Stu Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Why do drum corps arrangers think they know better than the great composers? It's one week into the season and already, just for starters, we've heard bastardized versions of Gymnopedie, Mars & Jupiter, Nessum Dorma, In the Hall of the Mountain King, New World Symphony and even Jingle Bells. Sheesh! I don't get it. Well, actually, I'm okay with the Jingle Bells tinkering. (Sorry about the too long title.) Ok Jfitz19, let's see if you are consistent with your logic and reasoning. Your contention is that arrangers think that "they" know better than the origonal composers. For you to hold that opinion in a consistent manner, you "have" to, and I mean "have" to also apply that to the following charts; Please be consistent and say that these "arrangers" thought that they new better than the origonal composers: Buddy Rich's Norwegin Wood (orig composers Lennon/McCartney, but "arranged" by Bill Holman) Stan Kenton's Also Sprach (orig composer Strauss, but "arranged" by Kenton) Ralph Vaughn Williams' Fabtasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis (orig composer Tallis, but "arranged" by Williams) Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (orig composer Paganini, but "arranged" by Rachmaminoff) Dvorak's New World Symphony (orig composers folk singers in America, but "arranged" by Dvorak) Need I go on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The-Cymbalist Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 1340549708[/url]' post='3155645']Because it's called arranging. Drum corps arrangers arrange. Not really ,some so-called arrangements just, leave you coldWith no meaning, and not going anywhere, stuff that the audience Won't remember, ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poprocks Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Not really ,some so-called arrangements just, leave you coldWith no meaning, and not going anywhere, stuff that the audience Won't remember, ever! That's still arranging, it's just not good arranging. Therein lies the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 (edited) That's still arranging, it's just not good arranging. Therein lies the difference. Edited June 24, 2012 by GUARDLING Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Not really ,some so-called arrangements just, leave you coldWith no meaning, and not going anywhere, stuff that the audience Won't remember, ever! subjective Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hostrauser Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 (edited) Well let's turn this thread into something positive.... In your "opinions" readers... What drum corps arrangements stick out in your mind as being BETTER than the original? (I know this is blasphemy to some music nerds out there, but I don't take my music degree too seriously and I won't mind weighing in on this subject) Just the question I've been waiting for! A few spring to mind... "Intro to Fourth Ballet Suite" (from "Limpid Stream") by Dmitri Shostakovich - Phantom Regiment, 1996 Tough to say it's BETTER than the original, but can we call it a draw? It's so faithful to the spirit of the original while basically being cut in half. I think it's Jim Wren's masterwork and (to this day) the best brass arrangement I've ever heard in DCI. "The Canyon" by Philip Glass - Santa Clara Vanguard, 1999 I love Glass' music. I love Mahler's music. But sometime you don't have 30 or 60 minutes to sit around waiting for it to develop (or finish developing). Vanguard did a great job taking a 15-20 minute piece and condensing it without losing any of the piece's essence or themes. "Piano Concerto, Third Movement" by Samuel Barber - Blue Knights, 2002 and 2006 I suppose this is more a fact that most recordings of this piece are terrible. The third movement is a cacophonous jumble with a lot of contrasting rhythms between the piano and orchestra. It pretty much demands perfection to be clear. BK did a great job of "thinning out" the orchestration (something I'm hardly ever in favor of) while still conveying the aggression and frantic mood, and the musical thematic material. Edited June 24, 2012 by hostrauser 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Why do drum corps fans think they are being insulted when they don't like an arrangement they can't whistle to. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Why do drum corps fans think they are being insulted when they don't like an arrangement they can't whistle to. It is not about a melody which can be whistled to; it is about musical language communication apart from the visual. The fallacy with many modern marching show designs is that many are approaching marching designs as the music doing nothing more than enhancing the visual as in movies. The fallacy is that in movies one should not really remember the music at all but the music should only enhance the emotive aspects of words and actions of the actors as well as the cinematography on the screen. In fact, movie music is so disjunctive that the soundtrack CD/Mp3 is arranged vastly different than the music which actually appears in the movie! Within the marching arts the music is very prominent by it's very nature; therefore when this visual first approach within the marching arts is utilized it leaves the music on the field sounding very disjunctive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Well let's turn this thread into something positive.... In your "opinions" readers... What drum corps arrangements stick out in your mind as being BETTER than the original? (I know this is blasphemy to some music nerds out there, but I don't take my music degree too seriously and I won't mind weighing in on this subject) T.O. comes to mind...if only because the tempo's faster than the original, so the groove is better. And in reality, it DOES come down to the intent of the arranger...even the same chart can be played differently under different conductors with the same performance setting and similar performing group. Good example..."Variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann" ...by Robert Jaeger (oh look! Another ARRANGEMENT of someone else's stuff!) I have a recording of both the SDSU concert band playing it (I'm on it...good group), and a completely different one...and there are a lot of sections where I like how Harold Warman interpreted it in both tempo and instrumental emphasis....the conductor of the other group felt differently, and the 2 versions feel VERY different. As for cutting stuff out of an original work....to the OP, let's see you cut all of Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony down to 11 minutes. Or Beethoven's 9th Symphony....one of the most glorious works ever put to paper. Both are around 45 minutes long, as I recall. G'head...we'll wait. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Shoenberg didn't have a visual package. it's just different music. If this were a more cultured place like Europe people wouldn't be having a pissy fit over something that isn't in a key or time signature different from what they were spoon fed by the media. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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