noble) (1938/2017)
English Folk Song Suite (1924)
English Folk Song Suite (arr. Villanueva) (1924/)
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (arr. Bocook) (1910/2006)
Fantasia on Greensleeves (arr. Wagner) (1934/2011)
Five English Folk Songs (arr. Feldman) (1913/2009)
Five Variants of "Dives and Lazarus" (arr. Gregson) (1939/2004)
Flourish for Glorious John (or. Boyd) (1957/1998)
Flourish for Wind Band (1939)
Folk Songs from Somerset (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Golden Vanity, The (arr. Wagner) (1933/2009)
I Vow to Thee, My Country (as setter; ed. Grechesky) (1921/1988)
Lark Ascending, The (tr. Silvester) (1914/1925/2003)
Linden Lea (arr. Wagner) (1902/2013)
Linden Lea (arr. Stout) (1902/1984)
The Lowlands of Scotland (arr. Daehn) (1912/2006)
March Past of the Kitchen Utensils (arr. Erwin) (1909/2010)
My Bonny Boy (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Norfolk Rhapsody (tr. Robert O'Brien) (1905)
Overture to "The Wasps" (tr. Frank Hudson) (1909)
Prelude, 49th Parallel (arr. van der Beek) (1960/2018)
Prelude: 49th Parallel (arr. Noble) (1941/2014)
Prelude: 49th Parallel (arr. Winkler) (1941/1960)
Prelude from "49th Parallel" (tr. Osmon) (1941/1960/1987/2002)
Prelude on Three Welsh Hymn Tunes (arr. Curnow) (1954/1982)
Prelude: The New Commonwealth (arr. Grauer) (1940/2006)
A Ralph Vaughan Williams Portrait (arr. Wagner) (2018)
Rhosymedre (tr. Beeler) (1920/1972)
Rhosymedre (tr. Johnston) (1920/2011)
Rhosymedre (tr. Baldwin) (1920/)
Running Set, The (tr. Silvester) (1933)
Scherzo alla Marcia (1956)
Sea Songs (1925)
Sea Songs (arr. Longfield) (1925/2006)
Seventeen Come Sunday (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Sine Nomine (arr. Reed) (1976)
Sine Nomine (arr. Houseknecht) (1906/1960)
Songs of Travel (arr. Patterson) (1901-4)
Three Studies in English Folk Song (arr. Harbinson) (1927/1999/2003)
Toccata Marziale (1924)
Toccata Marziale (ed Battisti) (ed. Battisti) (1924/2005)
Variations for Wind Band (trans. Hunsberger) (1957/1988/1997)
Vaughan Williams Christmas, A (arr. Wagner) (1999)
Wassail (arr. Smith)

Resources