Download set (Score & Parts)
Bb Soprano Saxophone
Eb Alto Saxophone
Bb Tenor Saxophone
Eb Baritone Saxophone
This saxophone arrangement of the "Lion King" was commissioned by the saxophone quartet of The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Central Band and premiered at Chicago's Midwest Clinic in December, 2013. Famous melodies of"Circle of Life", "Hakuna Matata", "To Die For", and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" are included in the lineup. I purposely changed the order of "To Die For" and "Hakuna Matata" as the commission requested for the song to be a good concert finale. It ended up being a grand long piece of 14 minutes with advanced difficulty.Please refer to the moods of the movie scenes and listen to the lyrics for all these songs except for "To Die For." The ending of "Circle of Life" calls for a foot stomp at measure 85 after the drum effect in the original. It is most effectively done on a hard wooden floor (and meaningless on a soft floor) so please make adjustments according to performance environment. "Hakuna Matata" is originally light-hearted. There is no definitive melody because of the lyrics, so I wrote more about its feel. Don't be too distracted by the notes and enjoy performing it as you hear the original. "Chi chi chi" in measure 162 is the image of shaker. Say "chi, chi, chee". You will be able to project the sound better by literally saying it as you play. The memorable melody between measures 118-136 is more fun if you add gestures and humorous effects to the performance. Measure 302 calls for "freely", create your own rubato for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" to measure 310. In the finale starting at 355, pay special attention to the accents for solo and countermelody. Other parts might tend to rush, but keep the same tempo. While the duration is long, pace yourselves and make a big splashy finale.A best-selling video and CD sound track that has attracted more than 80,000,000 people to theaters around the world and given more than 9000 live shows in Japan, Lion King has one of the most popular and well-known scores.It's definitely an audience pleaser. Please have good time performing the piece."
