This fun polka is presented in the instrumentation of Alford’s “Hungry Five” series of Polka/German band books. Atypical to those classic publications, there are some lively 16th note runs featured in the tuba part during the opening strain (you may want your tuba player to set the tempo for this one). Across the rest of the ensemble, everybody gets a chance to take on the melody along with a number of other active lines and transitions to keep things interesting for players and listeners alike.
This composition fits right in with the style of the other traditional Hungry Five pieces. There are no extreme range requirements (other than some lovely chalumeau register clarinet lines and a trombone part that briefly reaches its way up to 3rd ledger line “G”) and the technical challenges shouldn’t be out of reach for intermediate players so even fairly young ensembles could include this on a German band performance. Ready to go for adding another excellent polka to your Oktoberfest OomPah gig!
