Instrumental Duet Bassoon,Flute,Instrumental Duet,Oboe - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.956623 Composed by J Offenbach. Arranged by Catriona Melville-Mason. Concert,Romantic Period,Standards. Score and parts. 5 pages. C Melville-Mason #6487623. Published by C Melville-Mason (A0.956623). This arrangement of the well-known 'Can Can' tune is designed for double reed duet of oboe and bassoon. The oboe part can, however, also be played on flute - though extra care may need to be taken with dynamics to ensure that the melody is never swamped by the lower part.Officially entitled ‘Galop Infernale’, this piece hails from Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, first performed in October 1858. Offenbach’s comic opera is a humorous take on Gluck’s highly successful Orpheus and Euridice. During a scene in which the gods are socialising, Jupiter suggests dancing a minuet. The other gods decide this is far too staid, calling for something with a livelier, party-feel – and the Galop Infernale follows. The tune’s association with the high-kicking Can Can dance came later, some 50 years after Offenbach’s death, when the French cabaret venues Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergère appropriated the piece for use in this context.
