The Ballet Music from Don Carlo was prepared in 2000 at the request of Captain Michael Colburn for a spring concert and was recorded that summer by the U.S. Marine Band under the direction of Col. Timothy Foley. It is a technical tour de force and requires some virtuosity from all sections, yet is extremely fun to play. Verdi's original key has been lowered one whole step, from G to F. (Yourclarinet section will appreciate this.) The violin obligato section presented special problems for the arranger, requiring the use of three different soloists to carry it off well. The scoring of the anthem sections is Verdi's original. No extraneous percussion parts were added for this arrangement.