Reagan of Illinois

David Holsinger

General Info

Year: 2011 / 2013
Duration: c. 18:29
Difficulty: IV-1/2 (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: TRN Music Publisher
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $95.00 | Score Only (print) - $15.00

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-VI, including:

Bar Chimes
Bass Drum (small and regular)
Cowbell (small)
Crash Cymbals (small, "toy," and regular)
Hi-hat
Marimba
Orchestral Bells (or Glockenspiel)
Snare Drum
Sports Whistle
Suspended Cymbal
Tambourine
Temple Blocks
Triangle (small and regular)
Xylophone

Narrator Score

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Although born in nearby Tampico, Illinois, Ronald Reagan moved with his family to Dixon, Illinois, when he was nine years old. In many of his speeches and writings, he always referred to his growing up in Dixon and the many life lessons he learned in those formative years. As far as the 40th President of the United States was concerned, Dixon, Illinois, was his hometown.

To celebrate the president’s 100th birthday remembrance on February 6, 2011, the City of Dixon commissioned this work for symphonic band and narrator, as a gift of love from his hometown. The narration, gathered from his autobiography, Ronald Reagan, An American Life, takes us from his initial remembrances of Dixon to his first audition with Warner Brothers Studios in 1939. As with his delightfully written reminiscence, the composition is laced with gratitude, fond recollections, and humorous anecdotes concerning his years growing up in the Illinois farmland. (Admittedly, one of the more delightful moments in the compositional process for me was a chance to do a little historical “borrowing,” incorporating not only the beautiful Illinois State Song, but also the 1930s era Eureka College hymn and the Eureka College fight song, the very tunes probably heard by a young football player named “Dutch” Reagan while attending college there.)

The Dixon Ronald Reagan Centennial Committee Commission was chaired by Ann Lewis, who also served as the vice-chairman of the Illinois Reagan Centennial Commission, in cooperation with Mark Bressler, director of the Dixon Municipal Band who currently works for the West Carroll School District.

I was pleased to be offered this opportunity to honor this well-loved president.

- Program Note by composer

Commissioned by the City of Dixon, Illinois to Commemorate the Centennial Birthday of President Ronald Reagan, A Gift of Love from his Boyhood Hometown.

- Program Note from score

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

Audio CD: Dixon Municipal Band (David Holsinger, conductor) - 2013

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

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. (2013). Reagan of Illinois [score]. TRN Music Publisher: Alto, N.M.
Perusal score