New Wade 'n Water: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts
By Adolphus Hailstork
Grade: 3
Item: 35-PK00444414
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Description
This piece is a contemporary adaptation of the traditional spiritual, Wade in the Water incorporating blues scales, mixed meters, and extended phrases.
BandQuest, an exciting series of new music and accompanying curricula for band, is a program published by the American Composers Forum. The series was started as a response to feedback from music educators that there is a pressing need for new, fresh band music. The heart of this program is new works written by a diverse group of leading American composers who have created challenging pieces that are a true departure from standard middle school repertoire. Every BandQuest project includes a residency component in which the composer works collaboratively with a middle school as they create their new piece. Many BandQuest pieces are accompanied by an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to assist students as they learn the music and to integrate each piece with non-music studies. Visit www.bandquest.org to learn more about this innovative series, and email bandquest@composersforum.org to request a free downloadable audio catalog. Learn more about this piece here: https://www.youtube.com/user/ComposersForum/search?query=brent+michael+davids+%29
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Additional Details
Publisher:
Hal Leonard
SKU:
35-PK00444414
More about this title
About the Composer: Adolphus Hailstork
Adolphus Hailstork is a composer with deep roots in American musical tradition, particularly in the spiritual and choral genres. His work draws on African American cultural heritage while embracing contemporary compositional techniques, making his music accessible to young musicians without sacrificing artistic substance.
Why we love this
Hailstork's treatment of Wade in the Water respects the spiritual's emotional core while introducing students to blues scales and rhythmic complexity they rarely encounter in standard concert band fare. The mixed meters keep the piece from feeling predictable, and the extended phrases encourage ensemble members to think in longer musical lines rather than measure-to-measure.
What to expect
Wade in the Water floats between the reverential and the urgent. Blues inflections add a subtle earthiness that modern audiences recognize immediately, while the shifting meters prevent any moment from settling into pure nostalgia. The piece honors tradition while insisting on present-day relevance.
Who it's for
Grade 3 concert bands ready to move beyond standard spirituals and explore how American vernacular traditions inform contemporary composition. This work suits ensembles with solid intonation control and a willingness to engage with unfamiliar rhythmic and harmonic language.
How to get the most out of it
- Isolate the blues scale passages in sectional rehearsals. The inflection of the flatted third and seventh needs to feel natural, not forced or too jazzy.
- Anchor the meter changes on the conductor's clear beat patterns. Students will gain confidence once they understand that each new meter still relates logically to the pulse.
- Let the spiritual's humanity breathe through the contemporary language. Avoid treating the harmonic or rhythmic innovations as obstacles; they deepen rather than overshadow the piece's emotional intent.
- Use the composer's recorded example to calibrate tempo and ensemble balance, especially where the blues elements enter the texture.
How to use it
Pair this with other spirituals or African American folk traditions to create a thematic concert sequence that traces how these materials evolve across centuries. It also works powerfully in programs exploring American identity or cultural heritage, especially alongside works by other composers of color.
Skills your students will build
- Reading and performing blues scales with proper intonation and expressive inflection
- Navigating mixed meters (major shifts between 4/4 and other time signatures) without losing ensemble cohesion
- Sustaining long musical phrases that span multiple measures
- Understanding how traditional material can be reimagined through contemporary harmonic and rhythmic techniques
- Recognizing the cultural context and emotional weight of the spiritual tradition