Product Description
La Feria (The Fair) is a Spanish fiesta! All the sights and sounds of a traditional Spanish street festival.
Paul Lacome wrote mostly operas-bouffes, light comic operas. That same drama and delight comes through in this piece. Originally written for orchestra, there have been many popular arrangements for band. I have arranged it for Brass Quartet (French Horn, 3 Trombones) without losing any of the Spanish tradition or dramatic character of the piece.
The Suite is in 3 sections. The first is entitled Los Toros (The Bulls). The running of the bulls is a tradition of nearly every Spanish fair. This highly energetic and rhythmic section is traditional Spanish fiesta music at its best. The second section is entitled La Reja (loosely-The Gate). This one is in the form of a Serenade. Every fair has a street barred off with a special archway entrance or gate. Inside, tents are set up serving local wine. Strolling street musicians will visit each tent and serenade. This section is scaled back dynamically and also in texture to imitate the solo or duo strolling musician. For the B theme of this section I move the melody to the Trombone 2 part down low. I like to amuse myself and think of this brief growling melody as a tipsy patron of the tent singing back to the musicians. The street musicians then quickly resume their original song. The final section is entitled La Zarzuela. The Zarzuela is a uniquely Spanish comic opera that is heavy on dance and spoken dialogue. It has much in common with the American vaudeville shows. This section is in the form of a brisk waltz, another high energy rhythmic dance where Trombone 1 takes the B theme melody.
This piece is of Advanced difficulty due to constant movement, articulations, rhythm, and particularly range. The French Horn and Trombone 1 utilize their full range and are stretched insanely in the top range.
A Tour de Force for French Horn! This is really a French Horn solo with Trombone accompaniment.
Euphonium or Baritone Horn could play the Trombone parts (scored in Bass Clef only).
21 page score, 4 pages @ part, 38 pages total booklet
4:30 minutes
MIDI recording of this arrangement. (Sorry the recording sounds like cheap brass.)
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