Passamezzo Antico

From Wind Repertory Project
Paul Richards

Paul Richards


General Info

Year: 2000
Duration: c. 11:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Southern Music Company
Cost: Score and Parts - $125.00   |  Score Only - $30.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II (doubling English Horn)
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V-VI, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Bongos
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Glockenspiel
  • Gong (Tam-tam)
  • Jawbone
  • Marimba
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbals (2)
  • Tambourine (mounted)
  • Timbales
  • Tom-Toms
  • Triangle
  • Tubular Bells
  • Vibraphone
  • Wind Chimes
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Passamezzo Antico is a common name for one of the standard harmonic patterns used in the late Renaissance. This work, commissioned by The Baylor University Wind Ensemble, Michael Haithcock, conductor, is a fantasy loosely based on this progression. Pass’e mezzi, or passamezzi, (meaning either step-and-a-half, or passing measures) were used chiefly for dance and entertainment purposes, where performers would improvise over a steady progression. In written form, the passamezzi represented a sort of composers improvisation, and it is in this vein that the present work was conceived. Considerable liberty is taken with the standard progression in terms of rhythm, register, and, above all, style, as the music travels from the Renaissance to the modern era, and many points in-between. A typical example of the sixteenth-century variety, by Vincenzo Galilei (Galileo’s father), is quoted half way through the piece on mallet percussion.

-Program Note by composer


Awards

  • Truman State University/MACRO Analysis Composition Competition, 2001


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • University of Florida (Gainesville) Wind Symphony (David Waybright, conductor) – 20 January 2015


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

None discovered thus far.