March "Wind of Provence"

March “Wind of Provence” (マーチ「プロヴァンスの風」), also known as Required Piece No. 4, is a piece of wind band repertoire that was required on the program for every high school band in Japan competing in the All-Japan Band Competition of 2015. It is the fourth of several required pieces used as standard measures of ensembles in band competitions and was composed by Naoki Tasaka.

Since the anime adaption of ''Sound! Euphonium '' was released following the timeline of the real-time competition, the band was shown performing the same piece that hundreds of other high school bands in Japan were rehearsing in real life.

The official list of the required piece for the All Japan Band Competition 2015 is as follows:


 * I. Yutarou Ishihara (石原勇太郎): Pilgrimage － Ballade for wind orchestra (天空の旅 －吹奏楽のための譚詩－)


 * II. Kunihiro Sato (佐藤邦宏): March "Walk down the Spring Path" (マーチ「春の道を歩こう」)


 * III. Akira Nishimura (西村朗): Higi III － Heterophony for Whirl Dance (秘儀III －旋回舞踊のためのヘテロフォニー): Appears in the anime.


 * IV. Naoki Tasaka (田坂直樹): March “Wind of Provence” (マーチ「プロヴァンスの風」): Kitauji's selected piece, some strophes can be heard during the anime episodes. The entire piece is played at the beginning of Sound! Euphonium The Movie: May The Melody Reach You!


 * V. Soo-Hyun Park (朴守賢 (박수현)): The Scintillating Dawn (暁闇の宴)

Scoring
The piece was written with the intent of describing the journey taken by the famous, which the piece is named after. It begins in Spain, and features intense Spanish-styled music, before transitioning to a much sweeter melody as the wind reaches the city of Provence in southern France. It picks up pace once again in a grandiose fanfare as the wind returns to whence it came.

Wind of Provence begins with an Appassionato ♩= 132 in D minor, featuring a melody in trumpets and alto saxophones, joined by runs in the flutes, clarinets, oboe, and xylophone. It quickly shifts to a clarinet melody before partially repeating the first section. The piece introduces another new theme, before transitioning to a tenor and bass range melody. Following this is an oboe and euphonium duet, before the tenor-bass melody repeats. The piece repeats its prior two themes before slowing down slightly and shifting tones.

Now, the piece is written as Dolcemente in B♭ major. It features a trio between the alto saxophones, tenor saxophones, and euphonium, gradually gaining more instruments in this melody until it reaches a climax. The flutes, trumpets, and clarinets take over while the saxophones and horns introduce a new countermelody. This gently calms down, only for the song to abruptly shift into a fanfare led by the trumpets, putting a new variation on the melody previously heard in the Dolcemente section. This continues until the piece returns to its first theme, now in the key of E.

Instrumentation

 * Piccolo
 * Flute 1, 2
 * Oboe
 * Bassoon
 * E♭ Clarinet
 * B♭ Clarinet 1, 2, 3
 * E♭ Alto Clarinet
 * B♭ Bass Clarinet
 * E♭ Alto Saxophone 1, 2
 * B♭ Tenor Saxophone
 * E♭ Baritone Saxophone
 * B♭ Trumpet 1, 2, 3
 * F Horn 1, 2, 3, 4
 * Trombone 1, 2, 3
 * Euphonium
 * Tuba
 * Contrabass
 * Timpani
 * Snare Drum
 * Bass Drum
 * Cymbals
 * Tambourine
 * Triangle
 * Glockenspiel
 * Xylophone