Renaissance Fair, The

From Wind Repertory Project
Claude Gervaise

Claude Gervaise (arr. Bob Margolis)


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General Info

Year: 1993
Duration: c. 4:30
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Manhattan Beach Music
Cost: Score and Parts - $135.00   |   Score Only - $15.00


Movements

1. Entry of the Court
2. Shepherdesses' Dance
3. The Magicians


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
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
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV

(percussion detail desired)


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Commissioned by the Murchison Middle School Band, Austin, Tex., Cheryl Floyd, director.

-Program Note from score


The Renaissance Fair was commissioned to be a sequel to the composer's band work, Fanfare Ode & Festival. Meant for the top middle school band that commissioned it, The Renaissance Fair is appropriate for high school bands and technically gifted junior high bands. The splendid demonstration recording is by the University of Michigan Wind Ensemble conducted by H. Robert Reynolds.

The three-movement suite depicts a joyful gathering of royalty and peasantfolk for an entertainment of dancing and magic. Winds and brass are intended to imitate their antique counterparts. Percussion instruments are color infusers -- there for texture and sparkle.

The chirpingly regal first movement, Entry of the Court, is the famous Courante (CLXXXIII) from Prætorius' Terpsichore of 1612. In this band setting the winds are arrayed in extreme registers -- high in the flutes and low in the contra clarinets -- for a brilliant and weightless 16th-century band sound. A subsequent shift to bass sounds adds weight and a ceremonial quality to the end of the movement.

The lilting second movement, Shepherdesses' Dance, is the well-know Basse Danse, "Bergerette sans roch," from Susato's Het derde musyck boexken (called Danserye) of 1551. This movement can be performed anywhere from moderately slow to moderately fast. Alternating choirs provide clear contrasts in texture, the brass especially being featured.

The speedy third movement, The Magicians, is the final dance on the last folio of Danserye, the relatively obscure Gaillarde (XV), "Le tout," an extraordinary romp of marked vivacity. Intricate percussion parts propel the music forward until an abrupt change of key and timbre sets our musical galaxy on tilt. Temple blocks herald an abrupt ending, the music hurls itself beyond the silence.

-Program Note by composer


Media


State Ratings

  • Alabama: Class B
  • Florida: IV
  • Georgia: V
  • Kansas: IV
  • Louisiana: III
  • Maryland: IV
  • Michigan: Senior High B
  • North Carolina: IV
  • Oklahoma: IV-A
  • South Carolina: IV
  • Texas: III. Complete
  • Virginia: V


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • Margolis, Bob (1993).The Renaissance Fair: For Concert Band [score]. Manhattan Beach Music: Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Miles, Richard B. 2000. Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. Volume 3. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 264-269.