Commonwealth Fanfare (Band Gr. 4)

Written for the 2022 All-Virginia Concert Band, in under three minutes of time, your ensemble will come alive with a fanfare that kicks with a country backbeat. The music explores the land and history of the Commonwealth of Virginia through sound. Through stylistic twists and turns and a bold and triumphant climactic phrase, performers and audiences will be uplifted with this action-packed fanfare!

Genre: Band | # of Players: Standard
Series: Ruby Band Series
Level: 4 | Duration: 2:30

Instrumentation
Piccolo
Flute 1
Flute 2
Oboe 1 & 2
Bassoon 1 & 2
B-flat Clarinet 1
B-flat Clarinet 2
B-flat Clarinet 3
B-flat Bass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone 1
Alto Saxophone 2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone

B-flat Trumpet 1
B-flat Trumpet 2
B-flat Trumpet 3
F Horn 1
F Horn 2
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
B-flat Baritone T.C.
Tuba
Double Bass [optional]

Timpani [4 drums]
Mallets 1: Xylophone
Mallets 2: Chimes, Suspended Cymbal, Glockenspiel, Crash Cymbals [shared]
Percussion 1: Bass Drum [shared], Snare Drum
Percussion 2: Suspended Cymbal, Bass Drum, Tambourine, Crash Cymbals
[shared] Percussion 3: Crash Cymbals, Tambourine, Triangle, Medium Tom, Suspended Cymbal [all shared but Tom]

Program Notes
In December of 2021, over a dinner conversation at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago with good friend and conductor, T. André Feagin, he asked me if I had written a fanfare, as he was looking for a piece to open a concert with the 2022 All-Virginia Concert Band. Sadly, my response was “no.” But then I thought for a second and told him about my piece titled "Commonwealth," written for the band, orchestra, and choir of Sandburg Middle School (Alexandria, VA), that set a poem that I wrote that was inspired by the land and history of the Commonwealth of Virginia. André asked me to sing the tune, so I did, and he said, “well, we have our fanfare!”

I immediately got to work adapting the piece into a bold and brilliant fanfare for concert band. In under three minutes, the ensemble will come alive with a fanfare that’s got a country backbeat, exploring the peaks and valleys of the Blue Ridge mountains through sound. The poem, whose verses inspire each section of the fanfare, is as follows…

COMMONWEALTH
Commonwealth, uncommon land,
Solid ground on which we stand,
With mountains high and valleys deep,
Your beauty in our souls we keep.

Commonwealth, uncommon past,
Where echoes of old wars still last
From battles waged so long ago.
They challenge us to learn and grow.

Commonwealth, uncommon dream,
Not as distant as may seem.
If peace, goodwill, and love abide,
We’ll walk together unified.

Commonwealth, uncommon home,
Far away though we may roam,
We’ll not forget the warm embrace
Of Commonwealth’s uncommon grace.

– C. H.