October Overtures
A single-movement divertimento for standard orchestra. An attractive concert-opener especially suited for POPS-style programs, college, community, and professional ensembles, along with their audiences, will enjoy this upbeat, accessible piece, infused with the lilting rhythms and poignant melodies of Celtic traditional music. Originally composed for chamber orchestra and later revised for standard orchestra, the score for October Overtures is available in both versions. A concert band arrangement of the work will be available at a later date. The piece can also be found on the Ligonier Ministries CD, The Alphabet of Revelation.
Duration: 10' 30"
Difficulty: 4/5 (Difficulty Rating Overview)
Listen on YouTube
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ORCHESTRA
2 Flutes (2nd doubling Piccolo)
2 Oboes (2nd doubling Cor Anglais)
2 Clarinets
2 Bassoons
4 Horns
2 Trumpets
2 Tenor Trombones
1 Bass Trombone
1 Tuba
Timpani
Percussion (2 players):
Snare Drum
Gran Cassa
Tambourine
Triangle
Finger Cymbals
Piatti
Suspended Cymbals (small, medium, and large)
Wood Block
Chimes (Tubular Bells)
Glockenspiel
Xylophone
Vibes
Marimba
Harp
Piano (doubling Celeste)
Strings
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CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
1 Flute (doubling piccolo)
2 Oboes (2nd doubling English horn)
1 Clarinet in B♭
2 Bassoons
2 Horns in F
Percussion (2-3 players):
Timpani
Bass Drum
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbals (small, medium, and large)
Piatti
Finger Cymbals
Tambourine
Wood Block
Triangle
Vibes
Glockenspiel
Chimes (Tubular Bells)
Marimba
Xylophone
Piano (doubling Celeste)
Strings
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PROGRAM NOTES
J.A.C. Redford
“October Overtures was written in 1980 near the beginning of my career as I was just learning to play that complex and colorful instrument which is the orchestra. A sense of “play” is key to enjoying this work, because it does turn out to be a bit of a romp. As the title suggests, it was composed in the autumn. There’s more than a hint of nostalgia here. Four years earlier, my family and I had moved from the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains in Utah, where we had genuine seasons, to southern California, where we effectively did not. Before beginning to write this piece, I felt I needed a change of scenery. As October began, I left the record-breaking smog in Los Angeles for the canyons of Utah where, surrounded by the brilliant variety of color in the monumental stillness of that country, I found ideas began to form, patterns to emerge. October Overtures revels in its sources of inspiration and has no deeper ambition than to delight the ear and heart with sound responding to nature.
The work is unabashedly lyrical. An expectant introduction gives way to the opening theme in two parts: a passionate folk dance with Celtic roots, followed by a jaunty clarinet solo. The dance melody is then repeated and brought to a ringing conclusion. After a short bridging passage, a subordinate theme is introduced, scored first for woodwinds and finally dissolving into a poignant section for strings. A forthright motive for horns announces a return to the dance theme, which is concluded with the bell-like music that ended the first section. The development section is made up of several variations on the themes, ending with a resonant chorale. Growing from this, the introductory material appears once more, leading home to the dance theme which concludes the work.”
LINER NOTES
Jon Burlingame (from the recording The Growing Season)
“When he wrote October Overtures, his divertimento for orchestra from 1980, he had been working in television for four years, scoring episodes of shows like James at 16 and Starsky and Hutch. “To evoke the Muse,” Redford recalls, “I left the record-breaking smog in Los Angeles for the canyons of Utah where, surrounded by the brilliant variety of color in the monumental stillness of that country, I found ideas began to form, patterns to emerge. October Overtures revels in its sources of inspiration and has no deeper ambition than to delight the ear and heart with sound responding to nature.”
Indeed, the piece is infused with joy, conjuring up images of Western landscapes and even adding a touch of cowboy humor. There is a folk dance with apparent Celtic roots, some reflective moments, horn calls and, throughout, a firm grasp of music we can instantly recognize as that of the American West.”
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The original chamber orchestra version of October Overtures was premiered on 19 May 1981 at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena by the Pasadena Chamber Orchestra with Robert Kenneth Duerr conducting. The version for standard orchestra was premiered in Torrance, California by the Beach Cities Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Jerome Kessler on 23 March 1990. It was revised in 2007 and recorded on 11 August at the Radio and Television Studio, Kyiv, Ukraine by the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra with the composer conducting. October Overtures appeared on the 2008 Ligonier Ministries CD The Alphabet of Revelation and was re-edited and remastered for the 2016 Plough Down Sillion Music CD The Growing Season.
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“Tuneful and lyric, . . . a joyful, frank and refreshing work.” (Richard Stiles, Pasadena Star-News, May 21, 1981)
“Slick and handsome, . . . In melodic thrust, orchestral timbres and transparency of textures, it owes most to Copland’s ballet music, admirable models, to be sure.” (Daniel Cariaga, Los Angeles Times, May 23, 1981)
Purchase October Overtures
Instrumental Scores:
Scores and parts are delivered as PDF files. A set of parts includes permission to make the requisite copies for the ensemble.
Pricing:
Orchestral Score - $25
Orchestral Parts - $50
Chamber Orchestra Score - $25
Chamber Orchestra Parts - $40