Shenandoah (arr Sheldon)
Traditional (arr. Robert Sheldon)
General Info
Year: 2003
Duration: c. 2:30
Difficulty: II (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Alfred Music
Cost: Score and Parts - $48.00 | Score Only - $6.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F
Trombone I-II
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Bass Drum
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Wind Chimes
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Oh Shenandoah (also called simply Shenandoah, or Across the Wide Missouri) is a traditional American folk song of uncertain origin, dating at least to the early 19th century. The song had become popular as a sea chanty with sailors by the 1880s.
Shenandoah was printed as part of Capt. Robert Chamblet Adams's article Sailors' Songs in the April 1876 issue of The New Dominion Monthly. It was later printed as part of William L. Alden's article Sailor Songs in the July 1882 issue of Harper's New Monthly Magazine.
Ike Skelton, the U.S. congressman for Missouri, noted in 2005 that local artist George Caleb Bingham immortalized the jolly flatboatmen who plied the Missouri River in the early 19th century; these same flatboatmen were known for their chanties, including the lovely Oh Shenandoah. This boatmen's song found its way down the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers to the American clipper ships, and thus around the world.
Sea Songs and Shanties, Collected by W.B. Whall, Master Mariner (First edition in Nov 1910), states that the song probably originated from American or Canadian "voyageurs", who were great singers. Thomas Moore drew inspiration from them in his Canadian Boat Song. The author further states that he heard it sung over fifty years prior to publishing the book, which place its origin at least a fair bit earlier than 1860. Besides sung at sea, this song figured in old public school collections.
- Program Note from Wikipedia
The Shenandoah Valley and the Shenandoah River are located in Virginia. There is disagreement among historians concerning the origins of their names. Some claim that the river and valley were named in the 1750s by the Cherokee as a friendly tribute to a visiting Iroquois Chief named Skenandoah. Others suggest that the region was named not by the Cherokee, but by the Senedo Indians of the Virginia Valley. In the Senedo tradition, Shenandoah means “daughter of the moon”, and bears no relation to the Iroquois Chief Skenandoah.
The origins of the folk song are equally obscure, but all date to the 19th century. It has been attributed variously to a coal miner in Pennsylvania, a young protégé of Stephen Foster, and to a housewife in Lexington, Kentucky. Many variants on the melody and text have been handed down through the years, the most popular telling the story of an early settler’s love for a Native American woman.
- Program Note from State University of New York, Potsdam, Symphonic Band concert program, 17 November 2016
Media
State Ratings
- Georgia: II
- Mississippi: III-A
- West Virginia: III
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Toronto (Ont., Can.) Youth Concert Winds (Jessica Puskar, conductor) - 26 February 2023
- Honors Performance Series Wind Ensemble (Kirt Mosier, conductor) – 4 February 2023 (Carnegie Hall, New York)
- Rio Vista Middle School (Fresno, Calif.) Symphonic Band (Adam Pietz, conductor) -16 March 2018 (2018 Sutherland Wind Festival (Fresno, Calif.)
- Atascadero (Calif.) Community Band (Randy Schwalbe, conductor) - 2 November 2014
- San Bernardino County (Calif.) Middle School Honor Band - 2013
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Pevensey Castle (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2012)
- West Highlands Sojourn (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2014)
All Wind Works
- African Adventure (2011)
- An American Hymntune (as arranger) (2004)
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- As Twilight Falls (2011)
- As a Wind from the North (2006)
- An Australian Sea Ballad (2007)
- An Austrian Carol (2012)
- Awakened Like the Morn (2005)
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- Beyond the Riverbend (2013)
- Big Brass on Patrol (2004)
- Big Sky Round-Up (2011)
- Black Is the Color... (2009)
- Blaze of Glory (2003)
- Blessed Legacy (as arranger) (2019)
- The Blue Ridge (as arranger) (2017)
- Bounty Hunter from "Advent Rising" (2005/2006)
- Bright Auroral Skies
- Bright Lights! (2015)
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- Brule River Celebration (2002)
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- Cape Fear Chronicles (1997)
- A Carol Francais (as arranger) (2016)
- A Carol of Two Mangers (as arranger) (2005)
- Cataclysm (2018)
- Celebration and Song (2009)
- Cellular Symphony (2005)
- The Celts of County Clare (2021)
- Century Point (1998)
- Chanteys (2000)
- Charleston Harbor Celebration (2007)
- Chiaroscuro (2002)
- A Child's Lullaby (2017)
- Children of Gaia (2015)
- Chimney Rock Celebration (2017)
- Choreography (2009)
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- Conundrum (2008)
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- Crossing the Rubicon (2020)
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- Lindbergh Variations (1991)
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- The Lords of Greenwich (2010)
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- March of the Majestics (2004)
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- The Message on the Rock (2004)
- Metrix (2011)
- Metroplex (2006)
- Mills on the Merrimack (2015)
- The Monster Under the Bed (2005)
- Moon Rocks (2016)
- Moravian Folk Rhapsody (2004/2008)
- Morning Mist (2012)
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- The Mystery of Duffy's Cut (2007)
- Mystic Journey (2004)
- Noel Francais (2003)
- Northwest Rising (1999)
- Ocean Ridge Rhapsody (1989)
- Ode to Joy (as arranger) (2013)
- Of Distant Peaks (2012)
- Of Kindred Spirit (1997)
- On Placid Seas (2015)
- Once the Man (2005)
- One Thousand Cranes (2010)
- Open Road (2013)
- Oracles of the Sirocco (2018)
- Overdrive (2015)
- Overture to a New Horizon (2014)
- Palimpsest (2003)
- Paragon (2005)
- Patriotic Salute (2003)
- Patriotic Snippets (2008)
- Pevensey Castle (1993)
- Pevensey Castle (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2012)
- The Phantom of Dark Hollow (2006)
- Phrygian Phantasy (2003)
- Piedmont Festival Overture (2016)
- The Pilgrimage (2011)
- The Pioneer's Passage (2000)
- The Pioneers (2010)
- Pop Culture (as arranger) (2007)
- Power the Earth (2019)
- Praeludium and Dance (2008)
- A Prairie Portrait (2006)
- Prairiescape (1996)
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- Presto! (2014)
- Prevail! (2018)
- Pride of the Grenadiers (2005)
- Pursuit of the Centaur (2016)
- Quest of the Knights Templar (2011)
- Quixotic Episode (2002)
- The Red Covered Bridge (2014)
- Red Rock Canyon (1994)
- Reflections on a New Tomorrow (2012)
- Renaissance Fair (2017)
- Requiem to a Land Forgotten (2007)
- Resurgences (2013)
- Rhapsodic Celebration (2011)
- Ritmico! (2001)
- River Trail Expedition (2011)
- River of Grass (2020)
- Riverside Overture (2019)
- Rock Island Trail (2002)
- Rock That Bach! (as arranger) (2012)
- Rock This Band! (2019)
- Royal March (2012)
- Sag Harbor Sunset (2011)
- Sandcastle Sketches (1987)
- Savannah River Rhapsody (2012)
- A Scandinavian Folk Tale (2003)
- A Scottish Ballade (2004)
- Serenade (2015)
- Shadows of the Equinox (2012)
- Shenandoah (as arranger) (2003)
- Shenanigans (2009)
- Sugar Creek Overture (2007)
- The Siege of Harlech Castle 2012)
- Silver Spring Soliloquy (1992)
- A Simple Celebration (2001)
- Sixty-Six (2023)
- Skydance (2018)
- Snow Globe (2010)
- Sonatina (2016)
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- Sound Innovations Fanfare (2010)
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- Southampton March (2017)
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- Spirit Lake Overture (1991)
- The Spirit of Killian Hill (2007)
- The Spirit of Thanksgiving (as arranger) (2014)
- Spontaneous Combustion (2011)
- Spoon River (as arranger) (1991)
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- Stately Dances (2015)
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- The Swords of Stavanger (2009)
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- A Symphonic Narrative (1992)
- Symphonic Suite from "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (as arranger) (2005)
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- Tango Argentina (2016)
- There Will Come Soft Rains (2007)
- Three Carols for a Celebration (as arranger) (2007)
- Three Georgian Vignettes (2008)
- Three Miniatures for Winds and Percussion (2005)
- Tidings! (as arranger) (Traditional/2022)
- Timberline Overture (2003)
- Tirade
- To Conquer the Skies (2004)
- To a Wild Rose (as arranger) (2014)
- Travelin' Music (as arranger) (2016)
- Triumph of the Argonauts (2014)
- A Ukrainian Christmas (as arranger) (2017)
- Uptown Strut (2013)
- Variants on a Sea Shanty (as arranger) (2014)
- Variants on a Union Hymn (2005)
- Velocity (2009)
- Visions of Flight (1990)
- Voices from the Battlefield (1995)
- Walking Tune (as arranger) (2020)
- Wallaby Walkabout (2003)
- Welsh Ayres and Dances (as arranger) (2003)
- West Highlands Sojourn (1993)
- West Highlands Sojourn (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2014)
- Willow Grove (1992)
- Winds of Morocco (2001)
- Windward Overture (2016)
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- A Woodland Celebration (2021)
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Resources
- Oh Shenandoah, Wikipedia
- Robert Sheldon website Accessed 3 September 2021