I don’t know whether I like it, but it is what I meant.—Ralph Vaughan Williams
Vaughan Williams has always been a favourite among band conductors as he was one of the first composers of the twentieth century to write for the concert band (military band) as a serious medium for aesthetic music (the English Folk Song Suite was composed in 1923 for band and later arranged for orchestra). Since then, various original works and transcriptions of Vaughan Williams’ have become standards in the band repertoire, most notably:
Flourish for Wind Band (1939)
Linden Lea (1901)
English Folk Song Suite (1923)
Sea Songs (1923)
Toccata Marziale (1924)
Non-Exhaustive
The following list is by no means exhaustive. New arrangements are being written all the time and there are smaller, boutique publishers popping up around the world. It is very difficult to keep up with every new arrangement on the market.
Subjective
Any discussion of repertoire is always going to be subjective. What appeals to one won’t necessarily appeal to another.
Curated
All the lists of repertoire I recommend are curated. There are no pop songs, show tunes or film scores. There are also (generally) no medleys, even if they are of works by Beethoven or Bach. Although the arranger’s intention is to present more than one work to the students as an educational aim, medleys fail the composer by changing the impression his work was supposed to have, often turning three aesthetic compositions into an entertainment spectacle (medleys also often have stupid titles.)
Any arrangement that changes the style intended by the composer is also left out. Arrangements that have the words ‘Rock’ or ‘Boogie’ in the title should be burned.
Tips for conductors
As with playing any transcription, playing Vaughan Williams is not only an opportunity for the students, but also an opportunity for the conductor to better their practice. Always listen to the works in their original form and watch videos of the great conductors, both band and orchestral.
A personal favourite
Of all the works of Vaughan Williams that I have both performed and conducted, one stands out as my personal favourite: Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus (1939) arr. Stephen Gregson. It is one of those works that I can listen to over and over again and never tire of.
Level 1
Title
Arranger
Publisher
Duration
Recording
Linden Lea
arr. Wagner
Alfred/Belwin
2:21
Level 2
Title
Arranger
Publisher
Duration
Recording
Linden Lea
arr. Stout
Boosey & Hawkes
3:00
Sussex Carol
arr. Anne McGinty
Queenwood
2:27
Solemn Procession (From the Fourth Movement of A London Symphony)
arr. Wagner
Alfred/Belwin
3:36
Level 3
Title
Arranger
Publisher
Duration
Recording
Golden Vanity
arr. Wagner
Alfred/Belwin
4:51
Rhosymedre
arr. Walter Beeler
Galaxy Music
3:46
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
arr. Jay Bocook
Hal Leonard
3:51
Flourish for Wind Band
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Oxford University Press
2:00
The Lowlands of Scotland (Alister McAlpines Lament)
The music of Gustav Holst has always been a favourite amongst band conductors. Now there are a great more works by Holst available for band, at all levels of difficulty.
How the Right-Hemisphere understands Harmony Somewhere in the dim distant reaches of my memory I recall being told of the modes in music that minor was sad and major was
David Whitwell [2017] Written in honor of the retirement of Dr. Ronald Johnson from the University of Northern Iowa On the final day of my 2017 conducting tour of Italy
