Smetana Fanfare

From Wind Repertory Project
Karel Husa

Karel Husa


General Info

Year: 1984
Duration: c. 3:25
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Associated Music Publishers, Inc.
Cost: Score and Parts - $50.00   |   Score Only - $7.50


Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II-III (III doubling piccolo)
Oboe I-II-III
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Bass Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III-IV
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Crash Cymbal
  • Gong (or Tam-tam) (large)
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Tom-toms
  • Xylophone (2)


Errata

Errata are found in the Scatterday article in the Resources field, below.


Program Notes

Smetana Fanfare for Wind Ensemble was commissioned by the San Diego State University for the 1984 Festival of Music honoring the Czech composer Bedrich Smetana. It was first performed on April 3, 1984, in San Diego by the SDSU Wind Ensemble, on the occasion of the centennial celebration of Smetana's death. This short work uses two excerpts from Smetana's symphonic poem The Wallenstein's Camp, completed in 1859 in Goteberg, Sweden, during his exile from Prague.

- Program note from printed score


Husa’s Smetana Fanfare holds an important place in San Diego State University’s history. Now a significant piece in the wind repertoire, Smetana Fanfare was commissioned by the SDSU Wind Ensemble in 1984 and given its world premiere performance at the International Musicological Conference and Festival of Czechoslovak Music. The 1984 festival was held to honor the centennial of Czech nationalist composer Bedrich Smetana’s death.

For this opportunity Husa undertook the difficult task of combining his modern voice with the nationalist voice of Smetana. Husa accomplished this synthesis in Smetana Fanfare by borrowing heavily from Smetana’s symphonic poem Wallenstein’s Camp, integrating his own distinctive harmonic and developmental language. The work begins with a direct quote from Wallenstein’s Camp: a fanfare intoned by four trumpets accompanied by a timpani roll. As the composition progresses, the fanfare begins to transform into Husa’s style. The composer adds dissonance by stacking statements of the fanfares in different keys. This technique, coupled with the coexistence of major and minor chords (described by Husa as “Renaissance thirds”), and repeated rhythmic motives, make the fanfare characteristically Husa. The piece grows in volume and intensity from beginning to end, finishing with a climatic unison statement by the entire ensemble.

- Program note from San Diego State University Wind Symphony concert program, 13 March 2014


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • University of Texas (Austin) Wind Symphony (Tyler Erhlich, conductor) – 10 November 2023
  • Texas A&M University (College Station) Wind Symphony (Timothy Rhea, conductor) - 24 February 2023
  • Central Band of the Czech Armed Forces (Jaroslav Šíp, conductor) – 19 July 2022 WASBE Conference (Prague, Czech Republic)
  • California All-State High School Concert Band (Vu Nguyen, conductor) – 20 February 2022 (2022 CASMEC Conference, Fresno)
  • The Naperville (Ill.) Winds (Sean Kelley, conductor) - 9 December, 2021
  • Millersville (Penn.) University Wind Ensemble (Joe Cernuto, conductor) - 14 November 2021
  • Baldwin Wallace University (Berea, Ohio) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Brendan Caldwell, conductor) - 8 October 2021
  • Temple University (Philadelphia, Penn.) Concert Band (Amanda Dumm, conductor) – 21 November 2019
  • North Dakota State University (Fargo) Wind Symphony (Warren Olfert, conductor) – 4 May 2019
  • Dallas (Tx.) Winds (Jerry Junkin, conductor) – 30 April 2019
  • Texas Christian University (Houston) Wind Ensemble (Brian Youngblood, conductor) – 20 February 2019 (CBDNA 2019 National Conference, Tempe, Ariz.)
  • Texas Christian University (Fort Worth) Wind Symphony (Bobby R. Francis, conductor) – 19 November 2018
  • Penn State University (University Park) Symphonic Band (Dennis Glocke, conductor) – 14 February 2019
  • Indiana University (Bloomington) Wind Ensemble (Rodney Dorsey, conductor) – 6 November 2018
  • University of Texas (Austin) Wind Ensemble (Jerry Junkin, conductor) – 23 March 2018
  • University of Oregon (Eugene) Symphonic Band (Nicholas Soenyun, conductor)– 14 March 2018
  • University of Oklahoma (Norman) Symphony Band (Brian A. Britt, conductor) – 26 February 2018
  • The Florida State University (Tallahassee) Symphonic Band (Patrick Dunnigan, conductor) – 24 February 2018 (CBDNA 2018 Southern Conference, Tampa, Fla.)
  • University of Miami (Coral Gables) Frost Wind Ensemble (Craig McKenzie, conductor) – 21 February 2018
  • Florida State University (Tallahassee) Symphonic Band (Patrick Dunnigan, conductor) – 20 February 2018
  • Amador Valley High School (Pleasanton, Calif.) Wind Ensemble I (Jonathan Grantham, conductor) - 17 February 2018 (2018 CASMEC Conference, San Jose)
  • University of Iowa (Iowa City) Concert Band (Kevin Kastens, conductor) – 4 December 2017
  • Eastman Wind Orchestra (Mark Davis Scatterday, conductor) – 1 December 2017


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • Scatterday, Mark D. (1998, Spring). “Karel Husa’s Smetana Fanfare: An analysis and discussion of performance issues.” CBDNA Journal No. 12, 38-46. [includes some errata]
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