Blue Lake and Rocky Shore

by
Bill Thomas

Ensemble: Concert Band

Grade: 3

Duration: 03:00

Year of Composition: 2008

Publisher: Eighth Note

Year of Publication: 2010

Publisher Catalog Number: CB10182

Available: Yes

How to Acquire: Publisher, Purchase

Links:

Web Page

Sample Audio

Perusal Score 

Instrumentation

Piccolo
Flutes 1,2
Oboe
Bassoon
B♭ Clarinets 1,2,3
B♭ Bass Clarinet
E♭ Alto Saxes 1,2
B♭ Tenor Sax
E♭ Baritone Sax
B♭ Trumpets 1,2,3
F Horns 1,2
Trombones 1,2,3
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
[Mallet Percussion 1:] Bells
[Mallet Percussion 2:] Xylophone
[Percussion 1:] Snare Drum, Bass Drum
[Percussion 2:] 4 Tom-toms
[Percussion 3:] Suspended Cymbal, Crash Cymbals, Woodblock

The fourth movement of a suite based on Canadian folk songs, each available separately:

I. All Around the Circle (I'se the B'y)
II. And Love is No More (She's Like the Swallow)
III. The Lonely Land (Pine Tree Gently Sigh)
IV. Blue Lake and Rocky Shore (Land of the Silver Birch)


Program Notes:

Based on the Canadian folk song, "Land of the Silver Birch", Blue Lake and Rocky Shore is meant to serve as an introduction to minimalist music for younger ensembles. With its nod to the work of John Adams and Eric Whitacre, this composition can act as a gateway to a further study of minimalism and serve as an exciting opening or closing work to any concert.

(Eighth Note Publications)

[Editor's note: The folk song used in this arrangement, "Land of the Silver Birch", is arguably a romanticized stereotype of Indigenous cultures in both its music and its text. The text's attribution to Canadian poet E. Pauline Johnson, whose father was Mohawk, is spurious.]