It Came upon a Coventry Carol

This medley was created by Bill Calhoun. It was published this year, which might explain why there are no versions yet on YouTube. Here's a link to the publisher's audio file of the piece.

This piece combines two Christmas carols. It Came upon a Midnight Clear started out as a poem written in 1849 by Edmund Sears. The poem has been set to two different melodies. In North America, we are most familiar with the melody written by Richard Storrs Willis in 1850. This was a piece called Carol,and that is the melody used in this medley.

The second carol used in the medley is The Coventry Carol.  This carol is much older, originating in England in the 16th century. This haunting song is a mother's lament, as she fears for the life of her child, based on the biblical story of the Massacre of the Innocents.

Do you find it helpful when you're practising to know how the words fit the melodies? If so, here are a couple of videos that might help.

This is It Came upon a Midnight Clear by Kutless http://youtu.be/GaxB0xEbO0c.


And here's The Coventry Carol performed by Annie Lennox http://youtu.be/ltVWs4jDYsw


Now a question for you. What do you think of the combination of these two pieces in the medley we're playing. One is hopeful, the other is mournful. Do they work together?

New and Exciting Paperwork!

Can paperwork be exciting? Judge for yourself by downloading these pdf's for two upcoming events.

Trip to Chicago
The band goes on tour to the Windy City from April 24-27, 2013. Here is a pdf of the preliminary information. If you'd like to be part of this trip, please give Mr. McIlwain a deposit cheque for $200 by Nov. 15 (make your cheque out to ODSS Music Department).

Bandathon
Friday Nov. 30 is the day we play around the clock. Part fundraiser, part longest rehearsal ever. Lots of fun. A letter explaining the event, and the Consent Form can be downloaded here.

Timber Ridge Overture

Greetings, Radical Musicians!

This week, we feature another useful musical tool, gathered in a familiar formation.


The composer of the stirring Timber Ridge Overture is Gary Fagan. According to his bio, he was a music teacher and band instructor in middle and high schools for more than 35 years. He won several awards for his teaching. He is a percussionist, and composer with over 50 pieces published.

Here is a performance of Timber Ridge Overture by a high school band, with a full complement of percussionists.



Email readers, you can find the video here, or click through to the blog to see this post in its full glory.

Commemoration

Commemoration by Robert W. Smith was published in 1993.

Here's a link to the audio file, played by professional musicians:  http://listeninglab.stantons.com/title/commemoration/142729/?s=1

And here's a school band performing the piece.


 This is a link to the video for email readers: http://youtu.be/-3PMlIdr8Mw

The Incredibles

Is it just me, or is this piece hard to work on at home? It's like a paragraph that's all punctuation and no words.

Google to the rescue! There's not a lot out there, but we found a couple of examples.

Here's a link to the publisher's audio file, played by professional musicians.

Here's a high school band performing The Incredibles.


This is a link to the video, if you're reading this in your email.

Phew, now it makes more sense!

Celebration and Song

If you were trying to explain the meaning of Commencement to an alien from another planet, you could do a pretty good job of it just by showing him or her the titles of the pieces we're working on this month. From Pomp and Circumstance, Tribute and Triumph, Commemoration, Celebration and Song, and The Incredibles, we get the impression of a formal ritual to honour effort and accomplishment. (Of course, you'd want to explain to the alien that along with celebratory music, the best formal rituals always involve delicious food.)

Over the next few posts, we'll look at some of these rousing pieces we're working on for Commencement. Many thanks to Heather in the flute section for scouting out some videos!

Celebration and Song was composed by Robert Sheldon. A former public school music teacher and university music instructor, he is Concert Band Editor for Alfred Music Publishing. Celebration and Song was commissioned for the Hillsdale High School Wind Ensemble in Ohio.

Here's a high school band performing the piece.



Here's the link to the video, for email readers.

After hearing the version of Celebration and Song in this next video, I did some research on the group of performers. They have a webpage, which is written in Slovenian. Google Translate seemed to tell me that they are a long-standing community band, made up of young people and older people. I think they're pretty impressive (if you like this one, check out their version of Pirates of the Caribbean). What do you think?

Words to the Wise

Hello out there!
Here are your notes from last week's practice:

1. Remember to bring a pencil to rehearsals. Keeping one in your instrument case is a sure fire way to success. An eraser is also handy.
2. Journalling students keep journalling.
3. Practice next week is Thursday October 11 at usual time (staff meeting on Tuesday due to holiday Monday).
4. Commencement is in one month so get your chops ready for the processional. Remember last year we had to play a long time while the graduates filed in.
5. Stay tuned for Band-a-thon details. 

To think that so much success could come from such a small tool!