Musical Highlights from "Chess"
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson (arr. Johan de Meij)
General Info
Year: 1993
Duration: c. 15:50
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Molenaar Edition
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - €220.54 | Score Only (print) - €33.31
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute (div.)
Oboe (div.)
English Horn
Bassoon (div.)
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 Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba I-II
String Bass
Synthesizer
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:
- Bass Drum
- Crash Cymbal
- Drum Set
- Glockenspiel
- Glass Wind Chimes
- Marimba
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tambourine
- Temple Blocks
- Tom-tom
- Triangle
- Tubular Bells
- Typewriter
- Vibraphone
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Chess is a musical with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of the pop group ABBA, lyrics by Tim Rice, and a book by Richard Nelson based on an idea by Rice. The story involves a politically driven, Cold War–era chess tournament between two grandmasters from America and the USSR and their fight over a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other. Although the protagonists were not intended to represent any real individuals, the character of the American grandmaster (named Freddie Trumper in the stage version) was loosely based on Bobby Fischer, while elements of the story may have been inspired by the chess careers of Russian grandmasters Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov.
Chess was a significant and powerful piece of music theater for its time as it allegorically reflected the Cold War tensions present in the 1980s. The musical has been referred to as a metaphor for the whole Cold War, with the insinuation being made that the Cold War is itself a manipulative game. Released and staged at the height of the strong anti-communist agenda that came to be known as the "Reagan Doctrine", Chess addressed and satirized the hostility of the international political atmosphere of the 1980s.
- Program Note from Wikipedia
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Amador County (Pine Grove, Calif.) Concert Band (Ernie Kapphahn, conductor) – 19 May 2019
- Harmoniecorps Tuindorp Amsterdam (Bert Willemsen, conductor) - 2016
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Musical Highlights from "Chess" (with Benny Andersson, arr. Meij) (1993)
Resources
- Andersson, B.; Ulvaeus, B.; Meij, J. (1993). Musical Highlights from Chess : For Band [score]. Molennar: Wormerveer, Netherland.
- Chess (musical), Wikipedia Accessed 30 May 2019
- Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Björn Kristian Ulvaeus" Accessed 30 May 2019
- Perusal score