Barber of Seville

Gioacchino Rossini

General Info

Year: 1816 / 1899
Duration: c. 8:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Carl Fischer
Cost: Score and Parts – Out of print

For availability information, see Discussion tab, above.

Instrumentation

Full Score
D-flat Piccolo
Oboe
Bassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet Solo-I-II
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
E-flat Soprano Cornet
B-flat Cornet Solo-I-II
E-flat Horn or Alto I-II-III-IV
B-flat Tenor Horn I-II
Trombone I-II
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Side Drum
Snare Drum

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

It is true that one of the world’s best known overtures was not originally written for the opera that it introduces. Rossini originally staged the opera under a different title in order to avoid confusion with a better known version of the Barber of Seville. During a revival a year later under its current title, Rossini reused the overture from his opera Aurelia in Palmyra for The Barber of Seville. Since Rossini did not use themes from the opera in his overtures, reusing material provided saving of time and effort for Rossini. Nonetheless, the Barber of Seville Overture dramatically sets the mood for an opera that Rossini described as ”the most beautiful opera buffa there is.”

- Program Notes from Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music

The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy Le Barbier de Séville (1775). The première of Rossini's opera took place on 20 February 1816 at the Teatro Argentina, Rome.

Rossini's Barber has proven to be one of the greatest masterpieces of comedy within music, and has been described as the opera buffa of all "opere buffe". Even after two hundred years, it remains a popular work.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

Media

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Healdsburg (Calif.) Community Band (Randy Masselink, conductor) – 8 June 2019 (Golden Gate Park, San Francisco)
Banda Sinfônica do Estado de Goiás (Brazil) (Everton Luiz, conductor) – 15 September 2016

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

William Tell Overture (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1829/2009)
William Tell Overture (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Thorp) (1829/2005)

All Wind Works

Barber of Seville (arr. Meyrelles) (1816/1899)
The Barber of Seville (arr. Williams) (1816/2005)
Barber of Seville Overture (arr. Lake) (1816/1927)
The Barber of Seville Overture (arr. Duthoit) (1816/1940)
The Barber of Seville Overture (arr. Singleton) (1816/2002)
Figaro in Stereo (adapt. Yoder) (1970)
Il Barbiere di Siviglia (arr. Cesarini) (1816/2011)
Inflammatis from "Stabat Mater" (arr. Laurendeau and Meyrelles) (1842/1911)
Introduction, Theme and Variations (arr. Tamanini) (1819/2017)
Italian en Argel
Italian in Algiers (arr. Cailliet) (1952)
La Boutique Fantasque (arr. Respighi; tr. Mahaffey) (2009)
La Boutique Fantasque (adapt. Respighi; arr. Godfrey) (1922)
La Cenerentola (arr. Daehn) (1817/2007)
La Danza (arr. Erickson) (1835/1967)
La Gazza Ladra (tr. Cailliet) (1817/1954)
La Gazza Ladra (arr. Molenaar) (1817/2000)
L'italiana in Algeri (tr. Sedlak; ed. Lonoce) (1813/1992)
L'italiana in Algeri (tr. Van der Beek) (1813/2008)
March for the Sultan Abdul Medjid (arr. Townsend) (1851/1967)
Overture from the Opera "La Gazza Ladra" (arr. Oliver) (1817)
Overture to "The Barber of Seville" (arr. Boll) (1816/2013)
Overture to "The Barber of Seville" (arr. Sedlak) (1816/1983)
Overture to "The Italian Girl in Algiers" (arr. Cailliet) (1813/1952)
Overture to "The Italian Girl in Algiers" (tr. Mose-Tobani; arr. Laurendeau) (1813/1898/1947)
Passo a sei (tr. Dunnigan)
Scherzo for Band (scored by Schaefer) (1864/1977)
Semiramide (arr. Safranek; ed. Robertson) (1823/1939)
Soirées musicales (arr. Britten and Brown) (1830-1835/1946)
String Quartet No. 1
Tancredi Overture (tr. Falcone) (1813/1975)
Three Marches for the Marriage of the Duke of Orléans (ed. Townsend) (1827/1972)
Una Voce Poco Fa from "Barber of Seville" (arr. Barrow) (1816/1973)
William Tell Overture (arr. anon) (1829)
William Tell Overture (arr. Elkus) (1829/1988)
William Tell Overture (arr. Griffin) (1829/)
William Tell Overture (arr. Leidzen; ed. Fry) (1829/1938/2007)
William Tell Overture (tr. Sousa and Schissel) (1829/2014)
William Tell Overture (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1829/2009)
William Tell Overture (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Thorp) (1829/2005)

Resources

The Barber of Seville, Wikipedia Accessed 16 February 2018
Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Giacchino Rossini." Accessed 28 June 2015
Rossini, G.; Meyrelles, C. (1899). Barber of Seville [score]. Carl Fischer: New York.