Repertoire Project
JIM NOVAK
NORTHERN STATE UNIVERSITY
MUS 751
Sources for Existing Music: State Lists
(All pictures in this presentation are hyperlinks)
Sources for Existing Music
TEACHING MUSIC THROUGH PERFORMANCE IN BAND
Sources for Existing Music
STANTON’S ESSENTIAL REPERTOIRE
J.W. PEPPER: EDITOR’S CHOICE
Sources for New Music
PUBLISHER COLLECTIVE SOURCES
Sources for New Music
INDIVIDUAL PUBLISHER WEBSITES
Sources for New Music
PLC: BAND DIRECTORS GROUP ON FACEBOOK
Three Pieces Worth Repeating
Moscow, 1941, by Brian Balmages, is one of my favorite pieces for middle school band. I love programmatic music, as I find it is so easy to hook students into it and motivate them to play it. This programmatic piece uses the Russian folk song Meadowlands to tell the story of the Red Army successfully defending Moscow against the German invasion of World War II. It provides a great deal of contrast, with the beginning being very slow and subdued, and the end is very tense and energetic. The melody is presented to every section of the band throughout the work. Balmages includes some fun percussive effects that imitate bombs and warning sirens.
Three Pieces Worth Repeating
Images of Ireland, also by Brian Balmages, is another of my favorites for middle school band. This Grade 2 work features three irish songs (Sweet William, Star of County Down, and The Minstrel Boy), and I always find it is an easy piece to engage students. It is a great piece to work 3/4 time, D minor/F Major keys, and dotted-quarter/eighth note rhythms. It provides good contrast between the sections, from a stately 3/4 time beginning, to a slow 3/4 in d minor, to a energetic 4/4 ending in f major.
Three Pieces Worth Repeating
Another piece I really like for the middle school band is When the Saints Go Marchin’ In, arranged by Andy Clark. This arrangement really works well at the middle school level, and I always find it to be a crowd favorite. It provides melody in nearly every section, it has some interesting percussion parts, and it moves from Eb major to F major. I also find that it is a great piece to work the eighth/quarter/eighth syncopated rhythm.