A Toddler in an Amusement Park

For Wind Ensemble

dur. ca. 8 minutes

"A Toddler in an Amusement Park" shows a toddler's first experience through an amusement park. The toddler gets to see a carnival, fun mystical area. The big event is when the toddler rides his first big roller coaster.

2 Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
2 Bb Clarinet
Bb Bass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone

3 Bb Trumpets"
4 Horns
3 Trombones
Euphonium
Tuba

Timpani
5 Percussionists

Performance Notes

-The performers are required to both scream and shout at various points throughout this piece. Measures 126-129 should be a particularly terrifying scream, as the programmatic narrative at this point in the piece depicts a rollercoaster zooming by.

-Measure 154:
--Percussion 1 should pop a real balloon. If this is not available, they may cover this measure on whip.
--OPTIONAL (beat 2 - Meas. 155, beat 3): One member of the ensemble can make a wailing "baby" cry beginning at beat 2, after Percussion 1 has either popped a real balloon or played the whip.

-Meas. 164-165: Have one member of the ensemble make an "evil laugh" at 164. Immediately follow this by having another member of the ensemble make a startled scream at 165.

-Measure 261-263: In the programmatic narrative for this work, the toddler rides his first big roller coaster at this specific point in the piece. This section is constructed as a freely cued event designated as 3, in which there are 3 cues in total that will need to be given.

In the first cue, freely indicate upwards and downwards directional cues to the ensemble. For upwards cues, the ensemble should scream as loudly as possible while the percussion section plays softly. At downwards cues, the ensemble should barely scream while the percussion section plays loudly. In order to facilitate movement into the next cue, have the last directional cue be downwards so that the percussion section is playing loudly. In the second cue, all wind ensemble players drop out and the percussion section begins to diminuendo. In the third cue, proceed as indicated into the next bar of music.