Edition: Studio Orchestra Arrangement

Description: Medium

Publisher: Jazz Lines Publications

There are very few compositions that are instantly recognizable and immediately place you in a specific era of time: Percy Faith's arrangement of Theme from 'A Summer Place' is one such composition.

Quite possibly one of the most famous recordings of the 20th Century, this arrangement helped usher in the burgeoning lounge scene in the United States. It was released in September 1959 as a Columbia Records single before the November 1959 release of the film A Summer Place. In February 1960 it became a number one hit and went on to set a record of nine consecutive weeks at number one (a record later broken in 1977). Theme from 'A Summer Place is still the longest-running number one instrumental in the history of the Billboard Hot 100. In 1961 Faith won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year for his recording. In the year 2000 the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2008 the recording was ranked at number 18 on Billboard's top 100 songs during the first 50 years of the Hot 100 chart and called "the most successful instrumental single of the rock era."

The original arrangement called for 2 flutes, 3 clarinets, 3 horns in F, 2 violin parts, viola, cello, guitar, piano, acoustic bass, and drum set. Later Percy added additional parts consisting of 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, and percussion (vibraphone, timpani, bells). These parts are included but are optional. Also, the original recording featured a board fade ending; Percy added an ending for the 1960 television performance seen below. Both endings are included in this publication.

This publication was prepared using the original set of parts from Percy Faith's library - this is not a transcription.

 

Full Score
2 Flutes
3 Clarinets
3 Trumpets (Optional)
3 Horns in F
3 Trombones (Optional)
2 Violins
Viola
Cello
Guitar
Piano
Acoustic Bass
Percussion: Vibraphone, Timpani, Bells
Drum Set