Sea Songs (Knox)
General Info
Year: 1980 / 1988
Duration: c. 8:40
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: LudwigMasters Publications
Cost: Score and Parts - $65.00 | Score Only - $17.50
Instrumentation
Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn (optional)
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra Alto Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-III (Cornet I divisi)
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III (Trombone I divisi)
Euphonium (divisi)
Tuba
String Bass
Harp (optional)
Timpani
Percussion I-II, including:
- Bass Drum
- Bells (or Glockenspiel)
- Chimes
- Crash Cymbals
- Gong
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Triangle
- Wood Block
- Xylophone
Errata
- Flute I, m.76, beat 3: Delete quarter rest
- Horn in F I, m.269, beat 1: Delete duration dot
Program Notes
Sea Songs was written for the 350th anniversary of the city of Boston. It was premiered by the United States Marine Band, Col. John R Bourgeois conducting, at the Hatch Memorial Shell in Boston, May, 1980. It is based on nautical songs and sea chanties.
- Program Note from the score
After opening with a nod to Debussy’s La Mer, Sea Songs primarily features two sea shanties: Shenandoah and What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor. The setting is both hauntingly beautiful and gymnastic for the band as Knox pushes boundaries of ensemble technique.
In case you need a response to the call of What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor (or need more material for "Talk Like a Pirate Day"), history provides us with the following:
- Chuck him in the longboat ’till he’s sober.
- Scrape his chest with a rusty razor.
- Soak him in oil ’till he spouts a flipper.
- Put ’im in the scuppers with a hosepipe on ’im.
- Or, from 1989: Put him at the wheel of an Exxon tanker.
- Program Note from Austin Symphony Band concert program, 13 November 2017
Media
(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)
State Ratings
- Alabama: Class A
- Florida: VI
- Georgia: VI
- Iowa: V
- Indiana: ISSMA SENIOR BAND GROUP I
- Kansas: V
- Louisiana: V
- Michigan: Senior High AA
- Mississippi: VI-A
- North Carolina: VI
- Oklahoma: IV-A
- South Carolina: VI
- Texas: V. Complete
- Virginia: V
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- East Tennessee State University (Johnson City) Wind Ensemble (Reilly Fox, conductor) - 21 April 2022
- Northwest Wind Symphony (Centralia, Wash.) (Dan Schmidt, conductor) – 19 January 2019
- Cy-Fair High School Band (Cypress, Tex.) (Mark Veenstra, conductor) - 19 December 2018 (2018 Midwest Clinic)
- University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Wind Ensemble (John R. Locke, conductor) – 27 September 2018
- Austin (Texas) Symphonic Band (Richard Floyd, conductor) - 13 November 2017
- Ohlone Community Band (Fremont, Calif.) (Tony Clements, conductor) – 15 March 2017
- Virginia Grand Military Band (Alexandria) (Loras John Schissel, conductor) – 6 February 2016
- Sierra Nevada Winds (Yuba City, Calif.) (Robert Halseth, conductor) - 22 November 2014
- TMEA (Texas Music Educators Association) Region 26 Symphonic Band (Gary Green, conductor) - January 2013
- IUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro Wind Ensemble (John R. Locke, conductor) – March 3, 2011 (ABA 2011 Annual Convention (Norfolk, Virginia))
Works for Winds by This Composer
- American Pageant (1972/1987)
- And Grace Will Lead Me Home (1997)
- God of Our Fathers (as arranger) (1876/1988/2014)
- Guisganderie (as arranger)
- Hail, Columbia (as arranger) (1789/)
- March-Past of the United States Armed Forces
- Melita (1987)
- Music for a Cathedral
- A Salute to the Armed Forces of the United States of America (as arranger)
- Scherzo Capriccioso (as transcriber) (1883/)
- Sea Songs (1980/1988)
- Suite from "The Firebird" (as transcriber) (1919)
- Symphony No. 1
- Toccata, Adagio and Fugue (as transcriber)
Resources
- Knox, T. (1988). Sea Songs: For Symphonic Band [score]. Ludwig Music Co.: Cleveland, Ohio