Author: ken
Date: 2006-03-11 21:51
In 24 years of doing Air Force and combined service parades, ceremonies, retreats, funerals, retirements, and social functions I've likely played Invercargill (either sections or entirety) more than Stars and Bars -- in the maniacal range of The Pina Colada Song and God Bless the USA. Forced reminiscing, Invercargill was religiously used as cadence-inspection music for the "Officer Center" drill sequence in military parades. For the interminable civilian, Officer Center is a marching maneuver of flag-bearing officers from each represented squadron. On command, the officers snap to attention in unison, take two steps forward and make respective left/right faces. Next, they march in-line toward one another and just before colliding like bowling pins quick-pivot left/right into a block formation. They march 64 steps to the center of the field, halt and salute the reviewing stand/officer. After this is an another about face followed by marching back, spliting up as before and returning to their original positions.
As an enlisted man, I never could understand why we used Invercargill March (such a stately and discriminating piece) when we should've been playing, "Send in the Clowns!"
Nonetheless, I loved noodling the 2nd clarinet part to Invercargill as the voicing in the Coda has these snappy little moving "here I am" tight harmony lines --- simile counter melody. Myself, I was always partial to Fred Jewell's', "The Screamer." v/r Ken
Post Edited (2006-03-12 02:43)
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The Clarinet BBoard
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