The Poor Soldier Suite for Band by William Shield Concert Band - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.837498

The score is formatted for 8.5 X 14 (legal) size paper and is 67 pages. The parts are formatted for 8.5 X 11 (letter) size paper.

Duration: 16 minutes

Written in 1783 by English composer William Shield to a famous libretto by Irish playwright John O’Keeffe, The Poor Soldier was a hit at its premier in November 1783 at Covent Garden in London.  Quickly reaching American theaters by the following year, it became a frequently performed American Colonial musical theater piece, remaining in the repertory for over fifty years. So popular were the tunes from The Poor Soldier that even as late as 1850, some of the opera’s songs were music hall staples.  Apparently George Washington adored this work and had excerpts performed for him at Mount Vernon.

In 2008 I was hired to reconstruct the opera the The Poor Soldier from a series of piano sketches and individually sold arias dating back to the late eighteen hundreds. The 2008 production was premiered at SUNY Schenectady County Community College by Musicians of Ma’alwyck.

This band suite was created in 2010 and premiered by the Capital Region Wind Ensemble.