Sun Peaks: B-flat Tenor Saxophone
By Ralph Ford
Grade: 2 (Easy)
Item: 00-PC-0014298_TX1
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Description
All build upon the initial brass "Peaks" motif, Ralph Ford's original work opens with a dramatic energy-packed fanfare leading to a broad and sweeping statement of the melodic material. Your students will enthusiastically conquer the more contemporary multi-meter statement permitting the work to draw to a grandiose conclusion. A wonderful concert or contest choice that will make a lasting impression. This title is available in MakeMusic Cloud.
Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, Sun Peaks: B-flat Tenor Saxophone comes alive with professional accompaniment, adjustable tempo, and built-in practice tools that turn solo practice into real progress.
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Additional Details
Series:
Belwin Young Band
Publisher:
Alfred Music
Page Count:
268
SKU:
00-PC-0014298_TX1
More about this title
About the Composer: Ralph Ford
Ralph Ford has spent nearly three decades on university faculties while maintaining an active career as a composer, arranger, and conductor. His output is substantial: over 250 published titles across orchestra, concert band, jazz ensemble, and marching band, all released through the Belwin division of Alfred Music. Ford's experience extends well beyond the concert hall into media production, including broadcast work, commercial composition, and live television conducting.
Born in 1963, Ford began arranging professionally at fifteen and earned his Master of Science degree from Troy State University in 1988, where he also served as director of the Jazz Ensemble and staff arranger. His versatility across genres and formats, combined with his clinician work, has made his music a fixture in school and university programs worldwide.
Why we love this
Ford's contemporary language sits perfectly at Grade 2: accessible enough for developing ensembles yet sophisticated in its use of multiple meters and harmonic color. The dramatic brass fanfare gives your band an immediate confidence boost, while the broader melodic statements provide genuine musical substance rather than filler. Audiences consistently respond to this piece's arc from energy to grandeur, making it equally effective in concert or festival settings.
What to expect
The piece opens with theatrical confidence: bright, bold brass announcing themselves over an energetic foundation. The middle sections broaden into something more lyrical and contemplative, allowing the band to breathe and shape longer phrases. The final return to the "Peaks" motif swells into a confident, satisfying affirmation that feels earned rather than imposed.
Who it's for
Young and developing concert bands tackling contemporary idioms for the first time. The Grade 2 level makes it accessible to middle school and early high school groups, while the contemporary harmonic language and multi-meter writing stretch musicianship without overwhelming technique.
How to get the most out of it
- Shape the opening fanfare with clear articulation and unified attack in the brass section; the dramatic impact depends on precision, not just volume.
- Balance the sweep of the melodic statements so the horns and upper woodwinds can sing without drowning the foundation in the lower voices.
- Approach the multi-meter sections as a natural conversation, not an awkward shift; subdivide consistently so students hear the pulse beneath the rhythmic complexity.
- Build the grandiose conclusion gradually, allowing the fuller orchestration to develop texture and weight across the final measures.
How to use it
Program this early in your concert to establish momentum and energy, or save it for a strong closing moment if your setlist calls for a confident, contemporary statement. It pairs well with more lyrical or classical-era works on the same program, offering a refreshing contrast in compositional voice and orchestration.
Skills your students will build
- Playing through multiple meter changes (alternating meters within a single piece)
- Balancing sectional roles in contemporary harmonic progressions
- Sustaining energy and phrasing across extended melodic statements
- Coordinating articulation and attack in scored fanfare passages