10094 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Johnny Marks (1909-1985)

arranged for ten-piece brass and percussion

by Roger Harvey

Price: £30.00

Difficulty: Medium

Programme notes:
The story of Rudolph in verse from was created in 1939 by Robert L. May. A young reindeer with a bright red nose is the victim of jokes by his reindeer kin until he comes to Santa's aid in delivering presents, his nose acting as a beacon in heavy weather. It was initially rejected by publishers on the grounds that red noses tended to be associated with perpetual drunkards but sense prevailed and it became a great hit.
10 years later May's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, already a successful writer of Christmas music, wrote a tune for the words, added a preceding verse and created one of the most enduring of seasonal songs. The original hit was by Gene Autry but it has been successfully recorded by many other artists since, including Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Ringo Starr and the Chipmunks to name just a few.

Performance notes:
Make the opening a little mysterious then at A it can relax with the solo being quite showy and free.

At B the solo can be hammed up with the trombone duetting with slightly vulgar character.

Let it swing at D.

From E to L keep the rhythm tight and precise and play with clean articulation. The Troika quotes can cause some merriment, annoyance or whatever stage antics might be desired.

From L let the tempo, dynamic and energy gradually decline until, by the last few bars, a quiet, restful, even sleepy atmosphere is reached.