Three Shanties for Winds and Percussion
Malcolm Arnold (arr. Jeff C. Krauklis)
General Info
Year: 1943 / 1989
Duration: 7:40
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Woodwind quintet
Publisher: Unpublished
Availability: Contact Jeff Krauklis
Movements
1. Allegro con brio - 2:32
2. Allegretto semplice - 2:03
3. Allegro vivace - 3:05
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
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
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Bass Drum
- Claves
- Concert Toms (3)
- Crash Cymbals
- Glockenspiel
- Marimba
- Slapstick
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tambourine
- Tam-Tam
- Triangle
- Vibraphone
- Wood Block
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Malcolm Arnold’s Three Shanties was originally composed in 1943. A "shanty" is a sailor's work song, and Arnold's popular suite combines spirited rhythmic writing with a melodious and harmonious style that possesses the quality of immediate appeal to the general public while avoiding obvious banality. Harmonically, the music often reveals modalities common to English folk song, and the many dissonances used are not so much modern atonal devices as they are included for their humorous qualities. The three movements are each based on well-known tunes: What Should We Do with a Drunken Sailor?, Boney Was a Warrior and Johnny Come Down to Hilo.
Three Shanties was originally published in 1952 for woodwind quintet. This version for full winds and percussion was completed in March 1989 at the suggestion of John Paynter and premiered the following month at Northwestern University. The work attempts less to be true to the quintet original than it does to English band writing in general and Arnold's style of orchestration in particular, though there are several references to the original instrumentation to be found throughout. The entire work has also been lowered one whole step from the original keys of C, E-flat and C.
- Program Note by Jeff C. Krauklis
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- University of Nebraska Lincoln Wind Ensemble (Carolyn Barber, conductor) – 15 October 2010
- Portland (Ore.) State University Wind Symphony (Edward Higgins, conductor) – 20 March 2008 (CBDNA 2008 Western/Northwestern Division Conference, Reno, Nev.)
- Washburn University (Topeka, Kans.) Wind Ensemble (Kirt Saville, conductor) - February 2002
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Brass Quintet No. 2 (1987)
- Concerto for Oboe and Strings (arr. Watts) (1952)
- Divertimento for Wind Octet (1988)
- English Dances, Book One (tr. Johnstone) (1950/1965)
- English Dances, Book Two (tr. Herbert) (1951/1989)
- English Dances, Book Two (tr. Sudduth) (1951/)
- English Dances Set 2 (tr. Thompson) (1951/)
- Fanfare for a Festival (arr. McDermott) (1955/1986/2000)
- Flourish for a Battle (1989)
- Four Cornish Dances (tr. Marciniak) (1966/)
- Four Scottish Dances (tr. Paynter) (1957/1978)
- Four Welsh Dances (tr. Parkes) (1989/2003)
- A Grand, Grand Overture (tr. Wilson) (1956/1983)
- H.R.H. The Duke of Cambridge (1957)
- The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (arr. Suzuki) (1958/)
- The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (arr. Senoo) (1958/1998)
- March from "A Little Suite" (arr. Sumner) (1955/1965)
- Overseas (1960)
- Overture for Wind Octet (1940/2004)
- The Padstow Lifeboat, op. 94 (arr. Woodfield) (1966)
- Peterloo Overture (tr. Sayre) (1968/1989)
- Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo (tr. Paynter) (1963/1979)
- Quintet for Two Trumpets, Horn, Trombone and Tuba (1961/2004)
- The River Kwai March (1957)
- The River Kwai March (arr. Longfield) (1957/2017)
- Sarabande and Polka from "Solitaire" (tr. Paynter) (1956/1983)
- Symphony for Brass, op. 123 (1978)
- Symphony No. 2: Allegretto and Vivace, op. 40 (tr. Parkes) (1953/)
- Symphony No. 2: Finale, op. 40 (tr. Sudduth) (1953/)
- Tam O'Shanter Overture, op. 51 (tr. Paynter) (1955/1991)
- Three Sea Shanties (1943)
- Trevelyan Suite, op. 96 (1967)
- Variations on a Theme of Ruth Gipps (trans. Braddock) (1978/2019)
- Water Music, op. 82 (1964/1993)
Resources
- Jeff C. Krauklis, personal correspondence, September 2021