Score Study Sheet

Charles Kuban

Flourish for Wind Band

Ralph Vaughan Williams
Publisher Oxford University Press – Grade 3, length 2 minutes

Broad Description
Flourish for Wind Band was written as an overture to a pageant in the Royal Albert Hall, depicting the majesty and beauty about to
take place.

Composer Biography
Ralf Vaughn Williams was alive from 1872-1958, he was born in Down Ampney, Gloucestershire,
and was the third child of the vicar (a pope) who died suddenly in 1875. At the age of five Vaughn
Williams started taking piano lessons from his aunt. And displaying signs of significant musical
talent composing his first music, a four-bar piano piece also at the age of 5. He didn't particularly
like piano, rather he took the violin at age 6. at age 8 he took a correspondence course in music
from the Edinburgh University and passed all the exams. in 1883 he attended Fieldhouse
preparatory school, while happy in general he for the first time encountered social differences. in
1890 he enrolled at the Royal College of music London and studied organ and composition. Vaughn
Williams family preferred him to have remained closer to home as they didn't believe he was
talented enough to pursue a musical career, they didn't however discourage him. While at the
royal College of Music van Williams got to know Gustav Holst and Charles Stanford.

Early in his career Vaughn Williams had only a modest income, which he supplemented through
other musical activities. In 1899 he received his Doctor of Music at Cambridge and met his future
Wife Adeline. While there “Linden Lea” became the first of his works to appear in print. In 1903 he
became collecting folk songs and incorporating them into his compositions. Over the same period, He composed songs, choral
music, chamber music, and orchestral music. As his career progressed, he studied with Ravel, and spent time in Paris composing.
after returning for Paris, he was 42 and volunteered for military service during the First World War. during his service the noise of
guns damaged his hearing leading to deafness later in his life. During the 1930s Vaughan Williams came to be regarded as a leading
figure in British music. Throughout World War Two, Vaughn Williams was active in civilian war work serving on committees and
councils for the arts. While Adeline was dealing with severe arthritis Ursula, the wife of an army officer who he had recently fallen in
love with helped to care for her. after his first wife's death they got married. despite being an excellent health Vaughan Williams
died suddenly at age 85.
Background Information
Flourish for Wind Band was written as an overture to a pageant in the Royal Albert Hall, depicting the majesty and beauty about to
take place. The original score was for military band with extra clarinets cornets saxophones euphonium and tympani. The score was
lost, only to be discovered again years later in 1971. Since then, it's been adapted for brass band and then Symphony Orchestra, the
orchestral version is for wind instruments double bases and percussion. there are no known recordings of the original adaptation.

Elements of Music

Bar Meter Form Melody Rhythm Harmony Timbre Texture Expression

and
Tempo
Horns, Trombones, Bb Bright, brassy Thin>full, not Majestic, proud,
1 Trumpets too dense stately
A
Winds, brass have Full, Dense, simple Arrival, regal,
A,11
counter melody shimming proud
Winds, with soli F Warm, Simple, upper Soring, beautiful,
brass subdued winds, with connected,
B,20
accompaniment ensemble leading
3/4 B support
C,36 Maestoso Tutti Full, Dense, simple Arrival, regal,
Bb shimming, proud
40
triumphant
Horns, Trombones, Bright, brassy Thin>full, not Majestic, proud,
45 Trumpets too dense stately
A’ Winds, brass have Full, Dense, simple Arrival, regal,
D,54 counter melody shimming proud,
accomplished
Heart Statement
The simple triad-based melody passed around the ensemble, transformed from majestic and bold, to tender and soft, represents the
heart of the piece, and of the pageant it was written for.

Recommended Recordings
Title: Flourish for Wind Band
Ensemble: North Texas Wind Symphony
Conductor: Eugene Migliaro
Why: This is an excellent recording of the piece for reference, and for students to have as a model
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnWo7MUV0MY

Title: English Folk Song Suite

Ensemble: North Texas Wind Symphony
Conductor: Eugene Migliaro
Why: This piece, being one of Vaughn Williams most famous, is an excellent example of his style, and can serve as reference, and for
students to get more examples of style.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bf3brQmRL8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPYS-c_w3XU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAhxsowCMkc

Title: Fantasia on Greensleeves

Ensemble: Sinfonia of London
Conductor: John Barbirolli
Why: This piece exemplifies Vaughn Williams as a collector of folk songs, another prevalent aspect of his life that is useful to know.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEGdunydPAw

Other Works by the Composer

Concerto for Bass Tuba (arr. Wick and Chambers) (1954/1992)
Concerto Grosso (arr. Grechesky) (1924)
Concerto in F minor for Tuba and Winds (arr. Hare) (1954/1992)
England's Pleasant Land (arr. Noble) (1938/2017)
English Folk Song Suite (1924)
English Folk Song Suite (arr. Villanueva) (1924/)
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (arr. Bocook) (1910/2006)
Fantasia on Greensleeves (arr. Wagner) (1934/2011)
Five English Folk Songs (arr. Feldman) (1913/2009)
Five Variants of "Dives and Lazarus" (arr. Gregson) (1939/2004)
Flourish for Glorious John (or. Boyd) (1957/1998)
Flourish for Wind Band (1939)
Folk Songs from Somerset (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Golden Vanity, The (arr. Wagner) (1933/2009)
I Vow to Thee, My Country (as setter; ed. Grechesky) (1921/1988)
Lark Ascending, The (tr. Silvester) (1914/1925/2003)
Linden Lea (arr. Wagner) (1902/2013)
Linden Lea (arr. Stout) (1902/1984)
The Lowlands of Scotland (arr. Daehn) (1912/2006)
March Past of the Kitchen Utensils (arr. Erwin) (1909/2010)
My Bonny Boy (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Norfolk Rhapsody (tr. Robert O'Brien) (1905)
Overture to "The Wasps" (tr. Frank Hudson) (1909)
Prelude, 49th Parallel (arr. van der Beek) (1960/2018)
Prelude: 49th Parallel (arr. Noble) (1941/2014)
Prelude: 49th Parallel (arr. Winkler) (1941/1960)
Prelude from "49th Parallel" (tr. Osmon) (1941/1960/1987/2002)
Prelude on Three Welsh Hymn Tunes (arr. Curnow) (1954/1982)
Prelude: The New Commonwealth (arr. Grauer) (1940/2006)
A Ralph Vaughan Williams Portrait (arr. Wagner) (2018)
Rhosymedre (tr. Beeler) (1920/1972)
Rhosymedre (tr. Johnston) (1920/2011)
Rhosymedre (tr. Baldwin) (1920/)
Running Set, The (tr. Silvester) (1933)
Scherzo alla Marcia (1956)
Sea Songs (1925)
Sea Songs (arr. Longfield) (1925/2006)
Seventeen Come Sunday (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Huckeby) (1924/2020)
Sine Nomine (arr. Reed) (1976)
Sine Nomine (arr. Houseknecht) (1906/1960)
Songs of Travel (arr. Patterson) (1901-4)
Three Studies in English Folk Song (arr. Harbinson) (1927/1999/2003)
Toccata Marziale (1924)
Toccata Marziale (ed Battisti) (ed. Battisti) (1924/2005)
Variations for Wind Band (trans. Hunsberger) (1957/1988/1997)
Vaughan Williams Christmas, A (arr. Wagner) (1999)
Wassail (arr. Smith)

References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Vaughan_Williams#Life_and_career
http://www.windrep.org/Flourish_for_Wind_Band
https://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/4586/TravisJohnson2010.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Glossary of Terms
Maestoso – to play a certain passage of music in a stately, dignified, and majestic fashion.
Sim. -  directive to perform the indicated passage of a composition in a similar manner as the previous passage.

Sang through, studied, and marked parts

X Piccolo X Cornets/Trumpets X 1st Violins
X Flutes X Horns X 2nd Violins
X Oboes X Trombones X Violas
X English Horn X Euphoniums X Celli
X Bassoons X Tubas X String Bass
X Eb Clarinet X Harp X Sopranos
X Clarinets X Timpani X Altos
X Alto Clarinets X Snare Drum X Tenors
X Bass Clarinets X Mallet Percussion X Basses
X Contra Bass/Alto Clarinet X Remaining Percussion
X Saxophones x Piano