A Million Buffalo Roam (Conductor's Score for Piano Ensemble)
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SKU: A0.972641
Composed by James Siddons. 20th Century,Folk,Holiday,Patriotic. Score. 54 pages. James Siddons Music and Writings #3093055. Published by James Siddons Music and Writings (A0.972641).This composition, by composer, pianist, and musicologist James Siddons, is neither an arrangement nor a medley. Rather, it is a kind of historical re-construction; one that imagines how a typical piano rag of before 1905 would have sounded when performed by a skillful vernacular pianist as a virtuosic improvisation. It is available as a piano solo or piano duet and may be played by piano ensembles. This Conductor's Score is for leading ensemble performance. Tom Turpin's "Buffalo Rag," "Home On the Range," and the "Star-Spangled Banner" are heard as an extended virtuosic display; a representation of a little-documented performance practice. After improvisatory passages on the three themes of "The Buffalo Rag" are heard individually, they are combined with the tunes of "Home On the Range" and the "Star-Spangled Banner," including one passage in which "Home On the Range" and the "Star-Spangled Banner" are played simultaneously, combined with the accompaniment patterns of "Buffalo Rag." Following are some suggestions for ensemble performance of A Million Buffalo Roam:
1. In accommodating ensemble members of differing piano skills, note that the Secondo part is generally less challenging than the Primo.
2. In an echo of Haydn’s FarewellSymphony, at measure 423, have the performers at one piano play the chord on beat 1, then stand and leave the stage. Have the performers at another piano stand and leave after playing beat 1 of measure 429; likewise for measures 435 and 441, leaving only one (solo) or two (duet) player(s) on stage. Then have all the other players run back to their pianos and play the chord in measure 444. (Adjust these exits as needed.)
3. Using overhead cameras and projection screens placed on or around the stage, let the audience see the performers’ hands and arms in motion.
4. In performance, when the patriotic songs begin, have a song leader on stage to lead the audience in singing "Home on the Range" and the "Star-Spangled Banner." The words can be projected on a screen. In the vaudeville theater, sing-alongs were popular.
5. When the "Star-Spangled Banner" enters at measure 442, have a flag corps march onto stage.
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