Brass Ensemble - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.855730 Arranged by Alessandro Scarlatti, Arcangelo Corelli, George Frideric Handel, Henry Purcell, Johann Sebastian Bach, Scholze & Rameau, and Snow. Baroque,Concert,Graduation,Instructional. Score and parts. 33 pages. Darren Lloyd #3393903. Published by Darren Lloyd (A0.855730).  The book consists of Baroque keyboard pieces arranged for two Cellos. Composers include - J S Bach, Purcell, Handel, Corelli, Scarlatti, Snow, Scholze & Rameau. Four duets are from Bach's 'Little notebook' and five are taken from Bach's 'Inventions for keyboard' the numbers are 1, 3, 8, 10 & 15.The duets are aimed at the intermediate through to advanced player.

Brass Quintet Horn,Trombone,Trumpet,Tuba - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1221432 By Stan Kenton & His Orchestra. By L. Wolfe Gilbert, Marion Sunshine, and Moises Simons. Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Jazz,Latin,Multicultural,Pop,World. 39 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #817754. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.1221432). Can a brass quintet sound like Stan Kenton’s 19-piece big band? No, not really:  no saxophones, no rhythm section, no Milt Bernhart, no Maynard Ferguson, no Bill Russo, no Conte Candoli, no . . .   Well, you get the picture.  But five brass instruments can play in the Kenton style.  And that’s what this is:  “The Peanut Vendor� in the style of the Stan Kenton Orchestra.      Moisés Simons’ “El Manisero� (“The Peanut Vendor�) was first recorded in the late 1920s.  The melody was relatively simple yet exotic sounding; the lyrics, a Cuban street vendor’s pitch for selling his bags of peanuts.  Consumers bought more than a million copies of the sheet music, and the song supposedly led to a “rumba craze� in the U.S. and Europe (although the song is not really a rumba!).       Don Azpiazú and his Havana Casino Orchestra recorded the song for RCA Victor in 1930 with Antonio Machín on the vocal; its sales may well have been more than the million-plus sheet music copies sold.       English lyrics were added by L. Wolfe Gilbert and Marion Sunshine and the song became “The Peanut Vendor.�  One estimate is that nearly 200 recordings have been made.  That’s a lot of peanuts.      Stan Kenton revived “The Peanut Vendor� in 1947 when he first recorded it for Capitol Records.  His version was completely instrumental.  Rhythm and saxophones opened the number and established the background; later the trombone section added emphasis.  A trombone solo first stated the melody but eventually the five-person trumpet section took over with what one writer referred to as “shrieking dissonances.�  “The Peanut Vendor� subsequently became one of Kenton’s most requested numbers and he recorded it at least three more times.     This brass quintet arrangement, of course, has access to only two trumpets.  So the good news is that all five players get a chance with the melody.  Kenton’s extended opening trombone solo is shared by Trombone and Tuba.  The “shrieking dissonances� are performed not only by Trumpets but also by Horn in F and Trombone.  The bad news is that all five players have to take a turn with the continuing rhythmic background melody.  Written in 4/4 time, the suggested tempo is 184 BPM in a Latin style.  Kenton’s version is in B-flat major; this arrangement lowers it to A-flat major so that most notes are within the normal playing range of the instruments.  (Don’t worry; the “shrieking dissonances� are still there!)       Completed in 2023, performance time runs about 3 minutes, 37 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.).

Level 2 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1407989 Composed by Robert A. Howard. 21st Century,Chamber,Classical,Contemporary,Thriller. 5 pages. Robert A. Howard #990552. Published by Robert A. Howard (A0.1407989). Ghost takes its title from the art work by Ron Mueck (1998), which is in the collection of the Tate Gallery, Liverpool. Mueck's Ghost is an extraordinarily realistic, larger-than-life-sized mannequin. This model is of a young lady in a swimsuit, with exceptionally long legs and an embarrassed glance about her face. This musical work attempts to capture the ghostly, solitary and threatening qualities of the work. It is flexibly scored, in four instrumental parts, and there are opportunities for 'solo' and 'tutti' playing. Character is depicted in a four note motif (heard at the beginning), which is transformed across five highly contrasting sections. There is a significant cadenza-like solo passage, for a treble clef instrument. Ghost was commissioned by COMA for the Autumn Residency at Tate Liverpool in October 2002. Note: this document is the score only. The full set of parts (with score) are available via a search of the COMA Music Library.Duration: 6 minutes.Registered with PRS (Performing Rights Society, UK).Composer's website: www.roberthowardmusic.co.uk

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.)

Piano Solo - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1284416 Composed by Michael Praetorius. Arranged by Dan McCoy. Baroque,Chamber,Early Music,Folk,Renaissance. Score. 3 pages. Dan McCoy #875587. Published by Dan McCoy (A0.1284416). Ballet des Coqs, or Rooster Dance, is from a collection called Terpsichore, which is a compendium of more than 300 instrumental dances published in 1612 by the German composer Michael Praetorius. In his introduction, Praetorius takes credit for arranging the music rather than composing the tunes.The collection is based on French dance repertoire of the time and contains some notes that relate to instrumentation. However, Praetorius does not specify which instruments should play particular parts. This was one of my favourite Praetorius pieces, and so I transcribed it in order that it might be played at the keyboard without having to read the original publication with its five parts, varied clefs and difficult notation.

Brass Ensemble - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.808706 Composed by Fred Fisher. Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Folk,Holiday,Jazz,Patriotic,Traditional. Score and parts. 40 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #6215233. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.808706).      Orville and Wilbur Wright made their famous flight in late 1903; this song was published seven years later: Fred Fisher’s music with Alfred Bryan’s lyrics. The words form a narrative of a young man attempting to get his girlfriend to go up with him in his flying machine. And, that would take much more daring on her part than one might realize today. The year 1910 was still early days for aviation; most airplanes were still made of wood, wire and fabric and looked liked giant gliders. Supposedly, the Josephine of the song was Josephine Sarah Magner, reputed to be America’s first female parachutist. Magner married Leslie Burt Haddock, whose aviation career started in balloons, and made her first jump in 1905. During the next dozen years, she made more than 500 jumps. Pretty daring!     This arrangement is quirky and an absolute delight to play (and to listen to)! The first half is set in the song’s native ¾ time. The takeoff is the introduction, followed by the chorus, then the verse and again the chorus as the melody loops, rolls and spins through the five instruments. A middle section briefly quotes two other aerialist tunes-He flies through the air with the greatest of ease and Up in the air Junior Birdmen-and serves as a transition to cut time. A swing version of the chorus brings us in for a landing and final fade.     The arrangement begins in the key of C major and changes to G major during the transitional section. Suggested tempo is 76 bpm throughout. The arrangement comprises 202 measures: Horn in F plays the most notes, followed by Trombone and Tuba, while Trumpets get off relatively lightly. All notes are well within the normal playing range of the instruments; Trumpet 1 does, however, play A above its staff several times.     Completed in 2021, performance time for Come, Josephine in My Flying Machine runs about 3 minutes, 45 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 Quintet Horn,Trombone,Trumpet,Tuba - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1401614 Composed by Joseph Lamb. Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. 20th Century,Classical,Historic,Ragtime. 32 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #984793. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.1401614). Ragtime was originally and primarily piano music.  The Library of Congress traces the origin and wellspring of ragtime to St. Louis, Missouri.  The Britannica website explains, “Ragtime evolved in the playing of honky-tonk pianists along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers in the last decades of the 19th century. It was influenced by minstrel-show songs, African American banjo styles, and syncopated (off-beat) dance rhythms of the cakewalk, and also elements of European music.�     But it wasn’t until the mid-1890s, when music publishers started printing ragtime scores, making the music available to the public at large, that ragtime’s popularity began to soar.  By 1900 ragtime was the popular music.  It stayed that way until about 1917 when the rise of jazz began to overtake it.  By 1920, ragtime was nearly forgotten.     Thirty years later, a ragtime revival began.  And one Patricia Lamb-Conn found out that her father, Joseph F. Lamb, was a well-known composer of ragtime.  In fact, the “Big Three� composers of classical ragtime are considered to be Scott Joplin, James Scott and the only non-African American, Joseph Lamb.     Lamb was born in 1887 in New Jersey, taught himself to play piano and was very much influenced by Joplin’s early ragtime publications.  From there, Lamb went on to develop into a master of classic ragtime.     One of Lamb’s most popular works was a 1916 composition he titled “Patricia Rag.� (The title apparently had nothing to do with his daughter, who was born in 1924.)  It consists of four themes in five sections, with the first theme repeated after sections 1 and 2.  Lamb pitched the opening in E-flat Major, changing to A-flat Major at the Trio.       This brass quintet arrangement, completed in 2024, consists of 150 measures, approximately five minutes, ten seconds in length.  It retains the basic structure of the original piano score but modifies the pitches to B-flat Major and E-flat Major, respectively, to accommodate the normal playing range of the brass instruments.  Possible exceptions for some players include:  (1) Trumpet 1 plays its A-above-the-staff a number of times and its B above-the-staff once; (2) Trombone plays several E above-the-staff notes; (3) Tuba plays several way-below-the-staff F notes and one high G note. Throughout the arrangement, the original melody is maintained and featured, but in some sections the background and harmony are altered to feature one or more of the five instruments.  In the Trio, the sections designated by rehearsal marks F and G are slowed and treated as a serenade; the original tempo is restored at H.  In performing this arrangement, players should pay particular attention to dynamics.  Additionally, because of the nature of ragtime, this piece may require more-than-usual practice and rehearsal.     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.  Contact him at lessmith61@bellsouth.net.  For more arrangements by Les, enter Sweetwater Brass Press (without the quotation marks) in the Sheet Music Plus or Sheet Music Direct search box.

Brass Ensemble Horn,Trombone,Trumpet,Tuba - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1164066 Composed by Al Stillman and Ernesto Lecuona. Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Multicultural,Pop,Standards,World. Score and parts. 37 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #764401. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.1164066). Ernesto Lecuona was born 1895 in Cuba.  He began piano lessons at 5 years of age and developed into a virtuoso pianist and internationally celebrated composer.  In 1928 he composed Suite Andalucía, a six-movement piano piece portraying the people and places of the Andalusia region of southern Spain.  Two of those pieces eventually achieved tremendous popularity as standalone songs:  #2, “Andalucia� and #6, “Malagueña.�  Lecuona had composed both in ¾ time.  Salvador Tutti Camarata reframed “Andalucia� in 4/4, Al Stillman provided English lyrics and the song was given a new title, “The Breeze and I.�  Jimmy Dorsey’s big band recorded it in 1940 with the vocal by Bob Eberly.  It was hugely popular, lasting nine weeks on the Billboard magazine chart and peaking at #2.  Fifteen years later, Caterina Valente recorded both “The Breeze and I� and “Malagueña� to great success.     This arrangement opens in A-flat major with Trumpets, Horn and Tuba laying down a Latin beat and the Trombone playing an opening lick.  After the introduction, Trombone and Trumpets take turns with the melody, while Horn and Tuba provide variety and accents.  On the second time through, the key changes to E-flat major and begins with a Trumpets-and-lower-brass fanfare.  The melody repeats, but this time with a different take.  Horn and Trombone take turns with melody and counter melody, then Trumpets take over.  After several cascade effects, the tune reaches its end and Trumpets play an extended version of Trombone’s lick from the introduction.  The group then repeats the final 16 bars of the tune and winds up with an extended ending treatment.  Trombone once again contributes its opening lick, and the arrangement fades away . . . all to a Latin beat.  Enjoy!     Time signature is 2/2 and suggested tempo is 72 BPM, which is maintained all the way through.  There are two instances of a one-bar change to 3/2.  The fanfare at Section C contains a measure and a half of 16th notes.  All notes are well within the normal playing range of the five instruments.     Completed in 2023, performance time runs about 3 minutes, 30 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 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1049261 Composed by Friedrich von Flotow. Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. Classical,Pop,Romantic Period. Score and parts. 18 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #653628. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.1049261).      The first performance of "Martha, or The Market at Richmond," a romantic comic opera by the German composer Friedrich von Flotow, took place in Vienna in 1847. Subsequent presentations were performed in a number of other languages, including Hungarian, Czech, English and Italian. Two of the most memorable arias from Martha are “The Last Rose of Summer” and “Ach! so fromm.” “Last Rose” was, of course, based on the poem by Thomas Moore. “Ach! So fromm,” known more familiarly by its Italian lyric, “M'appari, tutt'amor,” was an original composition by Flotow, a piece he had composed for an earlier opera and inserted into Act 3 of Martha as Lyonel’s tenor solo.      In 1955, The Crew Cuts, a Canadian pop singing group, recorded a song titled “Mostly Martha.” Written by Dorcas Cochran (words) and Ralph Sterling (music), it charted in early 1956. As so many pop song writers have done, Sterling borrowed the melody from a piece of classical music: “M’appari.” While “M’appari” and “Mostly Martha” share the same melody, the words and sentiment are quite different. Lyonel laments that Martha has left him, while The Crew Cuts jauntily proclaim, “Mostly Martha, Mostly Martha. What has she got? She's got the most.”      This brass quintet arrangement takes a middle ground. It follows closely the basic structure of Flotow’s operatic aria but does so in a sort-of up-tempo manner and with a great deal of variation in the accompaniment. It’s not really The-Crew-Cut-style “She’s got the most,” but it’s certainly more positive than Lyonel’s song of longing. The piece starts with a suggested tempo of 90 bpm, changes to 80 at section C, and speeds up to 92 at the end. All instruments get a turn playing the melody, and there are no really tricky rhythmic patterns. There are, however, grace notes, rallentandos, an “a piacere” and a number of fermatas. All notes are, for the most part, within normal playing range of each of the five instruments, with two exceptions: near the end Trumpet 1 has an A above its staff, followed two measures later by a high B-flat.      Completed in 2022, performance time runs about 2 minutes, 45 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. 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 to 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.)