On the Overland Stage to El Paso

David Holsinger

General Info

Year: 2006
Duration: c. 3:55
Difficulty: III-1/2 (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: TRN Music Publisher
Cost: Score and Parts - $85.00 | Score Only - $12.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
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
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:

Bass Drum
Claves (Metal)
Crash Cymbals
Hi-Hat
Jingle Bells
Orchestra Bells
Ribbon Crasher
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal
Temple Blocks
Toms
Triangle
Woodblock
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Between 1851 and 1881 a series of Stagecoach contractors carried the United States mail and passengers westward from San Antonio to El Paso. During various periods, the stage line also served Santa Fe, New Mexico and San Diego, California. In November of 1851, the first mail was dispatched by stage line west and by December, passenger service also, despite the continual threat of Indian attack. The original stage line operated for several years at a loss because of Indian attacks. In 1857, the Giddings-Birch Stage Line won a government contract to furnish mail service between San Antonio and San Diego on a semimonthly basis; this San-San was said to be the first American transcontinental mail and passenger service. The first California mail departed San Antonio on July 9, 1857, and reached San Diego on August 30 after an arduous passage. Over the next year, the 1,476-mile biweekly journey was made in an average time of twenty-seven days; the record was twenty-one days. For passengers, the one-way fare, including meals, was $200.

During the Civil War, the stage line changed governments several times and continued to survive as best it could, crippled by hostile Indians and either Union or Confederate raiders, depending on who was in control at any given time. Eventually, the line was suspended for the duration. The stage line revived service in April 1866 and was led by general superintendent Benjamin Ficklin, who directed the field operations. Ficklin rapidly became the dominant figure in the business. He had served as a route superintendent for the Central Overland and Pike's Peak Express Company and had overseen the establishment of the Pony Express. Ficklin reinvigorated the Texas line by rerouting the stages toward the Middle Concho River before turning west to Fort Stockton and established branch routes that served Northwest Texas, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory.

When Ficklin died in 1871, his assistant, Francis Taylor, took over. Taylor enlarged the company's headquarters on the Middle Concho and named the village Ben Ficklin in honor of his friend. He was instrumental in the organization of Tom Green County in 1874, and in January 1875 the growing community of Ben Ficklin was chosen as the county seat. Despite declining revenues and losses to the Indians, the stage line functioned until the Texas and Pacific Railroad reached El Paso on January 1, 1882, and put the stage company out of business. The San Antonio-El Paso Stage Line rarely turned a profit for its successive operators, but it did have a favorable impact on the state's development. The introduction of a regular means of commercial transportation and the establishment of a chain of fortified relay stations along the road west to El Paso encouraged travel and settlement in the region.

- Program Note from publisher

Media

Audio: Reference recording. University of Texas El Paso Wind Symphony (Ron Hufstader, conductor)
Audio CD: Palmetto Concert Band (David R. Holsinger, conductor) - 2008
Audio CD: University of Texas El Paso Wind Symphony (Ron Hufstader, conductor)

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Blue Lake Session 1 2017 Blue Concert Band - July 2017
Palmetto Concert Band (Columbia, S.C.) (David R. Holsinger, conductor) – 20 December 2008 (2008 Midwest Clinic)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Abram’s Pursuit (1998)
Adagio (2000)
The Adventures of Kid Cam, the Rocketman! (2014)
American Faces (1996)
Ancient Dances (2020)
The Armies of the Omnipresent Otserf (1981)
Army Ants March and Boogie (2005)
At the Strongholds of En Gedi (1996)
Ballet Exaltare (1999)
Ballet Sacra (1990)
Battle Music (1990)
A Call to Celebration (2012)
Canticles! (2001)
The Case of the Mysterious Stranger (1990)
The Chase (2003)
A Childhood Hymn (as arranger) (1862/1991)
City Symphony
- Cityscape I (Festive Hours Neon Night) (2001)
- Cityscape II (Lonely Hours Anguished Night) (2004)
- Cityscape III (Morning Hours Salvation Light) (2008)
The Cluster Bluster Fluster March (1991)
Connacht Rhapsody (2017)
Consider the Uncommon Man (1992)
Deborah's Triumph/Jael's Revenge (2016)
Deerpath Dances (1996)
Divertimented Dances (2006)
The Easter Symphony (1986-1997)
Elegy on an American Folk Tune (2006)
Elegy on an Evening Hymn (2013)
Every Morning New (2002)
Falcon Attack! (2002)
Fanfare for Brass and Timpani (2003)
Fanfare for Such a Time as This (2007)
Fanfare for the Glorious Naycart (2001)
Fantasy on a Gaelic Hymnsong (1999)
Fantasy on Old Hundred (2019)
Festiva Jubiloso (2000)
Festival Music for a Silver Celebration
Fort Canterbury March (1989)
The Gathering of the Ranks at Hebron (1988)
Gears Pulleys Chains (2006)
Gmyway’s Revenge! (1994)
Graysondance (1993)
Gypsydance (1994)
Havendance (1985)
The Helm Toccata (1991)
Hero Music (2005)
Homage: Three Tapestries (1999)
Hopak Raskolniki (1980)
If You Must Doodle, Doodle Somewhere Else (1990)
In Praise of Gentle Pioneers (1996)
In the Spring at the Time When Kings Go Off to War (1991)
A Jolly Walk in Hibbertland (1991)
Kaylen Dreaming (2006)
Kansas City Dances (1978)
L'Arco della Vita (2021)
Lake Canterbury Regatta (1993)
Last Run (2020)
A Little Adventure Music (2002)
Little Fantasy on an American Hymn (2009)
A Little Mystery Music (1996)
Liturgical Dances (1984)
The Maelstrom (2009)
The March of the Combat Patrol (1991)
March of the Grand High Poobah (2006)
March on a Russian Hymnsong (2003)
Mobbusters! (1994)
Nilesdance (1987)
On a Childhood Sunday Song (2004)
On a Hymnsong of Lowell Mason (1990)
On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss (1989)
On a Hymnsong of Robert Lowry (1993)
On a Southern Hymnsong (1993)
On an American Spiritual (1991)
On Ancient Hymns and Festal Dances (1988)
On the Cul-de-sac, Three O’clock, Friday Afternoon (1999)
On the Grand Prairie Texas (1989)
On the Overland Stage to El Paso (2006)
One Day in a Small Town (2004)
Otserf II : Revenge of the Warrior Prince (2009)
Partita Allegro (1997)
The Peasant Village Dance (1990)
Praises! (2001)
Prairie Dances (1998)
Prelude and Presto (2018)
Prelude and Rondo (1976)
The Pride of Buxmont (2000)
Providence Unfinished (2002)
Quiet River (2011)
Reagan of Illinois (2011)
Reagan of Illinois Part II (2013)
Riding With the Frontier Battalion (2000)
Scaling the North Wall (1990)
Scootin’ on Hardrock (1999)
Scrappy Bumptoe’s Picture Cards and Ragtag Diary (1981)
Sinfonia Voci (1993)
Solemn Hymn & Rowdy Dance (2010)
Soliloquy (2020)
Some Give All (2016)
A Song of Moses (1999)
Summer to Fall: A Love Song (2006)
Symphonia Glorioso (2006)
Symphonic Movement (2000)
Texas Promenade (1999
Til His Hand Grew Tired and Froze to the Sword (2004)
To Live a Life Triumphant (2007)
To Tame the Perilous Skies (1990)
Von Grrrhart’s 613th Regimental March (1994)
The War Trilogy: 1971 (1999)
The White Rose (as arranger) (1917/)
Zinphonia (2017)

Resources

David Holsinger website Accessed 29 August 2021
Holsinger, D. (2006). On the Overland Stage to El Paso [score]. TRN Music Publishers: Alto, N.M.