Petula Clark

Downtown

This famous pop song from 1964, written by Tony Hatch and sung by Petula Clark, stormed the charts and became a real world hit. In 1965, 'Downtown' was awarded the Grammy for 'Best Rock and Roll Song'. Many famous artists have covered the catchy song with the earworm guarantee since then, including Frank Sinatra and Marianne Faithfull.

Stefan Schwalgin deliberately chose the original version of Petula Clark as the starting point for his arrangement. On the one hand, he thus pays tribute to the original and also best-known version of the song. On the other hand, he appreciates the quasi-orchestral arrangement of the original, which is carefully arranged with a lot of variation and can be excellently transferred to a wind orchestra. The melodic quality of a rock or pop song plays a crucial role in its transfer to an instrumental version. The melody of 'Downtown' meets all requirements here and offers a high recognition value even in an instrumental transposition.