PERFORMANCE NOTE
 

Elephant Patrol was composed for the Cory Band and Formed part of its winning Iungle Book programme at Brass in Concert 2019. The band’s performance can be viewed on YouTube - provided here.

 

The piece is designed to be a feel—good concert item to put a smile on your audience's Faces and is in the style of a patrol, starting quietly in the distance, reaching its peak in the middle and then

fading to the end. It depicts a majestic line of elephants passing by.

 

The parts marked ‘elephant effect’ should aim to replicate the sound an elephant makes. They are lip slurs or scales, and certainly do not need to be played exactly as written. You may

experiment to arrive at the most convincing elephant ‘trumpeting’ sound. Whatever you end up doing, my advice would be to go for it with full commitment!

 

There are some other options for performance:

 

- If you would like to feature your bass section (and if there is room on stage) they can play letter F to G at the front. Suitable bars rest before and after have been incorporated.

 

- The ornamentation throughout is optional (trills, turns and grace notes). Without ornamentation the piece becomes easier to play.

 

- If there are not enough petcussionists to cover all the parts, please prioritise Perc. II (snare drum) above others. If you have two players please then add Perc. I (timpani and

finger cymbals). Perc. III adds a lot of musical colour, but is not by any means vital.

 

Philip Harper