Share
Details
Description
SKU: ET.ENS71
Composed by Kerry Turner. Contemporary. Score & parts. Composed 1994. Duration 5'. Editions BIM #ENS71. Published by Editions BIM (ET.ENS71).ISBN 9790207022660.
Ghost Riders for brass octet and optional tenor voice was based on an old Western American folk song called Riders in the Sky. The song tells of a man of dubious morals who, while riding out on the range one day beheld a most frightening vision of warning. A 'ghost rider' rode out of a visionary herd of cattle being driven across the sky and addressing the cowboy personally, warning him that if he didn't curb his sinful ways, he was destined to ride with this giant 'devil's herd' for the rest of eternity. The instrumental 'tone poem' is an impression of this legendary vision (verses 2 & 3 of the song.) To set the scene, I thought it effective to present the first verse of the folk song in its original manner:
A cowpoke went a-ridin' out one dark and windy day / He rested on his saddle as he rode along the way / When all at once a mighty herd of red-eyed cows he saw / Thundrin' through the windy sky and on a cloudy drive / Yippee-ay-oh, yippee-ay-ay / Ghost riders in the sky.
The work was written for the brass section of the RTL Orchestra (Luxemburg). Tenor voice singing the tune a capella at the beginning is optional or can be played by trombone.
Kerry Turner
Luxemburg.