Using a variety of Latin American musical influences the piece opens with a bass riff that is to be the prominent feature in this work. Accompanied with lively Latin American Samba Percussion section the work is reminiscent of the music heard at the world famous Rio Carnival. There are lots of Latin ‘Riffs’ and ‘Licks’ throughout the piece that keep returning in true samba style. This is a real fun piece to perform and the performing notes below act as a guide to getting the most out of this performance.
Performing Notes:
There are opportunities for soloists within the piece, particularly Solo Cornet, Soprano and Bongo’s.
When the Cornet and Soprano soloist play their solo part they have an instruction to stand out at the front to perform. It is at the players and conductors discretion where they would like to stand for their solo line.
Obviously the Drum Kit soloist is restricted to their current positioning within the band. However, the other percussionists are quite at liberty to come out to the front of the band to perform their solo at rehearsal figure P at the conductors discretion.
NB – At the 5th bar of figure P there is an optional repeat section. Performers can repeat this section over and over to extend the percussion feature. Or even add more players from the band to play percussion. If you do not wish to use this opportunity then dismiss the repeat so that there is a 16 bar section between figure P and figure R.
There are also a variety of cameo roles for other soloists and musical sections during the piece. Other players and sections can stand to perform various motifs during the piece again at the conductor’s discretion.
Festiva Brazilia was composed for performers to have fun and enjoy performing the piece as much as possible. Just like the many Samba festivals around Brazil.
