Briar Rose (for Jazz Big Band) by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Jazz Ensemble - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1369040

Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty)
Beginning dynamic, forte. No changes, in recording, but band leader can adjust to taste.

This is a swing/Big Band version of the Sleeping Beauty Waltz by Tchaikovsky.
Age/skill level: Hal Leonard level 4

Time signature: 4/4.

Performance time: approx. 3:10 (optional ending at about 1:50--tune can be played again from the top, or resumed)
Additional YouTube links:
Full Band with countoff https://youtu.be/KGoKfz487bc
Piano Tutorial https://youtu.be/bky_8tWxrDo


Scoring:

Scores: 1 Concert, 1 Transposed
Saxes: 2A, 2T, 1Bari
Trumpets: 4 (highest notes, lead concert G (approx. 5); lowest note 4th, G’s and A’s (blatty/intonation?)
Trombones: 4 (highest note in lead, Ab, several G’s) (2nd Trombone, measure 8, should be a D (13th of F7, but might sound better as a C)

Piano/Guitar:
1 Lead Sheet (quasi Condensed Score) with possible piano cues
1 Written-out notation version (beginner),
I can send a Piano Jazz Tutorial showing some suggestions for beginners or classically-trained (i.e., quartal vice triadic voicings). I didn't have time to include it.

Bass: Lead Sheet with optional notes (for beginners)

Drum Set: 1 Kick Sheet, 1 Notation version (beginner)

Rhythm section play-along: https://youtu.be/rhlifLTzHC8

Swing/Big Band version of the Sleeping Beauty Waltz by Tchaikovsky. Educational piece for the rhythm section, especially for classically-trained pianists (like me), and drum parts are available as kick sheet or notation (I send both; you just choose which you want to print).

Age/skill level: Hal Leonard level 4, Finale range ability level "Intermediate". Highest trumpet note: concert G. Some 3rd-line lead trombone G's. Saxes stay within "Intermediate" range.

Problems—Please send me an e-mail at klazzkeys@aol.com for any issues that need to be addressed. However, I am forced to treat e-mails with typos as spam.

Intro—maybe slight staccato in lower Rhythm Section parts with the pedal Fs. Chick Webb and Ella’s “Undecided” (1939) is the idea—emphasizes the syncopation.

Dynamics—the only dynamics I’ve left are in the rhythm section, from early sketches. They might work, but don’t need to be followed.

Optional Ending (bar 71)—there could be a fermata on it, but I thought that might be confusing. If playing through, the quarter note on beat 4 seems to sound best played short.

Minor 6th (mi6) chords—I try to recall the 1930s with this sound. This chart is kind of all over the place, historically, and I try to touch on the 30s, 40s, and 50s.

Wrong notes—the only playdowns have been from a group that calls themselves “The Pretty Knitty Skirt Band”, a small consort of grandmothers who gets together occasionally when “not spoiling their grandchildren”.

Measure 85—the anticipation on the “& of 3” is technically broken by the saxes on beat 4, but it comes across sounding more “Dixieland” than “bad swing” (I hope!). In the Trombones, the “& of 2” should be a dotted quarter, but I chose the two-eighths and a quarter to show that they should NOT shorten the “& of 2”. It’s awkward writing, and won’t help on the initial playdown, but the harmonic change from beat one to beat two may be more sure to register.

Drum Kick Sheet—Measure 65, the prep doesn’t have to be 16th notes, but I didn’t know how to write a half-beat virgule without putting a note stem on it!

Falls and Scoops—length doesn’t mean anything on this chart. It’s the notation software and my aging laptop. They should be played however the director thinks it sounds best.