Waltz in the Old Style
Mark Cuming
Ensemble: Concert Band
Duration: 05:00
Year of Composition: 2021
Publisher: self-published
Available: Yes
How to Acquire: Composer
Links:
Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
B♭ Clarinet 1,2,3
B♭ Bass Clarinet
E♭ Alto Sax 1,2
B♭ Tenor Sax
E♭ Baritone Sax
B♭ Trumpet 1,2,3
F Horn 1,2
Trombone 1,2,3
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Drums (Snare and Bass)
Percussion (Crash Cymbals, Suspended Cymbal, Castanets, Triangle)
Orchestra Bells
Score and parts available at no charge by contacting the composer at kentsteerwell3 [at] gmail [dot] com
Program Notes:
I have always wanted to compose a rollicking waltz in the quasi-Viennese style. In fact, I needed to compose such a thing. Why? Well, marches and waltzes are the safest shelters of the average, journeyman composer. I've already written a couple of marches, so a waltz was the next project. I suppose that some sort of concert overture should be next, if I were to aspire to imitate Harold L. Walters or Forrest Buchtel, for example. Both of these gentlemen were fine concert band composers who wrote for their audiences. Those were the days when most concert band music was written for entertainment, such as Sunday afternoon bandstand gigs. This waltz harkens back to those days, before the rise of symphonic bands as a serious art music medium.
Once a month or so, I drive my wife to her appointment with the acupuncturist. The appointment lasts about an hour. During this time, I usually find a parking spot in the Atlantic Superstore parking lot in south end Halifax. It's next to the train station. I take a 3 ring binder with manuscript paper and a good pencil and jot down melodies that I think might be useful. All of the melodies in this waltz were composed in the train station. In fact, I've written several band arrangements there as well. It's usually deserted in there, especially now (2021) because of COVID 19. The actual scoring was, of course, done at home, although I have taken my laptop to the RR station in the past.
(Mark Cuming)
