Joseph Jenkins American Overture For Band

American Overture for Band, written in 1956, is Joseph Jenkins’ most popular piece in the wind band repertoire characterized by its “driving rhythms, sweeping melodies, strong accents, and virtuosic demands”. It has become one of the most recognizable band repertoire pieces since its debut. The piece has also become one of the most performed pieces from its time period. Written in a five-year window of American Overture for Band, Hindemith’s Symphony in Bb (1951), and Howard Hanson’s Chorale and Alleluia (1952) have also captured the same acknowledgements. Jenkins was at the age of twenty-five when he first worked on this piece, dedicating it to the United States Army Field Band and its conductor at the time, Colonel Chester Whiting. Whiting
and the band’s horn section had pushed Jenkins to work in “more difficult and interesting horn parts than the usual military band fare”. The name of the piece came well after the piece was written, with Jenkins stating, “it could have easily been Chesapeake Overture or Maryland Overture, but I settled on American Overture”. Jenkins eventually showed the piece to George Rochberg, of the Theodore Presser Company, and Rochberg immediately worked on a contract for publication. The work was published in the same year and originally featured a condensed score. Now, a fiftieth anniversary edition includes both a condensed and full score, with many part and score errors eliminated.