"...this set of tunes is a fine addition to the repertoire."
-The Instrumentalist, Feb. 2006
Danny Deever started life as a poem from the "Barracks Room Ballads" of Rudyard Kipling, a major cultural hero of Percy Grainger's. Grainger scored the piece for small male unison chorus, large male choir, and a large orchestra including saxophones and euphonium. The song tells the story of Danny Deever, a British soldier in foreign service hung for a minor offense. Grainger's setting captures beautifully the contrasting moods of boisterousness, horror and "whistling past the graveyard" so common in a soldier's experience.
Danny Deever is a Grade 5, well-suited for the outstanding high school or collegiate band. Duration 3'.
Note: This piece can be performed as a standalone work or as a set- Three Tragic Ballads- with The Three Ravens and Father and Daughter.