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.
Horn in F I, reh. D: There should be no key change.

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

Cleveland (Ohio) Youth Wind Symphony Group II (Timothy Reynish, conductor) – 2 March 2023
Northwest Wind Symphony (Centralia, Wash.) (Dan Schmidt, conductor) - 21 January 2023
River Valley Wind Ensemble (Kankakee County, Ill.) (David Conrad, conductor) – 30 October 2022
Rockford (Ill.) Wind Ensemble (Ken Goodman, conductor) - 23 October 2022
San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Wind Orchestra (Jennifer Martin, conductor) – 19 March 2022
Stephen F. Austin State University (Nacogdoches, Tx.) Symphonic Band (Chris Kaatz, conductor) - 16 November 2021
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
Stuttgart (Germany) Symphonic Youth Wind Orchestra (Alexander Beer, conductor) – 20 July 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

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. See: Folk Song Suite
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 Song Suite (1924/2008)
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)
Norfolk Rhapsody No. 2 in D minor (tr. O'Toole) (1906/2014?)
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/)
The Running Set (arr. Daehn) (1933/2007)
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. Cacavas) (1906/1998)
Sine Nomine (arr. Houseknecht) (1906/1960)
Sine Nomine (arr. Reed) (1906/1976)
Songs of Travel (arr. Patterson) (1901-4)
Three Dorset Songs (arr. Stotter) (1902-1903/2003)
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.