John Howell wrote:
At 9:17 PM -0400 8/23/07, David W. Fenton wrote:
I just became aware of this:
http://www.forgottenamericanmusic.com/new_fulton_band2.htm
And I think the music is quite delightful. And, despite certain
infelicities, the recordings are quite listenable, even though they
were accomplished with a single sight-reading session for each piece.
Band folks: is there lots of this kind of stuff going on? If so,
that's *fabulous*!
I wouldn't say "lots," but yes, it's a growing trend, and in almost
every case a labor of love for the folks who organize the sites. This
one was new to me. There is a Sousa Project somewhere (I may have it
bookmarked) that I don't think is completely limited to Sousa's music
(which went far beyond just the 10 best-known marches). And I recently
downloaded several pieces as PDFs from yet another site. Having the
recorded demos is fabulous, but those of us involved in bands are more
concerned with being able to get the music so we can play them!
The problem is that this turn-of-the-century repertoire was written
for bands with one kind of instrumentation, and the pieces really have
to be totally re-edited for the instrumentation of a modern band.
That takes time. It looks as if these Fulton pieces are being
reedited slowly and being made available on the website, and you can
tell how much a labor of love it is when they are selling for only $20
plus P&H!
John
The instrumentation difference is not quite as major as you make it
seem, really. Just look at this list from David's link:
---
* Full Score
* (4) C Flute + opt Pic
* (1) Eb Clarinet
* (3) 1'st Bb Clarinets
* (3) 2'nd Bb Clarinets
* (3) 3'rd Bb Clarinets
* (1) Bb Bass Clarinet*
* (2) Bassoon*
* (2) 1'st Eb Alto Sax
* (2) 2'nd Eb Alto Sax
* (1) Tenor Sax
* (1) Baritone Sax*
* (2) Solo Cornet**
* (2) 1'st Trumpet
* (2) 2'nd Trumpet
* (2) 1'st-2'nd Horn in F
* (2) 3'rd-4'th Horn in F
* (2) 1'st Trombone
* (2) 2'nd Trombone
* (1) BC Baritone Horn
* (1) TC Baritone Horn
* (2) Tuba
* (1) Snare Drum
* (2) Bass Drum & Cymbals.
* = optional parts not included in original edition.
** = solo here just indicates the melody. It can and should be doubled.
---
The re-editing in this case consisted of adding parts for Bass
Clarinet, Bassoons, and Bar. Sax. Simple enough - most of that would
come from the tuba part or an upper octave bass line part (probably both
in the bassoons). Earlier works for wind groups generally did not have
sax parts, so more work (and more editorial presumption) would be needed
in those cases.
The editor could have gone farther to match modern band standards, if he
had wanted - there is no oboe part listed, for example, and that would
have done no harm.
Raymond Horton
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