La Feria (The Fair) is a Spanish fiesta! All the sights and sounds of a traditional Spanish street festival.
Paul Lacome wrote mostly operas-bouffes, light comic operas. That same drama and delight comes through in this piece. Originally written for orchestra, there have been many popular arrangements for band. I have arranged it for Clarinet Quartet without losing any of the Spanish tradition or dramatic character of the piece.
The Suite is in 3 sections. The first is entitled Los Toros (The Bulls). The running of the bulls is a tradition of nearly every Spanish fair. This highly energetic and rhythmic section is traditional Spanish fiesta music at its best. The second section is entitled La Reja (loosely-The Gate). This one is in the form of a Serenade. Every fair has a street barred off with a special archway entrance or gate. Inside, tents are set up serving local wine. Strolling street musicians will visit each tent and serenade. This section is scaled back dynamically and also in texture to imitate the solo or duo strolling musician. For the B theme of this section I move the melody to the Clarinet 3 part down low. I like to amuse myself and think of this brief growling melody as a tipsy patron of the tent singing back to the musicians. The street musicians then quickly resume their original song. The final section is entitled La Zarzuela. The Zarzuela is a uniquely Spanish comic opera that is heavy on dance and spoken dialogue. It has much in common with the American vaudeville shows. This section is in the form of a brisk waltz, another high energy rhythmic dance where Clarinet 2 takes the B theme melody.
This piece is of Advanced Intermediate difficulty due to constant movement, articulations, rhythm, and range. Clarinet 1 in particular uses the full range of the instrument.
21 page score, 4 pages @ part, 38 pages total booklet
4:30 minutes
temporary MIDI recording

This is one of John Lennon and Paul McCartney's great songs from their group, The Beatles. Set as a jazz waltz for clarinet quartet by John Gibson this would be a perfect performance piece for your quartet (3 Bb clarinets and 1 bass clarinet). It runs about 2 1/2 minutes. 2016 Arranging Contest Entry.

Julius Fucík was a Czech composer and conductor of military bands. He became a prolific composer, with over 400 marches, polkas, and waltzes to his name. As most of his work was for military bands, he is sometimes known as the "Bohemian Sousa". Today his marches are still played as patriotic music in the Czech Republic. His worldwide reputation rests primarily on two works: "The Florentiner March" popular throughout much of Europe and the "Entrance of the Gladiators", which is widely recognized, often under the title "Thunder and Blazes", as one of the most popular theme tunes for circus clowns. This arrangement for clarinet quartet includes the following parts: Bb Clarinet 1 or Eb Clarinet, Bb Clarinet 2, Bb clarinet 3 or Eb Alto Clarinet, Bb Bass Clarinet.