FANTASY ON "AKATONBO" for Alto Sax and Concert Band / Luca Pettinato [Concert Band (Wind Band)]

Score and Parts or Score only (you can choose)

Duration：6'20"
Difficulty (Grade): 4

Publisher：Golden Hearts Publications（ONSA）

PDF version is here
https://global.goldenheartspublications.com/products/ghpd-03-pdf

Program notes:

Dedicated to Giampaolo Etturi

Composed in 1927 by Kosaku Yamada, “Akatonbo” (Red Dragonfly) is one of Japan’s most beloved and iconic melodies, standing as a poignant anthem of nostalgia and childhood memory.
The text, written by symbolist poet Rofu Miki, evokes the bittersweet memory of an autumn sunset where the narrator, as an infant, watched red dragonflies while being carried on the back of his young nursemaid. Beneath the simple imagery lies a deeper sorrow: at age fifteen, the caretaker is abruptly married off, severing the narrator's connection to his early childhood.
With “Fantasy on Akatonbo”, the composer seeks to pay tribute to the tender feelings associated with childhood memories, alternating between a sense of gratitude for having experienced them and a sense of deep melancholy at no longer being able to relive them. Each of us has our own “red dragonfly”, and the soloist, as such, guides us through this alternating flow of emotions in a constant dialogue with the band.

（Luca Pettinato）

Reference music：

Instrumentation：
Alto Saxophone Solo
Piccolo
Flute 1, 2
Oboe
Bassoon
Clarinet in Bb 1, 2, 3
Bass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone 1, 2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone
Trumpet in Bb 1, 2, 3
Horn in F 1, 2
Trombone 1, 2
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass (opt.)
Harp (opt.)
Timpani
Glockenspiel
Percussion 1 (Triangle, Sleigh Bells, Tam-Tam, Bass Drum)
Percussion 2 (Windchimes, Suspended Cymbal, Sizzle Ride Cymbal, Cymbals a 2)