Running Set, The (arr. Daehn)

From Wind Repertory Project
Ralph Vaughan Williams

Ralph Vaughan Williams (arr. Larry Daehn)


Subtitle: Founded on Traditional Dance Tunes


General Info

Year: 1933 / 2007
Duration: c. 6:00
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Daehn Music, through C.L. Barnhouse
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $86.00   |   Score Only (print) - $10.00


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
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Bells
  • Chimes
  • Marimba
  • Snare Drum
  • Triangle
  • Vibraphone
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

This lively jig dances from beginning to end. Several British folk tunes are mixed in with the melody as the moving eighth notes provide the "running" theme. Each section is featured playing the melodic line.

- Program Note from publisher


The Running Set (1933) was originally for reduced, though not chamber-sized, orchestra. The title of the work pertains to a dance that had disappeared from England by the time the composer wrote this work. However, it could still be seen in certain parts of the United States in the first half of the twentieth century.

Vaughan Williams uses the themes from four folk dance tunes in The Running Set: Barrack Hill, The Blackthorn Stick, Irish Reel, and Cock o' the North. While these titles may sound quaint to us today, they were well-known items to Vaughan Williams, who had collected over 800 folk songs, arranging many for both vocal and instrumental combinations.

The Running Set begins with a lively, jovial tune Barrack Hill, clothed in colorful orchestration, featuring the percussion section, especially the snare drum. The other aforementioned folk tunes follow in quick succession, all lively and each having somewhat Irish flavors. The music effervesces from first note to last and features driving, energetic rhythms throughout.

Vaughan Williams wrote the work for the 1934 National Folk Dance Festival held in London.

- Program Note from University of North Texas University Band concert program, 9 November 2016


Media


State Ratings

  • North Carolina: IV


Performances

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