Questions Worth Asking When Selecting Music for School Bands

• Is the music a quality piece of art worth playing?
• Does the music have harmonic, melodic, dynamic, formal and rhythmic variety?
• Is the music technically accessible?
• Does the piece fit into a macro plan for exposing students to music of different styles and kinds?
• Will the piece be helpful in assisting students in developing an understanding and appreciation of the art of music?

Junior High/Middle School

• A Little Night Music, Samuel Adler (Carl Fischer)
• Prelude and Fugue in B-flat, J.S. Bach/Moehlman (Jenson)
• Ginger Marmalade, Warren Benson (Carl Fischer)
• Three Pieces for American Band Set No. 2, Timothy Broege (Bourne)
• Overture for Winds, Charles Carter (Bourne)
• Spring Festival, Chen Yi (ACF-HalLeonard)
• Old Churches, Michael Colgrass (ACF-Hal Leonard)
• Down a Country Lane, Aaron Copland/Patterson (B&H)
• Fantasy on a Colonial Air, James Curnow (Hal Leonard)
• Adagio for Winds, Elliot del Borgo (Shawnee)
• Toccata for Band, Frank Erickson (Bourne)
• Hymn for Sunday, Don Gillis (Bourne)
• Ye Banks and Braes O' Bonnie Doon, Percy Grainger (G. Schirmer)
• Court Festival, William Latham (Summy-Birchard)
• Rollo Takes a Walk, David Maslanka (Kjos)
• Chant and Jubilo, Francis McBeth (Southern)
• Canto, Francis McBeth (Southern)
• Devonshire Overture, James Ployhar (Warner Bros.)
• Slavonic Folk Suite, Alfred Reed (Hal Leonard)
• Allerseelen, Richard Strauss/Davis/Fennell (Ludwig)
• Cajun Folk Songs, Frank Ticheli (Manhattan Beach)
• Rhosymedre, Ralph Vaughan Williams/Beeler (Galaxy-EC Schirmer)
• Flourish for Wind Band, Ralph Vaughan Williams (Oxford)
• Sea Songs, Ralph Vaughan Williams (B&H)
• Jana's Dance, David Gorham
• Down by the Salley Garden, Michael Sweeney
• Air for Band, Frank Erickson
• Balladair, Frank Erickson
• Kentucky 1800, Clare Grundman
• Linden Lea, Vaughan Williams
• Romanian Dances, Elliot del Borgo
• Contredanse, Larry Clark (beginner)
• Country Wildflowers, Larry Daehn (beginner)
  

High School

• Solitary Dancer, Warren Benson (Carl Fischer)
• Symphony No. 1 "In Memoriam Dresden", Daniel Bukvich (Jenson)
• Variations on a Korean Folk Song, John Barnes Chance (B & H)
• Incantation and Dance, John Barnes Chance (B & H)
• Elegy, John Barnes Chance (B & H)
• Variations on a Shaker Melody, Aaron Copland (B & H)
• Fantasies on a Theme by Haydn, Norman Dello Joio (Hal Leonard)
• Scenes from the Louvre, Norman Dello Joio (Marks)
• Toccata, Girolamo Frescobaldi (Belwin)
• Jubilance, Caesar Giovannini (Fox)
• Irish Tune from County Derry, Percy Grainger/Rogers (Southern)
• Children's March "O'er the Hills and Far Away", Percy Grainger
  
• A Sussex Mummer's Christmas Carol, Percy Grainger
• Country Gardens, Percy Grainger
• Shepherd's Hey!, Percy Grainger
• Commando March, Samuel Barber
  
• Chorale and Alleluia, Howard Hanson (Carl Fischer)
• First Suite in E-flat for Band, Gustav Holst (B & H)
• Second Suite in F for Band, Gustav Holst (B & H)
• Old Home Days, Charles Ives (Peer International)
• William Byrd Suite, Gordon Jacob (B & H)
• Third Suite, Robert Jager (Volkwein)
• Elegy for a Young American, Ronald Lo Presti (Presser)
• Canzona, Peter Mennin (Carl Fischer)
• Pageant, Vincent Persichetti (Carl Fischer)
• Psalm for Band, Vincent Persichetti (Elkan-Vogel)
• Turn Not Thy Face, Vincent Persichetti (Elkan-Vogel)
• Festivo, Edward Gregson (Novello)
• After a Gentle Rain, Anthony Iannaccone (Shawnee)
• Suite Francaise, Darius Milhaud (Hal Leonard)
• Epinicion, Jon Paulson (Kjos)
• Armenian Dances, Part 1, Alfred Reed (Fox)
• Chester, William Schuman (Presser)
• Toccata Marziale, Ralph Vaughan Williams (B & H)
• English Folk Song Suite, Ralph Vaughan Williams (B & H)
• Trauersinfonie, Richard Wagner/Cailliet
• October, Eric Whitacre (Ranam)
• Symphonic Dance No. 3, Clifton Williams (Fox)
• Chorale and Shaker Dance, John Zdechlik (Kjos)
• Song for Lyndsay, Andrew Boysen
• Shenandoah, Frank Ticheli
• Amazing Grace, Frank Ticheli
• Kaddish, Francis McBeth
• Dusk, Steven Bryant
• Bayou Breakdown, Brant Karrick
• Machu Pichu City in the Sky, Satoshi Yagisawa