 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: d dow
Date: 2002-10-14 02:32
Fellow BB members: its that time again, and we will soon be at the malls bumping into obnoxious eager Christmas shoppers...
anyways in our community band we are back to more awful Christmas music! Who out there feels the same way? Maybe i am Oscar the Grouch or even Scrooge? Yikes!
DD
Bah humbug!
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Author: David Pegel
Date: 2002-10-14 02:40
Some Christmas arrangements I find quite tasteful. Then there are others... I like orignals, however, or off-the-wall variations.
My one pet peeve, however, is arrangements of the "Ukranian Bell Carol" that don't have the two measure ending to them. It just sounds so incomplete!!
(shutting up now)
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Author: Kat
Date: 2002-10-14 02:43
HAH! I have been working in cd shops for nearly 10 years now...started in October of '93. I think I've heard more bad cd's of Christmas music than anyone else! LOL...
Actually one year some lady came in and wanted "that cd by that guy who plays the reallllly long instrument." I of course first thought of a Swiss Alphorn. Those are about the longest instruments I know...but she said it had a picture of the guy on the front. I just couldn't figure out what she meant, and then she came back and said she THOUGHT it was a clarinet. Well, the only clarinet Christmas album I knew at the time was the Stoltzman, and I told her that it didn't have a picture of him on the cover. So she wandered about the store, and finally came up with the right one on her own. It was Kenny G's first Chrismas album!!! I couldn't believe she thought a soprano sax was a really really LONG instrument!
At any rate, I, for one, am CERTAINLY not looking forward to hearing any more Christmas music this year...
Katrina
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-10-14 03:47
Hey - get over it - Christmas time is all about big corporations making buckets of money out of children "needing" the best toy or the newest "gadget". Therefore why shouldn't the music be anything but cheap and token - it's kind of suited to the cause, don't you think?
diz - the cynical athiest.
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Author: Jim E.
Date: 2002-10-14 03:56
Yeah... There are some awful arrangements out there, and if I never heard "Rocking around the Christmas Tree," "Jingle Bell Rock" or "Grandma Got Run Over" ever again, that would be just fine. I'm even tired of hearing Karen Carpenter sing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" nearly 20 years after she died, or Elvis croon "Blue Christmas."
But the real problem might be that there is only so much holiday music around, and it is done to death! Additionally, the fairly recent movement (at least here in the USA) to separate the religous holiday from the secular one has resulted in the non-religous music being performed even more often. And... (again, in my opinion) the religous Christmas music (in general) has more musical interest and emotion within it.
So, have a merry Christmas music rehearsal season!
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Author: Willie
Date: 2002-10-14 05:01
Yea, we just started going through a bunch of Christmas stuff in our Com. Band to check it out. We're trying out all new stuff that we've never played before to get a whole new program this year. I think the best Cristmas concert was about two years ago when we went International on the menu. Starting with Cest Noel from France, we had a tune from various countries and it really worked out great as most folks have never heard them before. For Brazil, we did Brazilian Sleigh Ride (snow in the Amazon?) by Percy Faith that got a huge ovation. Ask you director if they have access to the "odd ball" stuff.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2002-10-14 08:00
There is a great set of Christmas arrangements for woodwind quartet(flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon) published by Kendor if I recall correctly. The arranger was Conley, Conroy, or a similar name.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2002-10-14 15:06
Our Tulsa Comm. Band has put out this years "crop", one VG, 2-3 tolerable and one stinker! [has bits of the Messiah!]. Will post some names after the next reh! Don
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Author: William
Date: 2002-10-14 15:31
Actually, "cheap" (as oppossed to expensive) is my favorite "way to go."
But, to be on the topic, listen to Duke once more, "If it sounds good, it is good." Seasonal music may be "same old, same old" to many of us seasoned (out) musicians, but to many listeners, those sounds are wonderful, like new and, like Duke says, "Good." And remember, those appreciative ears who never tire of those "old" sounds keep many of us in business, year after year. We are entitled to our musical tastes, but we must be careful not to display those personal opinions during our performances--even after "too many times" of those roasting chestnuts. Happy Holidays--and Be Careful out there!!!!!!
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Author: Kat
Date: 2002-10-14 15:35
William,
You are, of course, right. I just can't help complaining!!! lol...
But I FORTUNATELY don't play in any groups which need to play Christmas music....I just have to listen to it 20+ hours at the cd shop starting the day after Thanksgiving...grrr...
Katrina
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-10-14 18:56
Way back when, I made a little extra money by standing next to a Salvation Army kettle with an alto sax and a hand bell, alternating every 15 minutes. Like to froze my feet off, but at least I could play sax wearing gloves.
I played a carol, then a Schubert song, a carol and an Irish schottische, a carol and There Was a Young Maid of Madras.
Some of the stuff was awful, but I'll never forget a 4-year-old kid who came out of the store with his mother. I caught his eye and started Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Both faces lit up, and they started singing and dancing. That made it all worth it.
Ken Shaw
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Author: andge
Date: 2002-10-15 15:18
I hate cheap Christmas band arangements.. they all sound the same and are very boring to play... our band director chooses the same pieces over and over again..i played the same pieces at least two years in a row..
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