Molly on the Shore (arr Johnston)

Percy Aldridge Grainger

Percy Aldridge Grainger (arr. Matt Johnston)

Subtitle: For Clarinet Choir

General Info

Year: 1920 / 2011
Duration: c. 3:55
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: String band
Publisher: Alry Publications
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $25.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV
E-flat Alto Clarinet/Basset Horn
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet/B-flat Contrabass Clarinet/String Bass

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

One reason why things of mine like Molly on the Shore and Shepherd's Hey are good is because there is so little gaiety and fun in them. While other composers would have been jolly in setting such dance tunes, I have been sad or furious. My dance settings are energetic rather than gay.

In setting Molly on the Shore I strove to imbue the accompanying parts that made up the harmonic texture with a melodic character not too unlike that of the underlying reel tune. Melody seems to me to provide music with initiative, whereas rhythm appears to me to exert an enslaving influence. For that reason I have tried to avoid regular rhythmic domination in my music -- always excepting irregular rhythms, such as those of Gregorian chant, which seem to me to make for freedom. Equally with melody, I prize discordant harmony, because of the emotional and compassionate sway it exerts.

- Program Note by Percy Aldridge Grainger

Molly on the Shore receives frequent performances from high school and university ensembles, and it is certainly appropriate for a variety of concert programs. Although melodically straightforward, this brisk reel will provide several technical challenges, especially for younger players. For a successful performance, students must exhibit firm control over articulation and finger technique. Fast tonguing pervades the upper woodwind parts, and performers should approach the decorative triplet turns with care. Grainger's characteristically intricate tapestry of melodies and countermelodies is thoroughly enjoyed by audiences.

- Program Note from Great Music for Wind Band

For Mitchell Estrin and the University of Florida Clarinet Ensemble.

- Program Note from score

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
Audio CD: University of Florida Clarinet Ensemble (Mitchell Estrin, conductor) - 2009

State Ratings

Texas: Clarinet Choir Class 1
Wisconsin: Event 3849 Clarinet Choir Class A

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

University of North Texas (Denton) Wind Studies Chamber Ensemble (Luslaida Barbosa, conductor) - 19 November 2020
Prickly Pear Clarinet Choir – 11 February 2017

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Irish Tune from County Derry (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Klarfeld) (1918/2014/2020)
Molly on the Shore (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Sheehan) (1920/2020)
O Mensch, Bewein' Dein Sünde Gross (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger; ed. Brand and Brion) (1724?/1937-1942/1987)
Prelude in the Dorian Mode (Flex instrumentation) (as scorer)
Shepherd's Hey (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Fisher) (1918/2020)
Two Movements from "Lincolnshire Posy" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Sweeney) (1937/2019)

All Wind Works

Angelus ad Virginem (as arranger) (1940s)
The Annunciation Carol
The Annunciation Carol (tr. Grainger) (13th Cent./1942/1993)
Arrival Platform Humlet (arr. Eichenberger) (1912/)
Arrival Platform Humlet (tr. Simpson) (1912/1916/1995)
Arrival Platform Humlet (tr. Patterson) (1916/2011)
Australian Up-Country Tune (arr. Bainum) (1930/1970)
Bell Piece (ed. Duffy and Ould) (1935/1953/1991)
Blithe Bells (1931)
Blithe Bells (arr. Jager) (1931/1989)
Blithe Bells (ed. Ould) (1931/2013)
A Bridal Lullaby (arr. Hartley)
Brigg Fair (arr. Ballenger) (1905/1991)
British Waterside (arr. Moss) (1921)
British Waterside (arr. Wilson) (1921/1998)
Children's March (rev. Erickson) (1919/1971)
Children's March (rev. Rogers) (1919/1995)
Children's March (arr. Wagner) (1919/2000)
Choral No 2 for Organ (as scorer; ed. Rogers) (1890/1941/20--?)
Colonial Song (1912/1918)
Colonial Song (ed. Rogers) (1918/1997)
Colonial Song (ed. Topolewski) (1918/2001)
Colonial Song (arr. Wagner) (1919/2014)
Country Gardens (1918/1990)
Country Gardens (arr. Sousa, Brion and Schissel) (1918/1953)
Country Gardens (arr. Karrick) (1918/2013)
Country Gardens (arr. Clark) (1918/1931)
County Derry Air (ed. Ould)
The Cutting of the Hay (arr. Wilson)
Danish Folk Music Suite (arr. Kreines) (1926-41/1950/)
Danny Deever (arr. Carpenter)
Danny Deever (tr. Ragsdale). See: Three Tragic Ballads
Died for Love
Died for Love (arr. Conway) (1912/2011?)
Down Longford Way & Shenandoah (as orchestrator; arr. Osmon) (1928/1935/1990)
The Duke of Marlborough Fanfare (1939)
The Duke of Marlborough Fanfare (ed. Hunsberger) (1939/2000)
The Duke of Marlborough Fanfare (arr. Ragsdale) (1939/1995)
Early One Morning (arr. Kreines). See: Two Grainger Melodies
Eastern Intermezzo (arr. Warshaw) (1899/1922/)
Faeroe Island Dance (1946//1954/1969)
Father and Daughter. See: Three Tragic Ballads
Folk Tune (as arranger) (1923/1942)
Four Grainger Songs (arr. Svanoe) (2003) (unpublished)
Gay but Wistful (tr. Patterson) (1916/2011)
Gay But Wistful. See also: Tune in a Popular London Style
A Grainger Threesome (arr. Ragsdale) (2007)
Green Bushes (1906/2007) (tr. Pappajohn)
Green Bushes. See also: Themes from "Green Bushes"
Gumsucker's March (arr. Rogers) (1914/1942/1996)
Handel in the Strand (arr. Brion and Schissel) (1912/2001)
Handel in the Strand (arr. Goldman) (1912/1961)
Handel in the Strand (arr. Rohrer) (1912/2015)
Harlem 125th Street Walkabout (arr. Hartley)
Harvest Hymn (tr. Kreines) (1940/1983)
Hill Song No. 1 (1902)
Hill Song No. 1 (adapt. Rogers) (1901/1922/1923/1997)
Hill-Song Nr. 1 (trans. Clark) (1901/1922/1923/2019)
Hill Song No. 2 (arr. Rogers) (1907/1929/1990)
Horkstow Grange from "Lincolnshire Posy" (adapt. Sweeney) (1937/2008)
The Hunter in His Career (arr. Robinson)
The Immovable Do (1940)
I'm Seventeen Come Sunday (tr. Daehn) (1905-12/1987)
I'm Seventeen Come Sunday (arr. Wagner) (1905-12/1999)
In a Nutshell (tr. Patterson) (1916/2011)
In Dahomey (arr. Miller)
Irish Tune (arr. Stotter) (1918)
Irish Tune from County Derry (1918)
Irish Tune from County Derry (arr. Clark and Schmidt) (1918/2001)
Irish Tune from County Derry (arr. Erickson) (1918/1970)
Irish Tune from County Derry (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Klarfeld) (1918/2014/2020)
Irish Tune from County Derry (arr. Kreines) (1918/1996)
Irish Tune from County Derry (ed. Renshaw) (1918)
Irish Tune from County Derry (ed. Rogers) (1918/1994)
Irish Tune from County Derry/Shepherd's Hey (tr. Stamp) (1918/2021)
The Jungle Book Suite (arr. Ragsdale) (2011)
Jutish Medley (arr. Kreines) (1923-1929/)
Lads of Wamphray March (1905/1941)
Lads of Wamphray March (ed. Kreines) (1905/1937/2003)
Lads of Wamphray Ballad (arr. Ragsdale) (1905/2018)
Lincolnshire Posy (1937/1940)
Lincolnshire Posy (ed. Fennell) (1937/1987/2010)
Lincolnshire Posy (ed. Fennell; rev. Rogers) (1937/1987/2010/2020)
Lincolnshire Posy (arr. Higgins) (1937/2008)
Lincolnshire Posy (arr. Osika) (1937/)
Lisbon from "Lincolnshire Posy" (adapt. Sweeney) (1937/2017)
Lord Maxwell's Goodnight (orch. Wilson)
Lord Peter's Stable Boy (1925/1930)
Lord Peter's Stable Boy (arr. Kreines)
Lost Lady Found (arr. Sweeney) (1937/2011)
March (as arranger) (1946)
Marching Song of Democracy (1917/1948/1991)
Marching Song of Democracy (ed. Brion) (1917/1948/1991)
Marching Tune (2013) (arr. Story)
The Merry King (ed. Schissel) (1905/2006)
Mock Morris (arr. Kreines) (1910/1991)
Mock Morris (arr. Patterson) (1910/ )
Mock Morris (arr. Perna) (1910/2010/2016)
Mock Morris (arr. Simpson) (2010/1993)
Molly on the Shore (ed. Rogers) (1920/1998)
Molly on the Shore (ed. Clark and Schmidt) (1920/2002)
Molly on the Shore (arr. Johnston) (1920/2011)
Molly on the Shore (tr. Ragsdale) (1920/1978)
My Dark-Haired Maid (ed. Ragsdale) (1899)
My Robin Is to the Greenwood Gone (arr. Strum) (1912/1999)
Near Woodstock Town (arr. Cramer) (2004)
Nightingale and the Two Sisters, The (arr. Kreines) (1931)
Northern March. See: Youthful Suite
O Mensch, Bewein' Dein Sünde Gross (Flex instrumentation) (setting) (1724?/1937-1942/1987)
Pagodes from "Estampes" (as arranger) (1903/1928/1996)
A Percy Grainger Portrait (arr. Wagner) (2010)
Percy Grainger Suite (arr. Kreines) (1983)
A Percy Grainger Suite (arr. Erickson) (1996)
The Power of Rome and the Christian Heart (1947/1953)
Prelude in the Dorian Mode (Flex instrumentation) (as scorer)
Scotch Strathspey and Reel (arr. Osmon) (1901-1911/1982)
Sehet was die liebe tut (as arranger) (1937)
Sheep Shearing Song (as arranger) (1904/1923/1942/2017)
Shenandoah (arr. Osmon)
Shepherd's Hey (1918)
Shepherd's Hey (arr. Clark) (1918/2001)
Shepherd's Hey (ed. Rogers) (1918/1994)
Shepherd's Hey (arr. De Stefano) (1918/2012)
Shepherd's Hey (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Fisher) (1918/2020)
Spoon River (1919-29/1940s)
Spoon River (arr. Bainum) (1922/1967/2009)
Spoon River (ed. Carson & Naylor) (1922/2010)
Spoon River (arr. Sheldon) (1922)
Spoon River (arr. Story) (1922/2014)
Six Dukes Went A-Fishin' (arr. Kreines)
The Sussex Mummers' Christmas Carol (scored Goldman) (1916/1965)
The Sussex Mummers' Christmas Carol (arr. Clark) (1916/1996)
The Sussex Mummers' Christmas Carol (arr. Simpson) (1916/1988)
The Sussex Mummers' Christmas Carol (arr. Stotter) (1911/1916/2006)
Themes from "Green Bushes" (arr. L. Daehn) (1906/1987)
This is Not My Plaid (arr. Ragsdale) (2014)
The Three Ravens. see: Three Tragic Ballads
Three Tragic Ballads (arr. Ragsdale) (1924, 1902, 1909/2016)
- Danny Deever (1902/1909/2016)
- The Three Ravens (1902/2000)
- Father and Daughter
A Tribute to Grainger (arr. Ragsdale) (1999)
Tune in a Popular London Style (arr. Rogers) (1916/2005)
Tuscan Serenade (as arranger) (1865/1937/1994)
Two Grainger Melodies (trans. Kreines) (1912/1988)
Two Grainger Sweets - Harvest Hymn and Mock Morris (arr. Krienes)
Two Movements from "Lincolnshire Posy" (arr. Ryan) (1937/2019)
Two Movements from "Lincolnshire Posy" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Sweeney) (1937/2019)
Walking Tune (1900)
Walking Tune (arr. Daehn) (1900/1940/1988)
Walking Tune (arr. Simpson)
The Warriors (tr. Pappajohn) (1916/1998)
We Have Fed Our Sea for a Thousand Years (1911)
The Widow's Party (arr. Moon) (1923/1929/2011)
The Widow's Party (arr. Osmon) (1923/1929/2009)
Willow, Willow (1911/1992) (orch. Simpson)
Ye Banks and Braes O' Bonnie Doon (1949)
Ye Banks and Braes O' Bonnie Doon (arr. Ragsdale) (1903/1936/2008)
Ye Banks and Braes O' Bonnie Doon (arr. Sweeney) (1949/2006)
Youthful Suite (tr. Rogers) (1899/1950)
- Northern March (arr. Rogers) (c. 1900/2010)
- Rustic Dance (1899/1950/2010)
- Eastern Intermezzo
- English Waltz (1899-1901/1940-1947/1999)
Zanzibar Boat Song (arr. Hazzard) (1902/2013)

Resources

Grainger, P.; Johnston, M. (2011). Molly on the Shore: For Clarinet Choir [score]. ALRY Publications: Charlotte, N.C.
Nicholson, Chad. (2009). Great Music for Wind Band: A Guide to the Top 100 Works in Grades IV, V, VI. Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications. pp 7-8.