Paul Hanna

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The 1812 Overture is Tchaikovsky’s most explosive and theatrical work, famous for its cannon fire, church bells, and triumphant finale. Written in 1880 to commemorate Russia’s defense against Napoleon’s invasion, it has become a staple of patriotic concerts worldwide. This is an abridged arrangement, ideal for a July Fourth gig. Performance time is about 8 minutes. Includes an optional percussion part.

1812 Overture

Brass Quintet

“Limehouse Blues” is a British popular song written by Philip Braham (music) and Douglas Furber (lyrics) and first performed in the 
1921 West End revue A to Z. It evokes London’s Limehouse district and uses musical and lyrical references intended to suggest an 
exoticized Chinatown atmosphere common to early 20th‑century popular entertainment.

The tune quickly entered the jazz repertoire and became a standard, prized for its memorable minor‑key riff and fast, driving chord 
changes that invite virtuosic improvisation. Over the decades it has been recorded and arranged across styles from New Orleans 
jazz to swing, bebop, and small‑group modern jazz.

Musical characteristics
    • Form and key — Typically performed in a minor key with a 32‑bar structure that alternates a plaintive opening with a more 
         rhythmically aggressive bridge. 
    • Melodic features — Uses pentatonic and “Orientalist” melodic gestures that reflect the song’s theatrical depiction of 
         Limehouse rather than authentic Chinese music. 
    • Why players like it — The tune’s compact, angular theme and brisk harmonic motion make it a favorite for showcasing 
          technical facility and inventive solos. 

Notable recordings and performances
    • Gertrude Lawrence — helped popularize the number on the London stage. 
    • Fletcher Henderson (1934) — an influential big‑band swing reading that helped cement the tune in American jazz. 
    • Benny Goodman — recorded a high‑energy swing arrangement in the 1930s. 
    • Sidney Bechet, Django Reinhardt, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Chet Atkins, Sonny Rollins — among many who 
         recorded distinctive versions, demonstrating the tune’s cross‑genre reach. 

The song has appeared in films and revues, sometimes performed in period or stylized “Oriental” stage numbers; notable 
cinematic uses include dance or production numbers in Hollywood musicals of the 1930s and 1940s.

Listening guide and recommended versions
    • Start with the original theatrical context via historical recordings or the Wikipedia entry to hear the melody as written. 
    • For swing — listen to Fletcher Henderson (1934) or Benny Goodman (1935) for big‑band arrangements. 
    • For small‑group jazz — Sidney Bechet and Django Reinhardt offer contrasting soloist‑driven takes. 
    • For modern improvisation — Sonny Rollins and later jazz instrumentalists show how the tune adapts to post‑bebop 
         language. 

The song’s original imagery and musical cues reflect early 20th‑century Western exoticism and stereotyping of Asian 
neighborhoods; modern listeners and performers often contextualize the tune historically while focusing on its musical merits.

Limehouse Blues

“Di quella pira” is one of those moments in Italian opera where the floor practically shakes under the tenor’s feet. It is the famous 
cabaletta from Act III of Il trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi, sung by Manrico, the troubadour-warrior, as he sees the flames rising 
from the pyre where his mother Azucena is about to be executed. Manrico is essentially rallying his men to arms. The music is all 
forward motion—rhythmic, urgent, almost reckless. It’s the operatic equivalent of charging into battle with your heart on fire.

This arrangement is on the Florida Bandmasters Association Contest List, grade 5.

Di Quella Pira

This arrangement contains two movements from Gabriel Faure’s Requiem:  Pie Jesu and Libera Me.

“Pie Jesu” is one of those rare movements that feels suspended outside of time. It’s originally written for solo treble voice 
(traditionally a boy soprano, though often sung by soprano).  The orchestration is extremely delicate.  Unlike the dramatic, 
fear‑laden Requiems of Verdi or Berlioz, Fauré’s is gentle, consoling, and luminous.  The movement is essentially a single, 
unbroken melodic line, almost chant‑like in its purity.  The solo line is here divided between the two trumpets.

“Libera me” is one of the most striking movements in the entire work—partly because it’s the only section not originally 
composed by Fauré for this Requiem. It predates the rest of the piece by several years, and you can feel that difference 
immediately.  It’s originally written for a baritone soloist, choir, and orchestra.  The tone is more dramatic than the rest of 
the Requiem, which is famously serene.  It’s the only movement that really acknowledges the traditional “Dies irae” 
terror—though even here, Fauré softens the edges.  The music alternates between pleading lyricism and urgent, almost 
stormy outbursts.

Pie Jesu/Libera Me

Voice

“Eternal Source of Light Divine” is the opening aria from Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne, a secular cantata composed by Handel in 1713. The work was written to celebrate Queen Anne’s birthday and the Treaty of Utrecht, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession.

This aria is especially beloved for its serene trumpet obbligato paired with the voice, creating a radiant and ceremonial atmosphere. It’s often performed at weddings, royal events, and memorials—famously featured at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

This arrangement is for voice, trumpet, and organ.  Parts are included for Bb, C, D, and Eb trumpets.

Eternal Source Of Light Divine

Soprano Duet

Middle section of the Jupiter movement from The Planets.

Jupiter Hymn

Charles Ives’ Variations on “America” is a bold, witty, and harmonically adventurous organ work, here arranged for brass quintet, 
composed in 1891 when Ives was just 17 years old. It is based on the patriotic tune “America (My Country, ’Tis of Thee),” which 
shares its melody with “God Save the King” and several other national anthems.  

A theme is followed by a series of variations, each showcasing Ives’ early experimentation with harmony, rhythm, and form. 
Techniques employed include bitonality, polytonality, rhythmic complexity, humor, and the use of unexpected modulations and 
stylistic juxtapositions. One variation includes a polonaise rhythm, and another features canons in three different keys—elements 
that reportedly made audiences laugh and drew criticism from Ives’ father.

Variations on "America"

Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks is a grand Baroque suite composed in 1749 to celebrate peace after the War of the Austrian 
Succession.  It’s renowned for its majestic brass and wind scoring, ceremonial character, and dramatic history.  It’s premiere was 
accompanied by a massive fireworks display, which was marred by rain, misfires, and even a fire that damaged the wooden 
structure. Despite the chaos, over 12,000 people attended the rehearsal in Vauxhall Gardens, causing a traffic jam on London 
Bridge. Music for the Royal Fireworks remains a staple of ceremonial and festive occasions.

Overture to Music for the Royal Fireworks

Instrument Type

“Rigaudon” is a lively and elegant dance movement from Campra’s 1712 opera Idoménée. The Rigaudon is a French Baroque dance in duple meter, known for its sprightly rhythm and courtly character—often used in processions, weddings, or festive postludes.

Rigaudon

Organ Accompaniment Quintet

Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583–1643) was one of the most influential keyboard composers of the early Baroque period, and his toccatas 
are among his most celebrated works. This toccata is notable for its expressive freedom, virtuosic flourishes, and rhetorical gestures 
that reflect the improvisatory style of the time.

Toccata

“Siegfried’s Funeral March” is one of the most overwhelming orchestral moments in Wagner’s entire Ring cycle. It appears in 
Götterdämmerung, Act III, after Siegfried is murdered, and it functions as both an elegy and a summation of his heroic identity.  
Wagner weaves together leitmotifs associated with Siegfried’s heroic theme: the sword Nothung, the Wälsung lineage, and 
fate and doom.

These motifs are transformed—slowed, darkened, and harmonically weighted—so the audience hears Siegfried’s entire life 
refracted through tragedy.  The march is not just mourning Siegfried; it marks the collapse of the heroic world. It sets up 
Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene and the final destruction of Valhalla.

Siegfrieg's Funeral March

“Davenport Blues” is one of the defining early jazz recordings — not just for Bix Beiderbecke, but for the entire 1920s Midwestern 
jazz aesthetic. It was:
    • Recorded: January 26, 1925, Gennett Studios, Richmond, Indiana 
    • Released: Gennett 5654 (B‑side to “Toddlin’ Blues”) 
    • Personnel: 
        ◦ Bix Beiderbecke — cornet 
        ◦ Tommy Dorsey — trombone 
        ◦ Don Murray — clarinet 
        ◦ Paul Mertz — piano 
        ◦ Howdy Quicksell — banjo 
        ◦ Tom Gargano — drums 

Musical Architecture
The piece is fascinating because it isn’t a blues in the strict sense. Instead, it’s shaped like one of Bix’s own improvisations — lyrical, 
cool, harmonically fresh.

Form:
    • 4‑bar introduction 
    • 16‑bar verse 
    • 32‑bar chorus 
    • Verse + chorus repeated 
    • 2‑bar extended ending

This structure gives it a hybrid feel: part popular song, part jazz instrumental, part proto‑cool‑jazz cornet meditation.
    • It was the first recording released under Bix’s own name, marking his emergence as a bandleader. 
    • The melody is often described as “a Beiderbecke solo turned into a composition” — a hallmark of his style. 
    • It became a jazz standard, covered and reinterpreted for decades.

Davenport Blues

Michael Prätorius’s Fantasy on “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” is a chorale-based organ and ensemble work that transforms Martin 
Luther’s famous hymn into a richly layered musical tapestry. It exemplifies the early Baroque practice of weaving elaborate 
counterpoint around a well-known chorale tune, elevating the hymn into a ceremonial and artistic statement. This arrangement 
works well in church services, academic ceremonies, or brass ensemble concerts, where the hymn’s triumphant character resonates.

Fantasy on "Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott"

Hungarian Dance No. 5

“Crown Imperial” is a grand ceremonial march composed by William Walton in 1937 for the coronation of King George VI. It remains 
one of the most iconic British orchestral marches, frequently performed at royal events and state occasions.

This is an arrangement of the finale, for organ and brass quintet. Originally meant as a wedding processional, it’s also great for any 
ceremonial occasion.
    •

Processional from Crown Imperial

Slavonic Dance Op. 72 No. 2 is one of the most characteristic pieces in Dvořák’s second set of Slavonic Dances — a Dumka in E minor, marked Allegretto grazioso. It blends melancholy lyricism with gentle, dance‑like motion, typical of the dumka form’s alternation 
between reflective and more animated moods.

Slavonic Dance

In his Chorale Preludes J. S. Bach transforms Lutheran hymn tunes into richly crafted contrapuntal compositions. These pieces sit at 
the heart of the Baroque organ repertoire and represent some of Bach’s most profound theological and musical thinking. This is a 
flex arrangement for brass quartet, playable by any 4 members of a standard brass quintet. Good to have in the book in case 
someone misses the gig!

Included in this collection are Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich; Alle Menschen müssen sterben; Ich ruf’ zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ; 
Jesu, meine Freude; Vater unser im Himmelreich.

Chorale Preludes

Brass Quartet

Attendants and bride's processionals from Richard Wagner’s opera Lohengrin.

Wedding Music

Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde

Here’s a clear, musically grounded overview of the “Good Friday Fanfare” from Parsifal — more precisely, the Fanfare leading into 
the Good Friday Music in Act III.

🌿 What the “Good Friday Fanfare” Actually Is
Wagner never labels a standalone “fanfare” in Parsifal, but Act III opens with a brief, solemn brass proclamation that functions as a 
fanfare. It leads directly into the Good Friday Music (Karfreitagszauber) — one of the most luminous orchestral passages Wagner 
ever wrote.

This opening brass gesture is:
    • Noble and restrained, not militaristic 
    • Built from Grail-related leitmotifs 
    • Designed to signal the renewal and transfiguration that define Act III 

🎺 Musical Character of the Fanfare
The fanfare is short but symbolically rich:

✦ Harmonic Language
    • Rooted in diatonic, luminous harmonies 
    • Avoids the chromatic anguish of Act II 
    • Establishes the serene, pastoral world of the Good Friday meadow 

✦ Leitmotifs
You’ll hear transformations of:
    • The Grail motif 
    • The Redemption motif 
    • Nature’s transfiguration motif, which blossoms fully in the Good Friday Music, noting its serene, transfigured 
         atmosphere in Act III

Good Friday Fanfare

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