Martin Scharnagl

Sweet Brass Bells

With his composition SWEET BRASS BELLS, the Austrian composer Martin Scharnagl presents a creative fantasy about the well-known German Christmas carol "Sweeter the bells never sound". The piece begins with a solemn opening that dresses the thematic material in a harmoniously colorful robe. The first stanza is presented in a chamber-music manner by a brass quartet before the second stanza appears in a sonorous tutti. Over a broad pedal point we reach a first musical climax in the form of a fermata in bar 60. After a short caesura, the composer now takes up the musical ideas of the beginning again and uses them to lead into a sonorous ending, which is characterized by a constantly striding rhythm accompanied by drums. As at the beginning, Martin Scharnagl also uses bell tones at the end of his composition SWEET BRASS BELLS, which give the work a dignified and festive character and symbolize the joy of Christmas.

Set of Parts:
Score
Bb / C Flugelhorn 1
Bb / C Flugelhorn 2
Bb / C Trumpet 1
Bb / C Trumpet 2
Bb / C Trumpet 3
F / Eb Horn
Bb / C Tenorhorn
C / Bb Euphonium
C / Bb Trombone 1
C / Bb Trombone 2
C / Bb Trombone 3
C Tuba 1 / Eb Tuba
C Tuba 2 / Bb Tuba
Timpani
Chimes, Glockenspiel, Triangle
Percussion 1 (Bar Chimes, Snare Drum)
Percussion 2 (Susp. Cymb., Cymb. á 2, Bass Drum)

BeNeLux-Extra-Parts:
Bb Tenor Tuba B.C. (Petite Basse Sib)
Bb Trombone 1 B.C.
Bb Trombone 2 B.C.
Bb Trombone 3 B.C.
Eb Bass B.C. (Contrebasse Mib)
Bb Bass B.C. (Contrebasse Sib)