Folle sarabande des anges (Crazy Dance of Angels) - Soprano Cornet

Soprano Cornet Solo with Brass Band Accompaniment - Dan Price

Folle sarabande des anges, loosely translated as Crazy Dance of Angels, is the final movement of a more involved work commissioned in 2019 by soprano cornetist Steve Harrington. Steve, a resident of the Charente, South-western France, commissioned the work in part fulfilment of his Master of Arts degree at the University of Salford, but also in celebration of perhaps his region’s greatest export – cognac.

The work takes its inspiration from the distilling expression ‘the angels’ share’. Part of the process of producing cognac, and other spirts, is the ageing process. This process takes time and a percentage of each barrel evaporates as a natural occurrence through the process. This disappearance of liquid is what is known as the angels’ share. The music does not look to detail the process of creating cognac but instead takes the evocative idea of inebriated angels as creative inspiration.

Folle sarabande des anges is composed in the style of a bal-musette, a French instrumental music popularised in the late-1800’s which featured street musicians performing waltzes, polkas and other dances. This up-tempo waltz has a lilting jazz quality which will be sure to transfer you and your audiences to the Parisian streets of the Belle Époque. The soloist will find plenty to keep them occupied, enabling them to show-off their skills, whilst the band accompaniment has more involvement than many other solo works.

Duration: 00:3:30

Grade: 4 (Soloist 5)