Santa Fe Saga
General Info
Year: 1956
Duration: c. 10:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: G. Schirmer
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $185.00 | Score Only (print) - $25.00
Themes (played without pause)
1. Rio Grande
2. Roundup
3. Wagon Train
4. Fiesta
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo/Flute III
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-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 Cornet I-II-III
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion (6 players), including:
- Bass Drum
- Castanets
- Chimes
- Claves
- Crash Cymbals
- Gong
- Orchestra Bells
- Ratchet
- Reins
- Scrapers
- Shakers
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tambourine
- Temple Blocks (2)
- Tom-Toms (3)
- Triangle
- Vibraphone
- Whip
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
In 1956 Gould again composed a work at the behest of legendary band director Edwin Franko Goldman. This time the request was not on behalf of the Goldman Band but the American Bandmasters Association (ABA), an organization of professional and school band directors Goldman co-founded in 1929. Because the première performance was to occur at the 1956 ABA convention in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Gould thought it appropriate to write music that reflected the area’s confluence of Spanish, Mexican, and Western American cultures.
Santa Fe Saga is comprised of four sections that are performed without pause, although they are clearly delineated with subtitles provided by the composer. The opening Rio Grande is a quietly pastoral representation of the river that is the lifeblood of the region. The tranquility of this introduction is dispelled by a rough and rowdy Roundup, a vigorous musical depiction of the dangerous and exciting life of the cowboy. This episode is followed by a vivid evocation of the ubiquitous Wagon Train of the nineteenth century Southwest, complete with the sounds of whips and the jingling reins of horses pulling their occupants across the rugged terrain. Gould appropriately concludes his Southwestern homage with a brilliant and rousing Fiesta.
When describing this section of Santa Fe Saga to a conference of band directors in San Antonio, in July 1993, the composer suddenly realized that he had used the term “Fiesta” in another of his works. (Gould had a lifelong tendency to recycle titles.) This revelation led to a humorous and typically self-deprecating observation: “I realize I obviously have Fiesta-itis, because here is another ‘Fiesta.’ I didn’t realize it until this moment. And I assure you that basically I’m not that happy a person, so I have no idea why I keep on writing these festive tunes!” Happy or not, Gould was certainly a master of writing music that sounded celebratory and full of vitality, as demonstrated by the exhilarating conclusion of Santa Fe Saga
- Program Note from liner notes of CD "An American Salute," U.S. Marine Band. 2013
Media
- Audio CD: U.S. Marine Band - 2013
State Ratings
- Alabama: Class A
- Georgia: VI
- Indiana: ISSMA SENIOR BAND GROUP I
- North Carolina: VI
- Oklahoma: V-A
- South Carolina: VI
- Texas: V. Complete
- Virginia: VI
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Eastern New Mexico University (Portales) Wind Symphony (Dustin Seifert, conductor) - 11 November 2023
- University of New Mexico (Albuquerque) Wind Symphony (Brett Penshorn, conductor) - 21 September 2022
- Los Angeles Symphonic Winds (Woodland Hills, Calif.) (Stephen Piazza, conductor) – 7 May 2022 (ACB 2022 Annual Convention (Santa Fe, New Mexico))
- Cornell University (Ithaca, N.Y.) Wind Symphony (James Spinazzola, conductor) - 6 November 2021
- Colorado Wind Ensemble (Denver) (David Kish, conductor)– 17 November 2019
- University of Illinois (Champaign) Wind Symphony (Stephen G. Peterson, conductor) – 1 April 2017
- University of Florida (Gainesville) Wind Ensemble (David Waybright, conductor) – 10 November 2016
- United States Marine Band (Washington, D.C.) (Michelle A. Rakers, conductor) 3 August 2016
- University of Kentucky (Lexington) Wind Symphony (John Cody Birdwell, conductor) – 14 February 2015
- United States Coast Guard Band (New London, Conn.) (Kenneth W. Megan, conductor) - 8 March 2013 (ABA 2013 Annual Convention (Tampa, Florida))
- Ithaca (N.Y.) College Wind Ensemble (Richard Mayne, conductor) – March 3, 2011 (ABA 2011 Annual Convention (Norfolk, Virginia))
- Ithaca (N.Y.) College Wind Ensemble (Stephen Peterson, conductor) – 26 February 2005 (CBDNA 2005 National Conference, New York, N.Y.)
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 Symphonette No. 2 (1939)
- 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
- 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)
- Fourth of July (arr. Rogers) (1947/2023)
- Global Greetings(1994)
- Holiday Music (1947)
- Holocaust Suite (arr. Gould) (1978/1980)
- 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)
- 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
- Gould, M. (1956). Santa Fe Saga: For Concert Band [score]. G&C Music: New York.
- Miles, Richard B., and Larry Blocher. 2002. Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. Volume 4. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 673-679.
[[Category: 1956