Odysseus and the Sirens: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts
By Dana Wilson
Grade: 4
Item: 35-PK00425717
$75.00
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Description
"The Odyssey" was written by Homer about 2700 years ago and tells of the adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus during his harrowing return trip home after fighting the Trojan Wars. This work is suggestive of his dramatic encounter with the sirens, famous for luring sailors to their death with their beguiling wind-like song. In this descriptive piece you can hear the wind-song becoming evermore insistent, the rocking of the ship, Odysseus' screams, and finally the sirens plunging to their death as they fail in their attempt to lure Odysseus.
Learn more on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ComposersForum/search?query=Dana+wilson
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.
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Additional Details
Publisher:
Hal Leonard
SKU:
35-PK00425717
More about this title
About the Composer: Dana Wilson
Dana Wilson is an American composer whose work appears regularly on concert stages across the country. He has earned particular recognition for his contributions to band literature, creating pieces that balance musical substance with accessibility for student ensembles.
Why we love this
Wilson's take on this classical narrative avoids generic sea-shanty clichés and instead builds genuine tension through orchestration and harmonic momentum. The piece respects your students' musicianship while delivering the dramatic payoff that makes concert programming memorable. You get a work with real artistic ambition that still lands cleanly in the Grade 4 skill range.
What to expect
The opening unfolds like mist rising off dark water, hypnotic and beautiful. As the piece builds, the swaying motion of the ship becomes almost physical; you feel the rhythm in your bones. When the chaos breaks through, it's genuinely startling, and the final collapse of the sirens leaves a stark, sudden silence.
Who it's for
Bands with solid fundamentals and musicians ready to engage with narrative and character in their playing. This works equally well as a concert centerpiece for intermediate ensembles or as a teaching tool about how orchestration tells a story.
How to get the most out of it
- Balance the wind choir's undulating figures early on; they establish the sirens' song and need clarity without drowning out the harmonic foundation beneath them.
- Shape the rhythmic rocking passages with conductor precision. Small but decisive gestures keep the ensemble locked while maintaining the hypnotic forward motion.
- Draw a clear sonic contrast between the sirens' seductive material and Odysseus' screams. Those moments of chaos should feel genuinely disruptive, not polished.
How to use it
Pair this with other classical mythology adaptations for a thematic concert, or program it as a dramatic second half opener that jolts the audience awake. The descriptive nature makes it ideal for concert programs aimed at younger audience members or school assemblies where you want music to do more than entertain.
Skills your students will build
- Sustaining long harmonic progressions without losing pitch center
- Rhythmic independence in layered ostinatos
- Dynamic control and narrative phrasing across extended phrases
- Ensemble blend when multiple sections carry equal musical weight
- Responding to rapid textural shifts and dramatic contrasts