Perhaps the most well-known piano piece by Ludwig van Beethoven, Bagatelle No. 25 in A Minor (written around 1810) is better known under its subtitle ‘Für Elise’.
Even to this day it is still unknown who Elise was, with at least four theories claiming to tell the story. It might have been one of Beethoven’s students or Therese Malfatti, a young lady who got much attention from him. The theory is that Beethoven’s autograph Ludwig Nohl could not decipher his handwriting and might have read Elise instead of Therese. Nevertheless the piece has become extremely popular over the last two centuries and is often the very first real classical piece a beginner pianist goes to.
Many classical pieces have been transcribed in contemporary fashion for brass bands in recent times, with Toccata in D Minor by J.S. Bach arranged by Ray Farr being the most popular and more recently Vivaldi’s first part of Winter from The Four Seasons arranged by Philip Harper. This arrangement of Für Elise fits in this series perfectly and seeks to bring a smile to its listeners. The last two bars are a direct tribute to Ray Farr’s aforementioned arrangement of Toccata.
To view a video of the Amsterdam Staff Band performing the work please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdLI7U-aplw
Duration: 3.15 minutes approx.
Difficulty Level: 2nd Section +
PDF download includes parts and score.
Sheet music available from www.brassband.co.uk
Instrumentation:
Soprano Cornet Eb
Solo Cornet Bb
Repiano Cornet Bb
2nd Cornet Bb
3rd Cornet Bb
Flugel Horn Bb
Solo Horn Eb
1st Horn Eb
2nd Horn Eb
1st Baritone Bb
2nd Baritone Bb
1st Trombone Bb
2nd Trombone Bb
Bass Trombone
Euphonium Bb
Bass Eb
Bass Bb
TimpaniPercussion 1-3