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Post by vidal28rdg on Nov 2, 2021 18:37:47 GMT -6
I've been collecting classical music works for almost 30 years, and I have more pieces than I could list for this thread. Here's a few highlights I'd love to see a great band tackle on the field: - Yasushi Akutagawa: Ellora Symphony (think a Japanese/Indian "Rite of Spring")
Yasushi Akutagawa was heavily influenced by Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and Prokofiev. In 1954, when Japan did not have any official diplomatic relations with the country, Akutagawa snuck into the Soviet Union illegally to meet Dmitri Shostakovich, Aram Khachaturian, and Dmitri Kabalevsky. As a result of these fortuitous meetings, Akutagawa became the only Japanese composer to have works officially published in the USSR in the 1950s. After a visit to the famous Ellora Caves of Aurangabad, India, Akutagawa composed his Ellora Symphony in 1958. Very unlike a traditional symphony, the primitivistic Ellora Symphony consists of fifteen short movements that are allowed to be performed in any order! There are eight "feminine" movements all labeled Andante or Adagio, and seven "masculine" movements all labeled Allegro. Most performances bunch the feminine movements together at the beginning and the masculine movements together at the end, to give a sort of "introduction and allegro" feel, although I believe Akutagawa's compositional arrangement had them alternate throughout. Several of the masculine movements grouped together at the end of most performances combine to form a sort of "Primal Bacchanale in 9/8" (with a 2+2+2+3 pulse). It is this section (starting at 20:25 in the video) that I believe would be incredibly effective on the field. It’s interesting how those intense political pressures create stories such as those especially since that history isn’t the most well known with Japan and the USSR having such strained relations at that point in time, and the lengths Akutagawa had to through to interact with those Soviet Dynamos of their craft. Very interesting!
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Post by MadScientist on Nov 3, 2021 10:25:55 GMT -6
What IS that fantastical apparatus that person is tapping?? It's like some kind of magical computer keyboard, but...but there's no monitor!
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Post by FaultLineBlues on Nov 3, 2021 23:36:36 GMT -6
I have an 18 hour long spotify playlist that answers this question! Would you mind providing the link? Haha I should clarify there's a lot of super common/overused marching show music in this playlist, as it's mostly music that I've listened to and imagined in a show I've made up in my head. But here's the link! (please no judgement of my choices lmao)
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Post by ilikeguard on Nov 4, 2021 11:15:01 GMT -6
Veggietales?? That’s not something I ever expected to see on a marching band forum…
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Post by FaultLineBlues on Nov 4, 2021 11:37:44 GMT -6
Veggietales?? That’s not something I ever expected to see on a marching band forum… Listen, I didn't even grow up watching it, but that LarryBoy sax solo is undeniable!
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Post by ilikeguard on Nov 4, 2021 11:53:42 GMT -6
Veggietales?? That’s not something I ever expected to see on a marching band forum… Listen, I didn't even grow up watching it, but that LarryBoy sax solo is undeniable! Whoever wrote the music for that show was honestly a bit of an under-appreciated genius. Hey, if the Blue Devils can use a piece from a Turkish (?) children’s show, I think anyone can use anything so long as it’s playable
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Post by suburbanbandfan on Nov 6, 2021 22:12:02 GMT -6
This might just be the Gen X in me but... if any marching band did Olivia Rodrigo's Drivers License I wouldn't be upset.
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Post by godb on Nov 7, 2021 1:18:08 GMT -6
Wow the reply’s here are amazing. I was thinking of a show that features the music of opening themes of the Star Trek shows. The Picard theme is especially good match that to a Star Trek guard show it would kill
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charredbrown
Senior Member
Morton Alum, currently teaching band at Lutheran North High School in MI
Posts: 87
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Post by charredbrown on Nov 8, 2021 10:50:52 GMT -6
Musically, my favorite part of marching band has always been the juxtaposition of different genres/styles of music in the same show. Seeing a band perform Wagner and Alanis Morissette in the same show is just electric in so many ways! I'd like to see more bands incorporate vastly differing pieces to create their soundscapes. I'd also like to hear some more bands play music from the Classical era (Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, etc.). I feel like we've been on a Baroque/Modern kick as of late... thanks Avon.
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Post by nomorehoney on Nov 8, 2021 17:52:16 GMT -6
Symphonic Overture by James Barnes would be a fun one
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Post by banddad85 on Nov 8, 2021 18:51:54 GMT -6
• A Child's Garden of Dreams - David Maslanka • Hypnotize by The Notorious B.I.G.
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Post by ilikeguard on Nov 11, 2021 12:39:41 GMT -6
This came up on my Spotify radio recently. Wow! Talk about a piece that would be perfect for a creepy, jazzy show!
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Post by trombonium on Nov 12, 2021 14:24:16 GMT -6
Someone's probably tried it before but the climax of Fountains of Rome by Ottorino Respighi would be cool. Definitely a difficult piece for a marching band, but I could picture a band like Broken Arrow or Vandegrift nailing it if their arranger can pull it off.
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Post by nomorehoney on Nov 12, 2021 18:04:33 GMT -6
Here's two geeky ones that could fit within the same show:
The scores of all the dragon quest games are amazing. Don't know how well it would translate to a marching show, but with a proper arrangement and theme I'm sure it could work.
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Post by vidal28rdg on Nov 12, 2021 20:02:08 GMT -6
Would you mind providing the link? Haha I should clarify there's a lot of super common/overused marching show music in this playlist, as it's mostly music that I've listened to and imagined in a show I've made up in my head. But here's the link! (please no judgement of my choices lmao) All of that 2014-2018 bloo repertoire jumps out at you👀
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Post by eddiejopp1974 on Nov 14, 2021 1:15:51 GMT -6
The Earle of Oxfords March from the William Byrd Suite and Shepherd’s Hey by Percy Grainger. Eddie Jopp
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Post by dbalash on Nov 14, 2021 2:27:13 GMT -6
Someone's probably tried it before but the climax of Fountains of Rome by Ottorino Respighi would be cool. Definitely a difficult piece for a marching band, but I could picture a band like Broken Arrow or Vandegrift nailing it if their arranger can pull it off. Marian Catholic....1995, I think.
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Post by ilikeguard on Nov 16, 2021 16:40:38 GMT -6
Okay…I’m going to show my geeky side, so just hear me out. Pretty much anything from the soundtrack to Yuri On Ice, composed by Taku Matsushiba and Taro Umebayashi. There are some absolutely gorgeous pieces in there that I find myself listening to on repeat that I would love to see on the field or in a winter guard show. A couple of the pieces have been used in actual competitive ice skating. I can really see it making the transition over to the marching arts eventually. Additionally, there are so many fantastic pieces by the incredibly talented composer and video game developer Toby Fox, best known for his original games Undertale and Deltarune and for being a primary composer on the more-infamous-than-famous cult hit multimedia project Homestuck. You can walk into any high school band room and ask a kid to play Megalovania and the majority of them know it by heart. I’m not really sure how easy it would be to transpose for a band given it’s almost entirely done in 8-bit style, but there was a 5th anniversary orchestral concert last year that makes me believe it can be done. I would be over the moon to hear one of his pieces on the field. Here’s that concert: Coming back to this because Carl Huang just posted a video on Instagram of a band playing actually Megalovania on the field and I’m geeking out!! More Toby Fox in marching band please!!
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Post by hostrauser on Nov 17, 2021 15:43:15 GMT -6
Concerto for Orchestra, Turkish Instruments, and Voices (Kamran Ince)
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Post by banddad85 on Nov 17, 2021 16:01:30 GMT -6
Someone's probably tried it before but the climax of Fountains of Rome by Ottorino Respighi would be cool. Definitely a difficult piece for a marching band, but I could picture a band like Broken Arrow or Vandegrift nailing it if their arranger can pull it off. Marian Catholic....1995, I think. I haven't heard Fountains of Rome on the field. Fountains of Wayne though.... I was in the stands in 1995 for the mega 14 band finals (instructing for American Fork, UT) and Marian Catholic did not play Respighi that year. My favorite composer is Ravel. They played The Firebird by Stravinsky, Daphnes Et Chloé by Ravel & something else. I think you are referring to their 1998 program, where they featured The Pines of Rome. That one is memorable as it goes down as one of the Top 5 music performances (IMO) in BOA History, holding up to this very day. If people care about records, which require maturity to even remotely try to compare, they did achieve the highest music score that held up for several years I believe that year. I don't know if it has been broken. I know that it was tied.
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Post by cp823 on Nov 17, 2021 16:17:45 GMT -6
Marian Catholic’s 19.55 in music performance at grand nationals stood alone until 2009 when it was tied by Marcus. The following year, Avon set the new and current record of 19.80. It’ll be a loooong time before that one falls I’d wager.
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Post by Shroom on Nov 18, 2021 14:27:47 GMT -6
As much as I think that Mackey is overused in BOA, I would love to see 'Frozen Cathedral' as a ballad sometime soon. Typically when bands play Mackey they oversimplify it and take away what makes Mackey good, but this piece is simple enough for the field to still be affective imo.
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Post by N.E. Brigand on Nov 23, 2021 19:35:00 GMT -6
The Earle of Oxfords March from the William Byrd Suite and Shepherd’s Hey by Percy Grainger. Eddie Jopp I remember playing the Gordon Jacob suite of Byrd's works in high school band more than 30 years ago, and I have a recording of a recording of some unidentified early music revival ensemble from the 1970s playing the "Earle of Oxfords March," but I only just now heard original setting for harpsichord (as preserved in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book), which starts at 1:34:19 in this video:
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Post by N.E. Brigand on Nov 23, 2021 19:36:25 GMT -6
How about this? "Only in Sleep" by Ēriks Ešenvalds:
(A tip of the hat to classical music critic David Bratman for linking to that video on his blog, without which I'd never have heard of it.)
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Post by Shroom on Nov 26, 2021 22:24:21 GMT -6
I've always felt like Khan by Julie Giroux would make an amazing piece for a Cavaliers 2008 type show
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Post by kvgdc on Nov 27, 2021 15:00:59 GMT -6
Jagged Line really sold me on TYS. I'd love to see a band perform something out of their repertoire. Have any bands attempted an arrangement of Psychopomp? Not that I've heard. The time signatures are really weird, and not many high school bands are willing to enter that realm. I have always wanted to see a group try though Heh. We marched Time for a Change in 9/4 then did First Circle my freshman year. We had a thing for doing weird time signatures in my day (mid 80s). It takes some work, but once you get it drilled in, it's not so hard.
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Post by cp823 on Nov 28, 2021 13:08:02 GMT -6
In a world where music rights didn’t exist, Genesis’ Firth of Fifth would make for an amazing show. The structure of the song would translate very well to DCI/marching band in my opinion. Imagine the group condensing into a company front right as the chorus comes in for the last time I think it would be awesome.
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Post by N.E. Brigand on Nov 30, 2021 20:27:12 GMT -6
Which Beatles song gets played by a band or corps next year as a result of the Peter Jackson documentary?
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Post by N.E. Brigand on Nov 30, 2021 20:28:54 GMT -6
In a world where music rights didn’t exist, Genesis’ Firth of Fifth would make for an amazing show. The structure of the song would translate very well to DCI/marching band in my opinion. Imagine the group condensing into a company front right as the chorus comes in for the last time I think it would be awesome. A friend of mine is at the Genesis concert (on their farewell tour) as I type this.
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Post by yayband914 on Dec 6, 2021 0:13:21 GMT -6
I'd love to see a marching band show with "Into the West" by Annie Lennox & Howard Shore and/or film score from Lord of the Rings by Howard Shore. If there is already a show with this I'd love to know. SAME.
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