GRADE 3
Country Bandstand - James Syler
(Recording used courtesy of Mark Records: 4885-MCD, Rutgers University Wind Ensemble, Dr. William Berz, conductor)
1st movement
2nd movement
3rd movement
Three movements loosely based on American folk songs that suggest the sounds of the traditional town bandstand. The first movement is a march based on the Southern folk song Batchelor's Hall. The second movement is a slow chorale setting of the folk hymn Vernon and the third movement transforms the folk tune Happy Land into a rousing barn dance. Commissioned by the Bishop Ireton High School Wind Ensemble, Alexandria, VA, Garwood Whaley, conductor.
GRADE 4
Galop - Arthur Bird/ed.Syler
This never before published work by American composer Arthur Bird (1856-1923) is the composer's only surviving work for military band. Dating from 1909, it's been edited for standard band instrumentation and brought back to life with a new set of parts and score. Expertly orchestrated by Bird, the work is a rousing French theater style galop with a flowing Trio section. Bird was a student of Liszt, spent most of his life in Berlin and wrote in a late Romantic style. A perfect work to open a concert. This is not an arrangement or a transcritption, but the original work. Previously unavailable to the band literature and representative of the same era of early band works as Holst's 1909 First Suite in E-flat.
Duration: 3'30'' Score & Parts $70. Extra score $10.
“If you’re looking for that ‘tasty novelty’ to send folks home with a smile on their face, try Arthur Bird’s ‘Galop’. Great fun!”
~ James Croft, Retired Director of Bands, Florida State University
"An outstanding find! A superb performance edition and important addition to the wind literature. Bird's 'Galop' is a delightful gem playable by high school and university groups, and the only extant work by this overlooked American composer. Don't miss it!"
~ Artie Clifton, Director of Bands, Jacksonville University
Noel - George Chadwick/transc. Kennedy
A beautifully rich, lyrical, folk-like Christmas work by one of America's most important composers. This transcription by Tom Kennedy is meticulously true to the original orchestral score and is a welcome alternative to the usual holiday selections. Noel was completed in 1895 as the second movement of Chadwick's Symphonic Sketches. Chadwick (1854-1931) was a leading figure in the Second New England School of American composers and the director of the New England Conservatory of Music from 1897 until his death in 1931.
Duration: 7' Score & Parts $100. Extra score $10.
“Although there is a great deal of Christmas music arranged for concert band, it is very challenging to find artistic music appropriate to the season. Chadwick’s ‘Noel’ has worked very well for us in that regard and I have grown to appreciate its beauty."
~ Jeffrey Doebler, Director of Bands, Valparaiso University
Three Marches for Harmoniemusik - Felix Mendelssohn/ ed. Garrett
1st movement
Available for the first time exclusively from Ballerbach Music is this set of three marches for 12 winds from 1833 by Mendelssohn. The score was edited by conductor/clarinetist Roger Garrett from Illinois Wesleyan University. The music was found in the Bodleian Library, Oxford and includes extensive historical notes by musicologist Dr. John Michael Cooper. Composed while Mendelssohn was the music director for the city of Dusseldorf, this is a good work to open a concert or feature a chamber winds group. This is the original, not an arrangement or transciption.
Duration: 9' Score & Parts $35. Extra score $8.
"... it is fair and appropriate to observe that these works appreciably augment the repertoire of wind-band pieces by important early nineteenth-century composers, and that they constitute attractive and historically important complements to the previously known repertoire."
~ Dr. John Michael Cooper, Musicologist, Southwestern University, Georgetown, TX
Three Pieces for Band - Philip Rhodes
Commissioned by the National Band Association in 1967 this is one of the few 12-tone works for band. Out-of-print for many years it is available again exclusively from Ballerbach Music. Three brief movements based on a wedge shaped tone row give this work a compact energized sound. An excellent opportunity to introduce students to the technique of 12-tone composition without loosing their interest.
Duration: 5' Score & Parts $85. Extra score $12.
"I was very pleased to see that Ballerbach has re-issued 'Three Pieces for Band' by Rhodes. This excellent piece is worthy of study and performance by all serious band conductors. I hope Ballerbach will be able to make other out-of-print works available to the profession in the future."
~ Gary Speck, Director of Bands, Miami University (OH)