Transcribing from Brass Band to Wind Band: A Comparison of Approaches and Methods and Subsequent Transcription of "Gypsy Dream" by Peter Graham

Abstract

The brass band and wind band had similar repertoires in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with marches, dances, solos, and transcriptions written prominently for both ensembles. The repertoires diverged at the beginning of the twentieth century as brass band contests commissioned new and original works and international composers began writing serious works for wind band. In the 1970s, British composer Philip Sparke succeeded in writing music for both ensembles and subsequently began to create a shared repertoire, and other composers started contributing to this repertoire. As this repertoire has proliferated, much of it has become worthy of serious study. The purpose of the current study is to find shared scoring tendencies between three transcriptions: one written by the original composer; a second transcribed by a different composer; and a third transcribed by both the original composer and a different composer. The works selected were The Year of the Dragon by Philip Sparke (transcribed by the composer), Variations for Brass Band by Ralph Vaughan Williams (transcribed by Donald Hunsberger), and Call of the Cossacks by Peter Graham (transcribed by the composer and Mick Dowrick). There were several effective instrumentation choices the works shared, including woodwind prominence in solo and lyrical passages, double reeds substituting for small brass ensembles, and high woodwinds written one or more octaves above the original. Adapting these choices, the author created a transcription of Gypsy Dream, the second movement of Call of the Cossacks. Further, these commonalities can serve as guidelines for other transcribers to arrange brass band works for wind band and expand this shared repertoire.