Tchaikovsky - Sym No. 4

Tchaikovsky - Sym No. 4

SYMPHONY No. 4, op. 36 in F minor – Movement 3 - Scherzo, Pizzicato ostinato
by Peter Tchaikovsky
Score 36 Pages 8 ½ x 14 (Legal)

Instrumentation: Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 3 Bb Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 1 Soprano Sax, 2 Alto Saxes, 1 Tenor Sax, 1 Baritone Sax, 2 Bb Trumpets, 4 French Horns, 2 Trombones, 1 Tuba, 1 String Bass, Timpani

This piece was fun to arrange because I separated the instruments into three groupings. All the pizzicato strings are performed by the saxophone section (a quintet). They better play with a lightness throughout. The String Bass also accompanies the pizzicato section in the original part. The woodwind section goes next – almost as written, and so does the brass section of the movement. It just fell into place pretty quickly. Followed by a tutti section before the ending and the return to the sax section to finish it.

This piece is a sax section feature and is a great technical demand for clean, concise articulations. And the piccolo and clarinets have some very fast 16th note solo passages. If the work is done – this piece will be a blast to play.

Listen:


Score Example:
See score example here.