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Technical Considerations

This piece is tonally based in F Major and Db Major. All players should be very familiar with both keys and their instrument's intonation tendancies on each scale degree. By far, the largest hurdle will be the overall intonation of the ensemble. While this piece isn't techinically difficult, the level of musicality required extends far past that of standard band literature. The instrument ranges are fairly normal. The higher notes are left for the soloists to play, but these notes are not stretching the limits for most players. By incorporating only each instruments standard range, Copland and Patterson made this piece more accessible for smaller and less "technically blessed" ensembles. There are solos for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and trumpet. The flute and clarinet solo have slurred octave jumps. After letter E, the trumpets are to use cup mutes--another potential intonation problem.