Review

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Minuet and Trio from Eine kleine Nachtmusik:

Arranged by Michael Stewart

two C trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba

Winter Park, FL, United States
Publisher: Wehr’s Music House
Date of Publication: 2010

Primary Genre: Brass Ensemble - 5 brass

This transcription fits quite easily into the brass quintet setting. The piece is moved down a whole-step, but otherwise stays fairly true to the original music. The result is a nice, short piece, playable by high school age players and above. The trumpet parts are written in C and the trombone part is in bass clef. It is a straightforward piece with no meter changes. The parts stay in a comfortable mid-range throughout. Written pitch ranges: combined trumpet g to g2, horn b to f2,  trombone F to e1 and tuba FF to a. The only real technical challenges are found in extended eighth-note runs that appear in the top four parts. This is  a nice concert piece for a younger quintet just getting started. It could also work for a more advanced group looking for gig music that does not need much rehearsal.

-Drew Leslie
Appalachian State University