Concert band - Grade 4
SKU:
MH.1-59913-064-5
Composed by William
Ryden. Suitable for high
school, community, and
college bands. Conductor
score and set of parts.
Duration 2:45. Published
by Manhattan Beach Music
(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.
