Music Man, The: Highlights

Meredith Willson

General Info

Year: 1957 / 1959
Duration: c. 4:35
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Hal Leonard
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $65.00 | Score Only (print) - $5.00

For further availability information, see Discussion tab, above.

Instrumentation

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

Bass Drum
Chimes
Crash Cymbals
Orchestra Bells
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal
Triangle
Whistle (drum major's)

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

In the musical play The Music Man (1957), as written by Meredith Willson, "Professor" Harold Hill uses the song to help the townspeople of River City, Iowa, visualize their children playing in a marching band by recalling a time when he saw several famous bandleaders' bands in a combined performance. While an average-sized high school marching band might have about 10 musicians playing the trombone, and a large college marching band seldom has more than 30 trombonists, the band that Harold Hill describes to the villagers includes 76 trombones, 110 cornets, "more than a thousand reeds", double bell euphoniums, and "fifty mounted cannon" (which were popular in bands of the late 19th century).

In Willson's hometown of Mason City, Iowa, 76 Trombones is honored (along with the whole plot of The Music Man) in a building called "Music Man Square," which is located next to Willson's boyhood home. In one large room, there are 76 donated trombones hanging from the ceiling.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

This medley by Alfred Reed includes the tubes Seventy-Six Trombones, Till There Was You, and The Wells Fargo Wagon.

Media

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Kentucky Virginia (Whitesburg, Ky.) Summer Winds (Amy Acklin, conductor) - 21 June 2022
Roseville (Calif.) Community Concert Band (Stephanie Sugano, conductor) - 6 June 2022
Sturgis (Mich.) Wind Symphony (R. Scott Davidson, conductor) - 1 May 2022
Indiana University (Bloomington) Summer Band (Eric Smedley, conductor) – 17 July 2019
Greenwich (Conn.) High School Band (John Yoon, conductor) - 30 May 2018
Walnut Creek (Calif.) Concert Band (Harvey Bernstein, conductor) – 4 July 2016
Heart of Texas Concert Band (San Antonio) (Mark Rogers, conductor) - 2013

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brown) (1951/1979/2019)

All Wind Works

76 Trombones (arr. Iwai) (1957/1992)
76 Trombones (arr Cable) (arr. Cable) (1957/)
76 Trombones (arr. Anderson, adapt. Bocook) (1997)
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (arr. Moss) (1951/2004)
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brown) (1951/1979/2019)
May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You (arr. Leidzen) (1950/1951)
The Music Man (arr. Buckley) (1957/2002)
The Music Man: Highlights (arr. Reed) (1957/1959)
Selections from "The Music Man" (arr. Lang) (1957/1958)
Selections from "The Music Man" (arr. Vinson) (1957/2000)
Unsinkable Molly Brown, The: I Ain't Down Yet (arr. Yoder) (1961)

Resources

Girsberger, Russ. Percussion Assignments for Band & Wind Ensemble. Volume I: L-Z. Galesburg, MD: Meredith Music Publications, 2004, 343. Print.
The Music Man, Wikipedia Accessed 4 July 2016
Pease, Andy. "The Music Man by Meredith Willson." Wind Band Literature, 11 December 2022. Web. Accessed 11 December 2022
Seventy-Six Trombones, Wikipedia
Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications, pp. 651.
Willson, M; Reed, A. (1959). The Music Man [score]. Frank Music Corp.: [s.l.]