Dream of a Witches' Sabbath: 8 Trumpets Score & Parts

This arrangement delivers the visceral energy and dark humor of one of classical music's most celebrated movements without requiring a full orchestra. Brad Ulrich's writing for eight trumpets captures Berlioz's orchestral intent through clever voice leading and dynamic contrasts, making it a showstopper for festival programming and concert finales. The piece gives serious brass players a chance to inhabit a major work from the standard repertoire.

Grotesque, darkly comic, and relentlessly kinetic. The Witches' Sabbath revels in distortion, surprise, and wild energy, with the Dies Irae melody twisted into unrecognizable shapes by laughter, shouts, and frantic rhythmic activity. Yet beneath the chaos runs Berlioz's architectural control; every dissonance and outburst serves the larger vision of a hellish celebration spun out of orchestral color and harmonic daring.

Trumpet sections (or mixed trumpet and flugel horn ensembles) at the high school, college, and community levels seeking substantial chamber repertoire with genuine musical weight. This arrangement is ideal for advanced brass players who have developed secure intonation, dynamic control, and the interpretive maturity to navigate a complex orchestral narrative. Festival adjudicators and concert audiences will recognize the source material immediately, making this an excellent choice for ensembles building a reputation for ambitious, polished programming.

• Balance the grotesque character by resisting the urge to play everything at full volume. The Dies Irae parody is most effective when players shape phrases with intentional dynamics, letting the burlesque quality emerge from clarity rather than bluster.
• Lock the brass section ensemble through careful attention to articulation patterns. Berlioz's original orchestration uses specific tonguing and attack to define the chaotic texture; consistency across eight players will make the apparent chaos sound controlled and purposeful.
• Mark your idée fixe references clearly in rehearsal. This melody appears throughout the movement in different guises; knowing when and how prominently you voice it will help the arrangement's narrative arc come through.
• Explore the range of the flugel horn option. If your section includes flugel players, have them experiment with tone color in specific passages to add warmth against the brighter trumpet voices, echoing Berlioz's original orchestral palettes.

Reserve this for a concert finale or festival slot where the contrast will land most powerfully. It works brilliantly as the centerpiece of a brass ensemble concert, particularly if preceded by lighter chamber works or paired with other Romantic-era brass arrangements. High school advanced bands and college brass ensembles will find it a compelling vehicle for demonstrating the level of precision and artistic maturity their section has achieved.

• Reading and executing complex rhythmic figures across multiple parts simultaneously
• Balancing individual voice clarity within dense harmonic textures
• Controlling dynamic range and tone color to convey character and emotion
• Synchronized articulation and phrasing across an eight-part ensemble
• Understanding narrative structure in instrumental music and maintaining awareness of thematic development across a single movement
• Performing with confidence in concert/festival contexts requiring advanced musicianship