Flourish for Wind Band Ralph Vaughan Williams

This brief piece for wind band, composed in 1939 to open a pageant at the Royal Albert Hall, is simple but highly effective. It opens with a rousing brass fanfare, which gives way to a stirring, chorale-like passage in which the woodwind come to the fore, before giving way to the brass as the fanfare returns. Also available in versions for orchestral winds and brass band.

Orchestration: fl, E flat cl, 2 B flat cl, alto cl, contra-alto cl, bass cl, contra-bass cl, bn, alto saxes, B flat saxes, baritone sax, hns, cornets, tpts, tbns, euphonium, basses, string bass, timp, perc