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.

Festive brass quintet arrangement of the traditional Catalan holiday carol, "El Cant dels Ocells," or "Carol of the Birds." Duration approximately 3'45". Both Bb and C trumpet parts provided. A 2015 Holiday Contest feature. .