BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Piano Solo Cover Theme, from Walt Disney?s Pictures ?Beauty and the Beast?

Music by Alan Menken
Piano arrangement by Gabriele Filippi

Taken from the 1991 American animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures, this piano solo arrangement penned by Italian musician Gabriele Filippi is conceived to grasp the most romantic fold of the renowned fantasy film Beauty and the Beast.

Followed by various and successful theatrical and musical adaptations, this theme is iconographically recognized as the most representative of that film. Recognized by many as a love ballad par excellence, the original version, also subtitled Tale As Old as Time, has seen several covers over time, even by well-known artists.

Here in this cover theme, Filippi aims to capture the most permeating ink offered with the wise musicality of the original authors: Alan Menken for the music and Howard Ashman for the lyrics. As for all his musical scores, Filippi offers a detailed arrangement, complete with grace notes, dynamics, ligatures, pedal lines, and tempo variations. All elements designed to direct even the most inexperienced performer towards a pragmatic expressiveness, but which will certainly also offer further inspiration for even the most experienced pianist. The score is completed by the vocal line and chords so that it can also be useful in the accompaniment of a singer.

This is an arrangement of the famous Waltz from Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty Ballet". I have taken it from the original orchestral score using the original key. At 3 minutes and 28 seconds, it is a somewhat abbreviated version. I have left out some of the repetitions in the original ballet. Without dancers to watch, the piece can be a little tedious. This piece would be ideal in any situation where a little light music is required, possibly even Christmas or a wedding.