The Warriors

Composed 1913-16 and dedicated to Frederick Delius, The Warriors: Music to an Imaginary Ballet was originally composed for full orchestra. It is Grainger’s longest single work, nearly 20 minutes of sustained fantasy. “No definite program or plot underlies the music, though certain mind-pictures set it going,” the composer wrote. Grainger valued the clarity and transparency of sound in the pitched percussion, which he found particularly useful for what he called “double-chording,” a sort of pantonality with “unrelated chord-groups passing freely above, below, and through each other, without regard to the harmonic clash resulting therefrom.” Though this transcription for large wind band features a slightly reduced version of the original's considerable percussion battery, a full performance will still require 10 players, plus harp and two pianos. Dedicated to Col. Lowell E. Graham, Commander/Conductor, The United States Air Force Band, Washington, D.C. 11x14 score.