Passacaglia for Band

Grade 4

8.5 minutes

Composed for and premiered by the Blacksburg High School Symphonic Band conducted by Dr. Diana Love at the Virginia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference on November 20, 2003 in Norfolk, Virginia.

Passacaglia for Band is a set of continuous variations surrounding an eight-bar ostinato theme.  After a unison statement of the theme (which employs eleven of the twelve chromatic pitches), it is repeated 23 times by various sections and soloists throughout the ensemble.  Although a wide variety of scoring and compositional techniques are utilized to include transparent textures, muted brass, polyrhythms, and polychords, the work is intended to be accessible to most high school bands.