Symphony for Drums and Wind Orchestra

Warren Benson

General Info

Year: 1963
Duration: 21:55
Difficulty: V+ (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Edition Peters
Cost: Score and Parts - Rental | Score Only - $24.00

Movements (played without pause)

1. Invocation - 4:45
2. Contemplation - 8:55
3. Declaration - 7:45

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
C Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone I-II
Tuba
String Bass
Harp
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Bells
Chimes
Field Drum
Gong
Sleigh Bells
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal
Tom-Tom
Triangle
Vibraphone
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Benson wrote Symphony for Drums and Wind Orchestra while living in San Miguel, Mexico, a period when he got really hooked on composing. He became intensely involved in writing the composition, in the first movement, as “I wanted to see if I could make a whole movement work based on two pitches. A and B-flat.” The great variety achieved with the treatment of this semi-tone is largely due to the creative orchestration and imaginative use of percussion.

According to Benson, “the second movement is actually a big lyrical piece, in a sense. It is based on very simple material, ostinato, and canons with improvisational development. The development is more casual, subtle, and inflective rather than substantive.” The movement is woven with a simple three-measure, six-note theme in Aeolian mode that is a study in compositional economy. Paraphrasing the passacaglia variation technique, there are thirty continuous statements of the melody surrounded by increasing harmonic sonorities structured on the same six tones. It leads to a central climax of massive proportions before receding quietly.

The final movement stresses the crucial semi-tone of the first movement and expands it to a whole step before its ultimate resolution to the pitch A. It begins and ends with percussion alone. The elements of the semi-tone are present, but gradually the whole-step and finally full harmonics appear, while potent sources of jazz in the rhythmic superstructure hold sway. The work ends with percussion moving into silence.

- Program Note by John Paynter

For William MacLean for the American Wind Symphony (Robert Boudreau, conductor).

- Program Note from Warren Benson website

Media

Audio: United States Marine Band (Jason K. Fettig, conductor)
Audio CD: U.S. Marine Band (Michael J. Colburn, conductor) - 2019

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adagietto (1992)
The Beaded Leaf (1974)
Concertino for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble (1955)
Danzon-Memory (1991)
Daughter of the Stars (1998)
Dawn's Early Light (1987)
Divertissement No. 1 (1993)
The Drums of Summer (1997)
Ginger Marmalade (1978)
Helix (1966)
The Leaves Are Falling (1964)
Mask of Night (1968)
Meditation on “I Am for Peace” (1990)
The Passing Bell (1974)
Polyphonies for Percussion (1960)
Remembrance (1962)
Recuerdo (1966)
Scherzo, Chorale, and Aria Serena (2002)
Shadow Wood (1968/1993)
The Solitary Dancer (1969)
Star Edge (1965)
Symphony for Drums and Wind Orchestra (1963)
Symphony No. 2, "Lost Songs"
Transylvania Fanfare (1953)
Variations on a Handmade Theme (1961/1976/2015)
Wings (1984)

Resources

Benson, W. (1963). Symphony: For Drums and Wind Orchestra [score]. Peters: New York.

[Category: 1963]]