The story of the Heinzellmännchen (Gnomes) is connected to the German city of Cologne. The gnomes were small creatures living underground but appeared during the night, when the people were asleep, doing all the work that had to be done in the city, so that the citizens of Cologne could be lazy, relaxing the whole day. At last, there was a tailor´s wife getting so curious about the gnomes that she scattered dried peas onto the floor so that the gnomes slipped and fell, making a lot of noise. The gnomes got infuriated and disappeared forever and the citizens of Cologne must thereafter do all the work themselves.

Kurt Noack (1893-1945) was a German composer, arranger and orchestra leader, working mainly with light music and marches. The characteristic piece «Heinzellmännchens Wachtparade»
(Gnome's parade) from 1912 is his most famous composition, originally written for piano.

This arrangement is made a little parodic, filled with joyful effects, trying to give these little gnomes a bit of character, with pictures from Disney´s «Santa´s workshop» in mind.