"Sabre Dance" is a segment from the 1985 feature film Pee-wee's Big Adventure. While not shown on the soundtrack to the film, the segment can be heard playing during the film.
Summary[]
It is notable for its employment of percussion instruments, especially the xylophone (or tubaphone).Daniel Chetel wrote that it features "very active percussion" with the lead of the xylophone and "dramatic glissandi for the trumpet and trombone."
Development[]
The orchestra version is written in G major. It starts out with a recognizable motif ostinato with the timpani andstrings that can be heard throughout much of the piece. The upper woodwinds and keyboard percussion take anexciting dance melody, later accompanied by the low brass. Then the strings come in with a folk song melody. The first melody is then briefly recapitulated. Descending chromatic eighth notes bring the piece down to straighteighth notes on the note G in the low strings. The piece ends on ascending quarter notes.[1]
Videos[]
