Brass Ensemble - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1093770 Composed by F. Leslie Smith. Folk,Holiday,Traditional. Score and parts. 57 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #697853. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.1093770).      The dictionary defines revel as “a time or instance of carefree fun.� The verb tipple refers to the imbibing of spirits. A tippler is one who drinks beer, wine, whiskey or other such spirituous liquids. So a tipplers revel would be a gathering of folks who, in the words of Dolly Parton’s “Two Doors Down,� are “laughing and drinking and having a party.�      This Tipplers Revel is a compilation of traditional drinking songs. It begins and ends with that bane of school trips, faculty sponsors, bus drivers and chaperones, “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.� And between those two bookends come “Rye Whiskey,� “Little Brown Jug,� “Landlord, Fill the Flowing Bowl,� “Jimmy Crack Corn,� “Beer, Beer, Beer (An Ode to Charlie Mops, The Man Who Invented Beer),� “Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight,� “Wein, Weib und Gesang [Wine, Woman, and Song],� “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes,� “There Is a Tavern in the Town,� “Good Night, Ladies,� “How Dry I Am,� and brief quotes from about a half dozen other melodies associated with quaffing.      For the most part, this arrangement’s time signature is 4/4 and should be played at about 120 BPM. There are, however, two sections of 3/4 time, one of which is marked “tempo di valse,� and the opening and ending few measures should be played rather slowly.      The music should be well within the normal range of the group. Possible exceptions: trumpets play their A above the staff a couple of times.      There are quite a few 16th notes in the allegro sections. (And one could make the argument that at least two sections ought to have been written in 6/8 time. But they weren’t.)      Completed in 2022, performance time runs about 6 minutes, 43 seconds. The arranger, Les Smith, will be happy to provide substitute parts (for example, treble clef baritone for trombone) at no charge. He would like to receive your suggestions, comments, corrections and criticisms. For more arrangements by Les, enter Sweetwater Brass Press (without the quotation marks) in the Sheet Music Plus or Sheet Music Direct search box. (Also, purchase of this piece entitles you to your choice of another of his arrangements at no charge; send a copy of your purchase receipt directly to him at lessmith61@bellsouth.net.)  

Brass Ensemble - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.817619 Composed by James Bland. Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Folk,Spiritual,Traditional. Score and parts. 28 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #424503. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.817619).      James Alan Bland, composer of “In the Evening by the Moonlight,” was a prolific song writer.  He is said to have created the words and music for more than 600 compositions.  Born in 1854 to a free African American family in Flushing, New York, he made a name for himself as musician, composer and minstrel performer.  Among his compositions were “Oh, Dem Golden Slippers,” “In the Morning in the Bright Light” and “De Golden Wedding.”  His most famous song by far was “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny,” which the State of Virginia used as its official anthem for over 50 years.      Bland, in keeping with his persona as a minstrel, wrote the lyrics to “In the Evening by the Moonlight” in dialect.  Years passed and sensitivities changed, but the song’s poignant melody and basic sentiment survived.  Latter day recordings, such as those by Bing Crosby and the Ray Charles Singers, dropped the dialect and objectionable terms.  One of the most notable versions was by singer, pianist and civil rights activist Nina Simone, released in 1960 on the album Nina at Newport.      This brass quintet version begins with the group instrumentally humming along under an eight-measure Horn in F introduction.   The first statement of the melody initially takes the form of a partial call-and-response between a Trombone/Horn duo and Trumpet 1, then switches to an exchange between Trumpet 1 and Tuba.  Next, the melody is repeated but in a rhythmic pattern reminiscent of the 1880 tune “Here Dem Bells”; Tuba plays counterpoint.  Third time around, the melody is presented almost exactly as Bland wrote it and as Hitchcock’s Music Store published it in 1880.  Finally, the tempo slows and the melody is presented as so many have sung it around campfires at YMCA, 4-H and other youth camps all over the country:  softly and tenderly.  The arrangement ends with a brief recapitulation of the introduction.      There are no really difficult or tricky rhythms in this arrangement.  Trumpet 1’s highest note, which occurs in Section D, is A above its staff; Tuba’s lowest, G below the staff.  Otherwise, there are no exceptionally high or low notes.  The piece opens in the key of F major then, about halfway through, changes to G major.  Tempo opens with a suggested MM of 104, speeds up to 120, slows to 66, increases again to 122 and finally slows to 66.      Completed in 2022, performance time runs about 4 minutes, 22 seconds. The arranger, Les Smith, will be happy to provide substitute parts (for example, treble clef baritone for trombone) at no charge.  He would also like to receive your suggestions, comments, corrections and criticisms.  Contact him directly at lessmith61@bellsouth.net.  For more arrangements by Les, enter "Sweetwater Brass Press" (without the quotation marks) in the SheetMusicPlus or Sheet Music Direct search box.  (Also, purchase of this piece entitles you to your choice of another of his arrangements at no charge; send a copy of your purchase receipt directly to him at lessmith61@bellsouth.net.)

Brass Ensemble - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.808680 Composed by Unknown. Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Christmas,Folk,Holiday. Score and parts. 30 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #3377131. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.808680).      First published in Flowers for Children, Volume 2 in 1844, Lydia Maria Child’s poem, The New-England Boy's Song about Thanksgiving Day, describes a sleigh trip to Grandfather’s house to commemorate the national day of thanks and the anticipation of the tasty food that will be consumed in celebration thereof. Why were they in a sleigh in a New England late November? Because the Little Ice Age was still extant in the early 19th Century and there was snow on the ground! Later, maybe in the 1870s, the poem was set to a tune, the composer of which is unknown. As years passed, the words were changed to Grandmother’s house, the song was adapted to a Christmas carol and the title changed to the first line of the poem, Over the River and Through the Woods.

Brass Ensemble - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.808688 Composed by Henry Clay Work (1832-1884). Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Children,Folk,Holiday,Patriotic. Score and parts. 31 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #4111581. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.808688).     Henry Clay Work, Civil War era song writer and abolitionist, composed Kingdom Coming in 1862. Chicago’s Root & Cady published it in April of that year, Christy’s Minstrels premiered it and it became enormously popular.    The lyrics to Kingdom Coming, also known as The Year of Jubilo, were written as though slaves in the Confederacy were celebrating their upcoming freedom. However, the song was actually released eight months before President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Interestingly, Kingdom Coming also gained popularity in the South. A Southern edition was published in August in 1864, and the song remained a favorite in the former Confederacy for some years.     Kingdom Coming has been used as theme or background music in a number of film, television and radio settings. Almost certainly its most popular iteration in modern times was the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra’s 1952 recording under the title Doodletown Fifers.    This arrangement is a show-off piece for each member of the quintet. It moves along at a brisk pace of about 108, begins in the key of C and changes to A-flat, then B-flat. The first time through the melody, all instruments perform ensemble. Each succeeding repetition features an instrumentalist, starting with tuba and working up to Trumpet 1. The piece ends with another ensemble version.    There are no exceptionally out-of-normal-playing-range notes: Trumpets 1 and 2 both play their B-flat below the scale several times, and Trumpet 2 plays G below the scale; Horn in F also plays its G below the scale; Trombone’s range is G at the bottom of the scale to D above the scale; Tuba’s lowest note is A-flat below the scale. Trumpet 1 will probably triple tongue its repetition of the melody, and some triple tonguing may be called for near the end of the piece for Trumpets 1 and 2 and Trombone.    This arrangement was completed in 2018, and performance time runs just under 4 minutes. The arranger, Les Smith, would be very interested in your comments; contact him at lessmith@ufl.edu. 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: A0.808689 Composed by W. Benton Overstreet (1888-1935). Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Graduation,Holiday,Jazz,Traditional. Score and parts. 30 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #4331333. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.808689).      William Benton Overstreet did it all-played piano, wrote songs, led bands. Probably the accomplishment for which he’s most remembered today is his composing of There’ll Be Some Changes Made, published in 1921. Billy Higgins, popular stage comedian, wrote the lyrics, and Ethel Waters, then just 24, recorded the song on the Black Swan label. The disc quickly achieved hit status, and the song has remained popular across multiple musical platform styles ever since.     This arrangement is a happy, fun piece and includes some of the great (and familiar) Vaudeville-style ornaments and phrases. It’s a real toe-tapper.     For the most part this arrangement is up-tempo, about 140 bpm. It does slow to 92 at the first iteration of the verse and again for the final ¬6 measures of the piece. Time signature is 4/4 except for measure 89, which is 6/4. The key is B-flat throughout, and the melody weaves among all instruments.     Trumpet 1 plays B5 (B-flat trumpet’s high C) briefly at measures 4 and 35 and for two measures at the very end of the piece. Tuba plays G3 briefly several times in measures 90-93. Other than that, there are no exceptionally out-of-normal-range notes. Trumpets 1 and 2 may wish to double-tongue at measure 64.     This arrangement was completed in 2019, and performance time runs about 3 minutes, 30 seconds. The arranger, Les Smith, would be very interested in your comments; contact him at lessmith@ufl.edu. For more arrangements by Les, enter Sweetwater Brass Press (without the quotation marks) in the SheetMusicPlus search box.

Brass Ensemble - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.808694 Composed by Alexander R. Reinagle (1799-1877). Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Christian,Easter,Holiday,Sacred. Score and parts. 22 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #4798569. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.808694).     British composer Alexander Robert Reinagle wrote this melody about 1836 and named it after the church where he was organist, Oxford's St. Peter-in-the-East. First published as a musical setting for Psalm 118, it was adapted to John Newton’s How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds in 1861 and then to the hymn by John Oxenham (William A. Dunkerley), In Christ There Is No East or West, in the early 20th Century.    While some sources specify that the St. Peter melody should be played without any festive fanfares, this brass quintet version does contain a few ceremonial flourishes.    Most players will have little or no difficulty with this piece. The andante moderato tempo should be interpreted as somewhere in the vicinity of quarter note = 92. Most of the rhythm patterns involve quarter and eighth notes, with a few 16th-note passages scattered throughout. Trumpet 1’s highest note is its high A; tuba’s lowest is G below the staff. Otherwise, the music remains well within the normal playing range of all instruments.     This arrangement was completed in 2019, and performance time runs about 4 minutes, 13 seconds. The arranger, Les Smith, will be happy to provide substitute parts (for example, treble clef baritone for trombone) at no charge; contact him directly at lessmith61@bellsouth.net. 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: A0.767215 Composed by Claudio Monteverdi. Arranged by Mike Lyons. Baroque,Renaissance. Score and parts. 307 pages. Lyons Music Services #3087101. Published by Lyons Music Services (A0.767215). Monteverdi - The Fourth Book of Madrigals 1603In this book, Monteverdi continues to develop the techniques and writing practices that would eventually form the first opera and his Stile Nuovo. The polyphony becomes more complex and more tonal and the interdependence of the parts more striking. He is experimenting with more dissonance but also moves towards more tonal writing. Although a far cry from the I IV V and minor of the modern pop song, he is nonetheless helping to push forward a more diatonic type of harmony with a more dramatic tonal and harmonic structure that goes much more towards true word painting than his previous books.  All 20 madrigals are here: 1. Ah! Dolente Partita – Oh, Sweet Parting!2. Cor Mio Mentre Vi Miro – My Heart as I dream I turn into you. 3. Cor Mio Non Mori? E Mori – My heart did not die? And it died4. Sfogava con le stelle – He dallied with the stars 5. Volgea l' anima mia – Volgea my soul, so dear and sweetly shining 6. Anima mia perdona – My soul forgives 7. Che se tu se ' il cor mio – That if you are as good as my heart 8. Luci Serene e Chiare – Lights, serene and clear 9. La piaga c'ho nel core – The plague is in the heart 10. Voi pur da me partite – You do not mind me, though 11. A un Giro Sol de' Begl' Occhi – At one glance of good eyes 12. Ohime se Tanto Amate – Alas! If you like it too much 13. Io Mi Son Giovinetta – I’m a young girl, laughing and singing 14. Quel Augellin Che Canta – That little bird that sings 15. Non Più Guerra Pietate – No more fighting, pray, my beautiful eyes 16. Si Ch'io Vorrei Morire – How I want to die 17. Anima Dolorosa – Suffering soul that lives so much pain and torment 18. Anima Del Cor Mio – My soul’s heart 19. Longe da Te Cor Mio – Stay away from me 20. Piagne e Sospira – He drinks and sighs Parts are supplied to suit flexible brass or wind (or both) quintets as follows:Flexible quintet parts are supplied as follows:Part 1 in Bb,Part 2 in Bb, Part 3 in Bb/Eb/F, Part 4 in Bb/Eb/C(Bass clef) and Part 5 in Bb/Eb/C(Bass clef)

Brass Ensemble - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.808695 Composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908). Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Holiday,Patriotic,Romantic Period. Score and parts. 44 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #4819845. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.808695).     Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov composed his third opera, The Snow Maiden, during the period 1880-1881. Based on Alexander Ostrovsky’s play of the same name, The Snow Maiden uses fairy-tale characters to portray the opposing forces of nature, winter versus summer. Act 3 contains the Dance of the Skomorokhi.  Skomorokhi were traveling performers in old Russia and, in connection with this composition, the term is usually translated as tumblers or clowns. Rimsky-Korsakov also included this selection as one of four movements he compiled into a concert suite based on the opera. Dance of the Tumblers has become one of his most frequently performed and best known pieces.    Light and uplifting, Dance of the Tumblers is vibrant, energetic and addictive. It takes the form of, as one commenter wrote, a classical sonata-structure, complete with development section, invigoratingly intensified reprise, and a veritable whirlwind of a coda. This brass quintet arrangement retains the original key signature of C but adjusts register to make the melodies accessible and playable. As a result, most notes are well within the normal playing range of the five brass instruments. Trumpet 1’s highest note is its A above the staff. At measures 132 and 133, Trumpet 2 has the option of playing some high notes (including one C above its staff) an octave down. Tuba plays mostly in the lowest register, with quite a few low F notes and one low E. Most instruments have some octave jumps, but all have a lot of notes to play in a very short time: many, many sixteenth notes. The score is marked Vivace, and the audio sample moves along at a pretty fast clip. But of course, the speed at which performers actually play the piece is up to them, a matter of interpretation.     This arrangement was completed in 2019, and performance time runs about 3 minutes, 38 seconds. The arranger, Les Smith, will be happy to provide substitute parts (for example, treble clef baritone for trombone) at no charge; contact him directly at lessmith61@bellsouth.net. For more arrangements by Les, enter Sweetwater Brass Press (without the quotation marks) in the search box. (Also, purchase of this piece entitles you to your choice of another of his arrangements at no charge; send a copy of your purchase receipt directly to him at lessmith61@bellsouth.net.)

Brass Ensemble - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.808675 Composed by Alexander Borodin (1833–1887). Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Broadway,Holiday,Musical/Show,Romantic Period,Wedding. Score and parts. 19 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #3130463. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.808675).      The defeat of Igor Svyatoslavich, a Rus’ prince, in his 1185 campaign against invading Cuman (Polovtsy) tribes was immortalized in the Russian epic, The Lay of Igor’s Campaign. Seven centuries later, Alexander Borodin started work on an opera based on that old tale. Borodin died before finishing, but Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov completed Prince Igor, and it was performed for the first time in 1890. Sixty-three years later the Broadway production Kismet opened featuring songs adapted by Robert Wright and George Forrest from the music of Borodin. Arguably, the most popular of the show’s songs was Stranger in Paradise, which was based on the Gliding Dance of the Maidens from the Polovtsian Dances of Prince Igor.      This beautiful brass quintet arrangement of Gliding Dance of the Maidens was adapted from the orchestra score. The key is A major, time signature is 4/4 and tempo marking is Andantino at the opening, slowing to a suggested quarter note = 63 at measure 15. Trumpets, Horn in F and Trombone all play a few grace notes. Highest notes for Trumpets are their G-sharp just above the staff; for Trombone, E above the staff. While not particularly challenging technically, the key to playing this piece is interpretation and feeling.     This arrangement was completed in 2017, and performance time runs about 2 minutes, 38 seconds. The arranger, Les Smith, will be happy to provide substitute parts (for example, treble clef baritone for trombone) at no charge; contact him directly at lessmith61@bellsouth.net. For more arrangements by Les, enter Sweetwater Brass Press (without the quotation marks) in the search box. (Also, purchase of this piece entitles you to your choice of another of his arrangements at no charge; send a copy of your purchase receipt directly to him at lessmith61@bellsouth.net.)

Brass Ensemble - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.808713 Composed by Words by Jack Yellen, Music by Milton Ager. Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Holiday,Jazz,Wedding. Score and parts. 30 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #6687707. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.808713).      Published in 1927, Milton Ager composed this song for his daughter Shana, born two years earlier. As an adult, Shana Ager Alexander went on to become a noted journalist and also, in the late 1970s, the liberal half of 60 Minutes’ Point-Counterpoint verbal duels with conservative James J. Kilpatrick! Ain’t She Sweet, in the meantime, proved to be a much performed number during the first half of the 20th Century. It became a standard and was recorded by literally scores of artists. To many people, this song symbolized the Jazz Age, the Roaring Twenties, and this arrangement reflects that period’s mood of fast-pace, fun and optimism.

Brass Ensemble - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.808632 Composed by Richard Storrs Willis. Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Christmas. Score and parts. 13 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #484929. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.808632). Edmund Sears wrote the words to It Came Upon the Midnight Clear in 1849. A year later, the tune to which this carol is usually sung in the United States was written by Richard Storrs Willis. This arrangement features an introduction and three different versions of the carol. All throughout, the melody is handed is handed off from one instrument or group of instruments to another in novel but logical fashion, making it thoroughly fun to play. This arrangement was completed in 2012, and performance time runs about 2 minutes, 4 seconds. The arranger, Les Smith, can be reached at lessmith@ufl.edu. For more arrangements by Les, enter Sweetwater Brass Press (without the quotation marks) in the SheetMusicPlus search box.

Brass Ensemble - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.767252 Composed by Claudio Monteverdi. Arranged by Mike Lyons. Baroque,Renaissance. Score and parts. 16 pages. Lyons Music Services #3121629. Published by Lyons Music Services (A0.767252). The Fifth book of madrigals starts to see much more development towards operatic style writing, with more songs being strung together to form scenas and with the addition of accompaniment on instruments. Some of these songs can be written by incorporating the accompaniment into the parts for those instruments which are resting, some will require more than a quintet. Certainly as we get into the next three books, reduction to a quintet will become increasingly more difficult, if not impossible. Song number 13 is extolling the virtues of the lovely Amaryllis I am sweeter because of Amaryllis

Brass Ensemble - Digital Download SKU: A0.948753 By Alabama. By Ed King, Gary Rossington, and Ronnie Van Zant. Arranged by Warren Wernick. Rock. Score and parts. 23 pages. Warren J Wernick #3532461. Published by Warren J Wernick (A0.948753). Sweet Home Alabama is a song by Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd that first appeared in 1974 on their second album, Second Helping.

Brass Ensemble - Digital Download SKU: A0.791006 Composed by Traditional. Arranged by Kevin P Holdgate. Blues. Score and parts. 26 pages. Kevin P Holdgate #4362523. Published by Kevin P Holdgate (A0.791006). Versatile Brass - Big Band Collection for Brass BandI did this arrangement for a wonderful brass group in the south of England called 'Brass Fusion'. They very kindly invited Versatile Brass to spend a weekend with them in Sussex.Versatile Brass recorded it as a 'bonus' track on our album 'Legacy' complete with the 'crackle' effect of an old gramophone record. This is the brass band arrangement as played by the wonderful Boobs and Brass. The 10 piece version is also available on Sheet Music Plus

Brass Ensemble - Level 2 - Digital Download SKU: A0.782539 Composed by Leo Friedman. Arranged by Tyler Merideth. Holiday,Love,Pop. Score and parts. 10 pages. Tyler Merideth #6097539. Published by Tyler Merideth (A0.782539). Let Me Call You Sweetheart is a popular song, with music by Leo Friedman and lyrics by Beth Slater Whitson. The song was published in 1910. This arrangement features two trumpets and two trombone parts with an optional horn part for the first trombone.If you liked this arrangement, you might like other work I have done. Feel free to visit tylermerideth.com