Product Description
This song is a great piece to play for a general concert. But it really shines in matrimonial settings. The fact is: No wedding is complete without the performance of "Because."
Helen Guy, the daughter of an English sea captain and a French singer, was born at Château d'Hardelot in France. She entered the Paris Conservatory at age 15, and in her early 20s composed a musical setting for Victor Hugos "Sans toi," which gained some popularity. She composed over 300 songs using the name Guy d'Hardelot. She was also a noted piano accompanist. After marrying W.I. Rhodes, she settled in London and taught singing. As a composer, she is best remembered for "Because" ("Parce Que"), for which she wrote both the music and the French words. It was first published in 1902 with English lyrics by Edward Teschemacher and has since been recorded many times by many different artists.
This arrangement was derived from the 1902 Chappell & Co. score in C major for piano and voice. For the most part, however, the musical setting is original and different. Throughout most of the piece, Horn in F carries the melody with Trombone and Tuba providing an arpeggio accompaniment. Trumpets 1 and 2 play a syncopation figure for the opening and the end but during the majority of the arrangement they provide an antiphonal response to the melody. The opening is marked Poco Adagio with a suggested metronome setting of 76, but the tempo does vary rather frequently. All notes are well within the range of each instrument; e.g., B-flat Trumpets highest note is G at the top of their staff, while Tubas lowest note is A below the staff. All-in-all, this arrangement is a beautiful and poignant setting for an old favorite, a real crowd pleaser.
Completed in 2020, performance time for "Because" runs about 3 minutes, 22 seconds. The arranger, Les Smith, will be happy to provide substitute parts (for example, treble clef baritone for trombone) at no charge; contact him directly at lessmith61@bellsouth.net. For more arrangements by Les, enter "Sweetwater Brass Press" (without the quotation marks) in the search box. (Also, purchase of this piece entitles you to your choice of another of his arrangements at no charge; send a copy of your purchase receipt directly to him at lessmith61@bellsouth.net.)
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.