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

Irish Folksong Suite is a collection of popular traditional Irish Folksongs arranged for Clarinet Quartet. The titles include: 1. When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, 2. My Wild Irish Rose, 3. Molly Malone (Cockles and Mussels), 4. The Irish Washerwoman and 5. Drunken Sailor. This is a versatile arrangement that allows the songs to be played individually, as a medley in the original order, or any of the selections in any desired order. The arrangement is moderately advanced and perfect for most St. Patrick?s Day and other Irish celebrations. Total Playing Time with repeats 9:40 and 6:40 without repeats. To view and listen to this piece in its entirety as well hundreds of other arrangement and transcriptions by Kenneth Abeling at the lowest prices available please visit: https://lincolnmusicpublications.com/

Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer who had a fulfilling career as a court musician in the 1700's and was a friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Flötenuhrstücke, or flute clock, was a mechanical instrument similar to what we would now know as a music box. Haydn wrote 32 pieces for this instrument, which have been transcribed for piano solo. This arrangement includes pieces 1 through 4 for clarinet quartet. I have made many note changes to these pieces, so if you are looking for a true transcription, this is not it. Most of the chord structure remains intact, although the 4th movement is 40/60 Haydn and mine. My intent was to arrange this work in a way that kept all 4 musicians playing 99% of the time without any 2 parts having to play the exact same thing for too long. Again, if you are familiar with the original work, this arrangement will sound different, and I'm not so sorry about it. ;) It is simple enough for musicians with intermediate skill. Scored for 4 Bb clarinets (or 4 instruments in the same key). Duration: 6 minutes

Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer who had a fulfilling career as a court musician in the 1700's and was a friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Flötenuhrstücke, or flute clock, was a mechanical instrument similar to what we would now know as a music box. Haydn wrote 32 pieces for this instrument, which have been transcribed for piano solo. This arrangement includes pieces 5 through 8 for clarinet quartet. I have made many note changes to these pieces, so if you are looking for a true transcription, this is not it. Most of the chord structure remains intact. My intent was to arrange this work in a way that kept all 4 musicians playing 99% of the time without any 2 parts having to play the exact same thing for too long. Again, if you are familiar with the original work, this arrangement will sound different, and I'm not so sorry about it. ;) It is simple enough for musicians with intermediate skill. This work is arranged so that the melody is equally distributed among the parts, as I am a strong believer in giving everyone a chance to play the melody. Scored for 4 Bb clarinets (or 4 instruments in the same key). Duration: 5 minutes

Here comes a ballad full of love and passion featuring solo Bugle. No extreme ranges. Vocal part (male) is available on request for free. Check out other compositions and arrangements! Listen to the recording! Here are the words: Give me back my love again, give me back these lonely nights, when my heart went out to talk to you about my love. And give me back these tender words I have sent to you in secret letters, which never found the only way to your heart but now my love has gone and disappeared there is nothing more I feel for you although there's something deep inside my heart (ohohohoh oh) that says to me each lonely night today all day and all forever will something always taste of you in my heart Instrumentation: Clarinet 1 and 2 in Bb, Basset Horn/Clarinet 3 in Bb, Bass Clarinet in Bb