Happy Birthday Theme and 16 Variations

This piece has several practical uses. If your brass quintet is asked for “Happy Birthday,” simply play the theme. Alternatively, the arrangement is an interesting, accessible and sometimes humorous concert piece that challenges the players to authentically play different styles and gives the audience an opportunity to pick out the melody, identify the styles and the discover the hidden “quotations.” Styles include Dixieland, Raggae, Jig, Cowboy, Salsa, Disco plus 10 more.

The variations are of disparate lengths and varied difficulty, so feel free to skip the ones that don’t fit your needs and to play the remaining variations in any order. A pause of a few seconds is recommended between each variation to create some aural space. I had a great deal of fun writing these variations and trouble stopping at just sixteen!