ABSTRACT
The considerable expansion of the concert band repertoire in the second half of the twentieth century to include large-scale serious compositions has inevitably led composers to write symphonies for such emsembles. Symphonic or concert band by its very name means that the players are seated. The Anglo-European brass band is rarely found in North America except in the Salvation Army. The concert band repertoire can be divided into two categories: those works written by composers who specialize in band music and those by composers more accustomed to the symphony orchestra that have broadened their horizons. The wind, which had a secondary role, is brought to the fore in the second movement, an elegiac chorale beginning on woodwind and building to a climax for the whole band. A major contribution to symphonic band music has been made by the prolific Walter S. Hartley whose opus numbers exceed 200.
