Description
Swansea Town, No. 6 from Six Choral Folksongs (H.136; Op. 36), Gustav Holst, arranged by Paul Burnell for instruments in four parts.
Duration 2:50
Score in C
The arrangement is suitable for multiple quartet combinations with parts available (and potential instrumentations suggested) as follows:
Part 1: C, Eb (flute, oboe, alto recorder, Eb clarinet, violin 1)
Part 2: C, Bb (oboe, tenor recorder, Bb clarinet, violin 2)
Part 3: C - alto & bass clefs, Bb, Eb, F (Bb clarinet, bass recorder, alto saxophone, horn in F, viola)
Part 4: C - bass clef, Bb, F (bassoon, great bass recorder, tenor saxophone, horn in F, 'cello)
Part 4 may be played an octave lower than written - using the 'Bass Clef up 8' part.
Any other appropriate instruments, even if not suggested above, may play.
Although the score is presented with a layout appropriate for string quartet this does not indicate a preferred instrumentation.
This arrangement is transposed from the original key.
Bracketed notes are an option where the associated notes are out of range or impractical.
Programme note:
During and after the composition of 'The Planets', Holst wrote or arranged numerous vocal and choral works, many of them for the Thaxted Whitsun Festivals, 1916–18. They include the 'Six Choral Folksongs' of 1916, of which 'Swansea Town', a folksong collected by George Barnet Gardiner, is the most memorable.