Celtic Ritual captures the unique mix of joy and sadness in the Celtic culture, forged by a thousand years of fighting for freedom. John Higgins' dramatic work also depicts the legendary race of superhuman warriors who were also highly gifted in music and the arts. This is a piece your students need to experience!
The elaborate and sometimes highly charged folk song arrangements of Australian composer Percy Grainger have become his trademark. A well-known example is ‚Shepherd‘s Hey‘, a traditional English dancing tune.
Grainger discovered it in the folk-song collection of the musicologist Cecil Sharp who, for his part, had heard the violinist of the Bidford Morris Dancers play this merry tune in 1906. A proof of how popular Grainger's arrangement is, is The frequency with which all the different versions and numerous instrumentations ranging from piano to wind orchestra are performed is proof of how popular Grainger's arrangement is. 'Shepherd's Hey' is an ideal encore piece for orchestras which will guarantee their audience goes home with a smile on their face.
Variations on a Korean Folk Song is based upon a folk tune that the composer learned while serving the U.S. Army in Seoul, Korea. The tune is known as “Arrirang.” In autumn 1966, for the Journal of Band Research, Chance said: “I became acquainted with the folk song while serving in Seoul, Korea, as a member of the Eighth U.S. Army Band in 1958-59. The tune is not as simple as it sounds, and my fascination with it during the intervening years led to its eventual use as the theme for this set of variations.”
