Overture to "The Wasps"

Ralph Vaughan Williams

General Info

Year: 1909 / 1995
Duration: c. 10:00
Original scoring: Orchestra
Difficulty: IV-1/2 (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: TRN Music
Cost: Score and Parts - $90.00 | Score Only - $12.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
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 I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Baritone
Tuba
String Bass
Harp
Timpani
Percussion including:

Bass Drum
Crash Cymbals
Suspended Cymbal
Triangle

Errata

In parts:

Piccolo, m.317: change last note to A.
Flute I & II, m.405: change the last quarter note to B-flat.
Oboe I, m.76: add dot to first note; m.117, change second note to F-sharp.
Oboe II, m.117: change second note to F-sharp.
Clarinet I, m.217: beat 3; change lower div. G to G-sharp.
Clarinet II, m.224: delete bar line before beat 3.
Clarinet III, m.420: change 2nd 16th note to F natural.
Bassoon I & II, m.311: change beat 2 to even eighth notes.
Alto Sax I, m.133: delete first eighth rest.
Alto Sax II, m.114: make first quarter G sharp, m.121, make D-sharp.
Trumpet I, m.222: delete bar line before beat 3.
Trumpet II, m.130: change to 5 measures rest; m.349, delete bar line before beat 3.
Horn I, m.317: change 4th 16th note to D.
Horn II, m.146, 154, 160, 349: delete sharp from key signature.
Trombone II, m.130-131: make 1st note B natural
Trombone II, m.132: make 1st note D-flat.
Tuba, m.159: change 1st two eighth notes to F-G.
String Bass, m.403: first 4 notes should read F-G-A-G.
Harp, m.201: beat 1 & 2, change top stave to bass clef.

Program Notes

Overture to “The Wasps” was written for a production at Trinity College, Cambridge, of Aristophanes’ play, The Wasps, which satirizes the Athenian courts of law. The overture opens with the buzzing sounds of the judiciary and continues with a bouncy tune introduced by the woodwinds and joined by the entire band. A march theme and a pastoral tune are added later. All three themes are restated and altered throughout the piece, which eventually ends with the march tune. Except for the opening buzzing, the piece has surprisingly little to do with wasps or with ancient Greece.

- Program Note by the San Jose Wind Symphony

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

Florida: VI
Georgia: VI
Louisiana: V
Maryland: VI
Mississippi: VI-A
Oklahoma: V-A
Tennessee: VI
Texas: V. Complete
Virginia: VI

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

OKC Winds (Oklahoma City, Okla.) (Mike Lowery, conductor) - 25 June 2023
Philadelphia (Penn.) Wind Symphony (Paul Bryan, conductor) – 14 December 2019
Butler University (Indianapolis, Ind.) Wind Ensemble (Michael Colburn, conductor) – 8 April 2017
Allegheny College (Penn.) Band Camp for Adult Musicians (Timothy Foley, conductor) – 1 July 2016
University of Texas, Austin, Symphony Band (Steven M. Knight, conductor) – 14 October 2015
San Jose Wind Symphony (Edward Harris, conductor) - 9 March 2014
Brooklyn (N.Y.) Wind Symphony (Jeff W. Ball, conductor) - 24 October 2009

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. See: Folk Song Suite
English Folk Song Suite (arr. Villanueva) (1924/)
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (arr. Bocook) (1910/2006)
Fantasia on Christmas Carols (arr. Laughlin) (1912/2016/2020)
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 Song Suite (1924/2008)
Folk Songs from Somerset (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
The Golden Vanity (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)
Norfolk Rhapsody No. 2 in D minor (tr. O'Toole) (1906/2014?)
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/)
The Running Set (arr. Daehn) (1933/2007)
The Running Set (tr. Silvester) (1933)
Scherzo alla Marcia (1956)
Sea Songs (1924)
Sea Songs (arr. Longfield) (1924/2006)
Seventeen Come Sunday (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Sine Nomine (arr. Cacavas) (1906/1998)
Sine Nomine (arr. Houseknecht) (1906/1960)
Sine Nomine (arr. Reed) (1906/1976)
Songs of Travel (arr. Patterson) (1901-4)
Three Dorset Songs (arr. Stotter) (1902-1903/2003)
Three Studies in English Folk Song (arr. Harbinson) (1927/1999/2003)
Toccata Marziale (1924)
Toccata Marziale (ed. Battisti) (1924/2005)
Variations for Wind Band (trans. Hunsberger) (1957/1988/1997)
A Vaughan Williams Christmas (arr. Wagner) (1999)
Wassail (arr. Smith)

Resources

Vaughan Williams, R.; Hudson, F. (1995). Overture to "The Wasps" [score]. TRN Music: Ruidoso, N.M.