SKU: MH.1-59913-064-5

ISBN 9781599130644.

I wrote Galloping Ghosts (A Ragtime March) to conclude a concert of my chamber music in New York City on October 28, 1986. It is the final part of a work called Rags for Divers Players. This work was written to show the variety possible within the standard rag form. I used all the players available for the finale -- two violins, viola, cello, bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, and piano. Since this is a rather unusual instrumental combination and not easy to reassemble, I decided to rescore the work for concert band. Galloping Ghosts is written in a standard march form but incorporates many of the syncopations found in ragtime. The uniquely American music called ragtime traces its history to African rhythms brought over by slaves. Over the years this music became welded to European musical forms such as the quadrille and the march. Drums and banjos and the minstrel tradition lent a special flavor, and from all these elements ragtime slowly evolved within the largely unknown black subculture of the late 19th century. In the late 1890's it emerged as a fully developed form in the classic piano solos of Scott Joplin (1869-1917). Joplin's 1899 hit, Maple Leaf Rag, was an overnight sensation and brought ragtime worldwide fame. Ensemble instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 8 Flute 1 and 2, 2 Oboe, 1 Eb Clarinet, 4 Bb Clarinet 1, 4 Bb Clarinet 2, 4 Bb Clarinet 3, 2 Eb Alto Clarinet, 3 Bb Bass and Bb Contrabass Clarinet, 2 Bassoon 1 and 2, 2 Eb Alto Saxophone 1, 2 Eb Alto Saxophone 2, 2 Bb Tenor Saxophone, 1 Eb Baritone Saxophone, 3 Bb Cornet 1, 3 Bb Cornet 2, 3 Bb Cornet 3, 2 Horn 1 and 2 in F, 2 Horn 3 and 4 in F, 4 Trombone 1 and 2, 4 Bass Trombone, 2 Baritone (B.C.), 2 Baritone (T.C.), 4 Tuba, 1 String Bass, 1 Timpani, 1 Xylophone, 3 Percussion 1, 3 Percussion 2.

SKU: PR.11441304S

UPC: 680160620357. 8.5 x 11 inches.

The mixed sextet The Han Figurines is a musical realization of my impression of the Chinese clay figurines of the Eastern Han (25-220 A.D.). Have you seen the shapes of the enraptured storyteller, the vivid acrobat, and the moving dancers with long sleeves? They are in highly exaggerated forms and postures, in large and sweeping movements -- the innocent and bold images symbolize the strength, motion, and speed. It's the beauty of the crude and primitive power of humanity in its conquest of the material world. --Chen Yi.
The mixed sextet The Han Figurines is a musical realization of my impression of the Chinese clay figurines of the Eastern Han (25-220 A.D.).  Have you seen the shapes of the enraptured storyteller, the vivid acrobat, and the moving dancers with long sleeves?  They are in highly exaggerated forms and postures, in large and sweeping movements — the innocent and bold images symbolize the strength, motion, and speed.  It’s the beauty of the crude and primitive power of humanity in its conquest of the material world.—Chen Yi.

SKU: CF.C737F

UPC: 680160922086.