Three City Blocks

From Wind Repertory Project
John Harbison

John Harbison


General Info

Year: 1993
Duration: 15:00
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: G. Schirmer
Cost: Score & Parts - Rental   |   Score Only - $25.00


Movements

1. Fervent and Resolute - 6:37
2. Tough, Driving - 4:18
3. With Relentless Energy - 4:03


Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II-III-IV (III and IV doubling Piccolo)
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II (II doubling Contrabassoon)
E-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV
B-flat Bass Clarinet I-II (II doubling B-flat Contrabass Clarinet)
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
Tenor Saxophone I-II
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III-IV
Euphonium I-II
Tuba I-II
String Bass I-II
Harp
Piano
Timpani (doubling Rain Machine and 2 Steel Plates)
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:

  • Brake Drum
  • Cowbells (4)
  • Crotales
  • Crash Cymbal
  • Drumset
  • Field Drum
  • Gong (pitched in E or B)
  • Maracas
  • Marimba
  • Police Whistles (2)
  • Siren
  • Suspended Cymbal (4)
  • Tambourine
  • Tam-Tam
  • Temple Blocks (4)
  • Tom-Toms (2)
  • Triangle (3)
  • Vibraphone
  • Woodblock
  • Xylophone


Errata

  • Piccolo I, Mvt. II, m.26: Should play G, F, E.
  • Flute I, Mvt. II, m.23: Should play B-flat, A-flat, G.
  • Oboe I, Mvt. II, m.139: Should play E-D-D-flat.
  • Oboe II, Mvt. II, m.139: Should play A-flat-G-flat-F.
  • E-flat Soprano Clarinets/B-flat Soprano Clarinets, Mvt. II, m.183: Accent on beat one in B-flat and E-flat Clarinet parts.
  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet I & II, Mvt. II, m.139: Should play F-sharp-E-E-flat.
  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet II, Mvt. III, m.247: Should play A-sharp.
  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet III & IV, Mvt. II, m.139: Should play B-flat-A-flat-G.
  • E-flat Alto Saxophone, Mvt. III, m.38: Should play grace node (F-sharp) into beat one.
  • E-flat Alto Saxophones, Mvt. III, m.125: Slurs missing from first two eighth notes on beat three.
  • Tenor Saxophone II, Mvt. II, m.10: Should play E-natural, as in Mvt. II, m.61.
  • Saxophones: Triplet figure should be harmonic trills.
  • B-flat Trumpet II & IV, Mvt. II, m.14: Should play E-flat instead of G-flat.
  • Horns, Mvt. II, m.27-28: Are written one whole step too high. Should be A7 chord followed by B7.
  • Horn in F II & IV, Mvt. II, m.169: Should play E-natural on beat three.
  • Horn in F IV, Mvt. III, m.15: Should play E-natural on beat three.
  • Trombone I, Mvt. II, m.99: Should play D-sharp on "and" of four.
  • Trombone III, Mvt. II, m.123: Should play E-Natural on "and" of beat one.
  • Euphonium, Mvt. II, m.99: Should play D-sharp on "and" of four.
  • Percussion, Mvt. III, m.222 and 230: The indication "(Wd. Blk.)" on the top line is incorrect; it should read "Drum set"


Program Notes

Over the radio, in the early fifties, came sounds played by bands in hotels and ballrooms, now distant memories that seemed to a seventh-grade, small-town, late-night listener like the true pulse of giant imagined cities.

Years later, these sounds -- layered with real experience of some of their places of origin: magnified, distorted, idealized and destabilized -- came into contact with other sounds, some of recent origin, and resulted in these celebratory, menacing, Three City Blocks, completed in the fall of 1991 at Nervi, near Genoa, on the Mediterranean coast of Italy.

Three City Blocks was commissioned by the wind ensembles of the New England Conservatory, the University of Cincinnati, Florida State University, Ohio State University, the University of Michigan, the University of Southern California, and The United States Air Force Band.

- Program Note by composer


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • New England Conservatory (Boston, Mass.) Wind Ensemble (Charles Peltz, conductor) - 30 November 2023
  • Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Mallory Thompson, conductor) – 21 February 2020
  • Oklahoma State University (Stillwater) Wind Ensemble (Joseph Missal, conductor) – 18 February 2020
  • University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) Symphony Band (Michael Haithcock, conductor) – 30 September 2016
  • Lawrence University (Appleton, Wisc.) Wind Ensemble (Andrew Mast, conductor) – 11 March 2016
  • Indiana State (Terre Haute) Wind Orchestra (Roby George, conductor) – 25 February 2016 (CBDNA 2016 North Central Division Conference, Ames Iowa)
  • Hodgson Winds (University of Georgia, Athens) (Cynthia Johnston Turner, conductor) – 6 October 2015


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • Harbison, J. (1993). Three City Blocks: For Wind Ensemble [score]. Associated Music Publishers: New York.
  • Miles, Richard, compiler and editor. (2002). Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. Volume 4. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 924–934.
  • Scott, Judson. (2003). "John Harbison" from A Composer's Insight, Volume One." Galesville, MD: Meredith Music.
  • Spittal, Robert Joseph. (1995). “Three City Blocks by John Harbison.” D.M.A. dissertation. University of Cincinnati. Abstract: Dissertation Abstracts International 56(7) (January 1996): 2479-A; University Microfilms International no. 95-38265.
  • Wagner, Alan D. (1994). “An analysis of John Harbison’s Three City Blocks.” Ph.D. dissertation. Tallahassee: Florida State University.