Home Means Nevada Project


Bertha Raffetto, composer of 'Home Means Nevada'

Local Links

David Bugli - Home Page

External Links

 

Reno Philharmonic Orchestra

Obtaining scores and parts

The official site for obtaining scores and parts to "Home Means Nevada" arrangements is on the Reno Philharmonic website. Please see http://www.renophil.com/hmn. The page that you are on is currently under construction, but it will contain the "long versions" of several arrangements that are not on the Reno Philharmonic website.

Instructions to Conductors

"Home Means Nevada" was composed by Bertha Raffetto in 1932 and was designated the official song of the State of Nevada the following year. Mrs. Raffetto wrote in 1949, "I wanted to express in a simple, natural style, those enduring and homely qualities I had found in Nevada--the same qualities one finds in a good home--beauty, joy and security." In honor of Nevada's sesquicentennial (150th anniversary of the state's admission to the Union on Oct. 31, 1864), I was commissioned by the Reno Philharmonic Association to write a series of arrangements of "Home Means Nevada." The project was funded by a grant from the E. L. Wiegand Foundation. The arrangements are in four basic Versions:

  • Version 1 for SATB chorus and full orchestra (or SATB chorus with piano reduction) is intended for adult-level performers.
  • Version 2 for SAB (soprano, alto, baritone) chorus and string orchestra (or SAB chorus with piano reduction) is intended for high school-level performers.
  • Version 3 for SA (soprano, alto) chorus and string orchestra (or SA chorus with piano reduction) is intended for middle school-level performers.
  • Version 4 for unison chorus and string orchestra (or unison singers with piano reduction/accompaniment) is intended for elementary-level players.

It is possible to perform two or more Versions in a massed ensemble, such as a citywide school music festival. For example, a city's professional or amateur orchestra could be joined by several school string orchestras and their choruses. Harmonically, all the Versions work together. The string parts in Version 4, however, are simplified to allow inexperienced players the opportunity to perform the music using nothing shorter than quarter notes in first position, which creates some blurring of the melody and harmony when used in conjunction with the other Versions.

Long and short adaptations: Version 1 is only the long adaptation (129 measures). Versions 2, 3, and 4 have two adaptations: short (78 measures) and long (129 measures). For general in-school instruction, music teachers are advised to start with the short adaptation of the appropriate Version. The short adaptations are composed of a four-bar introduction, first verse, first chorus, a four-bar interlude, second verse, and a repeat of the chorus. The long adaptations contain six extra measures of introduction (which are rests in Versions 2, 3, and 4), all the material in the short adaptations, a new harmonization of the first verse (in the key of F for Version 1 only), followed by the repeat of the chorus at letter M with a codetta. Each of the long adaptations of Versions 2, 3, and 4, starting at letter M, have simple parts, generally the melody or a simple bass line, that the younger players can play along with the Version 1 players. Long adaptations of Versions 2, 3, and 4, will not work without Version 1 because of the 22-measure gap during the modulation to F major and back to D major between letters J and M.

Piano parts: All Versions and adaptations include a "piano vocal" part (chorus and piano). The piano in the "piano vocal" part can be used for rehearsal of the chorus, or in a choral performance in lieu of an orchestra. In performance of Version 1 in performance with orchestra, the piano part should be omitted as it dulls the colors of the orchestration. Versions 2 and 3 have two piano parts in the full score. The upper part is the "rehearsal piano" part for the chorus; the lower part is an optional orchestral part that can be played by an adult to assist the young string players. Version 4 has only one piano part. It can serve as a rehearsal/performance part for the chorus and/or for the elementary string players.

Orchestra alone: In general, each Version can be played by orchestra alone (no chorus). The piano part for Version 4, if played with the string orchestra, will help define the melody and harmony parts that have been omitted due to part simplification.

- David C. Bugli, Sept. 2013


The music


...the PDFs might be accessible from here....
 
...under construction...

Principal versions

Level 5 for full orchestra and SATB chorus
...score...
...part1...
...part2...
...etc.

Level 4S for high school orchestra and SAB chorus (short adaptation)
...score...
...part1...
...part2...
...etc.

Level 3S for advanced elementary orchestra or middle school orchestra and SA chorus (short adaptation)
...score...
...part1...
...part2...
...etc.

Level 4S for advanced elementary orchestra or middle school orchestra and SA chorus (short adaptation)
...score...
...part1...
...part2...
...etc.

Level 5S for elementary orchestra and unison chorus (short adaptation)
...score...
...part1...
...part2...
...etc.

Alternate versions

Level 4L for high school orchestra and SAB chorus (long adaptation)
...score...
...part1...
...part2...
...etc.

Level 3L for middle school orchestra and SB chorus (long adaptation)
...score...
...part1...
...part2...
...etc.

Level 2L for elementary orchestra and unison chorus (long adaptation)
...score...
...part1...
...part2...
...etc.

Level 1L for elementary orchestra and unison chorus (long adaptation)
...score...
...part1...
...part2...
...etc.


Audio materials


....audio materials will be located here...

Various versions of "Home Means Nevada" as recorded by the Reno Philharmonic and the Reno Philharmonic Chorus. The one labeled "Free - Home Means Nevada, Orchestra and Chorus" is the "big" one.

"Home Means Nevada" as performed by Gov. Sandoval and his staff (2011)

"Home Means Nevada" as performed by Gov. Sandoval and his staff (2012)

"Home Means Nevada" as performed at a Harry Reid rally. (A little "equal time" being provided to the other party!)

"Home Means Nevada" as performed by Becky Culp's fifth-grade class at Spanish Springs Elementary School. They won the Reno Gazette-Journal's"Home Means Nevada" state song content in late October 2012.

"Home Means Nevada" performed by synthesizer (not mine)


Performances of my arrangements of "Home Means Nevada"

Thursday, March 20, 2014 - Carson City's Choir Palooza (a Carson High School Invitational event which consists of all elementary, middle school and high school choirs) at Carson High School Gym at 7:00 p.m. sings several versions of my arrangement of "Home Means Nevada" (combined) for chorus and piano only.

Friday, March 21, 2014 - STRAZZ performs for the Nevada Sesquicentennial Cake Event at Carson-Tahoe Hospital from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. David Bugli leads STRAZZ and the celebrants in the singing of "Home Means Nevada," accompanied by his "level 3" arrangement of the song for string orchestra.

Saturday, April 5, 2014 - The Ruby Mountain Symphony in Elko, NV. Concert is at 7:00 p.m. in the Elko Convention Center. The program includes my arrangement of Bertha Raffetto's "Home Means Nevada" in a version for orchestra only.

Saturday, April 16, 2014 - Second Saturday event from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Northeastern Nevada Museum in Elko, 45th Halleck Bar Party - The singing group includes members of the Spring Creek High School Choir and young singers from the Museum's Second Saturday event singing "Home Means Nevada." They are accompanied on the museum's antique Steinway grand piano.

Saturday, May 3, 2014 - Bella Voce Women's Ensemble performs my arrangement of Bertha Raffetto's "Home Means Nevada" for SSA women's choir and piano at First United Methodist Church, Carson City, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 4, 2014 - Bella Voce Women's Ensemble performs my arrangement of Bertha Raffetto's "Home Means Nevada" for SSA women's choir and piano at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Reno, 4:30 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 12, and Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014 - The Reno Philharmonic performs my arrangement of Bertha Raffetto's "Home Means Nevada" (Nevada's official state song) for orchestra and chorus.

Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014 - The Carson City Symphony at 4:00 p.m. at the Carson City Community Center in a concert honoring Nevada's Sesquicentennial. The program includes the complete arrangement of Bertha Raffetto's "Home Means Nevada" in the version for full orchestra and chorus.


Further Reading, Listening, and Viewing

....There will be some links here....

Bertha Raffetto's biography at Findagrave.com

"How and Why 'Home Means Nevada' Came to be Written,"by Bertha Raffetto, May 29, 1949

TV interview on Oct. 4, 2014, with Laura Jackson and David Bugli, prior to the first performance of "Home Means Nevada" by the Reno Philharmonic.


Send me your comments from this page, or send your comments directly to DCBugli@gmail.com.

This page last updated 11/24/2015