This novelty is great as either a featured number or as an encore. It is upbeat, a medley of turn-of-the-last-century tunes that, in the tradition of Haydn?s "Farewell" Symphony (No. 45 in F-sharp minor), provides opportunity for four musicians to leave, one by one, until only Tuba remains. It opens at a fast clip with a statement of ?Good-Night, Ladies? followed by a four-measure vamp that is subsequently repeated after nearly every section. First, horn and tuba perform ?There is a Tavern in the Town.? Second, trombone and trumpets combine to ask, ?Bill Bailey, Won?t You Please Come Home.? Third is a close-harmony, ensemble version of ?Goin? Home.? Fourth features exchanges between trumpets and low brass in ?Toot, Toot, Tootsie!? Fifth is an amalgam of all the tunes; this is played four times, each time featuring a different instrument, which then drops out for the rest of the number. The tuba ends the piece and takes a bow. This arrangement was completed in 2014, and performance time runs about 3 minutes, 56 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.

Bach composed the secular cantata Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd BWV 208 in 1713. By far, the most famous and most performed movement is the ninth, Schafe k�nnen sicher weiden, more popularly known by its English name, "Sheep May Safely Graze." Bach scored the piece for soprano with two recorders and continuo, but others have since provided arrangements for myriad instrument combinations. Long an instrumental favorite at weddings, now even some churches include ?Sheep May Safely Graze? on their list of recommended music for marriage ceremonies. This arrangement is particularly effective in translating Bach?s music into a beautiful and quiet brass quintet composition. Horn in F and Trumpet 1 take turns with the melody, while Trombone and Tuba provide the basso continuo. Upper accompaniment is given to Trumpet 2 and, at various points, whoever else is not otherwise engaged?Trumpet 1, Horn in F and occasionally even Trombone. This arrangement was completed in 2017, and performance time runs about 4 minutes, 4 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. If you like this arrangement, don?t miss ?Andante Cantabile from String Quartet Op. 11,? ?Arabesque #1,? ?Chorale St. Antoni,? ?Clair de lune? and ?Jesus Bleibet Meine Freude (Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring).? For more arrangements by Les, enter "Sweetwater Brass Press" (without the quotation marks) in the SheetMusicPlus search box.

Four Directional Fanfares for Brass Quintet and optional tympani) was arranged and compiled in 2020 expressly for the Spanish Brass. Each fanfare is named after the four directions of the compass with each having a different duration. I. North (70 seconds), II. South (50 seconds), III. East (20 seconds) and IV. West (2 Minuets and 30 seconds).

An optional timpani part has been added in the score and may be used to enhance the sound in ceremonial situations.

The composer has played and conducted in many brass ensembles over the years as well as composing many fanfares of different lengths to suit the occasion. A brass ensemble can always use new fanfares. These fanfares were recorded by the Spanish Brass in 2020 on the CD ?Music for Brass Quintet by Gregory Fritze? on the Spanish Brass label. These fanfares are also on YouTube and Soundcloud.

If you can afford only one ?Up On The Housetop? for your brass quintet, this is the one to get. It is a hoot! It starts with an introduction that is definitely in a hurry; Santa?s sleigh may even have a klaxon on board to blast loitering birds out of the way! The arrangement moves on at the same fast clip, having fun with the melody and never letting up. As it reaches the halfway point, the tempo seems to slow down, but this is just an illusion; tuba and horn keep it moving. Racing toward the end, the conclusion recalls the introduction and finishes with a great, upbeat wind-up. Click on the ?Listen? button, and get set for an exciting Christmas ride with Santa.Tempo is halfnote = 138 throughout. There are some high notes and jumps. Trumpet 1?s highest note is B-flat5 (high C); Trumpet 2, A-flat5 (B-flat above the staff); Horn, F5 (high C). Trombone?s highest jump is from B-flat2 to E-sharp4. Horn has several 6-note jumps. This arrangement was completed in 2012, and performance time runs about 1 minute, 41 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.

While still in his twenties, Debussy composed two arabesques for piano. The first, tempo marked ?Andantino con moto,? is probably the more familiar, and it has appeared in a number of different instrumentation settings. With respect to brass quintet, ?Arabesque No. 1? seems written specifically for Horn in F to take the lead, and that is what this arrangement features. Trumpets and Trombone do help out, but for the most part it is the Horn that shines forth. (And, for once in a Les Smith arrangement, the tuba has it relatively easy.) This arrangement was completed in 2012, and performance time runs about 4 minutes, 38 seconds. Contact the arranger, Les Smith, at lessmith@ufl.edu. For more arrangements by Les, enter "Sweetwater Brass Press" (without the quotation marks) in the SheetMusicPlus search box.

The final movement of Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 ("Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life"), is one of Bach?s most well known and beloved compositions. The familiar English lyrics, usually attributed to Robert Bridges, has as the first line the wording that gives the piece its title, ?Jesu, Joy of Man?s Desiring,? and it is a favorite for weddings, Easter, All Saints? Day, Advent and Christmas. The beauty of this arrangement makes it appropriate for any of those occasions. The all-important eighth note figures are played by the tenor voices, Horn in F and Trombone, while trumpets are given the higher melody. This arrangement was completed in 2012, and performance time runs about 2 minute, 58 seconds. The arranger, Les Smith, can be reached at lessmith@ufl.edu. For more arrangements by Les (such "Awake, My Heart, with Gladness"), enter "Sweetwater Brass Press" (without the quotation marks) in the SheetMusicPlus search box.

It is October 31, Halloween, late in the evening. Outside, a slight but chilling wind blows. Inside, the pendulum of the great clock ticks slowly back and forth, back and forth. Somewhere a faucet drips arrhythmically. Suddenly, the clock strikes twelve. And, it all starts. The ghosts, the goblins, the witches and all their familiars?these are the beings that hold sway on The Eerie Night. This Halloween fantasy was inspired by a jingle the composer learned many years before while in primary school. Attributed to Lillian Mohr Fox, the words accompanying the tune described ?witches on broomsticks with cats and bats? and ?spooky . . . noises on Hallowe?en night.? ?The Eerie Night,? composed for brass quintet, emulates the supposed ghostly environment of Halloween with generous (and eerie!) use of the lower brass instruments. Trumpets provide emphasis, punctuation and occasional screeches, while the Horn in F harmonizes with Trombone and, at one point, shrieks like a cat. The haunting and scaring builds and builds until just before the end, when absolute cacophonous bedlam occurs. Gradually, things quiet down. The nightmare is ended, and we?re back to the clock, the wind and the faucet. Completed in 2017, this composition runs about 4 minutes, 40 seconds. The composer, Les Smith, would be very interested in your comments on this piece; contact him at lessmith@ufl.edu or leave a review on the SheetMusicPlus website. For more arrangements by Les, enter "Sweetwater Brass Press" (without the quotation marks) in the SheetMusicPlus search box.

Gounod wrote this in 1872 as a piano piece and orchestrated it seven years later. He originally conceived of it as one part of a satirical piano suite, the subject of which had nothing to do with puppetry. Once it was completed, however, he had it published as a stand-alone composition with the present title. The occasion of the music is that the Marionette has lost a duel and died; a funeral cortege takes place; the bereaved troupe takes a break then returns to the cortege. Recorded numerous times, the music was also used in several early films but reached its largest audience by far as the theme song for the TV series, ?Alfred Hitchcock Presents," 1955-1965. The current arrangement is based on the composer?s original piano score but has been augmented slightly to take advantage of brass quintet instrumentation. This arrangement was completed in 2016, and performance time runs about 5 minutes, 8 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.

Michael Maybrick wrote music for ?The Holy City? in 1892 under the name, ?Stephen Adams.? Frederic Weatherly wrote the lyrics. The song was popular from the beginning, then experienced a resurgence when sung by Jeanette MacDonald in the 1936 film, San Francisco. Victorian in both words and melody, ?The Holy City? nonetheless remains a frequent performance piece today. The current arrangement is based on the original 1892 sheet music but has been augmented to take advantage of brass quintet instrumentation. Completed in 2012, this arrangement runs about 4 minutes, 47 seconds. The arranger, Les Smith, will be happy to provide substitute parts (e.g., 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.

In 1880, Edvard Grieg composed twelve songs based on the poetry of A.O. Vinje. Two of those he arranged for string orchestra as Two Elegiac Melodies. Four years later Grieg composed a five-piece suite to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Ludvig Holberg, the Norwegian-born writer who played a major role in the founding of Danish literature. Originally written for piano, Grieg soon arranged From Holberg?s Time for string orchestra. Nearly one hundred years later, Kathryn Forbes? novel, Mama?s Bank Account, was published, recounting the tale of a Norwegian family living in San Francisco in the early Twentieth Century. Forbes? book inspired a number of dramatic presentations, Broadway and Hollywood productions. Most relevant to ?Two By Grieg,? however, was Mama, a TV series CBS launched in 1949 that ran for eight years. This weekly half-hour program used two Grieg compositions as themes: ?Sarabande? from Holberg Suite and ?The Last Spring? from Two Elegiac Melodies. For many viewers, this was the first time they had ever heard these beautiful songs, and the two melodies have been forever linked thereafter. ?Sarabande? and ?The Last Spring? are the compositions that comprise ?Two By Grieg.? This arrangement is based on Grieg?s string orchestration and stays as close as possible to the original. Completed in 2016, this arrangement runs about 7 minutes, 3 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.

Here is a completely different take on this well-known Christmas carol. After an introduction that proudly establishes the ?O Holy Night? refrain, a 10-measure prelude sets the tone for the rest of the piece. Then comes the carol itself. But what a special version! Upbeat and celebratory, it uses the differing tonal colors of the brass quintet instruments to create pyramids of buoyant sound, winding up with a restatement of the introduction. This arrangement was completed in 2012, and performance time runs about 1 minutes, 32 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.

The popular song ?Five Foot Two? dates back to 1914. So who wrote it? Good question, since the song was changed so often. Leo Feist, Inc. published a version in 1925 crediting Ray Henderson with music; Sam Lewis and Joseph Widow Young, with words. That same year The California Ramblers made the song?s first recording and used the Feist-published version. Since then, ?Five Foot Two? has been recorded many times by many different artists as well as being used in film and TV productions.
This arrangement was inspired by a vocal interpretation the arranger heard in the 1950s while working at an Adirondacks resort hotel. It starts and ends with brief slow sections but most of the way through breezes along at a suggested 112 tempo. All notes are within normal playing range of the five instruments, although Tuba does play its lowest E and F a couple of times. The melody consists mainly of half notes, quarter notes and whole notes, but the variations include lots of eighth notes and a few tricky rhythms. Written as a companion piece to Sweetwater Brass? popular ?Somebody Stole My Gal,? this ?Five Foot Two? is upbeat and fun and includes plenty of delightful 1920s-style doo-wacka-doo and ricky-ticky turns.
Completed in 2020, performance time for ?Five Foot Two? runs about 2 minutes, 39 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.

That most sensual of ballroom dances, the tango, originated during the 1880s along the R�o de la Plata, the confluence of the Uruguay and Paran� rivers. It got started among the enslaved peoples and the lower classes, became popular and eventually spread to other countries.
The tango is closely identified with Argentina, and Argentine musician �.G. Villoldo was instrumental in developing the music of the dance. He supposedly wrote this particular tango to celebrate the proprietor of a nightclub, a gentleman whose nickname was ?El Choclo? (in English: ?The Corn Cob?!).
?El Choclo? premiered in Buenos Aires in 1903 and became one of Argentina?s most popular tangos. Dance orchestras recorded instrumental versions of "El Choclo." It achieved widespread popularity in the United States in 1952 when Lester Allen and Robert Hill provided it with English-language lyrics and a new name: ?Kiss of Fire.? A number of singers made recordings of ?Kiss of Fire? that year, the most popular of which was that of Georgia Gibbs; her ?Kiss of Fire? disc reached the top spot on the Billboard chart.
The melody for ?El Choclo? is exciting, stirring, stimulating, electrifying; in other words, perfect for a brass group. In this arrangement Horn in F has the melody throughout much of the piece, but Trumpets, Trombone and Tuba also take turns with the lead. The piece opens in the key of D minor, switches to D major (for the part of the melody that was not in the Georgia Gibbs version) and finally goes back to D minor for the recap of the main melody and a dramatic conclusion. The suggested tempo is 120 but may certainly be played faster. All notes are within the normal playing range of the five instruments. However the Tango rhythm lies mostly in the bass line, so Tuba and sometimes Trombone have frequent octave and octave-plus jumps.
Completed in 2020, performance time for ?El Choclo? runs about 2 minutes, 50 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.

This arrangement starts with a slow statement of the melody, then starts swinging at very laid-back tempo, and finally moves to a faster, more lively tempo before ending broadly. It's the old New Orleans funeral routine--slow to the cemetery, and up-beat on the way back. There's plenty of call and response, and I think you'll enjoy the harmonies and the "improvised" lines. The arrangement is suitable for professionals or advanced amateurs. Please give the MP3 a listen. Duration: 2 minutes, 25 seconds.

In 1887, George Kitchin wrote ?Lift High the Cross.? Michael R. Newbolt revised it in 1916, and it was printed in that year in Sydney Nicholson?s supplement to Hymns Ancient and Modern. At the same time, it was set to Nicholson?s hymn tune, ?Crucifer,? and has since come to be used as the opening or closing hymn in many churches. There are several very good arrangements of ?Lift High the Cross? featuring brass instruments with varying combinations of other musicians?organ, choir, tympani, snare drum, hand bells, high voice descant. This arrangement features brass quintet alone, and the triumphant nature of the hymn?s melody sits exceptionally well with this particular instrumental grouping. It begins, however, with a completely different interpretation?the first time through the refrain and the verse are played relatively slowly, quietly and contemplatively (the tempo marking instructs ?Reverently?). The pace then picks up, and the feeling of the piece changes to one of exultation. This joyous mood is sustained throughout the variations that follow, and each player gets a chance to shine. Finally, after one last statement of the refrain, the dynamics quiet down for a beautifully soft finish. This is a perfect concert piece for Easter, Lent, or church processional or recessional. This arrangement was completed in 2017, and performance time runs about 5 minutes, 10 seconds. The arranger, Les Smith, would be very interested in your comments on this piece; contact him at lessmith@ufl.edu or leave a review on the SheetMusicPlus website. For more arrangements by Les, enter "Sweetwater Brass Press" (without the quotation marks) in the SheetMusicPlus search box.

?Silent Night? is surely one of the most beautiful Christmas carols, and this arrangement frames it in a graceful and fitting setting. After a quiet introduction, the first verse features the melody in hymn-like fashion with a countermelody in the horn. In the second verse, the trumpets play gentle embellishments. And in the third verse, melody and counterpoint shift from instrument to instrument until the final phrase, where all join for the last few chords, and the trumpet plays a soft arpeggio figure. This arrangement was completed in 2012, and performance time runs about 2 minute, 21 seconds. This version is also available for brass quintet with a second trombone (instead of Horn in F). For information, contact the arranger, Les Smith, at lessmith@ufl.edu. For more arrangements by Les, enter "Sweetwater Brass Press" (without the quotation marks) in the SheetMusicPlus search box.