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Jeff Girard and Midwest Sheet Music present
The Wind Band Report
Holiday Music, Conducting Classes
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Vol. 4, No. 8 Sept. 2016
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I was going to say it's kind of sad that as musicians we have to start thinking about holiday music this far in advance, and then I remembered what pretty much every department store looks like by now.
If you need some suggestions to fill a holiday concert, here are a number of recent works of all levels you can listen to. Choose a grade level below to jump right to that section. If you teach a conducting class or have an upcoming symposium, I have news for you below as well.
Also, don't forget I've still got plenty of CDs and flyers for the joint promotion of grade 4-6 music from Hafabra, Tierolff, and Hebu music publishers in Europe.
Read on or jump ahead to the part that interests you with the links below.
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Premiere Editions - Grades 4-6
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This summer three European publishers, Hafabra, Tierolff, and Hebu, teamed up with me to produce a flyer showcasing some of their best works from the grade 4-6 range. The flyer includes a CD with full length mp3 recordings of all the featured works. To have a copy sent to you, just send me an email or request one to be included in your next order. All of these titles are on our website to listen to, and all are in stock now, so if one of them strikes your fancy you can get it right away before your rehearsals start in.
Click the image above to see a listing of contents on the flyer. Let me know if you want me to send a copy to you.
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Conducting Classes and
Conducting Symposiums
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Some of you collegiate directors know this anyways, so just consider this a reminder. I try to make sure my stock of wind band scores and books is kept up all year around. If you teach a conducting class or will be offering a conducting symposium at your school, I can make sure to get stock of all your required materials into the store in advance so participants won't have to wait for anything. In addition, now that our web site finally integrates credit card payments, I can set up a web page for your class or symposium so students and participants can see all the materials and order the scores and books they need.
Just drop me a line or give me a call with your details and the expected number of participants and I can take care of the rest. See below for sample listings currently on our website.
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Holiday Grade 1
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Click on images to listen
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Rob Romeyn
Grade .5
Bright, festive, and designed for absolute beginners for your first concert. Nice use of dynamic and instrumental contrasts along the way, which there isn't enough of in many grade 1/2 works. Plenty for percussion to do as well.
Set $42
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A Carol Francais
Robert Sheldon
Grade 1.5
Based on "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella", this is a gentle and flowing arrangement with fresh sounds throughout. Plus it shows that silence is part of music too, something I appreciate being able to teach at a young level.
Set $49
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Holiday Grade 2
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Midnight Carols
Jerry Davis
Grade 2
A nice little work fluidly combining
What Child is This and
It Came Upon The Midnight Clear. It alternates between sections of graceful lyricism and powerful melodic statements, so you can work on contrasting styles within a piece.
Set $62
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Christmas on the Thames
Eidam Poreter
Grade 2.5
Based on I Saw Three Ships with a few other English carol snippets, this arrangement evokes the image of Christmastime in the streets and ports of old London. There are several opportunities for solo players and small ensembles to shine along the way.
Set $50
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The Jingle Parade
Gary Gilroy
Gr. 2.5
This reminds me a little of Grainger's
Handel in the Strand. It's a jaunty little strolling-march tune with original melodies, no carols involved. You can slow it down for your younger players and it will still work well. It will give your young students some nice work on tight time-keeping.
Set $79
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Also available -
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Charles Booker - Grade 2 - $50
Roger Cichy - Gr. 2 - $45
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Michael Brown - Grade 2.5 - $79
Matt Conaway - Gr. 2.5 - $50
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Holiday Grade 3
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On a Catalonian Carol
Randal Standridge
Grade 3
Randal does a nice job of not simply transcribing this Spanish carol (El Noi de la Mare), but.rather crafting a lovely work that supports and enhances the original material. You'll want some mallet players who can play confidently and delicately for this.
Set $70
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Captive
Ed Kiefer
Grade 3
This is alsmost more of a festival or contest work than a traditional Christmas chart. Ed takes the tune
O Come, O Come Emmanuel and uses it to create a driving rhythmic work with an electronic feel to it, though no electronics are used.
Set $85
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Christmas Meditation
Gary Gilroy
Grade 3
Here's another holiday work that uses original material rather than established Christmas carols. The mallet players have several exposed and important sections, and there's call for both sensitive and powerful playing from the winds.
Set $75
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Also available -
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Charles Booker - Gr. 3
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Andrew Yozviak - Grade 3.5
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Holiday Grade 4
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Fairy Doll
Robb Wiffin (by way of Bizet)
Grade 4
I've been waiting 9 months to talk about this piece. Robb has done an incredible job of taking the entire style and structure of Bizet's
Farandole, and replacing all the melodies and countermelodies with Christmas tunes. It's a real hoot. The first time I heard this I kept laughing as each new tune was introduced. Brilliant and fun, you could use this as an encore if you did Farandole earlier in the concert, or let it stand on its own for some light hearted holiday fun.
Set $125
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Christmas March
Erdwin Franco Goldman
Grade 4
This classic bit of history from the premiere bandmaster himself is back in print. It's a medley of several traditional carols in a march-like style, though there is some concert style variety within. It's also a great look at the classic orchestrational techniques and sounds of the dawn of the modern band era. I'm glad to see Southern Music bringing some of these works back to light again. It's a good counterpart to any contemporary holiday works you have programmed.
Set $95
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Patapan
Porter Eidam
Grade 4
Here's a good way to feature your percussion section without requiring soloistic level playing from all the players. It's an accessible work on the easy side of grade 4 that showcases multiple sections of the band in addition to the percussion.
Set $70
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Festival Fanfare for Christmas
John Wasson
Grade 4.5
This is a pretty impressive opener for a holiday themed concert. Combining elements of
O Come All Ye Faithful and
Joy To the World, it starts as a brilliant brass fanfare and then blossoms into a full ensemble showcase.
Set $85
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Holiday Grade 5
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Christmas Extravaganza
Malcolm Binney
Grade 5
This extended medley of classic Christmas carols can serve as either an extended overture or finale to a December concert, especially if you want your group to take on more of a challenge than the classic Anderson setting of carols. It contains a wealth of familiar melodies with many sparkling surprises, with many moments of poignancy and brilliance along the way. It's also well cross cued for slightly smaller bands who are up to the challenge. While longer than the other entries listed here, it's technically just a little more accessible.
Set $132
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A Garland of Carols
Chris Holmes
Grade 5
This three movement suite of
Past Three O'Clock, Noel Nouvelet, and
I Saw Three Ships (click each to see a sample of the score) is a challenging work for all sections of the band. All three movements are vibrant and lively in their own styles, and each can be be performed separately as a complete stand alone work. The recording quality is not great, but it does show where some of the best teaching potential of this work is, particularly in areas of ensemble rhythmic unity and chamber quality intonation.
Set $155
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Christmas Overture
Nigel Hess
Grade 5
Originally for orchestra, Nigel Hess transcribed this exciting and challenging overture for concert band. It's a top level challenge for your advanced bands with it's tricky key signatures and rapid woodwind work. It carries a lot of variety in style though, so your audience will stay engaged throughout it. Not many top level bands can find Christmas literature at this level, so if you don't have a concert scheduled for this year you can keep it in mind for a future December concert.
Set $108.25
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End of the Year Special
Stephen Meyer
Grade 5
This has been a holiday season favorite of mine for a few years now. It's a short fanfare-overture written originally to open a televised holiday special in England. It's all original material (with a few quick nods suggesting a standard Christmas tune or two), so you can program this on a non-holiday themed concert if you like. If you have a harp, I have a copy of the optional harp part that is not included in the set, just let me know if you need that too.
Set $125
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Next time you hear from me I'll likely be getting ready for Midwest. We have even more booth space than before in the same general location, so save some time to stop by if you're attending. And if you haven't been there before, you may want to save at least an hour or more of free time when you swing by. There will be a lot to listen to and look at.
Happy Halloween, and I'll see you in Chicago! (Halloween is way better than Christmas...) |
Thank you as always -
Jeff Girard
Instrumental Specialist
Instrumental Music (my direct line):
314/942-1522
General phone line:
314/291-4686
Fax:
314/291-4166
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1234 Main Street, Awesomeville, MA ยท 555.555.5555
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