Description
The Chorus of Bells, from Leoncavallo’s Il Pagliacci, is an arrangement of the vocal chorus of towns people on their way to vespers before a night at the traveling show. Little do they know what’s in store for them. The chorus starts very strong and fades away as the villagers move off to the church and ends quietly. Although mostly a mallet ensemble, the timpani and added orchestral percussion really adds to the piece. Both marimba parts can be performed on a single instrument. If a 5 octave is available, the performer may transpose some of the Marimba 2 parts to a lower octave. Percussive Arts Society Review – Arranged for percussion ensemble and holding quite true to the original, this adaptation of “Chorus of the Bells” from Pagliacci is a festive tune for six mallet players, percussion, and timpani. The piece is set in 3/4 time at a moderate tempo, with only one brief ritardando before returning to the original tempo. All keyboard percussion parts are playable with two mallets, and the timpani part has limited pitch changes. Two marimbas are required due to a few passages where the lower and upper parts overlap, but a low-A marimba could work for the lower voice if you are willing to transpose the final low-F up an octave. Double stops are called for in multiple parts, but in very accessible contexts. There are some sixteenth-note triplets and quintuplets in the melody from time to time and numerous overlapping, independent melodic lines that will require confident players but not a high level of technical facility. The percussion and chime parts are notably the easiest within the ensemble. This arrangement would potentially be a very effective piece for intermediate high school percussionists. It starts big and boisterous, but allows an ensemble to showcase its softer side as the chorus fades away. It would also likely complement “drummy” or more contemporary works that might be programmed alongside. Josh Gottry