Jovian Farewell: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts
By Michael Sweeney
Grade: 3
Item: 35-PK01241869
$75.00
Pickup currently not available
Buy Extra Parts (Digital PDF Download)
Parts Added to Cart!
Description
"Jovian Farewell" is a carefully paced memorial work, with the title referring to the planet Jupiter and the music incorporating the famous chorale by Gustav Holst. The familiar melody is hinted at early, then developed through a series of layers and phases with building intensity. The full chorale emerges near the end, then tapers peacefully to a tender close. Dur: ca. 3:50
Jovian Farewell: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts isn't in MakeMusic Cloud just yet...but it could be. Let us know you'd like to see it, and you'll help shape what comes next. In the meantime, start a free trial and dive into thousands of interactive titles your students can play along with today.
Request This Title
Tell us you want it.
Start Your Free Trial
Explore everything that's ready to play right now.
Sample Audio
No sample audio found.
Sample Video
No sample videos found.
Additional Details
Publisher:
Hal Leonard
SKU:
35-PK01241869
More about this title
About the Composer: Michael Sweeney
Michael Sweeney is a prolific composer and arranger whose works span concert band, jazz ensemble, and educational settings. His compositions balance accessibility with musical substance, making him a trusted voice for directors seeking quality repertoire across grade levels.
Why we love this
Sweeney has crafted something genuinely moving here without resorting to heavy-handed sentimentality. The architecture is sophisticated: by withholding the full Holst chorale until late in the piece, he earns the moment when it arrives, and your students will feel the weight of that architectural choice. It's exactly the kind of memorial work that works in a concert setting because it respects both the occasion and the listener's intelligence.
What to expect
The music unfolds like a meditation, building from quietness and suggestion toward a moment of clarity before settling back into reflection. There is profound dignity here, coupled with an emotional honesty that feels neither maudlin nor detached. The familiar Holst melody becomes a kind of benediction when it finally arrives.
Who it's for
Bands at the Grade 3 level with solid fundamentals and the maturity to sustain a narrative across nearly four minutes. This works especially well for ensembles comfortable with lyrical, introspective material and ready to move beyond purely celebratory fare.
How to get the most out of it
- Shape the early hints of the Holst melody with restraint; these fragments should feel like distant echoes rather than announcements, which sets up the power of the full statement later
- Attend carefully to the layering described in the arc of the piece. Each new phase should feel like a deliberate addition rather than a restart, creating genuine momentum toward the climax
- Let the final tapering unfold without rushing. The tender close needs space and breath to land; resist the urge to push through to the end
How to use it
This belongs on a concert where you're balancing energy and variety; pair it with a brighter opening or closing piece to give the program shape. It also serves perfectly as a memorial tribute or as part of a program built around legacy and reflection. The modest duration fits well into a mixed concert or as a thoughtful intermission closer.
Skills your students will build
- Sustaining lyrical lines with appropriate phrasing and breath control
- Balance and blend within layered harmonic textures
- Listening for structural clarity in a single-movement work
- Dynamic control from soft, introspective passages to a fuller middle section
- Understanding how a familiar melody can be developed and reimagined across an extended arc