Summer Dances

From Wind Repertory Project
Brian Balmages

Brian Balmages


General Info

Year: 2000
Duration: c. 6:05
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: FJH Music Company, Inc
Cost: Score and Parts - $90.00   |   Score - $12.00


Instrumentation

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

  • Bass Drum
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Glockenspiel
  • Hi-Hat
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Tambourine
  • Tom-Tom (low)
  • Triangle
  • Vibraphone
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Exciting woodwind flourishes set the stage for the heroic main motive of the piece, stated by the brass. This theme is woven throughout the piece in contrasting settings, styles, and colors. A beautiful, lyric chamber section gives way to a stately dance presented by the full ensemble. A powerful ending caps this dynamic piece.

Summer Dances was written for the Columbia Concert Band.

- Program Note from publisher


Summer Dances was written for the Columbia Concert Band in Columbia, Maryland, for an outdoor summer concert. The piece was written to capture the beauty and spirit of the many festivals and events associated with the season. In writing the piece, elements were included to make it very appropriate to perform in or out of the concert hall. The piece thrives on rhythmic pulse throughout. The fast rhythmic figures of the opening are contrasted with the more stately motives presented later in the piece in the slower, more lyrical section.

- Program Note by Baylor University Concert Band concert program, 29 April 2018


Summer Dances is a light and lively piece worthy of its namesake. Structured in contrasting sections, ABA’, the piece opens with the effervescence of sparkling woodwinds followed immediately with the energetic main theme played by the trumpets and horns. The theme returns frequently accompanied in a new manner with each reprisal. The slow, lyrical B section contains its own miniature rounded binary form (aba’), with frequent use of chamber-like scoring. After its return to the “energetically” section, the piece ramps up again with an extended transition of woodwind polyphony before the main theme returns in the trumpets and horns.

Whether it is actually summer or winter, Balmages’s Summer Dances strives to emulate the many summer music festivals and civic celebrations around Columbia, Maryland.

- Program Note by Myron Peterson for the University of Iowa University Band concert program, 5 December 2022


Media


State Ratings

  • Texas: IV
  • Virginia: V
  • Georgia: IV
  • Iowa: IV
  • Louisiana: IV
  • Maryland: V
  • Mississippi: VI
  • North Carolina: V
  • Oklahoma: IV
  • South Carolina: V


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Susquehanna University (Selinsgrove, Penn.) Symphonic Band (David Rohrer, conductor) - 3 December 2022

  • Normal (Ill.) Community High School Wind Ensemble (Paul Carter, conductor) - 10 November 2022
  • Willamette Valley Concert Band (Albany, Ore.) (Charles Haugen, conductor) – 16 March 2019
  • Orcas Island (Eastsound, Wash.) Band (Karen Kay Speck, conductor) - 2 Jun 2018
  • Baylor University (Waco, Texas) Concert Band (Steve Dailey, conductor) – 29 April 2018
  • Appalachian State University (Boone, N.C.) Wind Ensemble (John Stanley Ross, conductor) – 23 April 2018
  • University of Texas, Arlington, Symphonic Winds (Douglas Stotter, conductor) – 20 October 2016
  • McCracken Middle School (Skokie, Ill.) (Chip De Stefano, conductor) – 28 April 2016
  • Brookville High School Symphonic Band (Matthew Farley, conductor) - 21 May 2013
  • VanderCook College of Music (Chicago, Ill.) Symphonic Band (Charles T. Menghini, conductor) – 22 December 2000 (2000 Midwest Clinic)


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources