Crown's 2010 repertoire is posted on corpsreps.com

[Lance]

Seriously guys......a good friend of mine is marching in Crown. He said when they had a meeting Saturday night & they were told that the show got leaked out somehow everyone was in a bitter mood. In all seriousness, if the corps wanted people to know the show they would have announced it themselves. Also that's not the right music overall, so whoever was the source of the leakage of music.....they were wrong.

[FHdork]

<Klesch is the one arranger I have total faith in to remain true to the original pices, and do justice to the composers' music.>

The biggest issue for this horn dork in seeing someone tackle Mahler is the lack of French horn bugles in corps today. I well recall 91 Star and their outstanding production of Respighi's music. But the placing of all those great horn parts in the mellophone lines nearly killed it for me. The mellophone is far more akin to the trumpet - and a worthy instrument for upper brass and woodwind/string lines. It is not a suitable substitute for a French horn.

While I could make a good argument about why nothing can replace a French horn bugle (or a 'real' horn for that matter...), I will say I far prefer to hear upper lead baritones (only 4-6 hot HOT players, preferably) take on Mahler's horn parts rather than mellophones. Mahler is a HORN composer. Yes - he wrote for all the other instruments (duh...I'm not as dumb as my screen name...) - but he's known as a horn composer.

There are many woodwind and string lines that will feature the strengths of the mellophone - here's hoping Mr. Klesch makes that choice.

[Bruckner8]

<Klesch is the one arranger I have total faith in to remain true to the original pices, and do justice to the composers' music.>

The biggest issue for this horn dork in seeing someone tackle Mahler is the lack of French horn bugles in corps today. I well recall 91 Star and their outstanding production of Respighi's music. But the placing of all those great horn parts in the mellophone lines nearly killed it for me. The mellophone is far more akin to the trumpet - and a worthy instrument for upper brass and woodwind/string lines. It is not a suitable substitute for a French horn.

While I could make a good argument about why nothing can replace a French horn bugle (or a 'real' horn for that matter...), I will say I far prefer to hear upper lead baritones (only 4-6 hot HOT players, preferably) take on Mahler's horn parts rather than mellophones. Mahler is a HORN composer. Yes - he wrote for all the other instruments (duh...I'm not as dumb as my screen name...) - but he's known as a horn composer.

There are many woodwind and string lines that will feature the strengths of the mellophone - here's hoping Mr. Klesch makes that choice.

Yup, but that assumes all of the following:

1) Arranger has the knowledge to write at and above the 8th partial.

2) Organization has the players to play at and above the 8th partial.

3) Arranger has the "aural vision" of the color you're talking about.

4) Organization has enough Competitive Inertia with the judging community.

At least today's Mellos are in F, albeit F alto....I know a few horn players out there who play on Triples with F alto ;)

[corpsband]

Gonna have to agree with something Mike New said on this general subject in a previous thread: corps can either be ahead of or behind the information stream. In this day and age of Twitter and Facebook making instant information accessible to the masses possible, a corps can have the first picture of its new uniform be a grainy image from someone's cell phone, or they can put out a good representative photo before someone else has a chance to jump the gun. Corps don't get to control the information flow anymore, whether they like it or not.

Not sure how I feel about this.

On the one hand (as a fan) I really really enjoy corps who produce content over the winter months. Listening to preseason recordings, going out and listening to source material, etc... is not only enjoyable but IMHO makes the season more interesting because it gives you a frame of reference for the performances you see live. And...sometimes I like hype.

On the other hand I understand corps who just want to avoid the whole second guessing every little detail that takes place here. No matter *what* you produce in your press releases and pre-season media, every choice you make will be twisted and ridiculed and praised and mis-interpreted ad nauseum. And...sometimes I hate hype.

On the gripping hand, I think Crown MMX wants to let their performance on the field speak for itself this season. And...that's a good thing.

Edited April 26, 2010 by corpsband

[Kamarag]

<Klesch is the one arranger I have total faith in to remain true to the original pices, and do justice to the composers' music.>

The biggest issue for this horn dork in seeing someone tackle Mahler is the lack of French horn bugles in corps today. I well recall 91 Star and their outstanding production of Respighi's music. But the placing of all those great horn parts in the mellophone lines nearly killed it for me. The mellophone is far more akin to the trumpet - and a worthy instrument for upper brass and woodwind/string lines. It is not a suitable substitute for a French horn.

The one thing you're not considering is the key of the instrument. In 1991, everything, including the mello section, was in G. While it was a "mellophone" it wasn't a true alto voice. Today's hornlines have mellophones in F, pitched substantially lower than the rest of the hornline. It's a true alto voice. Gaining that choir was one of the driving forces behind the switch to any-key.

It makes a huge difference.

Edited April 26, 2010 by Kamarag

[Dave]

Not sure how I feel about this.

On the one hand (as a fan) I really really enjoy corps who produce content over the winter months. Listening to preseason recordings, going out and listening to source material, etc... is not only enjoyable but IMHO makes the season more interesting because it gives you a frame of reference for the performances you see live. And...sometimes I like hype.

On the other hand I understand corps who just want to avoid the whole second guessing every little detail that takes place here. No matter *what* you produce in your press releases and pre-season media, every choice you make will be twisted and ridiculed and praised and mis-interpreted ad nauseum. And...sometimes I hate hype.

On the gripping hand, I think Crown MMX wants to let their performance on the field speak for itself this season. And...that's a good thing.

That's fine, my point is simply that a corps that doesn't release information doesn't really have a lot of room to complain when someone else lets it out; there's a demand there, and plenty of people willing to fill it.

[corpsband]

That's fine, my point is simply that a corps that doesn't release information doesn't really have a lot of room to complain when someone else lets it out; there's a demand there, and plenty of people willing to fill it.

I wholeheartedly agree. But AFAIK Crown doesn't need any room at all because they're not complaining to anyone. Certainly there's been no public statement from anyone who's officially part of the organization; there's just been some 2nd hand friend of a friend statements.

I spent the weekend volunteering at camp (and I was at the meeting mentioned earlier) . I didn't hear or see anyone bitterly complaining about the 'leak'.

[FHdork]

<I know a few horn players out there who play on Triples with F alto ;)>

And those triple horns have VERY large bells in comparison to mellophones...

<In 1991, everything, including the mello section, was in G. While it was a "mellophone" it wasn't a true alto voice. Today's hornlines have mellophones in F, pitched substantially lower than the rest of the hornline. It's a true alto voice. Gaining that choir was one of the driving forces behind the switch to any-key.

It makes a huge difference. >

Well, it's a whole step lower than G - but it's a minor 7th HIGHER than a French horn bugle (well, a G bugle...and an octave higher than an F marching French horn). Perhaps you're referring to the fact that the rest of the horn line is "a 4th higher"...in Bb - while the mellos are down at F. Yes - I believe that NOT having the mellos up, playing on an instrument the same length as a trumpet is a good thing.

Bruckner 8 referred to the lead baritones playing at and above the 8th partial (well, I expect Bruckner meant baris - hopefully not mellos playing above the 8th partial...yikes!). Playing above that 8th partial is the key to getting them to sound something like the French horns Mahler had in mind. Serious arrangers are well aware of this...

The mello has it's place...and nearly anywhere but horn parts is it.

Yes - I'm a curmudgeonly old timer...it's pretty obvious...

Edited April 26, 2010 by FHdork

[corpsreps]

I wholeheartedly agree. But AFAIK Crown doesn't need any room at all because they're not complaining to anyone. Certainly there's been no public statement from anyone who's officially part of the organization; there's just been some 2nd hand friend of a friend statements.

I spent the weekend volunteering at camp (and I was at the meeting mentioned earlier) . I didn't hear or see anyone bitterly complaining about the 'leak'.

The information posted on corpsreps.com for Crown's repertoire came from what was publised in the most recent issue of DCI Today.

[ArgonneRebel]

Interesting music choices. I generally am not a huge fan of just throwing works together based on a number, or a similar name in the title. While Mahler 2 is a great work, and Bernstein 2 is a great work, is there the proper flow? Or were they picked because they conveniently had the number 2? It's one thing to say "This is awesome music, and we're playing it because it's great" (Blue Knights 06?), and another to pick music solely because of it's order of composition, and not on the actual substance, regardless of how good it may be, if that makes any sense.

In substance what Im saying is if the show flows well and the overall package is coherent as a 12-minute work, then hey, get it, Crown. If there's any hornline in DCI I'd want to hear play these selections, it would be Crown. Listening to that hornline is like taking a bath in chocolate. We shall see; I'm definitely excited to hear this.