I'm reading the comments and all I'm seeing is freshmen playing this. And I'm a senior blown out of my mind knowing kids in their freshman year are playing this. Bravo!! #SeniorRespect
This piece is made up of three entities: 1) Proper dynamics 2) The Clavi performer 3) The ability of the low end to keep it light and moving..... If any of those becomes off, this piece falls apart into chaos! I remember performing this at the University of South Carolina Band Clinic and Conductor's Symposium in 1998. Man I love the low brass part. Best I have ever performed....PERIOD!!!
I love the flute solo in the beginning. It's one of my favorite parts of this piece. When my band teacher passed this out I nearly fell out of my chair.
Thank you John Barnes Chance for this masterful composition! Thank you Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra for the remarkable performance of this composition! Thank you Pablo Leal for sharing this wonderful composition!
This song and I have an interesting past. My Freshman year of Band I was in the concert band, I played trombone. We were heading to The Spirit of ATL competition and they needed a fill in percussionist, three actually I was one of the ones chosen. I played the Tambourine in this. It was so fun, and one of my fondest band memories! Every now and then I listen to this song, and I love it every time!
Devin Hence The director always was like that. If I remember correctly, out of the four years that I was in that high school band, the only piece that he gave up on was called Il Guarany Overture, and he noted that the piece's key signatures (mainly concert G-flat major) were a little too much even for our group (the elite of the two bands at the HS).
Hands down, I don't think it gets any better than John Barnes Chance. Elegy, Blue Lake, Variations on a Korean Folk Song, Introduction and Cappriccio...just a phenomenal composer for symphonic band. Sadly, the Arts in schools aren't what they used to be and fewer and fewer high school kids get to experience this extraordinary composer!
Actually, our program isn't half bad, and I can name over ten amazing band programs in the Atlanta area alone. Last year, our second band played Variations on a Korean Folk Song, and if my mother gets her way, our band will be playing Incantation and Dance within the next two years.
I’ll be I rising HS senior this year. We played Variations on a Korean Folk Song 2 years ago; and I must say, I loved it then and the ending still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it
Played this in HS in 1976. I played the cymbals and claves as they don't overlap. Our whip was a couple of 1x4s about eight feet long joined with a hinge with handles on them all from the hardware store. our girl had to stand on a chair to use them. good times!
That ain't big enough dawg, band I was in had two 2x4s that were like 10 feet long and it took two people to play the non-solo part. The solo part was moved to a normal whip because out guy was LOUD with it
Ah the memories of this song. Sightreading this as a bass clarinet player was hell but me and the other bass clarinet got this part down in the end and one of the most memorable pieces we played in wind ensemble.
Oh my goodness, I can relate! Me and my bass clarinet section partner were scared out of our wits as soon as things started getting overly sixteenth-note-ish... Gotta love those little solo and soli bits though! The crazy syncopation is absolutely lovely!
Oh I am playing it right and I practice about 1-2 hours each day. I guess it's because the other pieces we are playing are so much more fun for bass trombone
As a bass clarinetist I completely agree. My band director gave me the the solo parts out of the three in my ensemble and I've never loved her more than when we performed this at UIL and our concert lol
Sam Mattoso you mean sounds ;) Personally, I am saddened you can barely hear the bassoons and the timpani (I played timpani when my high school band played this)
Played this my junior year of high school. The band director was a percussionist and he worked our percussionists hard on this one (but I was playing euphonium), and it sounded great in concert. I'd love to do this again.
I heard this for the first time last night, played by the Roanoke Valley (VA) Community Band. It was so exciting and I loved the rhythms. It seemed that all sections of the band got a chance to shine. So many surprises! The RVCB is fabulous. Ages from 16 to 92!
Recently played this for a competition against a lot of other prestigious bands and won first place! The Tuba part in this piece is amazing! So lucky to play such an amazing part!
I got to rehearse this piece as a freshman, I was on the bass trombone part in regional band. Our conductor handed this piece and Melody Shop to the 9-10 top band, and got frustrated when rehearsing them was rough... lol he switched us to Satiric Dances instead. I love this piece though and hope I get to actually play it some day. The bass trombone and tuba parts are so awesome.
I’m literally crying 😭 this piece is such a work of art. It feels like exaltation, arms in the air, dancing!, fear, surprise, praise, joy, elation. I just became so overwhelmed. ♥️ 🎵 how can you not want to dance to this. Ya’ll idk why I’m crying but I fucking love incantation and dance
Oh my Goodness that bassoon part was soo challenging to get right when I first played it at wind band 6 counties wales last year!!! The bass clarinetist didn't turn up till the performance day so my fellow bassoonist and I had to do all his cues!! That tune haunts my dreams till this day I'm just fortunate that its an epic piece of music :)
Sight read it with our high school orchestra today... Didn't think it was legal to have so many accidentals in a bassoon part. And especially when bassoon parts now generally reflect the bass line, this piece was very interesting!
We hated this song at first. But playing it over and over and over again starting to come together and then we realize how cool it is..especially when we got to the end.
Playing the bassoon part my senior year was the best time of my life. The raw power of the low winds gave me chills with so much excitement that backed it. SO GOOD.
Played this my sophomore year in high school. Ooh, the memories of playing this on the flute. Almost lost my lunch first playing this, but came to learn breathing techniques.
Played this a few years ago in high school and this is still one of my favorite pieces of music in existence. The percussion parts were awesome to play, but what really stood out to me was the horn part and the incredible runs with the higher instruments towards the end. So many good layers and mini movements within the song!
This piece is so iconic! I played 2nd clari on this my freshman year of hs and I remember our director telling us not to look for scales in the runs bc they followed no scale known to man. This is what made me a strong clarinetist!!!
I played this with the Boulder (Colorado) Concert Band in the 1980s. Very fun. At the concert we almost lost it, but our director just kept going, glaring a little, and we played "on the edge of our seats" and brought it off!
despite it being a bit repetitive, the french horn part is really good for this song. it's probably my favorite song ive had the chance to play, ever. so good.
I'm guessing it's more repetitive? It kinda sucks when that happens, but at least it's better than an entire song full of offbeats. The best parts are the triplet quarter notes towards the beginning and the end though, since my band director told us to belt them out as loud as we could. It was so much fun.
I play Bassoon and I'm a freshman. Those funs are pure evil, but the song is really fun. I've almost got the runs down, and it hasn't even been a week since I got the piece. It took several 1-3 hour practice sessions!Hi Ms. Scheierman
My high school band played this last year and then this year we are playing John Barnes Chance's Variations on a Korean Folk song. They are both so beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!
There were seven basses this past year in my band. Two of them were seniors and they left so now we only have five. There are two in top band, two in second band, one in third band and none in fourth. I'm one of the top band kids this year CX
I remember playing this in honor band was amazing and we all loved the rigor and rhythmic difficulty, but when my school's wind ensemble got the music, it was an utter disaster thanks to unprepared bass clarinets...
+Joseph your comment really made me laugh. So true. Why is it always the bass clarinet? Same thing happened with me in my old hs band all the time. With this song especially and Northwoods of Might and Meetle. Did yours squeak often? I had half the mind to get up and adjust their ligatures myself.
+Meyra Kurtar Unfortunately, too often the last chair clarinets get shoved down to bass, instead of people to actually want to be there. I've specialized on bass for many years now, and a certain amount of passion is required on this instrument. Just got this piece in community band tonight. Let's just say the band didn't have to wonder if there was a bass clarinet ;) I'll have to check out the other piece you mentioned.
+Lori Sutherland In all honesty, I completely understand what you mean. When I was a freshman in highschool I was a last chair clarinet and my conductor tried to have me switch to bass. I personally loved my instrument and told him that I wanted to stay where I was. However, out of curiosity I actually ended picking up bass clarinet anyway. I always did the pit orchestras every year and decided that I wanted to play both. It was when I did West Side Story that I fell in love with the bass. I was consumed by the roundness of the sound and complexity when played by someone who did it out of passion- just like you said. In my last 3 years when I was first chair I'd look back to see the depressed faces of the bass players. It always broke my heart. You happen to be the first individual I've spoken to that has the passion for bass and it's extremely refreshing. I just listened to some of your videos and thoroughly enjoyed them. And they joys of community band! I really hope you enjoy playing I&D. Maybe you could upload a vid of the performance =) Let me know how you like Northwoods! Also check out Bayou Breakdown if you'd like. The beginning has an amazing bass solo. Lastly, if you ever have the opportunity to be in a pit for West Side Story do it. To this day it has been one of my fondest memories as a woodwind musician. I know you'd appreciate the musicality immensely. xx
+Meyra Kurtar I think part of the problem is that middle and high school band music usually has us playing what are essentially tuba parts. It can be hard to get excited about that ;) But when we get good parts (like in I&D), we have to take advantage of them! I've had a chance to play Bayou Breakdown - fun part! Would love to play in a pit again, especially for a show as wonderful as WSS. Thanks for your kind words re: my videos! I'll at least have audio of I&D eventually (our concert isn't until early December). If you haven't checked out Michael Lowenstern's work (earspasm is the handle he uses), do it. He's an amazing bass clarinetist. I love his new album!
+Lori Sutherland I know what you mean about Tuba parts (played Tuba since 8th grade, by choice mind you). Far too often, it seems that orchestrators don't take advantage of, or appreciate, what the bass instruments can do for a piece. Also Tuba tends to have same phenomenon of players being moved there from other instruments who aren't as passionate about playing it. Hearing good Tubists play good Tuba parts is life changing. Lookup STS (Southeast Trombone Symposium) if you wanna hear some top notch low brass playing.
When John Barnes chance was asked to right a piece for concert band (this piece), he didn't at the time like right for band since he was into choral and orchestra, so he tried writing a piece so hard no one could play it
Alex Lay-Calvert this piece isn't that hard. There are tons of pieces harder than this. Not to mention that technical difficulty isn't the only thing that makes a piece hard. Musicality is one of the most important aspects of what makes a piece difficult and I believe that not enough people know that.
Man, this brings back memories. But listening to this again after several decades, I never realized that opening was an actual motif used later in the piece. I don't know why I didn't recognize that before.🤔 Amazing performance.
I played this in 7th grade on 1st trumpet part :D it was awesome! Our middle school band was perfect that year but it fell apart when I moved to 8th grade
Zachary Duroseau how many seconds and firsts? Ideally you should have 2 of each, with maybe 1 on first. We have 2 per part and sometimes we still don't have (hear) enough of the bass part.
2 years later, and i still remember the tears of sweat dripping down whilst holding the long notes.
i still have the music pieces :(
What did u play@@may6953
I'm reading the comments and all I'm seeing is freshmen playing this. And I'm a senior blown out of my mind knowing kids in their freshman year are playing this. Bravo!! #SeniorRespect
You are too kind!!
THANKS in act we just ad a concert with this in it and this piece was by far the best thing ive played on a trumpet
Playing on the 1st clarinet as a freshman here in the number one band in our state
I played it in my Wind Ensemble in middle school
We did this piece in middle school
boy oh boy do i love playing the same note for 20 measures
Colin Cantwell Ikr gotta love that tuba part
bass trombone for me 16 bars of the same note! +UltimaWeapon
Colin Cantwell same
Jonny Jewell
Have to use an oxygen tank
This piece is made up of three entities:
1) Proper dynamics
2) The Clavi performer
3) The ability of the low end to keep it light and moving.....
If any of those becomes off, this piece falls apart into chaos! I remember performing this at the University of South Carolina Band Clinic and Conductor's Symposium in 1998. Man I love the low brass part. Best I have ever performed....PERIOD!!!
And then comes the Fourth Horseman:
The god damn whip part.
May just be a matter of personal taste but this, to me, is by far the best available interpretation of the piece on TH-cam.
I have to argue that Keystone winds is up there too
As a tuba the 20 something measures of playing an A killed my lungs as the sole tubist
Guy Ramsey lol I'm going to play it for honor band. This is very odd timing very syncopated
Im playing this soon too Tuba squad
I love the flute solo in the beginning. It's one of my favorite parts of this piece. When my band teacher passed this out I nearly fell out of my chair.
Rose Bonnie DUDE SAME. I was so happy to play 20+ measures of the same note lol
Still have the tuba part and STILL enjoy playing along after 50 years of honking on that thing!
Thank you John Barnes Chance for this masterful composition! Thank you Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra for the remarkable performance of this composition! Thank you Pablo Leal for sharing this wonderful composition!
This song and I have an interesting past. My Freshman year of Band I was in the concert band, I played trombone. We were heading to The Spirit of ATL competition and they needed a fill in percussionist, three actually I was one of the ones chosen. I played the Tambourine in this. It was so fun, and one of my fondest band memories! Every now and then I listen to this song, and I love it every time!
Literally one of the best bass clarinet parts out there. I love playing it so much, I'm actually exposed!
Oh yeah! I love the bass clarinet/ contrabass clarinet part!
I played the bass clarinet part in the 70s. So much fun!
The only thing I loved about playing this song on flute AND piccolo is the low beginning on the flute part.
SOO MUCH FUN!!!
The rest was hell.
Omg yes! Someone understands 😂
+Craig Baker yep same here, our band couldn't even do it so our band director had to drop the piece.
Devin Hence Our director was close to dropping it, but he pushed through and we did it.
Nice commitment!
Devin Hence The director always was like that. If I remember correctly, out of the four years that I was in that high school band, the only piece that he gave up on was called Il Guarany Overture, and he noted that the piece's key signatures (mainly concert G-flat major) were a little too much even for our group (the elite of the two bands at the HS).
Hands down, I don't think it gets any better than John Barnes Chance. Elegy, Blue Lake, Variations on a Korean Folk Song, Introduction and Cappriccio...just a phenomenal composer for symphonic band. Sadly, the Arts in schools aren't what they used to be and fewer and fewer high school kids get to experience this extraordinary composer!
Actually, our program isn't half bad, and I can name over ten amazing band programs in the Atlanta area alone. Last year, our second band played Variations on a Korean Folk Song, and if my mother gets her way, our band will be playing Incantation and Dance within the next two years.
jmrussell76 We are playing this piece in my high school band..
I’ll be I rising HS senior this year. We played Variations on a Korean Folk Song 2 years ago; and I must say, I loved it then and the ending still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it
Love the trumpet parts. Band geek pride! :D
Played this in HS in 1976. I played the cymbals and claves as they don't overlap. Our whip was a couple of 1x4s about eight feet long joined with a hinge with handles on them all from the hardware store. our girl had to stand on a chair to use them. good times!
That ain't big enough dawg, band I was in had two 2x4s that were like 10 feet long and it took two people to play the non-solo part. The solo part was moved to a normal whip because out guy was LOUD with it
You know it's a good piece when you get goosebumps in the low brass features. Euphonium/Bass Trombone for the win!
*cough cough* And Tuba...
YES
Bass trombone!
AbyssOmega All the way.
Jackson Trust Euph rocks
Our band played this in high school back in the day and I played the timpani. Fellow percussionists, put yo hands up!!!
the whip solo yassss
That part is a freaking nightmare though xD
Lol
Ah the memories of this song. Sightreading this as a bass clarinet player was hell but me and the other bass clarinet got this part down in the end and one of the most memorable pieces we played in wind ensemble.
Oh my goodness, I can relate! Me and my bass clarinet section partner were scared out of our wits as soon as things started getting overly sixteenth-note-ish... Gotta love those little solo and soli bits though! The crazy syncopation is absolutely lovely!
+Ysannah A-L Try this piece. on a contrabass clarinet. I'm having the damn time of my life 😂
the low Eb to Ab runs on the bass clarinet part make me want to cry lmao but this is a fun ass piece to play none the less
Bass Trombone had so much love in this piece
ikr
I'm a trombone player :D
I've seen the bass trombone part (I sit next to our bass trombonist) and it looks so fuckin fun.
It is
I am playing bass trombone for my high school band and we are playing this piece for a festival in February. It is not fun!
That means youre not playing right, and that also means you dont practice enough.
Oh I am playing it right and I practice about 1-2 hours each day. I guess it's because the other pieces we are playing are so much more fun for bass trombone
The clarinet, bass clarinet, and trombone are my favorite parts ! I love playing this song and glad this is what got my band to Seuss Clinic.
When you are a percussionist during this song... #amazing
Shef they really are amazing! I’ve played this song on Bassoon and was always impressed with the percussionists
one of my favorite experiences from high school. Claves! Slapsticks! Chimes! o my!
My band just played this at our concert and it was SOOO powerful... We got a standing ovation! :D
lmao played clarinet for this my freshman year
those runs tho
+Rachel AquaFire same
+Rachel AquaFire ikr
same
Rachel AquaFire I played this during my eighth grade. it was quite daunting, especially since I had one week to get it all down, but it paid off.
Rachel AquaFire same my band focused on just this piece for about a month straight
I dont know why, but playing bass clarinet for this song was hella fun lmao. Mustve been all the counter melodies
As a bass clarinetist I completely agree. My band director gave me the the solo parts out of the three in my ensemble and I've never loved her more than when we performed this at UIL and our concert lol
I'm a Bari sax, I know how you feel
Ace Thomas I'm a bass in this song!
Kathryn Bingham bass clarinet?
playing it on contra is just as fun. PEDAL TONES
When your the Bass Clarinet player in this song... :D #awesome
Ikr
I know what you mean. It's actually harder than it looks.
Sam Mattoso you mean sounds ;) Personally, I am saddened you can barely hear the bassoons and the timpani (I played timpani when my high school band played this)
When you are the contra bass clarinet player in this song.
Charles Morrill Haha!! My band teacher actually wants me to play contra bass on this so I actually might be lol!!!
*small voice*
I played tambourine...
Good for you
Faith Maxwell wym you're the MVP 💖 love u
OMG same... Just got the pievevtoday and I love it.
Played this my junior year of high school. The band director was a percussionist and he worked our percussionists hard on this one (but I was playing euphonium), and it sounded great in concert. I'd love to do this again.
I heard this for the first time last night, played by the Roanoke Valley (VA) Community Band. It was so exciting and I loved the rhythms. It seemed that all sections of the band got a chance to shine. So many surprises! The RVCB is fabulous. Ages from 16 to 92!
The slapstick sounds like faceslapping like legit
i played the slapstick when my community band performed this. it's a really difficult piece to play because it's always off beat and feels wrong
Ahaha, played this with my Adv. Wind Ensemble on Bass Trombone, the off beats killed me!
Currently feeling your pain. its a fun song, but its reminded me of how bad I am reading rhythms.
+teckwizz123 Lol amen to that
Recently played this for a competition against a lot of other prestigious bands and won first place! The Tuba part in this piece is amazing! So lucky to play such an amazing part!
Honestly, this is now my favorite piece of all time. Such contrast and skill that this orchestra has, I can't even stop listening to this song.
i love all of the percussion parts...
I got to rehearse this piece as a freshman, I was on the bass trombone part in regional band. Our conductor handed this piece and Melody Shop to the 9-10 top band, and got frustrated when rehearsing them was rough... lol he switched us to Satiric Dances instead. I love this piece though and hope I get to actually play it some day. The bass trombone and tuba parts are so awesome.
playing this a an euphonium player right now. It's amazing
the syncopation was a bitch on the euphonium part
I’m literally crying 😭 this piece is such a work of art. It feels like exaltation, arms in the air, dancing!, fear, surprise, praise, joy, elation. I just became so overwhelmed. ♥️ 🎵 how can you not want to dance to this. Ya’ll idk why I’m crying but I fucking love incantation and dance
Dat bassoon and bass clarinet part though.
Oh my Goodness that bassoon part was soo challenging to get right when I first played it at wind band 6 counties wales last year!!! The bass clarinetist didn't turn up till the performance day so my fellow bassoonist and I had to do all his cues!! That tune haunts my dreams till this day I'm just fortunate that its an epic piece of music :)
Even better: Dat contrabass-clarinet part.... yeah love to Play that...
Sight read it with our high school orchestra today... Didn't think it was legal to have so many accidentals in a bassoon part. And especially when bassoon parts now generally reflect the bass line, this piece was very interesting!
Wesley LaFleur is there a contrabassoon part?
+Magnus Kongsmo Karlsen Sadly, no.
We hated this song at first. But playing it over and over and over again starting to come together and then we realize how cool it is..especially when we got to the end.
Playing the bassoon part my senior year was the best time of my life. The raw power of the low winds gave me chills with so much excitement that backed it. SO GOOD.
Ahh - memory lane! We played this in my high school band in '80 or '81; I on 1st chair flute. Love the rhythms.
You sound amazing. Can't wait to play this in Wind Emsemble, I'm a trombonist.
Bass Trombonist
AbyssOmega Noice. Have fun! Ever heard of a song called Mars, the Harbinger of War? Give that a play ;)
u wan the score? :o i playing this for my syf competition
Trombones are the besttttttt.
Kayla Weaver Don't give us too much credit! We are kinda dumb most of the time :P
Bass Trombone for this. I wish I still had it :/. Great piece of music
Barnes knew how to provide an experience of just what colors, temperatures and timbres the clarinet choir has.
played tympani on this..... GREATEST TIME OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!!
Larry Newby DUDE YEAH. I LOVED HEARING THE TIMPANI. I played bassoon c:
Bass trombone on this piece was SO GREAT
Played this my sophomore year in high school. Ooh, the memories of playing this on the flute. Almost lost my lunch first playing this, but came to learn breathing techniques.
I just accidentally began conducting along with the piece 😂
Much respect to anyone who played bass clarinet
The contra bass clarinet... Omg so good
60darklord yesss
Played this a few years ago in high school and this is still one of my favorite pieces of music in existence. The percussion parts were awesome to play, but what really stood out to me was the horn part and the incredible runs with the higher instruments towards the end. So many good layers and mini movements within the song!
best trombone soli.... ever... love this song... miss playing it in highschool. Dx
The bass clarinet part fun af
I will say, out of all recordings this is probably the cleanest
Slap stick for the win! :)
Alto saxophone for the win!
Playing this right now on tenor sax in band. Those runs are going to be the death of me.
I would find you here >.>
Angel Wallace I'm playing this with my honor band for uil(8th grader) and I don't know some notes
I'm a percussionist in wind ensemble... We got the parts yesterday (but not Assigned... Timpani seems fun) and It sounds cool
My high school wind ensemble played this last year for District/State Contest, and I was on bass trombone...BEST FRIGGIN PART EVER
Dat pedal A is pretty sweet huh?
Oh yesssssss
I played this piece last year for All County and it was so much fun for me to play 😍😍😍 I play euphonium 😆
I may be a bassoon player, but I need to play this wood slap part once in my life hahahaha
Literally the same thought I had while sight reading this with my high school today
I wish I could play this piece! My high school isn't good enough and the honors ensemble I'm in is an orchestra. So no wind lit. :0/
One year my bands wood slap broke when playing this piece during a concert :p
これ、今年のコンクールで吹きますー
loved this song :) i played this freshman year and still remember it. ahhhh the memories
This piece is so iconic! I played 2nd clari on this my freshman year of hs and I remember our director telling us not to look for scales in the runs bc they followed no scale known to man. This is what made me a strong clarinetist!!!
I played this in my 9th grade year. I love the extreme dynamic contrasts and dark colors along with the bright colors in sounds.
I love the Clarinet and trumpet parts in this song. Playing this on clarinet and it's easily one my favorite ever played
Played this in High School as a Junior. I was in the percussion section, my most favorite piece to play....1982
I played this in high school circa 1995 what a blast we had! We had a hell of a wind ensemble
I played this with the Boulder (Colorado) Concert Band in the 1980s. Very fun. At the concert we almost lost it, but our director just kept going, glaring a little, and we played "on the edge of our seats" and brought it off!
Trumpet part on this rocked:) love this song when I played it last year for contest!!
despite it being a bit repetitive, the french horn part is really good for this song. it's probably my favorite song ive had the chance to play, ever. so good.
Try euphonium (or baritone as it's insisted on being called).
I'm guessing it's more repetitive? It kinda sucks when that happens, but at least it's better than an entire song full of offbeats. The best parts are the triplet quarter notes towards the beginning and the end though, since my band director told us to belt them out as loud as we could. It was so much fun.
Grace Herring yeah i played the low horn part the repetition from F Eb is hell
I play Bassoon and I'm a freshman. Those funs are pure evil, but the song is really fun. I've almost got the runs down, and it hasn't even been a week since I got the piece. It took several 1-3 hour practice sessions!Hi Ms. Scheierman
My high school band played this last year and then this year we are playing John Barnes Chance's Variations on a Korean Folk song. They are both so beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!
I love seeing all these bass clarinet comments 😍I'm the only one in my band
Ikr the bass clarinet part is so distinct.
oml samee
There were seven basses this past year in my band. Two of them were seniors and they left so now we only have five. There are two in top band, two in second band, one in third band and none in fourth. I'm one of the top band kids this year CX
I remember playing this in honor band was amazing and we all loved the rigor and rhythmic difficulty, but when my school's wind ensemble got the music, it was an utter disaster thanks to unprepared bass clarinets...
+Joseph your comment really made me laugh. So true. Why is it always the bass clarinet? Same thing happened with me in my old hs band all the time. With this song especially and Northwoods of Might and Meetle. Did yours squeak often? I had half the mind to get up and adjust their ligatures myself.
+Meyra Kurtar Unfortunately, too often the last chair clarinets get shoved down to bass, instead of people to actually want to be there. I've specialized on bass for many years now, and a certain amount of passion is required on this instrument. Just got this piece in community band tonight. Let's just say the band didn't have to wonder if there was a bass clarinet ;)
I'll have to check out the other piece you mentioned.
+Lori Sutherland In all honesty, I completely understand what you mean. When I was a freshman in highschool I was a last chair clarinet and my conductor tried to have me switch to bass. I personally loved my instrument and told him that I wanted to stay where I was. However, out of curiosity I actually ended picking up bass clarinet anyway. I always did the pit orchestras every year and decided that I wanted to play both. It was when I did West Side Story that I fell in love with the bass. I was consumed by the roundness of the sound and complexity when played by someone who did it out of passion- just like you said. In my last 3 years when I was first chair I'd look back to see the depressed faces of the bass players. It always broke my heart. You happen to be the first individual I've spoken to that has the passion for bass and it's extremely refreshing. I just listened to some of your videos and thoroughly enjoyed them. And they joys of community band! I really hope you enjoy playing I&D. Maybe you could upload a vid of the performance =) Let me know how you like Northwoods! Also check out Bayou Breakdown if you'd like. The beginning has an amazing bass solo. Lastly, if you ever have the opportunity to be in a pit for West Side Story do it. To this day it has been one of my fondest memories as a woodwind musician. I know you'd appreciate the musicality immensely. xx
+Meyra Kurtar I think part of the problem is that middle and high school band music usually has us playing what are essentially tuba parts. It can be hard to get excited about that ;) But when we get good parts (like in I&D), we have to take advantage of them! I've had a chance to play Bayou Breakdown - fun part! Would love to play in a pit again, especially for a show as wonderful as WSS.
Thanks for your kind words re: my videos! I'll at least have audio of I&D eventually (our concert isn't until early December). If you haven't checked out Michael Lowenstern's work (earspasm is the handle he uses), do it. He's an amazing bass clarinetist. I love his new album!
+Lori Sutherland I know what you mean about Tuba parts (played Tuba since 8th grade, by choice mind you). Far too often, it seems that orchestrators don't take advantage of, or appreciate, what the bass instruments can do for a piece. Also Tuba tends to have same phenomenon of players being moved there from other instruments who aren't as passionate about playing it. Hearing good Tubists play good Tuba parts is life changing. Lookup STS (Southeast Trombone Symposium) if you wanna hear some top notch low brass playing.
Ummmm best performance I've heard PERIOD!!!
Keystone Wind Ensemble performance is just as good or better.
3:29 4 b4 92 trombone part (self note)
When John Barnes chance was asked to right a piece for concert band (this piece), he didn't at the time like right for band since he was into choral and orchestra, so he tried writing a piece so hard no one could play it
Alex Lay-Calvert this piece isn't that hard. There are tons of pieces harder than this.
Not to mention that technical difficulty isn't the only thing that makes a piece hard. Musicality is one of the most important aspects of what makes a piece difficult and I believe that not enough people know that.
It was considered close to unplayable when he wrote it.
We played this for band districts along with another song and got a super 1! Love this song, especially the bass clarinet part!!
Man, this brings back memories. But listening to this again after several decades, I never realized that opening was an actual motif used later in the piece. I don't know why I didn't recognize that before.🤔 Amazing performance.
Damn #TBT to the time I had the solo for clarinet. This was probably the most challenging piece in my highschool career.
Played this my junior year. So good
You can here parts of Variations on a Korean Folk Song, listen to the woodblock at the beginning. It uses the same five notes of Arirang.
I heard it too!
I played this in 7th grade on 1st trumpet part :D it was awesome! Our middle school band was perfect that year but it fell apart when I moved to 8th grade
Same.
u played this in 7th grade?????
Wow. This is still be played? That's great!
Being a bass clarinet is awesome.
Omg Thotsjwan I peeped your comment 👀😂 Big reds 🔥🔥🔥
You must be practicing ctfu.. i was ctfu
tiesjwan hughes band kids ftw
Listening to this while stoned was a bad idea.
I love this recording. So fortunate that I got to play first stand clarinet for my last concert of high school! :)
Love it!! This is the song I'm playing to audition for Concert band, and Symphonic band with! Thank you for uploading!! It's helping me practice:)
Great use of the BBb Contrabass for that extra dark color.
Finally!!!! A group who can play this piece at the correct tempo. Great job.
Played this in band, too. You're right. It is challenging.
I remember playing this in all-state band in the 70's & we just couldn't get it right man we were so dumb.
@VanessaViceVersa so underrated yet so awesome! always wanted to play contra, but we only had regular bass clarinets to rent at school.
I love them. They're my favorite part of the piece (clarinet).
my favorite piece ever. it's my precious baby. the greatest song we never played, and song no one remembers
Bass Clarinet for the win
playing this right now in band on trombone
1st part sadly. When we sight read I got to try out the bass part. Really wish I could play it
Matt Welch playing this on the bass is so much fun :P
Matt Welch I'm playing bass trombone part in 9th grade and I'm the only bass trombonist vs a bunch of 2nds and firsts
Zachary Duroseau how many seconds and firsts? Ideally you should have 2 of each, with maybe 1 on first. We have 2 per part and sometimes we still don't have (hear) enough of the bass part.
Matt Welch me to I got first its going okay I know I am like at 2018
Trombone! Playing this is my highschool! Amazing song so much fun to play!!
I just had my first reading of this piece about an hour ago, I'm still in shock because of those damn runs o: