Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear"): Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts

Name: Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear"): Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts
Brand: Alfred Music
SKU: 35-PK00314042
Price: 115.00 USD
Availability: InStock

As performed by Thelonious Monk / As performed by John Harbison / Arranged by Peter Stanley Martin

Grade: 5

Item: 35-PK00314042

Digital Download

$115.00

Product	Price	Quantity
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Conductor Score (Full Score)	$15.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Piccolo	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Flute 1	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Flute 2	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Oboe 1	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Oboe 2	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - English Horn	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Bb Clarinet 1	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Bb Clarinet 2	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Bb Clarinet 3	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Bb Bass Clarinet	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Bb Contra Bass Clarinet	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Bassoon 1	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Bassoon 2	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Contrabassoon	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Bb Soprano Sax	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Eb Alto Saxophone 1	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Eb Alto Saxophone 2	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Bb Tenor Saxophone	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Eb Baritone Saxophone	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - C Trumpet 1	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - C Trumpet 2	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - C Trumpet 3	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Bb Trumpet 1	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Bb Trumpet 2	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Bb Trumpet 3	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - F Horn 1	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - F Horn 2	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - F Horn 3	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - F Horn 4	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Trombone 1	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Trombone 2	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Trombone 3	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Baritone B.C.	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Tuba	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Timpani	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Percussion 1	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Percussion 2	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Percussion 3	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Piano	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Harp	$6.00
Rubies (After Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear") - Contrabass	$6.00

Composer John Harbison writes: "Rubies" is a version of Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear", which he composed while still in his teens. When I was invited by the Seattle Symphony to make a short piece reflecting my first musical passions, my thoughts were of Bach and Monk. Since I had recently made some Bach-like chorale preludes, I chose to make a version of Monk's tune, first in a chamber-musical, contrapuntal manner, then in the grand orchestral style I had always heard lurking there." Dur: 5:30

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Publisher: Hal Leonard

SKU: 35-PK00314042

More about this title

About the Artist: Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk stands as one of jazz's most uncompromising composers and pianists. His approach to harmony, melody, and rhythm fundamentally altered what jazz could be, moving away from conventional swing toward angular, dissonant structures that demanded complete rethinking of the instrument. His compositions like "Ruby, My Dear" possess a compositional rigor that transcends the jazz idiom, which is precisely why classical composers continue to revisit his work decades after his death.

Monk's influence extends far beyond jazz into contemporary classical music. His insistence on clarity, space, and the architectural integrity of a piece inspires musicians across all genres. For student musicians encountering this piece through John Harbison's arrangement, Monk's original composition represents a bridge between the jazz tradition and the concert music world, demonstrating that great musical ideas know no genre boundaries.

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Why we love this

Harbison's treatment transforms Monk's intimate ballad into something that honors both the original's harmonic sophistication and the concert band medium's capacity for color and grandeur. The progression from chamber textures to full orchestral sonority gives your band genuine narrative arc, while Monk's angular melodic writing keeps the piece from ever sounding conventional. Audiences hear both reverence for the source material and fresh compositional imagination.

What to expect

The opening unfolds with Monk's characteristically understated elegance; you sense the space between notes as much as the notes themselves. As voices enter and the arrangement builds, the harmonic landscape becomes richer and more complex, moving from intimate conversation to something approaching grandeur while maintaining the original's essential melancholy.

Who it's for

Grade 5 bands with strong section leaders and exposure to jazz repertoire will thrive with this piece. It works equally well for concert settings and jazz festivals, giving your ensemble credibility in both worlds while challenging players to read outside standard repertoire patterns.

How to get the most out of it

Balance the contrapuntal sections carefully; the interweaving lines need clarity even when multiple voices carry melodic material simultaneously.
Approach the harmonic vocabulary with confidence. The chromatic and dissonant moments reflect Monk's compositional language, not compositional errors.
Shape the transition from chamber textures to orchestral fullness deliberately; this shift should feel organic, not abrupt.
Communicate the lyrical, introspective character of the original ballad even as the orchestration expands. The piece remains contemplative throughout.

How to use it

Pair this with other twentieth century works that blur genre lines, or program it as a centerpiece that shows your band's interpretive range beyond traditional concert band literature. The 5:30 duration makes it substantial enough for a full feature without dominating an entire concert.