Shepherds' Farewell, The (Berlioz)

Geoffrey Brand's arrangement of Berlioz's Shepherds' Farewell form L'Enfance du Christ is restrained, delicate, and contemplative. In this arrangement for small wind orchestra, the instruments are called upon to display their softer persuasive sounds in order to retain the sensitive nature of this tender music.

Genre: Band | # of Players: Standard
Level: 3 | Duration: 5:15

Instrumentation
1st Flute
2nd Flute
Oboe*
1st Bb Clarinet
2nd Bb Clarinet
3rd Bb Clarinet
Bb Bass Clarinet*
Bassoon*
1st Eb Alto Saxophone*
2nd Eb Alto Saxophone*
Bb Tenor Saxophone*
Eb Baritone Saxophone*

1st Bb Trumpet
2nd Bb Trumpet
1st F Horn
2nd F Horn
1st Trombone
2nd Trombone*
Euphonium
(TC Baritone)
Tuba

String Bass

Parts marked with as asterisk (*) are NOT ESSENTIAL, although their presence will obviously enable a fuller realization of the composer's intentions to be achieved.

Program Notes
L'Enfance du Christ (The Childhood of Christ), written between 1850 and 1854, is the nearest that Berlioz got to writing an oratorio. It is in three parts; he called it a 'sacred trilogy.' Throughout, the music is restrained, delicate, and contemplative. In its original version, The Shepherds' Farewell is scored for chorus accompanied by two oboes, two clarinets, and strings. With these selected colors, Berlioz achieves a masterpiece of delicacy and serenity.

In this arrangement for small wind orchestra without chorus, the wind instruments are called upon to display their softer persuasive sounds in order to retain the sensitive nature of this tender music. This arrangement may be used with chorus utilizing the original chorus parts. The key is one half tone lower than the original setting.