Quilter: A Children’s Overture Op.17 - wind dectet/bass

Roger Quilter: A Children’s Overture Op.17 was composed in 1914.

It aims to depict the innocence of childhood. Quilter takes famous nursery rhymes and neatly links them together, creating the ultimate childhood piece. The overture is based on a music book by Walter Crane called The Baby’s Opera. 

The aim of both the book and the overture are the same: to appeal at many levels. On one sense a child would enjoy the novelty of hearing what melody will come next, on another an adult would enjoy hearing familiar tunes. Walter Crane described it as “old rhymes with new dresses.”

Out of the 36 songs in Crane’s book, Quilter uses 12 of these to compile his overture, and these are (in order of appearance in the overture):

Baa! Baa! Black Sheep

Girls and Boys (A major)

St. Paul Steeple (D major)

Xmas Day in the Morning (F#minor)

I Saw Three Ships (F# major)

Ye Song of Sixpence (Bb major)

There was a Lady (Eb major)

Over the Hills and Far Away (G major)

The Frog and the Crow (Eb major)

The Frog’s Wooing (C minor, ending in C major)

Baa! Baa! Black Sheep (E major)

The Mulberry Bush (E major)

Oranges and Lemons (A major)

Girls and Boys (A major)

Oranges and Lemons (A major)

It is arranged here for standard wind dectet (double wind quintet) and bass

Clarinet parts are for Clt in A, but alternative parts for Clt in Bb are provided.