While still in his twenties, Debussy composed two arabesques for piano. The first, tempo marked ?Andantino con moto,? is probably the more familiar, and it has appeared in a number of different instrumentation settings. With respect to brass quintet, ?Arabesque No. 1? seems written specifically for Horn in F to take the lead, and that is what this arrangement features. Trumpets and Trombone do help out, but for the most part it is the Horn that shines forth. (And, for once in a Les Smith arrangement, the tuba has it relatively easy.) This arrangement was completed in 2012, and performance time runs about 4 minutes, 38 seconds. Contact the arranger, Les Smith, at lessmith@ufl.edu. 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.