Out of the Box: Variations on Pop Goes the Weasel
by Traditional
Brass Ensemble - Digital Sheet Music

Item Number: 20143323
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Brass Ensemble - Level 4 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.808617

Composed by Traditional. Arranged by F. Leslie Smith. 20th Century,Children,Folk,Jazz,Traditional. Score and parts. 36 pages. Sweetwater Brass Press #419779. Published by Sweetwater Brass Press (A0.808617).

     The melody on which this piece is based originated in 19th Century England, probably as a dance tune. It grew in popularity and soon acquired full rhyming verses, most of which contained the words, "Pop goes the weasel." Sometime in the 1850s, it spread to the United States, and the opening words began to focus on some animal (usually a monkey, sometimes a possum) chasing another animal (often a weasel) with the action taking place in a chicken coop or around a cobbler’s bench or a mulberry bush. It was adopted by toy makers and became almost synonymous with the jack-in-the-box.
     This arrangement takes the melody "out of the box" and gives all instruments a chance to have fun with it. After a rousing 10-measure introduction, Trombone, Trumpet 1 and Tuba all take a turn. Each plays the melody through twice, parodying the Late-19th/Early 20th Century formal solos peculiar to the instrument. Horn in F breaks the pattern by playing "Pop" as a wonderfully hokey, mournful dirge. In the final iteration, Trumpet 2 performs the melody as a distinctly upbeat jazz number, after which all join together for a short, emphatic restatement of the theme.
     This arrangement was completed in 2013, and performance time runs about 5 minutes, 27 seconds. The arranger, Les Smith, will be happy to provide substitute parts (for example, treble clef baritone for trombone) at no charge; contact him directly at lessmith61@bellsouth.net. For more arrangements by Les, enter "Sweetwater Brass Press" (without the quotation marks) in the SheetMusicPlus search box.

This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard’s global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.

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