"Pizzicato Polka" by Johann Strauss Junior and Josef Strauss. Transcription for Flute Quartet by Francesco Leone. Score & parts (5): 1-4 C Flutes, included optional parts for G Alto Flute (instead Flute 4). Key concert F / duration 3.00 (+-).
The Pizzicato Polka is a piece of orchestral music by Johann Baptist & Josef Strauss composed in 1869 for a trip to Imperial Russia. It was published in 1870. The polka was written for string orchestra and glockenspiel. It was hugely popular, especially in Italy, where it was included on every program Strauss played there. The piece consists of four melodies and the work is arranged in ternary form (A-B-A). The original piece is scored for plucked strings.

This absolutely fabulous song comes from the 1965 slapstick comedy film, The Great Race. I first heard it on James Galway's album, In the Pink, which features Galway playing 13 of Henry Mancini's songs.

This piece just screams fun in the middle of a gazillion notes just flying by. Filled with arpeggios, this is a workout for the fingers and requires quite a bit of precision for the song to sound really good. As with most of my arrangements, I have tried to give every part something interesting to play, with the exception of the contrabass flute and optional upright bass, which could also be played by any C instrument in the bass clef range. These lower parts are important in helping maintain good downbeats.

Scored for 5 C flutes, alto, bass, contrabass, and optional upright bass. There are 2-part divisis in flutes 1 - 4. This piece is for the more advanced flute choir and would be a great opener or encore for your recitals.

Duration: 2.75 minutes