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.

It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas-Arranged for Brass Quintet by Jari Villanueva ?It?s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas? written in 1951 by Meredith Willson was originally titled ?It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas.? The song has been recorded by many artists, but was a hit for Perry Como and The Fontane Sisters with Mitchell Ayres and His Orchestra on September 10, 1951. Bing Crosby recorded which was also widely played. It was later incorporated into the pre-Broadway version of the score of Willson?s 1963 musical ?Here's Love? and can be heard on that show?s original cast recording, where it is sung in counterpoint to a new melody and lyric, ?Pinecones and Holly Berries.? Johnny Mathis recorded the song for his 1986 album Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis. This version gained popularity after its inclusion in the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. This skillful arrangement by Jari Villanueva captures the flavor of the original tune and would be a great selection for a holiday concert or as a special presentation around Christmas. Included is a Full Score, 2 Trumpets in Bb, Horn in F, Trombone and Tuba. Also included are substitute parts for Eb Horn and Baritone TC A retired member of the United States Air Force Band where he served on the Music Production staff (as well as a trumpeter and bugler) and a student of Bill Holcombe, Jari Villanueva continues writing for different ensembles. His arrangements are played by brass quintets all over the country including many military groups. Many of his arrangements can be found on Sheet Music Plus and JV MUSIC.