Incantation and Dance

Incantation and Dance is a piece composed by John Barnes Chance in 1960 as his first work for wind ensemble.[1] Before it was published in 1963, it went under the working title of Nocturne and Dance. It has become a cornerstone work in wind ensemble literature.[2][3]

Chance wrote it during his tenure in Greensboro as part of the Ford Foundation's Young Composer Project and dedicated the piece to Herbert Hazelman and the Greensboro Senior High School Band.[4]

The piece is written in three cycles, each containing the "Incantation" theme, a "percussion concerto", and the "Dance" theme. The third cycle has these three sections played simultaneously rather than in succession. During the "percussion concerto" section, each percussion instrument introduces the rhythmic motifs that appear during the "Dance" section. This acts as a bridge between the "Incantation" and "Dance" sections.[5]

  1. ^ Anthony 1981, p. 43.
  2. ^ Jeffery 1988, p. 138.
  3. ^ Kish, David L. (Fall 2005). "A Band Repertoire Has Emerged". Journal of Band Research. 41 (1): 1–12, 88–89.
  4. ^ Jeffery 1988, p. 128.
  5. ^ Kopetz, Barry E. (October 1992). "An Analysis of Chance's Incantation and Dance". The Instrumentalist. Vol. 47, no. 3. pp. 34–47.