Orchestration
Piccolo, 2 Flutes (2nd opt.db.Piccolo 2), 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in Bb, Soprano + Tenor Saxophones [could be 1 player], 2 Bassoons
2 Horns in F, Trumpet in Eb or D [or Clarinet 3 in Bb], 3 Trumpets in Bb, 3 Trombones, Tuba,
Timpani, Percussion (4 or 5 players: 1 or 2 Snare drums, Cymbals, Tam-tam, Bass Drum), Harp + Celeste [could be 1 pianist]
Strings (Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola, Cello, Bass)
The danger of making an arrangement of this masterpiece of orchestration is that many of the inherent qualities of the original will be lost. Here, David Andrew has managed to make it more accessible to standard-sized orchestras without ruining it! The work has not been abridged or especially simplified, but the orchestration has been reduced from Ravel’s rather opulent set-up, some instruments have been cued into other parts and the multi-divided string parts have been rationalised to spread the workload.
The two saxophone parts could be played by one player (a separate "doubling" part is enclosed), the high Trumpet in Eb (the part is also shown in D) can be taken by a 3rd clarinet in Bb and the harp and celeste parts could be played by one player on a piano. The two side drum parts specified could be played by one player as long as he or she doesn’t mind not having any rest for 15 minutes! The other main differences from Ravel’s original orchestra are that oboe d’amore, cor anglais, bass clarinet and contrabassoon are all omitted and four horns here become two. If the A4 sized full score included with the set of parts seems too small, a larger A3 sized one is available separately.
Duration 15 minutes
