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.

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.