Upbeat Suite

Upbeat Suite is an arrangement for percussion quartet of three orchestral excerpts that share common rhythmic elements of upbeat, or 2-beat, feels: Dance of the Little Swans by Tchaikovsky; Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks by Mussorgsky; and, from "Carmen," Danse Boheme by Bizet. Their cheerful nature dictates a light, bouncy style and is enhanced by the use of grace notes and appoggiaturas. A frequent arranger of classical themes, Slawson is adept at capturing the character of the original while still writing idiomatically, and in this case accessibly, for small mallet quartet. This is a rare marriage that will have you thinking "Suite" thoughts of your developing ensemble.

This piece comes as a professionally printed and bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or for tablet viewing.