Brass Ensemble - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.808676 Composed by Scott Joplin (1868–1917). Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. 20th Century,Film/TV,Folk,Holiday,Love,Ragtime. Score and parts. 20 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #3213035. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.808676).     Marvin Hamlisch’s score for the 1973 movie The Sting revived interest in ragtime music. Ragtime, of course, is music, often in march-time, that features syncopation, a ragged beat. It originated in African-American districts of large cities and first flourished during the period, 1895-1918. One of the most successful ragtime composers was Scott Joplin, known as the King of Ragtime. Hamlisch used several Joplin compositions as background music for the George Roy Hill-directed film, and one of those was this beautiful and contemplative 1909 composition, Solace: A Mexican Serenade.     In All Music Guide to Classical Music: The Definitive Guide to Classical Music (Woodstra et al., ed., CMP Books: 2005), Blair Johnston called Solace a musical hybrid neither authentically Mexican nor authentic ragtime. It is, instead, a habanera, but also a very lovely piece of Americana.    This brass quintet arrangement of Solace was adapted from the Joplin piano score. Like the score, this arrangement is in 2/4 time and contains a lot of 16th notes. Joplin’s tempo instruction, however, is Very slow march time, and the metronome marking suggests 96 eighth notes a minute, so in reality the actual tempo is an andante 4/8. Trumpet 1 has some B-above-the-staff notes in the last section, Trumpet 2 has a few interesting rhythmic figures in section B; Trombone has 3 or 4 F-above-the-staff notes, and Tuba plays a couple of top-of-the-staff A’s in section D and at the very end. Plus, of course, the piece is syncopated.    Completed in 2017, this arrangement runs about 6 minutes, 10 seconds. Contact the arranger, Les Smith, at lessmith@ufl.edu; he would be delighted to hear from you. For more arrangements by Les, enter Sweetwater Brass Press (without the quotation marks) in the SheetMusicPlus search box.

Brass Ensemble - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.808685 Composed by F. Leslie Smith. Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Children,Holiday,Traditional. Score and parts. 83 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #3631645. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.808685).     What is a Rumpus? Most definitions include words such as noisy disturbance, commotion and uproar. Sort of like the sounds from a group of neighborhood children in the days before play dates, private lessons and organized kids’ sports. These sounds were part and parcel of the games they played, games that originated years, even centuries, before and involved high energy levels and top-of-their-voices counting, chanting or singing (with an occasional Nyah-nyah nyah-nyah nyah nyah thrown in for good measure!). Rowdy and raucous, indeed!    This composition is one that will entertain both adults (who, after all, are just grown-up children!) and youngsters. Like children at play, it races right along. In one 6-minute work, it incorporates tunes of eleven children’s game and campfire songs: Michael Finnegan; Ring a Ring o’ Roses; Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star; London Bridge; Hickory Dickory Dock; Three Blind Mice; John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt; My Pony Boy; Old MacDonald Had A Farm; The Farmer in the Dell and Bingo. And, again, like children at play, there is fun, humor and a surprise at every turn.    A Rowdy, Raucous Rumpus is a hoot to play. At a cut-time tempo of 132 and with 14(!) changes of key, it keeps all five musicians on their toes. And busy: on the Tuba part, there are V.S. (turn the page quickly) indications on the bottom of 6 of the 8 pages, 5 for Trombone and Horn in F, 3 for Trumpet 2, and 2 for Trumpet 1. In Bingo, the last tune, the group intermittently stops playing and claps or foot-taps loudly (which is a good spot for audience participation!). On the audio clip, this is indicated with a click (actually, a tambourine sound).    There are a few high notes scattered throughout. Trumpet plays B above its staff once and A a number of times. Trumpet 2 has one A above its staff. Trombone has one F above its staff. Tuba has one G in the top space of its staff.

Brass Ensemble - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.808681 Composed by Alexander Borodin (1833–1887). Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Film/TV,Holiday,Musical/Show,Romantic Period,Wedding. Score and parts. 66 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #3389235. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.808681).     Borodin wrote his String Quartet No. 2 in 1881. Seventy-seven years later, Robert Wright and George Forrest took the subordinate theme of the Quartet’s second movement and used it as the basis for Baubles, Bangles and Beads, in the 1953 Broadway musical Kismet. The song became a hit in its own right and enjoyed success on recordings, radio and television.