Pavanne (Gould)

Morton Gould

Morton Gould (arr. Paul Yoder)

General Info

Year: 1938 / 1942 / 1961
Duration: c. 3:20
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Mills
Cost: Score and Parts - Out of print.

For availability information, see Discussion tab, above.

Instrumentation

Condensed Score
D-flat Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet Solo-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 Bass Saxophone
B-flat Cornet Solo-II-III
E-flat Horn or Alto I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion (3 players), including:

• Bass Drum
• Crash Cymbals
• Snare Drum
• Triangle

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The Pavanne is one of Morton Gould's most often performed and recorded works, but is actually the second movement of his American Symphonette No. 2, a symphonic suite written with a jazz tinge and intended for radio performance. The Pavanne is written as a short allegretto, lasting roughly four minutes. It opens with a jazzy trumpet tune superimposed over a subtle, walking bass-like ostinato. Different instruments join in, and the work builds to replicate the sounds of a 1940s big band. The structure is loosely ABACDCABA, with the C section introducing a melancholy flute fragment that could be an homage to Gabriel Fauré’s even more famous Pavane.

Fragments of Gould’s Pavanne were later worked into such jazz pieces as John Coltrane's "Impressions," Dizzy Gillespie's "Bebop" and "April B," and David Baker's "Wes Montgomery in Memoriam."

Gould recorded an orchestral version of this composition about three years after the release of Bill Finnigan’s more widely known dance band arrangement was featured on the flip-side of Glenn Miller’s Little Brown Jug. Gould transcribed the piece for band in 1961. Relatively unknown by today’s young audiences, it is a delightful little swing number for band.

- Program Note by David Holsinger

Awards

• Pavanne has been recommended as interesting, serious and distinctive music by members of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE).

Media

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

• Foothill Symphonic Band (Palo Alto, Calif.) (David Bruce Adams, conductor) - 4 June 2023
• Strongville (Ohio) Community Band (Ken Mahelko, conductor) - 12 August 2022
• Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Vancouver, B.C., Can.) (David Branter, conductor) - 14 April 2022
• Indiana State University (Terre Haute) Wind Orchestra/Wind Ensemble (Nikk Pilato, conductor) - 18 November 2021
• California State University Bakersfield Concert Band (Leo Sakamoto, conductor) – 6 October 2019
• Middlesex Concert Band (Wakefield, Mass.) (Joseph Nuccio, conductor) – 8 June 2019
• Virginia Grand Military Band (Alexandria) (Loras John Schissel, conductor) – 26 January 2019
• Lee University (Cleveland, Tenn.) Wind Ensemble (Winona Gray Holsinger, conductor) – 9 October 2018
• State University of New York, Potsdam, Concert Band (Michael Schaff, conductor) – 8 November 2017
• Northwest Missouri State University (Maryville) Wind Symphony (Katy Strickland, conductor) – 26 January 2017 (MMEA 79th Annual In-Service Workshop/Conference)
• Bixby High School Wind Ensemble (Jeremy W. Parker, conductor) - 11 May 2015
• Chelmsford (Mass.) Community Band (Lucinda Ellert, conductor) - 2 November 2014

Works for Winds by This Composer

• Amber Waves. See: American Ballads
• American Ballads (1976)
  • Star-Spangled Overture (tr. Ripley) (1976)
  • Amber Waves (tr. Ripley) (1976)
  • Jubilo (tr. Ripley) (1976)
  • Memorials — on “Taps”
  • Saratoga Quickstep — on “The Girl I Left Behind”
  • Hymnal — on “We Shall Overcome”
• American Patrol (Gould)
• American Salute (tr. Lang) (1943/1971)
• American Salute (arr. Wagner) (1943/2009)
• American Youth March
• Ballad for Band (1946)
• Café Rio (1957)
• Centennial Symphony, Gala for Band (1983)
• Cheers! — A Celebration March (1979)
• Cinerama Holiday (1955)
  • Cinerama March from “Cinerama Holiday” (concert band)
  • On the Boulevard from “Cinerama Holiday”
  • Skier’s Waltz (arr. Cacavas) (1955/1957)
  • Souvenirs of Paris from “Cinerama Holiday”
• Concertette for Viola and Band (1943)
• Cowboy Rhapsody (arr. Bennett)
• Derivations for Solo Clarinet and Band (1955)
• The Deserted Ballroom (tr. Bennett) (1938)
• Dramatic Fanfares (arr. Brunelli) (1964/1967)
• Family Album Suite
  • Outing in the Park
  • Porch Swing on a Summer Evening
  • Nickelodeon
  • Old Romance from “Family Album Suite”
  • Horseless Carriage Galop (trans. Gould) (1951)
• Fanfare for Freedom (1943)
• The First Noel (as arranger) (1949)
• Folk Suite (arr. Lang) (1959)
  • Overture from "Folk Suite" (arr. Lang.) (1955/1959)
• Four Latin American Symphonette (arr. Koekelkoren) (1942/1998)
• Fourth of July (1947)
• Global Greetings(1994)
• Holiday Music (1947)
  • First Thanksgiving from “Holiday Music”
  • Halloween from “Holiday Music”
  • Home for Christmas from “Holiday Music”
• Holocaust Suite (arr. Gould) (1978/1980)
  • Babi Yar, from Suite from 'Holocaust'
  • Berta and Joseph, from Suite from 'Holocaust'
  • Elegy (Epilogue), from Suite from 'Holocaust'
  • Kristallnacht - The Night of the Broken Glass, from Suite from 'Holocaust'
  • Liberation, from Suite from 'Holocaust'
  • Main Theme for Band, from Suite from 'Holocaust'
• Jericho Rhapsody (1941)
• Jingle Bells (as arranger) (1857/1952)
• Jubilo. See: America Ballads, Jubilo - on "Year of Jubilo"
• Latin American Symphonette (arr. Koekelkoren) (1942/1998)
• March of the Leathernecks (arr. Lang) (1943/1944)
• Memorials. See: American Ballads, Memorials — on “Taps”
• Mini-Suite for Band (1968)
• Old Romance
• Overture from “Folk Suite”
• Parade of the Wooden Soldiers (as arranger; trans. Patterson)
• Pavanne (1938)
• Prisms (1962)
• Prologue, from CBS-TV series “World War I”
• Red Cavalry March (tr. Lang) (1943)
• Remembrance Day (Soliloquy for a Passing Century) (1995)
• Revolutionary Prelude, from CBS-TV documentary “World War I”
• Saint Lawrence Suite (1958)
• Santa Fe Saga (1956)
• Saratoga Quickstep. See: American Ballads, Saratoga Quickstep — on “The Girl I Left Behind”
• Sarajevo Suite (1964)
  • Royal Hunt from “Sarajevo Suite”
  • Royal March from “Sarajevo Suite”
• Serenade of Carols (tr. Gould) (1949)
• Serenade of Carols (tr. Patterson) (1949/2009)
• Skier's Waltz. See: Cinerama Holiday Skier’s Waltz
• Soft Shoe Serenade from “Hoofer Suite” (1956)
• Star-Spangled Overture. See: American Ballads, Star-Spangled Overture - on "The Star-Spangled Banner"
• Symphonette No. 2 (1938)
  • Movement I from “Symphonette No. 2”
  • Pavanne from “Symphonette No. 2” (arr. Yoder) (1939)
• Symphony No. 4 (1952)
• Taps. See: American Ballads, Memorials — on “Taps”
• We Shall Overcome. See: American Ballads, Hymnal
• West Point Symphony. See: Symphony No. 4
• Windjammer (Highlights) (1958)
• Yankee Doodle (tr. Lang) (1945)

Resources

• Girsberger, Russ. Percussion Assignments for Band & Wind Ensemble. Volume I: A-K. Galesburg, MD: Meredith Music Publications, 2004, 119. Print.
• Gould, M.; Yoder, P. (1939). Pavanne : Second Movement of American Symphonette no. 2 [core]. Mills: New York.