Kevin Gunia
composer and pianist
Hill-Song III (2018, rev. 2020)
Wind ensemble
10 minutes
Reading session:
April 2019
Rutgers University Symphonic Winds
Rehearsal Hall, Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ
Preview Score
Percy Grainger composed two Hill-Songs at a young age, wishing to musically represent mountainous regions and the strength and freshness of its people. The Hill-Songs share the same themes, but have different structures. The first Hill-Song is over double the length of the second Hill-Song. In my Hill-Song III, I expand upon Grainger’s themes in order to create a middle ground work between the two earlier Hill-Songs. This work contains a complete bandstration of Percy Grainger’s song “Dedication,” which Ronald Stevenson inserted in his solo piano transcription of Grainger’s first Hill-Song. It also contains many of Grainger’s own themes.
Hill-Song III was composed with the permission of The International Percy Grainger Society.