Fanfare
A fanfare (or fanfarade or flourish) is a short
By extension, the term may also designate a short, prominent passage for brass instruments in an orchestral composition. Fanfares are widely used in
Etymology
The word has been traced to a 15th-century Spanish root, fanfa ("vaunting"). Though the word may be
History
In French usage, fanfare also may refer to a hunting signal (given either on "starting" a stag, or after the kill when the hounds are given their share of the animal). In both France and Italy, fanfare was the name given in the 19th century to a military or civilian brass band.[1] In French, this usage continues to the present, and distinguishes the all-brass band from bands of mixed brass and woodwind, which is called Harmonie.[7] The same applies in Belgium and the Netherlands, where competitions for fanfares are held to this day, well separate from other wind ensembles such as brass bands and harmonies.[8] Fanfares have been imitated in art music as early as the 14th century. Examples in opera include a fanfare for the governor's arrival in Beethoven's Fidelio, act 2. In the 20th century, well-known composed fanfares include Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man (1942), for brass and percussion, and Igor Stravinsky's Fanfare for a New Theatre (1964), for two trumpets.[9][6]
Copland's Fanfare is one of a series of 18 commissioned by Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conductor Eugene Goossens in 1942–43, each to open a concert. Each was to salute an aspect of the war effort; the U.S. had entered World War II the previous year. The only one of these fanfares to become well known is Copland's; the others are rarely if ever performed or recorded. The set, with the date of the concert at which each was performed, is:[10]
- 1. A Fanfare for Airmen, Bernard Wagenaar, Oct. 9, 1942
- 2. A Fanfare for Russia, Deems Taylor, Oct. 16, 1942.
- 3. A Fanfare for the Fighting French, Walter Piston, Oct. 23, 1942.
- 4. A Fanfare to the Forces of our Latin-American Allies, Henry Cowell, Oct. 30, 1942. (Recorded.)[vague]
- 5. A Fanfare for Friends, Daniel Gregory Mason, Nov. 6, 1942.
- 6. A Fanfare for Paratroopers, Paul Creston, Nov. 27, 1942.
- 7. Fanfare de la Liberté, Darius Milhaud, Dec. 11, 1942.
- 8. A Fanfare for American Heroes, William Grant Still, Dec. 18, 1942.
- 9. Fanfare for France, Virgil Thomson, Jan. 15, 1943.
- 10. Fanfare for Freedom, Morton Gould, Jan. 22, 1943. (Recorded.)[vague]
- 11. Fanfare for Airmen, Leo Sowerby, Jan. 29, 1943. (Recorded.)[vague]
- 12. Fanfare for Poland, Harl McDonald, Feb. 5, 1943.
- 13. Fanfare for the Medical Corps, Anis Fuleihan, Feb. 26, 1943.
- 14. Fanfare for the American Soldier, Felix Borowski, March 5, 1943.
- 15. Fanfare for the Common Man, Aaron Copland, March 12, 1943. (Many recordings. Incorporated into Copland's Symphony No. 3.)
- 16. Fanfare for the Signal Corps, Howard Hanson, April 2, 1943.
- 17. Fanfare for the Merchant Marine, Eugene Goossens, April 16, 1943.
- 18. Fanfare for Commandos, Bernard Rogers, Feb. 20, 1943.
Sources
- ^ a b c Tarr 2001.
- ^ Griffiths 2004.
- ^ Lloyd 1968, 172: "FANFARE: a musical announcement played on brass instruments before the arrival of an important person. Originally a fanfare heralded the entrance of a king into his great hall or into the royal box at the theater. Fanfares were also played on state occasions, such as coronations.".
- ^ a b c Lloyd 1968, 172.
- ^ Davidson 1907.
- ^ a b Randel 2003.
- ^ Kennedy 2006.
- ^ https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2024/03/11/fanfare-uit-achel-wint-fanfarekampioenschap/
- ^ Baines & Bellingham 2002.
- ^ Anon. n.d.
Works cited
- "Goosens Fanfares". Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (accessed July 30, 2018).
- Baines, Anthony, and Jane Bellingham. 2002. "Fanfare". The Oxford Companion to Music, edited by Alison Latham. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-866212-9.
- Davidson, Thomas. 1907. "Fanfare". Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language. London and Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers, Limited.
- Griffiths, Paul. 2004. The Penguin Companion to Classical Music. London and New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 9780141909769(electronic book).
- Kennedy, Michael. 2006. "Fanfare". The Oxford Dictionary of Music, second edition, revised. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-861459-3.
- Lloyd, Norman. 1968. "Fanfare". The Golden Encyclopedia of Music. New York: Golden Press. Library of Congress Number 68-17169.
- Randel, Don Michael. 2003. "Fanfare". The Harvard Dictionary of Music, fourth edition. Harvard University Press Reference Library 16. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01163-2.
- Tarr, Edward H. 2001. "Fanfare". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
