Cat No. JM31884
Price £95.00
Composer: Maurice Ravel
Arranger: Howard Snell
Categories: TEST PIECES (Major Works), Howard Snell Music
Difficulty level: Championship
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DAPHNS & CHLOE (Second Suite) composed by MAURICE RAVEL
arranged for Brass Band by Howard Snell
(Revised 2012 for the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain,
to be held on the 20th October 2012 at the Royal Albert Hall, London.)

Notes for Conductors at the Nationals:
For conductors unfamiliar with the original, it is wise to be armed with an orchestral score. The Dover edition is an inexpensive facsimile of the original. Some of the composer’s chordings contain multiple dissonances which will undoubtedly provoke questions at rehearsals: this orchestral score will enable you to check notation questions from the comfort of your own armchair rather than having to wait for answers. I have stayed as close as possible to Ravel’s score in the notation of dynamics, with one or two variations only, and have re-notated pitches enharmonically in a few cases where it seemed reasonable to do so, but I have not simplified in order to spoon feed. Occasional seeming inconsistencies occur in dynamic and articulation markings within the context, but apart from myself, three expert proof-readers have trawled the score and parts for consistency.

The interlocking patterns that are a feature of ‘Dawn’ have been revised. These figures now look more complex than in earlier versions, but once they have been read and absorbed they should be more comfortable to play. Note-wise, a number of these will be difficult to equate to the original where I have calculated the best effect taking into account all the factors that seemed to me important. When the demisemiquavers (1 6ths) give way to triplets, nested triplets (triplets within triplets) are shown on their first appearance for an instrument, with the exception of the Flugel Horn, but not thereafter. The types of mutes or sticks to be used are at the conductor’s discretion, except where specifically marked on quite a number of occasions.
With only one small exception, I decided to keep the French terms: it helps preserve the individual flavour of the score. A glossary of the French words and phrases with translations can be found in the Dover orchestral score, but I will also place my own, virtually identical translation on the Rakeway Music website (www.rakewaymusic.co.uk) together with a much fuller set of background notes. When questions remain for conductors after perusing the orchestral score for answers, send them to the following email address daphnis2ol2©gmail.com. I will post answers (and the questions) at regular intervals on the Rakeway Music website starting in September 2012. I will also post a suggested percussion setup, for which my grateful thanks to Mark Landon.

There are many fine orchestral recordings of this work, of which the one by Pierre Monteux with the London Symphony Orchestra is notable if only because he was a colleague of the composer and conducted the first performance.
Howard Snell
May2012

Percussion requirements:
4 x Timpani — 32”(D-B) - 29”(F-C) - 26”(A-F) -23” (D-A)
I x Side Drum
2 x Tenor Drums (no snares at any time), one placed near the Side Drum the other near the Timps
1 x Concert Bass Drum
Tuned Percussion: I each of Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Vibraphone, Marimba
Various: 1 x Pair of Cymbals,
3 or 4 x Suspended Cymbals (of which one is placed near the Vibraphone, another near the Bass
Drum, yet another by the Side Drum)
2 x Triangles (of which one is placed near the Vibraphone)
3 x Tambourines, (of which one is hand-held, placed near the Vibraphone, the other two are
Tambourines-on-stand, one near the Side Drum, the other near the Timps)
2 x Castanets (one near the Side Drum, the other near the Timps)
1 x Tam Tam (very near to, or directly behind the Bass Drum)