GrandRondo.Orch

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Fruhauf Music Publications

Ennis Fruhauf
Grand Rondo
on Simple Gifts and Bourbon
for Full Orchestra
(Full Score: 28 pages of music,
8 ½ x 14, spiral-bound)
[Approximate duration of performance: 6 ½ minutes]

.pdf

An orchestration of a setting for Organ Solo of the same title, this new publication is drawn from the collection of settings of Early American Hymn Tunes. To view pages 1 - 2 of the score, click on the .pdf logo (above). For purchase of the full score, please consult the Order Form Page listing under Music for Organ Solo [OS.28]. For purchase of sets of parts for performance, please contact frumuspub.net and supply specific details regarding orchestral ensemble size and numbers of stands; a quotation tailored to individual performance needs will be provided.

Instrumentation
Piccolo
Flutes 1 & 2
Oboes 1 & 2
English Horn
B-flat Clarinets 1 & 2
Bass Clarinet
Bassoons 1 & 2
Contrabassoon
French Horns 1& 2
French Horns 3 & 4
B-flat Trumpets 1 & 2
Tenor Trombones 1& 2
Bass Trombone
Tuba
Timpani [4] – 1 Player
Percussion – 1 Player
[Bass Drum and Suspended Cymbal (soft mallets), Triangle]
Violins I
Violins II
Violas
Violoncellos
Contrabasses

N.B. Stem-slash notations for repeated notes in the strings:
single slash – 8ths; double slash – 16ths; triple slash – free trem.

Notes

Grand Rondo on Simple Gifts and Bourbon is an extended setting of two contrasting hymn tunes, both with roots in American folk music and hymnody. Simple Gifts traces its origins to 18th century Shaker culture, while Bourbon’s pentatonic melody was first published in William Moore’s Columbian Harmony (Cincinnati, 1825), attributed to Freeman Lewis. Lewis (1780-1859), was a professional surveyor and avocational musician who lived in Uniontown, Pennsylvania; his tune book, The Beauties of Harmony, dates from 1816. [N.B. The names of Bourbon County, Kentucky (the origin of bourbon whiskey) and Paris, its county seat, both evoke the royal heritage and majesty of French Bourbon kings.]

In this orchestral setting, Simple Gifts is presented as part of a three-section rondo: the Shaker tune is first heard in tenor registers set below imitative woodwinds; its second slower statement offers a richly harmonized version of the melody in a new tonality. In marked contrast to the deceptive simplicity of the opening sections, the intervening five variations on Bourbon are bold and gripping, with their chromatic and modulating passacaglia-like structure; the hymn melody migrates between voices, sounding out strongly in the bass registers for the last two variations. Following a brief pause, Simple Gifts returns in abbreviated form – with the addition of a gently warbling violin and piccolo descant – to bring Grand Rondo to a harmonious conclusion.

All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Ennis Fruhauf.

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