1956OPR

Phantom Regiment has announced the music for its Swan Lake program. Swan Lake, by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky La Peri, by Paul Dukas Dracula, by Philip Feeney King Kong, by James Newton Howard Flightplan, by James Horner. I do not know whether this is the exact order in which the music will be played but we have music from three ballets and two motion pictures. My guess is that the King Kong piece will be " Beautiful ". As for the Flightplan music, most of it is beautiful but, interestingly, the tracks which highlight the feelings and senses of panic/conflict are, according to Mr. Horner, performed without brass instruments, only strings, percussion and woodwinds. Sounds like a wonderful opportunity for the battery and the front ensemble. I would be interested in hearing from those of you who have a music education and those who do not whether these selections fit within the Swan Lake theme.

I will be there. Pray for me since I have never played a trumpet (we of course played soprano bugles in 1956-1960) and whatever facility I had to read sheet music faded a long time ago. Nonetheless, I have been taking trumpet lessons since early April and so far these 71- year old lips and lungs have responded. I only hope my valve fingering will respond as well. I am genuinely delighted to return to my hometown and participate, for the first time, in playing Elsa's Procession. And so will all other Phantom alumni, in spirit if not in place. SUTA

In the spirit of HornTeacher's original post, I would enjoy a monthly dinner with DCP posters Michael Boo, chaos001 and a rotating third poster from among garfield, Lincoln. MikeD, Jeff Ream or Sutasaurus. Why? Because I want strong opinions, historic perspective and passionate debate. If the restaurant serves Dreher Bak, even better.

I would like to welcome back chaos001 to this ( and any other ) forum site. Whatever past or present issues he/she may have had with The Regiment, I have always had the sense that his/her critiques are made with the best interests of Phantom's marching members foremost in mind.

rayfallon, thank you for the intervention. The list was only my enduring favorites during those 40 years ( the question I posed to myself was if I could only choose 10 musical pieces over that time. what are they ). My emphasis was on those I had heard performed on the field of competition by top-ranked junior corps. The invitation in my initial post was for others to post their own choices and to see whether there were any matches ( similar to what BDStaffAlum did ) I have never had the pleasure of hearing anything by the NY Skyliners or by St. Kevin's. It appears as if I have a lot of catching up to do. After posting this, I will be searching youtube. If you have any suggestions on where else to search, please let me know. However, both Ghost and BRASSO ( and thanks to both ) have pointed out to this newby that this discussion is better suited to a different DCP forum and I accept the wisdom of these veteran posters. So, I will contact the cathedral of DCP administrators and find out how to transfer the entire thread to the right pew.

I chose this time period because 1956 was my first year in drum corps ( I am an original member of the Phantom Regiment ) and because I wanted to give the musical pieces performed since 1995 a chance to season with time before, the Lord willing, I construct the 1996- 2015 edition. It was my great fortune to see the first 7 songs performed live and there is no better treat in drum corps than that - except for what happened in 1996 and 2008 : )) 1957 The Cavaliers Sing Sing Sing 1957 Holy Name Cadets And the Angels Sing 1960 Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights In the Still of the Night 1962 Hawthorne Caballeros Espana Cani 1965 Chicago Royal Airs Alexander's Ragtime Band 1969 Racine Kilties Auld Lang Syne 1974 Santa Clara Vanguard Send in the Clowns 1988 Madison Scouts Malaguena 1989 Santa Clara Vanguard Music of the Night 1995 Phantom Regiment Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini This was a lot of fun to do and, two years from now, I hope it is even more so.

Lance et al, thanks for your contributions. In another recent DCP discussion involving recommendations of shows that have never been done, MikeD suggested that PR do Janacek's Sinfonietta. I responded by saying I agreed and would expand the program ( shall we call it " Czech-Mates" ? ) to include selections from Dvorak, Mahler and Smetana, all of whom were born in what is now part of the Czech Republic. Another suggestion is Robert Schumann's Symphony No. 4 ( the 1851 revision ). Or how about a program built on Bartok's Mykrokosmos. I have not listened to all 156 piano pieces but loved the Ostinato selection that ended Phantom's 2003 Harmonic Journey program. Lastly, what about mining all of Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations and add the results to Nimrod. Any or all of these pieces might fit other corps programs as well. What matches do you recommend?

Imagine you are blindfolded and sitting in the bleachers and a parade of drum corps marches by you. Each is playing a musical piece which its corps members. past and present, know to be their musical identification or anthem or signature or. in Piper's word. mantra. Then imagine that, prior to this parade, each corps gathered and sang an inspirational song or shouted a phrase or word which summarized that corps' tradition. See onceuponatime's Post # 20 for reference. My initial intent was to identify the musical piece. If you hear " Conquest ", you believe its BAC. If, prior to the parade, BAC's members sang their inspirational song,, it would be "Giant". If you hear "Over the Rainbow", you think of the Cavaliers. Prior to that, they would have sung The Corps Song. I do not know what the Cadets' musical identifier is although I would love to hear " And the Angels Sing" with Don Angelica, may he rest in peace, soloing , and I believe the Cadets would have sung " O Holy Name " ( to the tune of " O Tannenbaum" ) in private in preparation for the event. Thanks, DCP members, for contributing.

I am curious as to which corps have signature songs which are considered their anthem. The two that I think I know are: Madison : You'll Never Walk Alone Phantom : Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral Thanks.

I agree and would expand the program ( shall we call it "Czech-Mates" ?) to include selections from Dvorak, Mahler and Smetana, all of whom were born in what is now part of the Czech Republic. Another suggestion is Robert Schumann's Symphony No. 4 ( the 1851 revision ). Or how about a program built on Bartok's Mykrokosmos. I have not listened to all 156 piano pieces but loved the Ostinato selection that ended PR's 2003 Harmonic Journey program. Lastly ( maybe ), what about mining all of Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations and add the results to Nimrod?

Thank you, from a fellow (apple or peach) pie lover.

I recall a comment suggesting that PR's 2013 (snare?) line was all rookies. Does anyone know whether that meant they were all new to drum corps or to Phantom? And did any of these age-out? Also, is Bret Kuhn a replacement possibility for SG?