Ratbags (Band Gr. 2.5)

A ‘ratbag’ is an Australian slang term used to describe someone who might be a bit mischievous. In this case it is applied with the utmost affection. I have two ratbags, Lily and Ella. When they were a younger, 4 or 5 years old, we would play ‘hide and seek’. They would hide somewhere, and I probably never would have found them if they didn’t continuously give themselves away with bursts of uncontrollable giggles. The rules of our ‘hide and seek’ dictated that once their cover had been blown, I was obliged to turn into a tiger and chase them around the house. The middle, lyrical section is a tune that we wrote together called “Song for Mummy”. They played this on their 1/10th size violins as a mothers’ day present when they were 5 years old.

Genre: Band | # of Players: Standard
Series: Young Band Series
Level: 2.5 | Duration: 4:50

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

B-flat Trumpet 1
B-flat Trumpet 2
F Horn 1
F Horn 2
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Euphonium B.C.
Euphonium T.C.
Tuba
String Bass

Timpani (4 drums)
Mallets: Xylophone, Glockenspiel, Optional Slide Whistle
Percussion 1: Bass Drum, Triangle, Snare Drum
Percussion 2: Vibraslap, Concert Tom, 2 Suspended Cymbals

Program Notes
A ‘ratbag’ is an Australian slang term used to describe someone who might be a bit mischievous. In this case it is applied with the utmost affection. I have two ratbags, Lily and Ella. When they were a younger, 4 or 5 years old, we would play ‘hide and seek’. They would hide somewhere, and I probably never would have found them if they didn’t continuously give themselves away with bursts of uncontrollable giggles. The rules of our ‘hide and seek’ dictated that once their cover had been blown, I was obliged to turn into a tiger and chase them around the house. The middle, lyrical section is a tune that we wrote together called “Song for Mummy”. They played this on their 1/10th size violins as a mothers’ day present when they were 5 years old. Ratbags was premiered by the ‘Ferny Grove Cluster Advanced Music Camp Band’ on 20th June 2020.

Score Video

Composer Talk