Clare Grundman (1913-1996) was a prolific composer of music for bands of all ages whose influence on school bands and their music is still felt today. Born in East Cleveland, he attended Shaw High School before commencing music education study at The Ohio State University, where he earned bachelors and masters degrees and served as the assistant band director until 1941. He also studied composition with Paul Hindemith at the Berkshire Music Center before joining the Coast Guard at the outbreak of World War II. After the war, he based himself in New York to embark in earnest on his creative career and began collecting accolades. Nearly every important band organization recognized him in some way, including the American Bandmasters Association, Women Band Directors International, the John Philip Sousa Foundation, the American School Band Directors Association, and the National Band Association. In addition to his dozens of original compositions for band, he arranged many important works of contemporary American composers, especially Leonard Bernstein, with whom he had a direct working relationship. Read more at Wikipedia, the Wind Repertory Project, and Altissimo.

American Folk Rhapsody no. 1 is an adaptation of four folk songs that dates from the very earliest period of Grundman’s post-war creative period (1947). It is dedicated to Manley R. Whitcomb and the Ohio State University Symphonic Band. He provides his own program note, which is both informative and practical:

This medley of four American folk songs was written expressly for the technical ability of the average Class B high school band, with the idea in mind that it be of sufficient musical and program interest for the more advanced high school, college, university, and professional organizations. The material used consists of “My Little Mohee,” “Shantyman’s Life,” “Sourwood Mountain,” and “Sweet Betsy from Pike”-all excellent songs of American folklore, and which have not received the attention they justly deserve.

A few suggestions for performance:

The cornet solos may be played by more than one solo cornet if the single instrument does not penetrate.

If the flute countermelodies become too prominent they should be reduced to one flute.

The rhythm at letter L should not be permitted to become sluggish, especially in the lower voices. Bands with large instrumentation may find a reduction of basses necessary at this point.

Melodies should be kept prominent at all times. Doublings in harmony parts placed in the score for practical purposes, may tend to to overshadow these melodies, and must be subdued, according to dynamic marks.

A performance by the Montgomery County Concert Band:

The first of the featured folk songs, “My Little Mohee,” is more commonly known as “On Top of Old Smoky” (or the children’s variant, “On Top of Spaghetti“) these days, possibly thanks to The Weavers’ version of it that hit the pop charts in 1951, 4 years after Grundman completed the Rhapsody. It might have sounded like this:

or this:

or maybe even this:

“Shantyman’s Life” comes in several melodic variants. Grundman uses one that does not quite match any recordings on the web, but here is something close:

“Sourwood Mountain” is another melody whose exact details vary in nearly every performance, but all seem to agree that each phrase ends in a descending “diddle-um-day.” Here’s Woody Guthrie‘s version:

“Sweet Betsy from Pike” has been recorded numerous times, including this version by Johnny Cash from 1965:

Read more about the American Folk Rhapsody no. 1 at J. W. Pepper and Boosey & Hawkes.