Variations On a korean Folk Song
By John Barnes Chance
Boosey and Hawkes
Grade: 4
Year: 1967
Duration: 7'21"
Key: C (really based on A♭ major or E♭ minor pentatonic scale)
Time: 3/4, 6/8, 3/2
Tempo: Quarter Note = 76, 132, 72 Dotted Quarter Note = 144
Grade: 4
Year: 1967
Duration: 7'21"
Key: C (really based on A♭ major or E♭ minor pentatonic scale)
Time: 3/4, 6/8, 3/2
Tempo: Quarter Note = 76, 132, 72 Dotted Quarter Note = 144
Instrumentation
Piccolo Flute 1/ 2 Oboe 1 / 2 Eb Clarinet Bb Clarinet 1 / 2 / 3 Eb Alto Clarinet Bb Bass Clarinet Bb Contrabass Clarinet Bassoon 1 / 2 Eb Alto Saxophone 1 / 2 Tenor Saxophone Baritone Saxophone Trumpets 1 / 2 / 3 |
F Horn 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Trombone 1 / 2 / 3 Baritone Tuba Xylophone Vibraphone Orchestra Bells Temple Blocks Snare Drum Bass Drum Cymbals Triangle Gong Timpani |
Click on SCORE to see the score and listen to a recording.
Suggestions for Small Band Instrumentation
At first glance of the instrumentation one would say this would be impossible for a small band but I will stress a few things that may change your mind. For example much of the opening statements are clarinet and alto saxophone. They are all either in unison or octaves. Also the the flute and piccolo parts are in octaves. I must admit the high piccolo part is awesome but if you don't have it it is still covered in the flute an octave lower. I have experimented with orchestra bells in that upper register and it is nice at times but realize it changes the timbre slightly and thus the feeling. I also recommend having one of your trombone players on the baritone part if you don't have one to cover this part. It generally is in octaves with the trumpet and the alto saxophone like at measure 17 and adds depth to the phrase. One of the challenges is that the three trombone parts are usually in harmony. If you have to sacrifice a part let the third part go because it is in octaves with the tuba (along with bass clarinet and baritone saxophone). One of the concerns that you may have is four french horn parts. Most of the parts are covered between low brass and the saxophone section. Generally the melody and harmonic structure is doubled throughout the entire band which makes it more flexible. However when you arrive to the variation found in the Larghetto section there is an oboe solo. If you have no oboe here is a fine opportunity to transpose to soprano saxophone, muted trumpet, or go with something different (timbre wise) with flute or clarinet.
Program Notes
Variations on a Korean Folk Song is comprised of a theme and five distinct variations. Though the theme is of Eastern origin, Chance maintains a traditional Western tonal function based on triadic harmony and a pentatonic melody. Formal techniques used in the piece are canon, inversion, imitation, augmentation, ostinato, and polymeter. Chance maintains the theme’s Eastern influence by featuring distinct percussive instruments like gong, temple blocks, cymbals, timpani, vibraphone, and triangle. In 1966, Variations on a Korean Folk Song was awarded the American Bandmaster’s Association’s Ostwald Composition Award and the piece remains a standard of band repertoire today.
Composer
John Barnes Chance (November 20, 1932 – August 16, 1972) was a composer, born in Beaumont, Texas. Chance studied composition with Clifton Williams at the University of Texas, Austin, and is best known for his concert band works, which include Variations on a Korean Folk Song, Incantation and Dance, and Blue Lake Overture. Many of his works are written for young musicians, particularly those written between 1960 and 1962, when he was composer-in-residence in the Greensboro, North Carolina public school system—specifically at Greensboro Senior High School (now Grimsley Senior High School) under the supervision of Herbert Hazelman—as part of the Ford Foundation Young Composers Project.
Before he became a full-time composer, Chance played timpani with the Austin Symphony and later was an arranger for the Fourth and Eighth U.S. Army bands. Chance taught at the University of Kentuckyfrom 1966 until his death in 1972. In August 1972, Chance was airing a tent in his garden when a metal pole contacted an electrified fence used to confine his dogs. Chance was accidentally electrocuted and died at 12:40 p.m. at Central Baptist Hospital from cardiac arrest. He and his wife Linda had two children.
Information Collected From
http://www.jwpepper.com/153544.item#.Vaq-JSpViko
http://www.classiccat.net/chance_jb/biography.php
https://andypease.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/variations-on-a-korean-folk-song-by-john-barnes-chance/
Suggestions for Small Band Instrumentation
At first glance of the instrumentation one would say this would be impossible for a small band but I will stress a few things that may change your mind. For example much of the opening statements are clarinet and alto saxophone. They are all either in unison or octaves. Also the the flute and piccolo parts are in octaves. I must admit the high piccolo part is awesome but if you don't have it it is still covered in the flute an octave lower. I have experimented with orchestra bells in that upper register and it is nice at times but realize it changes the timbre slightly and thus the feeling. I also recommend having one of your trombone players on the baritone part if you don't have one to cover this part. It generally is in octaves with the trumpet and the alto saxophone like at measure 17 and adds depth to the phrase. One of the challenges is that the three trombone parts are usually in harmony. If you have to sacrifice a part let the third part go because it is in octaves with the tuba (along with bass clarinet and baritone saxophone). One of the concerns that you may have is four french horn parts. Most of the parts are covered between low brass and the saxophone section. Generally the melody and harmonic structure is doubled throughout the entire band which makes it more flexible. However when you arrive to the variation found in the Larghetto section there is an oboe solo. If you have no oboe here is a fine opportunity to transpose to soprano saxophone, muted trumpet, or go with something different (timbre wise) with flute or clarinet.
Program Notes
Variations on a Korean Folk Song is comprised of a theme and five distinct variations. Though the theme is of Eastern origin, Chance maintains a traditional Western tonal function based on triadic harmony and a pentatonic melody. Formal techniques used in the piece are canon, inversion, imitation, augmentation, ostinato, and polymeter. Chance maintains the theme’s Eastern influence by featuring distinct percussive instruments like gong, temple blocks, cymbals, timpani, vibraphone, and triangle. In 1966, Variations on a Korean Folk Song was awarded the American Bandmaster’s Association’s Ostwald Composition Award and the piece remains a standard of band repertoire today.
Composer
John Barnes Chance (November 20, 1932 – August 16, 1972) was a composer, born in Beaumont, Texas. Chance studied composition with Clifton Williams at the University of Texas, Austin, and is best known for his concert band works, which include Variations on a Korean Folk Song, Incantation and Dance, and Blue Lake Overture. Many of his works are written for young musicians, particularly those written between 1960 and 1962, when he was composer-in-residence in the Greensboro, North Carolina public school system—specifically at Greensboro Senior High School (now Grimsley Senior High School) under the supervision of Herbert Hazelman—as part of the Ford Foundation Young Composers Project.
Before he became a full-time composer, Chance played timpani with the Austin Symphony and later was an arranger for the Fourth and Eighth U.S. Army bands. Chance taught at the University of Kentuckyfrom 1966 until his death in 1972. In August 1972, Chance was airing a tent in his garden when a metal pole contacted an electrified fence used to confine his dogs. Chance was accidentally electrocuted and died at 12:40 p.m. at Central Baptist Hospital from cardiac arrest. He and his wife Linda had two children.
Information Collected From
http://www.jwpepper.com/153544.item#.Vaq-JSpViko
http://www.classiccat.net/chance_jb/biography.php
https://andypease.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/variations-on-a-korean-folk-song-by-john-barnes-chance/