Variations on "If I Only Had a Brain"
Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg (arr. Roy Phillippe)
General Info
Year: 1938 / 2007
Duration: c. 4:20
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra and voice
Publisher: Alfred Music Publishing
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $65.00; (digital) - $65.00 | Score Only (print) - $9.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:
- Bass Drum
- Bells
- Crash Cymbals
- Hi-Hat
- Ride Cymbal
- Snare Drum
- Tom-Toms (small)
- Triangle
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Add some lighthearted fun on your next concert with this good-natured tune set to some very entertaining variations. After being stated by the trombones, the song is set in swing, samba and habanera styles for a completely enjoyable experience.
- Program Note from publisher
If I Only Had a Brain (also If I Only Had a Heart and If I Only Had the Nerve) is a song by Harold Arlen (music) and Yip Harburg (lyrics). The song is sung in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz by the character Scarecrow, played by Ray Bolger, when he meets Dorothy, played by Judy Garland. The characters pine about what each wants from the Wizard. It was also sung in Jeremy Sams and Andrew Lloyd Webber's 2011 musical adaptation with an additional reprise called If We Only Had a Plan when the characters discuss on how to rescue Dorothy in Act II.
Originally written by Arlen and Harburg as I'm Hanging on to You for the 1937 Broadway musical Hooray for What!, the song was ultimately dropped from that show, and when the pair was later hired to do the songs for Oz, Harburg simply wrote new lyrics to his catchy melody, a syncopated schottische in the style of tunes used for vaudeville soft shoe and sand dancing.
- Program Note from Wikipedia
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Oakland (Calif.) Municipal Band (Troy Davis, conductor) - 24 July 2022
- Midland (Tx.) Community Band (Mark McDonald, conductor) – 2 November 2017
Works for Winds by this Composer
- Blues in the Night
- Highlights from "The Wizard of Oz" (arr. Story)
- I Love a Parade
- It's Only a Paper Moon
- Let's Fall in Love
- Over the Rainbow (arr. Barker) (1938/1967)
- Over the Rainbow (arr. Farr) (1938/)
- Over the Rainbow (arr. Yoder) (1938/)
- Stormy Weather (arr. Bennett) (1933/1940)
- Stormy Weather (arr. Cacavas) (1933/)
- That Old Black Magic (1942)
- Tribute to Harold Arlen (arr. Kessler) (2006)
- Variations on "If I Only Had a Brain" (arr. Phillippe) (1938/2007)
- Variations on Over the Rainbow (arr. Phillippe) (1939/2008)
- Wizard of Oz, The (arr. Barnes)
- Wizard of Oz Fantasy, The (arr. Yoder) (1939/1952)
Resources
- If I Only Had a Brain. Wikipedia. Accessed 31 July 2022
- Perusal score