Saturday, March 5, 2011

Sea Songs

Sea Songs is one of the simpler works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and was written for British military band in 1924. The composer loved the folk song heritage of his native land. He also knew the English sailing songs and he used three in Sea Songs: “Princess Royal,” “Admiral Benbow,” and “Portsmouth.” The form is ABCA, and the scoring is direct. (Source: Band Music Notes, Norman Smith and Albert Stoutamire)