Second Suite in F for Military Band
The Second Suite in F for Military Band ( op. 28, No. 2; German 'Second Suite in F for Military Music') is Gustav Holst's second and last suite for Concert Band . Although it is performed less often than the First Suite , it is still part of the standard band repertoire. The Second Suite , composed in 1911 and first published in 1922, dedicated to James Causley Windram, is longer and more difficult to play than its sister suite .
During Holst's early years as a composer he (like many composers at the time) was interested in folk and wrote many pieces based on folk music. In 1909 he provided piano accompaniments to 16 songs collected by George Gardiner for publication in Folk Songs from Hampshire , a volume in Cecil Sharp's County Songs series . He was carried away by them and integrated several into this suite (later he wrote choral arrangements of some songs, including some that he has already used in the suite). His contemporary and friend Ralph Vaughan Williams later based his own English Folk Song Suite on English folk songs. Seven traditional pieces are included in the four movements of Holst's second suite.
There are different versions of the work, the most recent by Boosey & Hawkes (1984), edited by Colin Mathews. In the 1940s Gordon Jacob arranged it for a full orchestra under the title "A Hampshire Suite".
Instrumentation
The work is set for a standard military band of the early 20th century.
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structure
The Second Suite consists of four movements, all based on English folk songs.
1st movement: March: Morris dance, Swansea Town, Claudy Banks
The “ March ” of the Second Suite begins with a simple motif consisting of five notes between the low and high instruments of the band . The first folk song is in the form of a traditional march played by a British brass ensemble using the melody "Glorishears". After a brief climax, the second section begins with a euphonium that plays the second folk melody in the suite, "Swansea Town", as a soloist. The theme is repeated by the entire band before the trio arrives. For this , Holst modulates to the unconventional minor subdominant of B flat minor and changes the time signature to 6 ⁄ 8 (in the traditional marching form one usually modulates to the subdominant in major. Although e.g. Sousa sometimes changes the time signature for the trio ( especially in "El Capitan"), this was not common). The third theme, called "Claudy Banks," is heard in a deep woodwind solo, as in the standard marching orchestration. Then the first part is repeated, da capo .
II. Movement: Song Without Words, "I'll Love My Love"
Holst writes the fourth folk song, "I'll Love My Love", in stark contrast to the first movement. The second movement begins with a French horn chord and changes via a flowing accompaniment in Dorian to a solo of the clarinet together with the oboe. Then the trumpet solo is repeated, forming an arc of intensity. The climax of the piece is a fermata in bar 32, followed by a trumpet opening that ends in the final bars of the movement.
III. Movement: Song of the Blacksmith
Holst contrasts the slow second movement with the rather optimistic third movement, in which the folk song “A Blacksmith Courted Me” appears. The brass plays in a pointillist style, which is a later style of Holst. There are many time signature changes ( 4 ⁄ 4 to 3 ⁄ 4 ) that make the movement increasingly difficult because the brass has all of their accompaniment on the upbeat of each bar. The high woodwinds and horns join the melody and are accompanied by the sound of an anvil. The D major chord that sounds at the end has an impressive effect that paves the way for the final movement. This chord is probably so effective because it is unexpected: the entire movement is in F major and suddenly the music moves back into the major of the parallel minor key .
IV. Movement: Fantasia on the Dargason
This movement is not based on a folk song, but uses two melodies from Playford's The Dancing Master from 1651. The finale of the suite begins with a solo for alto clarinet and alto and tenor saxophone, which is based on the folk song "Dargason", an English dance from the 16th century, which was included in the first version of the Dancing Master. The fantasy is continued through various variations, exhausting the entire line-up of the band. The final folk song, Greensleeves , is cleverly woven into the fantasy. This is done through the use of hemioli , while the dargason is in 6 ⁄ 8 and greensleeves in 3 ⁄ 4 . At the climax of the movement, the competing subjects are arranged in competing sections. As the movement comes to an end, a duet between tuba and piccolo makes a return to the beginning of the suite with a contest between high and low registers.
The name "Dargason" may come from an Irish legend that tells of a monster that resembles a large bear (although many of the creature's descriptions have been lost over time). This dargason tormented the Irish countryside. During the Irish revolt in the late 18th century, it is believed that the Dargason attacked a British camp and killed numerous soldiers. Apart from this legend, "Dargason" probably originated from an Anglo-Saxon word for dwarf or fairy ( dwarf / fairy ). The melody has been believed to be English (or Welsh ) since at least the 16th century . It is also known as "Sedony" (or Sedany) or "Welsh Sedony".
Holst later reused this movement - rearranged and orchestrated for string orchestra - as the final movement of his St Paul's Suite (1912).
Web links
- Second Suite in F for Military Band : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
Individual evidence
- ^ Imogen Holst : A Thematic Catalog of Gustav Holst's Music. Faber 1974, entries 84 and 106 (English).
- ↑ a b c d e f Imogen Holst: A Thematic Catalog of Gustav Holst's Music. Faber 1974, p. 99 (English).
- ↑ e.g. in Thomas Ravenscroft: Pammelian , 1580.
- ^ Imogen Holst: A Thematic Catalog of Gustav Holst's Music. Faber 1974, entry 118 (English).