We Three Kings for Brass Quintet

This arrangement of We Three Kings evokes the epic journey the wise men must have taken on their way to visit the infant Jesus.

For that reason, I chose to call the band version of this arrangement, Journey of the Three Kings. In fact, that version came first, and was the result of my early efforts at writing for young band. Up until that point, almost everything I'd written was hard. So I found it quite a challenge—but a worthwhile one—in keeping my ideas simple and focused.

My previous go at arranging "We Three Kings" resulted in Three Kings Fantasy, a rhapsodic set of wildly different variations on the melody. (It needs an entire brass band or orchestra to perform it.)

This time, I wanted to borrow some ideas from that piece, but make it something much more approachable for young musicians. I felt the final product was interesting enough to create this version for brass quintet, and it works very nicely for brass.

Although this is a reduction of a Grade 1.5 band piece, this arrangement is probably a Grade 3 or so, due to a faster tempo, and the fact the brass is covering all the parts. It is an easy, enjoyable arrangement.