Sea Songs

Ralph Vaughan Williams

General Info

Year: 1924
Duration: c. 4:00
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $90.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo Flute
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Clarinet I-II
B-flat Clarinet I-II-III-IV
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Baritone
Basses
Percussion (4 players) including:

Bass Drum
Crash Cymbals
Snare Drum
Triangle

Errata

In Parts:

C Flute and Piccolo, m.19: First four notes should be 16th notes.

In Score and Parts:

E-flat Clarinet, m.58: Upper note should be printed C.

Program Notes

Written in 1923 for the following year’s Wembley Exhibition, Sea Songs is a march medley of three well-known sea shanties: Princess Royal, Admiral Benbow, and Portsmouth. Written in typical march form with a trio, it was published simultaneously for brass band and wind band, and was later transcribed by the composer for symphony orchestra. It should be noted that Sea Songs was originally intended to be the final movement of Vaughan Williams’s Folk Song Suite.

- Program Note by Nikk Pilato

Media

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State Ratings

Texas: IV. Complete

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Tarleton State University (Stephenville, Tx.) Symphonic Band (David Robinson, conductor) - 14 November 2021
Collinsville (Ill.) High School Wind Ensemble (Alfredo Deleon, conductor) - 14 October 2021
Oneonta (N.Y.) Community Concert Band (Andrew Pease, conductor) – 18 April 2021
Kennesaw (Ga.) State University Wind Symphony (Debra Traficante, conductor) – 12 April 2021
Florida State University (Tallahassee) Concert Band (Steven Kelly, conductor) – 16 November 2020
Andrews University (Berrien Spring, Mich.) Wind Symphony (Byron Graves, conductor) – 24 October 2020
Carroll Community Wind Ensemble (Carrollton, Ga.) (Terry Lowery, conductor) – 22 October 2020
Baylor University (Waco, Texas) Wind Ensemble (Hannah Morrison, conductor) – 2 March 2020
Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah) Symphonic Band (Kirk Saville, conductor) – 26 February 2020
Kent (Ohio) Roosevelt High School Wind Ensemble (John Roebke, conductor) – 23 February 2020
University of North Texas (Denton) Wind Ensemble (Daniel Cook, conductor) – 18 February 2020
Ohio Wesleyan University (Delaware, O.) 9-10 High School Honor Band (Ishbah Cox, conductor) – 15 February 2020
University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (Chickasha) (Kaleb Benda, conductor) – 18 November 2019
Parkland College (Champaign, Ill.) Concert Band (Larry Stoner, conductor) – 20 October 2019
University Heights (Ohio) Symphonic Band (Matthew Salvaggio, conductor) – 20 October 2019
Johnson City (Tenn.) Community Concert Band (Christian Zembower, conductor) – 7 October 2019
Golden Gate Park Band (San Francisco, Calif.) (Robert Calonico, conductor) – 16 June 2019
Kenosha (Wisc.) Pops Concert Band (Craig Gall, conductor) – 12 June 2019
Treasure Coast Wind Ensemble (Vero Beach, Fla.) (Colbert Page Howell, conductor) – 7 June 2019
Blythewood (S.C.) High School Concert Band (Quintus Wrighten, conductor) – 16 May 2019
Highty-Tighties Concert Band (Blacksburg, Va.) (Parker Treuber, conductor) – 5 May 2019

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Folk Songs from Somerset (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
My Bonny Boy (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Seventeen Come Sunday (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)

All Wind Works

Concerto for Bass Tuba (arr. Wick and Chambers) (1954/1992)
Concerto Grosso (arr. Grechesky) (1924)
Concerto in F minor for Tuba and Winds (arr. Hare) (1954/1992)
England's Pleasant Land (arr. Noble) (1938/2017)
English Folk Song Suite (1924)
English Folk Song Suite (arr. Villanueva) (1924/)
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (arr. Bocook) (1910/2006)
Fantasia on Greensleeves (arr. Wagner) (1934/2011)
Five English Folk Songs (arr. Feldman) (1913/2009)
Five Variants of "Dives and Lazarus" (arr. Gregson) (1939/2004)
Flourish for Glorious John (or. Boyd) (1957/1998)
Flourish for Wind Band (1939)
Folk Songs from Somerset (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Golden Vanity, The (arr. Wagner) (1933/2009)
I Vow to Thee, My Country (as setter; ed. Grechesky) (1921/1988)
Lark Ascending, The (tr. Silvester) (1914/1925/2003)
Linden Lea (arr. Wagner) (1902/2013)
Linden Lea (arr. Stout) (1902/1984)
The Lowlands of Scotland (arr. Daehn) (1912/2006)
March Past of the Kitchen Utensils (arr. Erwin) (1909/2010)
My Bonny Boy (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Norfolk Rhapsody (tr. Robert O'Brien) (1905)
Overture to "The Wasps" (tr. Frank Hudson) (1909)
Prelude, 49th Parallel (arr. van der Beek) (1960/2018)
Prelude: 49th Parallel (arr. Noble) (1941/2014)
Prelude: 49th Parallel (arr. Winkler) (1941/1960)
Prelude from "49th Parallel" (tr. Osmon) (1941/1960/1987/2002)
Prelude on Three Welsh Hymn Tunes (arr. Curnow) (1954/1982)
Prelude: The New Commonwealth (arr. Grauer) (1940/2006)
A Ralph Vaughan Williams Portrait (arr. Wagner) (2018)
Rhosymedre (tr. Beeler) (1920/1972)
Rhosymedre (tr. Johnston) (1920/2011)
Rhosymedre (tr. Baldwin) (1920/)
Running Set, The (tr. Silvester) (1933)
Scherzo alla Marcia (1956)
Sea Songs (1925)
Sea Songs (arr. Longfield) (1925/2006)
Seventeen Come Sunday (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Sine Nomine (arr. Reed) (1976)
Sine Nomine (arr. Houseknecht) (1906/1960)
Songs of Travel (arr. Patterson) (1901-4)
Three Studies in English Folk Song (arr. Harbinson) (1927/1999/2003)
Toccata Marziale (1924)
Toccata Marziale (ed Battisti) (ed. Battisti) (1924/2005)
Variations for Wind Band (trans. Hunsberger) (1957/1988/1997)
Vaughan Williams Christmas, A (arr. Wagner) (1999)
Wassail (arr. Smith)

Resources

Pease, Andy. "Sea Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams." Wind Band Literature, 23 May 2018. Web. Accessed 29 May 2018
Vaughan Williams, R. (1924). Quick March, Sea Songs [score]. Boosey: London.