Overture to “The School for Scandal”
Samuel Barber (trans. Frank Hudson)
General Info
Year: 1931 / 1971
Duration: c. 8:10
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: G. Schirmer, Inc., through Wise Music Classical
Cost: Rental
Instrumentation
Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II-III-IV
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV-V-VI
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-III
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Baritone
Euphonium
Tuba I-II
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion (4 players), including:
- Bass Drum
- Glockenspiel
- Suspended Cymbal
- Triangle
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
(This transcription is) Dedicated to the Ohio State University Concert Band and its conductor, Dr. Donald E. McGinnis.
- Program Note from score
Although this concert overture has no connection to any music for the stage, it was inspired by the comic spirit of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's classic play of the same title. The work (opus 5) was composed in 1931 as a graduation "thesis" at the Curtis Institute of Music. It was transcribed by Frank Hudson while he was a freshman at Ohio State University and was dedicated to the OSU Band and its conductor, Donald E. McGinnis.
The brilliance and impeccable craftsmanship of this sonata-form overture have earned it a permanent place in the international repertoire. Following a short, scintillating introduction, the lengthy and rhythmically quirky first theme is presented and elaborated. A lyrical pastoral theme for oboe provides contrast, after which the development relates almost exclusively to the first theme and its variants. The recapitulation is regular, leading to a virtuosic coda based partly on a fugal treatment of the principal variant of the first theme. The final reference to the opening material closes the work.
- Program Note from Program Notes for Band
Media
- Audio CD: Duncanville High School Wind Ensemble (Tom Shine, conductor) - 2005
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Marcus High School (Flower Mound, Tx.) Wind Symphony (Jeffry D. Jones, conductor) - 20 December 2023 (2023 Midwest Clinic)
- Florida State University (Tallahassee) Wind Ensemble (Drew Hardy-Moore, conductor) - 8 November 2022
- State University of New York Stony Brook Wind Ensemble (Bruce Engel, conductor) – 17 April 2019
- University of Florida (Gainesville) Wind Symphony (David Waybright, conductor) – 8 November 2018
- Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Md.) Peabody Wind Ensemble (Harland D. Parker, conductor) – 7 February 2018
- Ohio State University (Columbus) Wind Symphony (Russel C. Mikkelson, conductor) – 2 November 2017
- City of Fairfax (Va.) Band (Robert Pouliot, conductor) – 25 March 2017
- United States Air Force Band (Washington, D.C.) (Timothy Holton, conductor) - 6 March 2015
- Friendswood (Texas) High School Wind Ensemble (Gregory Dick, conductor) - February 2010 (Texas Music Educators Association Convention)
- Duncanville (Tx.) High School Wind Ensemble (Tom Shine, conductor) – 16 December 2005 (2005 Midwest Clinic)
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Adagio (arr. Linden) (1936/2006)
- Adagio (arr. Warner) (1936/1997)
- Adagio for Strings (arr. Wilkinson) (1936/2003)
- Adagio for Young Concert Band (arr. Jennings) (1936/1991)
- Adagio from "Adagio for Strings" (arr. Custer) (1936)
- Andante and Tranquillo (arr. Saucedo) (1943/2009)
- Commando March (1943)
- Commando March (ed. Collinsworth) (1943/2009)
- Commando March (arr. Curnow) (1943/1990)
- Fantasy on a Theme by Samuel Barber (arr. Saucedo) (1931/2005)
- First Essay (arr. Joseph Levey) (1937/1972)
- Funeral March (1943)
- Intermezzo (from “Vanessa") (arr. Beeler) (1962)
- Knoxville, Summer of 1915 (tr. Singleton) (1949/2004)
- Medea’s Dance of Vengeance, op 23a (arr. Hudson)
- Mutations from Bach (1968)
- Overture to “The School for Scandal” (arr. Hudson) (1941/1971
- Second Essay (arr. Schneider) (2011)
- Summer Music (1956)
- Sure on This Shining Night (arr. Saucedo) (1938/2004)
- Symphony in One Movement (tr. Duker) (1936/1970)
Resources
- Heyman, Barbara B. (1992). Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications, pp. 34-35.