Jul 052018
 

You Only Live Twice

Written and produced by John Barry, with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, “You Only Live Twice” is the theme of 1967 motion picture by the same name featuring the iconic secret agent character, James Bond, 007. Performed by Nancy Sinatra, this theme is considered one of the best James Bond movie themes and became one of Sinatra’s best hits.
This arrangement for Horn Quartet is 3 minutes long and starts with the recognizable two bar theme in the first and second Horns with lush harmonies by the third and fourth horn. The song continues with each horn part getting the opportunity to play the melody.

 

Jun 122018
 

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Composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1888, Scheherazade is a symphonic suite based on One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age.
 
My arrangement, from the third movement of the suite, called, The Young Prince and The Young Princess, is for a Horn Sextet and is available on my Sheet Music Plus Web page.
Feb 252018
 

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Originally written by James Horner, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil, for the 1986 animated feature, An American Tail, Somewhere Out There is a song that conveys the feelings of faraway loved ones and their belief that they will see each other again. In the movie, a young Russian mouse, Fievel Mousekewitz, gets separated from his family during a storm on their voyage to the United States. Arriving in the United States, Fievel searches for his family while his parents give up hope presuming that he is dead. His sister, however, has the feeling that he is still alive. Fortunately, at the end of the film, the young mouse and his family find each other and start their new life together in America.
In the same year the film came out, American singers Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram performed a pop music ballad version of the song for the soundtrack, An American Tail. This version of the song ranked number 2 on the Billboards Top 100 in 1987 and won Song of the Year and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television at the 30th Grammy Awards. This tune also earned nominations for Best Original Song at the 44th Golden Globe Awards and the 59th Academy Awards.
The arrangement that I have made for this tune if for a Horn Quartet and is available on Sheet Music Plus. Check it out at this link. Somewhere Out There arranged for Horn Quartet.
Dec 282017
 

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A person who speaks Chinese and a person who speaks French cannot hold a conversation. Oh, with the use of hand motions, a primary form of communication might be possible; but it could hardly be called conversation. A person who only speaks Spanish cannot have a real conversation with a person who just talks any one of the Vietnamese dialects. All languages are different — all languages except music, that is. Music is the same in every language.

There are seven notes in a musical scale, and it does not matter what country you are standing in or what language you speak. There are still only seven notes in a musical scale. Granted, those seven notes might have different names in different countries; but the music is the same, and if the note is written on a musical staff, every musician plays the very same note.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, “Music is the universal language of mankind.” He was right. All humans have the same well of emotions. We can all feel happy or sad — hopeless or hopeful, joyful or depressed, defeated or victorious. Moreover, the same music can evoke the same emotions in people who speak different languages. We all bleed red, and we all feel the same inside. We all understand “music” no matter what language we speak.

I cannot imagine a world without music. Sometimes music merely is background, and sometimes music is the star. However, there is always music, and it is a language that all musicians can read and “speak,” and all the rest of us understand.

Moreover, it is not only humans who understand the language of music. Music therapy has proven effective in plants and animals, too. Furthermore, it has shown that both plants and animals respond in a positive way to the sound of music.

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look inside
The Red Sarafan for Chamber Orchestra
Composed by Alexander Varlamov (1801-1848). Arranged by Lisa Lenke Sousa. 21st Century, Romantic Period, Classical Period, Folk, European. Score, Set of Parts. 34 pages. Published by Lisa Lenke Sousa (S0.298957).
Sep 192017
 

Music and ballet intertwined right from the beginning of time. Without music, ballet is nothing more than the empty motions of a ritual. Without the movement and rhythm of the dance, music loses all vitality. Moreover, so, ballet as a doorway to human expression hinges on both music and dance.

Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), the Italian-born French composer who founded the French national opera was not just a court composer to Louis XIV, but also a choreographer who produced court ballets for Moliere’s plays. Because of his work in music and choreographer, his productions never lacked an accompaniment. However, theater productions of the eighteenth century turned composers away from ballet and toward the music of ballroom dancing.

This phase sustained its self straight through the nineteenth century except for pieces by Russian classical composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) which include the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty.

In the twentieth century, however, ballet came back to the spotlight. Once again considered a respectable art form, choreographers looked to the works of classical composers such as Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi, Chopin, Brahms, and Handel to perform the art of ballet dancing too.

Many agree that dance owes its very existence to the likes of those who are both composers and choreographers. Because being musicians in nature, they naturally pay close attention to ballet following the rhythmic structure of its accompaniment precisely. One who does not understand music can easily create choreography that looks good that in of itself, yet at the mercy of a great classical piece the novice falls short of expressing the true nature of the piece. Instead, they turn the production into a form of movement that is devoid of both art and beauty. The experts instead know when it is appropriate to go against the grain of the accompaniment to heighten those dramatic periods which capture their audience’s attention and leaves them breathless.

As we dawn a new era of music and dance, it is undeniable that ballet will continue to change. However, just as music and dance have always been the best of friends, the ballet will continue to find its new identity in the evolving music of today.

Do you have a brass band and looking for new music to play at your next performance? Check out and purchase my arrangement of No. 5 Pas de deux From Act I from the Ballet Swan Lake Op. 20 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky by clicking on the link.

No. 5 Pas de deux From Act I from the Ballet Swan Lake Op. 20

 

Sep 062017
 
Originally composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II for the musical, Very Warm for May in 1939, All The Things You Are is a piece that is a jazz standard performed by many performers including Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Charlie Parker, and Michael Jackson.
This arrangement for Horn Quartet is 3 minutes, 32 seconds long, and is an endurance challenge for the first part. It also should be played lyrically at quarter note equaling 120.
Sep 062017
 
Written by Richard and Robert Sherman and featured in the 1964 motion picture, Mary Poppins, Feed the Birds is a song that tells of an elderly beggar woman who sits on the steps of London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral.  As the birds gather around her, she sells bread crumbs to those who pass by for tuppence a bag.
With the duration of 3 minutes long, this arrangement of Feed the Birds is for six horns and is a great piece as far as phrasing, chamber ensemble playing and dynamic levels.
Sep 062017
 
The Hanging Tree is a composition written by James Newton Howard and featured in the 2014 film The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 from the Hunger Games film series. This arrangement is for a British Style Brass Band by Lisa Lenke Sousa.
The brass band arrangement starts with a cornet solo and later joined by the solo horn. As the piece grows in dynamics, so does the instrumentation until it reaches a full band at a double forte. At the very end of the composition, the solo cornet returns with the melody and slows down at the end. It is a tiered piece with different dynamics that make the arrangement.
Sep 062017
 

This arrangement of No. 5 Pas de deux From Act I from the Ballet Swan Lake Op. 20 is a challenging piece for British Style Brass Band. It contains a full score including parts for 9 cornets ( 4 solo cornets, 2 second cornets and 3 3rd cornets), 1 Flugelhorn, 3 Tenor Horn parts, 2 Baritone, 2 Tenor Trombones, 1 Bass Trombone, 2 Euphoniums, 2 E flat Tubas, and 2 BB flat Tubas.  Please order this piece today!!

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