Description
Notturno pour harmonie, op. 8
Modern edition by David Whitwell (1937–)
Date: c. 1810-1820
Instrumentation: Wind Ensemble
Duration: 36:00
Level: 4
Score preview
Wilhelm Wieprecht (1802–1872) was the person most responsible for the development of military bands in the nineteenth century. He was personally an inventor of instruments, in particular the modern tuba, and he arranged numerous early military marches to be included in the great Army Music Catalog begun in 1817. Extant documents prove he was a thoughtful musician and an effective conductor, winning a gold medal in the most famous band contest ever held, in Paris in 1867.
His Notturno, Op. 8, is an original composition of considerable taste, suggesting that if his time had not been taken over by his duties with military bands he might have gained a considerable reputation as a composer.
Our best guess is that the work was composed in the second decade of the nineteenth century, while Wieprecht was working as a court musician and before his involvement in military music in about 1817.
