Red Rover

Jess Langston Turner

Subtitle: Divertimento for Wind Band

General Info

Year: 2019
Duration: c. 6:30
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Murphy Music Press
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $150.00 | Score Only (print) - $30.00

Movements

1. The First Game
2. Order Is Restored
3. The Second Game – School's Out

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
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-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium I-II
Tuba I-II
String Bass
Piano Four-Hands
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V, including:

Bass Drums (2: One "small crappy")
Bongos
Chimes
Cowbell
Egg Shaker
Flexatone
Glockenspiel
Guiro
Hi-Hat
Marimba
Police Whistle
Ratchet
Sandpaper Blocks
Shaker (metal)
Slapstick (heavy)
Snare Drum
Squeak Toy (loud)
Suspended Cymbal
Tambourine
Tam-Tam (large)
Temple Blocks
Tom-Tom
Triangle
Vibraphone
Whip
Wood Block (high)
Xylophone

Players chanting

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Red Rover is the composer's equivalent to driving while angry. It’s over-the-top. It’s too fast and too loud. It’s exhausting to play and conduct. I began work on Red Rover in early 2018, shortly after several tragic events had unfolded across the U.S., and what emerged was a dark, violent little divertimento on the theme of children's playground games.

To me, the game Red Rover perfectly captures human's penchant for tribalism and violence, all in an "innocent" school playground setting. Throughout the piece, you will hear heavy breathing, running feet, quotes from playground songs, singing, whispering, police whistles, a squeak toy, and a broken window. This marks the first time that I've ever told an ensemble "I want you to make the audience deeply uncomfortable."

Many thanks to Matthew De Lassus and the Ellington High School Band Boosters in Ellington, Conn. for commissioning this project.

- Program Note from publisher

Commissioned by Matthew De Lassus and the Ellington High School Music Department.

- Program Note from score

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Greater Hartford Youth Wind Symphony (Glen Adsit, conductor)

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Reference recording. Greater Hartford Youth Wind Symphony (Glen Adsit, conductor) – 1 May 2022 *Premiere Performance*

Works for Winds by this Composer

Agua Nocturna (2010)
And Can It Be (2009)
Black Bolt! (2012)
Blues for a Squirrel in the Rain (2019)
Bock Fanfares (2013)
Burning Music (2011)
Chamber Concerto No. 1 (2012)
Concertino Caboclo (2012)
Dancefares (2016)
Deep Calls to Deep (2016)
The Exultant Heart (2016)
Ford's Machine (2011)
The Grand Processional of Our Reptilian Overlords (2019)
He Who Would Valiant Be (2010)
Heavy Weather (2012)
I Know Moonrise (2019)
If I Am to Leave... See: Symphony No. 1
In Light, Accessible... (2015)
The King of Love, My Shepherd Is (2004)
Last Dances of Prospero (2009)
Light Beyond Shadow (as arranger) (2020/2022)
Like a River Glorious (2008)
Lullaby for Leaving (2021)
Lullaby from "Memorial to Silent Voices" (2011)
Lux Veritas,
Moonstruck Possum Trot (2013)
The Mountain Whippoorwill (2011)
Noche Triste (2013)
Nocturne Under a Red Moon (2013)
Nothing to Fear, Nothing to Doubt (2017)
Nuclear Family (2014)
Oh, What a Morning! (2013)
Paens for Brass Quintet (2009)
Reanimations (2014)
Red Rover (2019)
Rumpelstilzchen (2010)
The Seventh Degree of Freedom
Symphony No. 1 (2019)
Through the Looking Glass (2008)
Urban Etudes for Double String Quartet and Brass Quintet (2009)
You'll Come Matilda (Endlessly Waltzing) (2015)

Resources

Jess Langston Turner website – Accessed 11 June 2022