Danny Deever

Danny Deever started life as a poem from the “Barracks Room Ballads” of Rudyard Kipling, a major cultural hero of Percy Grainger’s. Originally scored the for small male unison chorus, large male choir, and a large orchestra including saxophones and euphonium, Ragsdale has scored the work for traditional wind band.

Program Notes

Danny Deever started life as a poem from the “Barracks Room Ballads” of Rudyard Kipling, a major cultural hero of Percy Grainger’s. Grainger scored the piece for small male unison chorus, large male choir, and a large orchestra including saxophones and euphonium. The song tells the story of Danny Deever, a British soldier in foreign service hung for a minor offense. Grainger’s setting captures beautifully the contrasting moods of boisterousness, horror and “whistling past the graveyard” so common in a soldier’s experience.

Danny Deever is a Grade 5, well-suited for the outstanding high school or collegiate band. Duration 3′.

Note: This piece can be performed as a standalone work or as a set- Three Tragic Ballads- with The Three Ravens and Father and Daughter.

Grade Level: 5
Copyright: 2005
Number of Players: Standard
Duration: 3:00
Publisher: Aux Arcs Music
Category: Concert Band

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Instrumentation

Piccolo (1)
Flute 1 & 2 (4)
Oboe 1 & 2 (2)
Englih Horn (1)
Bassoon 1 & 2 (2)
Double Bassoon (1)
B-flat Clarinet 1 (3)
B-flat Clarinet 2 & 3 (3)
B-flat Clarinet (2)
E-flat Contra-alto Clarinet (1)
B-flat Soprano Saxophone (1)
E-flat Alto Saxophone 1 & 2 (2)
B-flat Tenor Saxophone (1)
E-flat Baritone Saxophone (1)
B-flat Bass Saxophone (1)
B-flat Trumpet 1 (2)
B-flat Trumpet 2 & 3 (4)
French Horn 1 & 2 (2)
French Horn 3 & 4 (2)
Trombone 1 & 2 (2)
Trombone 3 (1)
Euphonium (2)
T.C. Euphonium (2)
Tuba (3)
Bass Fiddle (1)

Timpani (3 drums)
Snare Drum
Bass Drum
Vibraphone, Crash Cymbals, Suspended Cymbal
Marimba 1 (4.3-octave) top
Marimba 2 (5-octave) top
Marimba bottom
Marimba bottom