Tchaikovskys ballet The Nutcracker is a fairy-ballet in two acts three tableaux and was composed in 1891/2. It is based on The Nutcracker and the Mouse King a story by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1816). Mark Freeh has arranged this Tchaikovsky classic for big band.Brass Band Grade 4: Advanced Youth and 3rd SectionDuration: 12 minutes

The work set as the test-piece for the 2005 European Brass Band Championships was inspired by a theme from the second movement of Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet No.1 (Andante Cantabile). It consists of a number of musical metamorphoses on the theme and includes several excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Fourth and Sixth Symphonies and Romeo and Juliet. The most unconventional element of the work is instrumentation for ten tuned bottles to be played by members of the Cornet section. This gives the piece an Indonesian Gamelan effect. Why not give your players something to get their teeth into with this impressive major new work.

According to his teachers Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was not particularly gifted. His special talents were acknowledged only in 1865 when he had been working for the Ministry of Finances for some years. In 1866 he was appointed teacher at the Conservatory and applied himself to composing. His oeuvre is fairly extensive and many of his compositions receive a high ranking on the international list of classical music including his six symphonies solo concertos (violin concerto and piano concertos) ballets (The Nut Cracker Swan Lake) and his overtures (1812 and Romeo and Juliette). In 1893 Tchaikovsky died of Cholera after drinking a glass of infectedwater. His Slavonic March is a popular concert piece for symphonic orchestra that is still frequently performed in concert halls. David Well arranged the theme and created a contemporary march in rock style. Tchaikovsky once said to an unsatisfied teacher: ‘I will be a great composer within 10 years time.’

East- to medium-level arrangements of favorite classics for brass quartet (two trumpets/cornets and two trombones/baritones) in score format. Includes short arrangements of works by Wagner Smetana Bach Borodin Tchaikovsky Brahms and more. Includes score and parts.

Ballet de Tchaïkovski, casse-noisette, est un fée-ballet en deux actes, trois tableaux et était composée en 1891/2. Il est basé sur le casse-noisette et le roi de la souris, une histoire par e. t. a. Hoffmann (1816). Arrangement de Mark Freeh est le classique de Tchaïkovski disposée à la Big Band ! / Brass Band