Description
From the arranger:
Hugo Alfven (1872-1960) was a Swedish composer whose works feature a late-Romantic style. Although he is more well known for his choral works, Alfven wrote many pieces for orchestra and spent the years 1916-1923 composing the music for the pantomime ballet Bergakungen (The Mountain King). The story of this ballet focuses on the same figure depicted in Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from Peer Gynt. Vallflickans Dans, which translates to “Dance of the Herdmaiden,” is a showpiece for the first violin section in the original orchestral version. As a result, it translates easily to a virtuosic solo for instruments such as the euphonium, clarinet, flute, and others. The articulations provided in this edition’s solo part are not original to the orchestral version but rather facilitate the performance of this piece on a brass instrument. It would be ideal and would match the original violin articulation if the soloist could perform the fast sections without slurs, although this would be quite a feat given the great speed and relentless stream of sixteenth notes in these sections. This challenging piece is a great addition to any program in which the soloist wishes to display some euphonium fireworks.
- Gretchen Renshaw
Score and parts included: Euphonium TC/BC
