Madison Howbert

Dr. Tracz
MUSIC 412
January 6, 2020
The Rowan Tree Unit Study

Unit 1: Composer
Randall D. Standridge was born in 1976 and grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. He
received his Bachelor of Music Education from Arkansas State University and studied
composition with Dr. Tom O’Connor. He returned to Arkansas State University and earned his
Masters of Music Composition while studying with Dr. Tom O’Connor and Dr. Tim Crist. His
pieces have been performed internationally, and many of his works have been chosen for the J.
W. Pepper’s Editor’s Choice List. He has also had several pieces performed at Midwest Clinic in
Chicago, IL, and his work Art(isms) was performed at the 2010 CBDNA Conference in Las
Cruces, New Mexico. He composes and arranges a wide array of difficulties, ranging from grade
one to grade 5, making his pieces accessible for players of all abilities. Standridge is also a
marching band designer and has created numerous award-winning marching band arrangements,
compositions, and drill designs. Additionally, he does freelance work for film compositions. In
2001 he started his position of the Director of Bands at Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg,
Arkansas. He left this position in 2013 to pursue a career as a full-time composer and marching
band editor. Mr. Standridge is currently published by Grand Mesa Music, Alfred Music, FJH
Music, Wingert-Jones Music, Band Works Publications, Twin Towers Music, and Northeastern
Music Publications. Currently, Mr. Standridge is an active clinician and composer.

Unit 2: Composition
The Rowan Tree is a grade two piece according to Mr. Standridge’s website and is based
on an old Scottish folksong. Standridge first heard this piece when playing Pentland Hills and it
was stuck in his head until he decided to do an arrangement of it in 2010. Pentland Hills is a
march by James Howe and is named after the range of hills near Edinburgh, Scotland. It’s based
on three Scottish airs: The Lass O’Gowrie, John Anderson, My Jo, and Rowan Tree. This march
is popular with British Bands and is featured by H.M. Scots Guards in the ceremony of Trooping
the Colour. In The Rowan Tree, he uses the low end register of the clarinets and the lower end
register of horns to carry the melody for a good portion of the piece with low brass supporting
and sustaining. The melody is then shifted to the trumpets with an alto sax countermelody, and
then the opening two bars of the melody are passed between the euphonium, trombone, alto sax,
to clarinets and trumpets, and then finally to alto sax and flutes before going back to oboe,
clarinets, and trumpets.

Unit 3: Historical Perspective

The Rowan Tree is an old Scottish folksong that dates back to at least the 19th century,
when it was collected by Lady Carolina Nairne, who was a collector of Scottish folk songs.
Additionally, she wrote some of Scotlands best-known songs. The Rowan is a tree that is seen
throughout Scotland and the U.K, and the name ultimately refers to the color red, which is the
color of the tree’s autumn leaves and berries. In Celtic mythology, the Rowan is called the
Traveler’s Tree because it protects those on journeys from getting lost. If you had one at home it
would bring good luck, and if you cut it, it would bring unhappiness. Randall D. Standridge
arranged this piece in 2010 after first hearing the melody when performing Pentland Hills, which
is a concert march by James Howe. It appeared in that work as the trio melody, and it stuck with
Standridge until he finally decided to do an arrangement of it.

Unit 4: Technical Considerations

This piece is in E flat major and doesn’t change keys, but there are some dotted sixteenth-
note rhythms in the main melodic line that recur throughout the piece. In measure 38, the flutes
and the first clarinets have the same melodic line, but it’s offset by two beats. Additionally, in
measure 48 the flutes, oboes, and clarinets have sixteenth note runs ascending which can be
difficult. Making sure the students aren’t rushing the 1 e rhythms in the main line and are giving
the full value of the notes is important. Additionally, not rushing the descending eight-notes in
the woodwinds such in measure 51. The only time signature change is to 2/4 and it’s for one bar,
then the piece immediately goes back to 4/4. The articulation for this piece is smooth and legato
as there are very few notes that are accented, so the lines should be smooth and connected. There
could be some vertical alignment issues in places like measure 29 and measure 49. At measure
29, there are pass offs happening, so making sure the students don’t wait for the other players to
finish before they start their phrase will be important to tempo. Making sure the students don’t
hesitate, but also don’t jump the gun and instead find that sweet spot in the middle where it all
just clicks. At measure 49, there are different rhythms happening between the flutes, oboes,
clarinets, trumpets, and bells and the saxes and the French horns. The one group has moving
lines while the other has a sustain and vice versa. The ranges for the piece for the most part stay
in the mid-range, however, there are places where the lines are somewhat high. Places such as
measure 29 for the trombone and the euphonium, measure 33 for the flutes and alto sax, and
measures 39 and 49 for flutes.
Unit 5: Stylistic Considerations
This song is a ballad, so stylistic considerations would be making sure that the notes and
phrases are flowing and smooth. He uses a lot of dynamic contrast in this piece, not in jumping
from dynamic to dynamic, but in the use of crescendos and decrescendos. Making the piece feel
like it’s growing and decaying but in a way that isn’t choppy. There are solo lines at the
beginning with the clarinets and the French horns, and the flutes add in for four measures at
measure 9. The trumpets then have the solo line at measure 18 and carry it until measure 29. At
measure 29, the main line gets passed three times until we land at measure 38. There is a solo
trumpet line again at measure 44 bringing us into measure 49 where the whole ensemble comes
in. There aren’t a lot of accents so the ones that are present need to be brought out. Another
aspect is making sure the ensemble knows who has the melody and who has the supporting lines.

Unit 6: Musical Elements

This piece is written for a full wind band and utilizes chimes, bells, timpani, wind
chimes, suspended cymbal, triangle, and crash cymbals in the percussion section with the
vibraphone being optional. The piece is in E flat Major and the main melody occurs multiple
times in the piece, mainly in the Clarinets and the French Horns, with the low brass supporting
the main line. The Clarinets and the French horns start with the melody, and the flutes add in for
four measures at measure 9. At measure 19, the main line is then passed to the trumpets until
measure 29. At measure 29, the melody is passed from Alto Sax, Trombone, Euphonium, to
Trumpets and Clarinets, and then to Flutes, and Alto Sax, and then to Oboe, Clarinet, and
Trumpet to bring us to measure 38. At measure 38, the Flutes and the Clarinets have the main
melody, but they are offset by two beats. A trumpet solo brings us into measure 49 where the
whole ensemble joins us with the Flutes, Oboes, Clarinets, Trumpets, and Bells have the main
melody, and the Alto and Tenor Saxes, and French Horns have the countermelody. For rhythmic
considerations, there are quite a few dotted sixteenth note rhythms to be aware of and not rush.
Additionally, there is a time signature change from 4/4 to 2/4 back to 4/4 so being aware of my
pattern and when to switch. There are also 2 fermatas at the end of the piece, so I need to be
thinking about how long I’m going to hold those out, as well as how I’m going to end and cut
them off.

Unit 7: Form and Structure

Sectio Measures Musical Considerations Scoring/Tonal Center

n
A 1-8 Clarinets and French Horns have the Moderately Slow
melody, low brass and low reeds have Tonal Center: Eb
 supporting notes, Trombones have
countermelody
;A 9-17 Flutes add in for 4 bars @ 9, tenor sax Decrescendo to mp at the end of
picks up @12 where the flute leaves off measure 12
B 18-28 Trumpet section has a solo from 18-29, the Trumpet solo at mf and alto sax is
alto sax has the countermelody, bells, at mp.
optional vibes, flutes, and oboes have
consistent half notes
B 29-37 Melody is passed between euphonium, Slightly Faster @ 29, Slightly
trombone, alto sax, trumpets, clarinets, Faster @ 37
flutes, and oboes Tonal Center: G
A’ 38-44 Flutes and Clarinets have the melody but 2/4 bar @ 44
offset by 2 beats, horns and alto sax have a Tonal Center: Eb
supporting line
A’ 45-48 Trumpet solo comes in with a tenor sax, Tempo 1 @45, Faster with fervor
euphonium, and tuba supporting line @ 47
C 49-57 Flutes, oboes, clarinets, trumpets, and bells Rit. @ 55, Fermata @ 56, Tempo
have the main melody while the French 1 @ 57
horns and saxophones have a
countermelody, and the low brass has the
supporting lines.
Outro 58-62 Clarinets and horns bring us down to a Fermata @ 62
flute solo at measure 60, and then our final
chord at measure 62 at pp.

Unit 8: Suggested Listening

Pentland Hills by James Howe
Fields of Clover by Randall D. Standridge
Shenandoah by Frank Ticheli
Two Celtic Folksongs arr. By Paul Lavender

Unit 9: Additional References and Resources

“Pentland Hills.” Wind Repertory Project, https://www.windrep.org/Pentland_Hills.
Pepper, J.W. “The Rowan Tree by Randall D. Standridge: J.W. Pepper Sheet Music.” The Rowan

Tree by Randall D. Standridge| J.W. Pepper Sheet Music, https://www.jwpepper.com/The-

Rowan-Tree/10093912.item#/submit.

“Rowan Tree, The.” Wind Repertory Project, https://www.windrep.org/Rowan_Tree,_The.

“The Rowan Tree.” Grand Mesa Music Publishers,

https://www.grandmesamusic.com/component/songpub/song/786.

“The Rowan Tree.” Grand Mesa Music Publishers,

https://www.grandmesamusic.com/component/songpub/song/633.

“The Rowan Tree.” Randall D. Standridge, 22 Aug. 2017, https://randallstandridge.com/the-rowan-

tree/.