Show ideas for next year's corps?

[84BDsop]

I think it would be fun if the Madison Scouts did the King's Singers "Beatles Collection" as the show. Some great arrangements on that album of classic Beatles songs, and before Magic took 2000 off, they had contacted Scott Boerma to write a show using that.

I think it would be a lot of fun with the staff they're assembling.

Oh dear lord, Yes!

That's been on my wish list for around 2 decades now....especially "Michelle."

"Can't Buy me Love" for pre-show, perhaps.

[Brian Tuma]

With apologies to Hockey Dad:

As some of you already know, I think about the Troopers a lot. Naturally, Ive been thinking about 2015.

After the steampunk season of 2012, Troop made a staff and programming change. Magnificent 11 was received enthusiastically by DCI Nation. A Peoples House was generally a hit in 2014, too, and would have been enough to earn the corps a return to the 13th spot, were it not for a criminal Perc1 score at prelims.

So, 14th it was. And the question: Could Americana programming provide Troop the oomph necessary to crack finals?

Clearly, Americana is welcome on Saturday night. See Cadets 2014. See Bluecoats and Scouts 2013.

The Troopers dont yet match the talent levels of those corps, but their scores of the past two seasons indicate they are finalist-caliber musicians. What has held them back has been visual and GE captions.

(I thought Troops 2014 visual package was more sophisticated than the 2013 visual program, but for reasons that escape me the adjudicators didnt see it, and I will leave the visual question alone for now.)

Instead, I am thinking about GE and the kind of music programming that might push that needle a few points higher in 2015. I dont have the breadth of knowledge of composers to suggest specific works. So Ill suggest concepts. Dream along with me, wont you?

Some have suggested Troopers should forevermore put nothing but idealized notions of America on the field. I disagree. Too much saccharine induces a gag reflex.

Others have suggested Troop should turn away from ponies and rainbows and toward a postmodern, cycnical view of the West. I dont entirely agree with this approach, either. Entertain me, dont lecture me.

It is tricky ground, no doubt. Unlike most other corps, the Troopers programming canvas is not a wide one.

For example, 'Tilt' was cool, but what did it mean? it contained no identity cues; there was nothing about the concept of tiltedness that automatically suggested Bluecoats. If the idea of Tilt was linked to Hymn of Axciom, a song written about a data-mining firm, it escaped me.

The Troopers are not the same kind of blank slate, onto which just about any programming idea can be projected. Swan Lake? No (Swan Gulch, maybe). Still, there are broad themes related to the Troopers' identity that could be exploited. Drawn from a real-life Ohio cavalry unit assigned to a lonely fort on the Platte River, whose commander was killed by attacking Indians, the Troopers can tap into the physical and emotional realities of frontier life. And for the most part, it was a harsh life.

So, if they cant pull off a concept as amorphous as Tilt, Troop might be able to build 12 minutes around cues such as:

Hell-bent

Brave

Wind

Tough justice

Alone, solitude

(big) Sky

Individualism

Fences

Horses

Mountains, the Tetons

Prairie

Cold, blizzard

Indians

Mexico

Frontier(s)

Land

Wagons

Water, lack of it

The elements

Honor

Loyalty

Dedication

Ambush

Deadeye

Gunslinger

Rodeo

Campfire

Wildfire

Exploration

Fort(s)

Cavalry charge

Devil's Tower

I cant name the tunes, but I can hear music that is haunting, aching, spacious, gripping, full of adrenaline -- and unquestionably American. I can hear an angry corps, horns and drums ripping through the air like the relentless Wyoming wind. I can see hot breath firing out from underneath the low-slung cavalry hats like the snorts of an angry bull. And the gun on the hip of the drum major? Loaded.

I can sense a program that builds on the 2013 and 2014 Troopers mojo and channels it in a stormier, more urgent direction. Less flag waving, more gunslinging. Less blue sky, more dust storm. Less hoedown, more bucking bronco. Less Fourth of July, more Memorial Day. Less sunny optimism, more gritty determination. Less reveille, more taps. Less Howdy, more Reach for the Sky. Less beer, more whiskey. Less Americana, but no less American.

I will love whatever Troop puts on the field in 2015 because 1) Im a fan and 2) the pros on the staff know what theyre doing. But it will be a long winter; nows the time for imagining.

My only specific composition to recommend is this: To help set the brooding mood, I think Jeff Beals House of Cards title theme would make excellent pre-show music.

Oops, tried to add video via iPhone.

Perhaps the music of Gustavo Santaolalla? He's written so many film scores and I think an arranger could find 11 minutes worth great music.

http://youtu.be/4etxL7f8ACE

Edited August 27, 2014 by Brian Tuma

[Lincoln]

*cough* Cavaliers 89 and 90....

And both years were wonderful!

[N.E. Brigand]

Interesting. It's been a while since we've had a show in finals with at least a bit of a Celtic flair...

Then there's Carolina Crown's 1997 show, Postcards from Britain -- "Crown Imperial" * Terpsichore * "Nimrod" (from Enigma Variations) * "Jig" (from Saint Paul Suite)

While Crown Imperial is distinctly "English" sounding, I believe that Terpsichore, and especially Jig (from Saint Paul Suite) have a bit of Celtic flair. This is despite the fact that Holst was born in Cheltenham, England and not in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, Asturias, Portugal, the Isle of Man, or some other place known for Celtic music.... Not trying to split hairs here, but I like the idea of an authentically "Celtic" show, and not just a "British" show.

Nice post.

I recently learned (via Carl Phelpstead's superb book Tolkien and Wales and Dimitra Fimi's good article "Filming Folklore: Adapting Fantasy for the Big Screen in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings") that the whole notion of "Celtic" identity is a relatively recent concept, largely developed in the 19th Century, that would have baffled earlier peoples in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, etc., who generally didn't think of themselves as part of a larger border-spanning culture. So I suppose it doesn't matter too much what you classify under that heading.

In any case, Terpsichore, besides being the the name of the Greek muse of dance, is the title used for a very large collection of dances (more than 300 pieces) composed by Michael Praetorius (1571-1621), who was not Celtic but German. In the (mid?) 20th Century, a small set of those dances was arranged for wind ensemble by Bob Margolis, including the piece that Crown performed in '97. (I have a version of that particular tune by an early music ensemble of shawms, sackbutts, cornetts, and krumhorns, probably recorded in the 1970s, that is simply electric, but I have no idea who the performers are: I have it on a cassette made from a cassette that my father got from a friend, sans names, more than 30 years ago.)

[HornTeacher]

Nice post.

I recently learned (via Carl Phelpstead's superb book Tolkien and Wales and Dimitra Fimi's good article "Filming Folklore: Adapting Fantasy for the Big Screen in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings") that the whole notion of "Celtic" identity is a relatively recent concept, largely developed in the 19th Century, that would have baffled earlier peoples in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, etc., who generally didn't think of themselves as part of a larger border-spanning culture. So I suppose it doesn't matter too much what you classify under that heading.

In any case, Terpsichore, besides being the the name of the Greek muse of dance, is the title used for a very large collection of dances (more than 300 pieces) composed by Michael Praetorius (1571-1621), who was not Celtic but German. In the (mid?) 20th Century, a small set of those dances was arranged for wind ensemble by Bob Margolis, including the piece that Crown performed in '97. (I have a version of that particular tune by an early music ensemble of shawms, sackbutts, cornetts, and krumhorns, probably recorded in the 1970s, that is simply electric, but I have no idea who the performers are: I have it on a cassette made from a cassette that my father got from a friend, sans names, more than 30 years ago.)

I have to admit...that is the very FIRST time I have ever heard any performance of shawms, sackbutts, and kurmhorns be described as "electric." For what it's worth...that rates a giant "WTF!!" moment in my book. I usually lose my kids at the point of "mensural" notation.

Edited August 26, 2014 by HornTeacher

[Brian Tuma]

With apologies to Hockey Dad:

As some of you already know, I think about the Troopers a lot. Naturally, I’ve been thinking about 2015.

After the steampunk season of 2012, Troop made a staff and programming change. “Magnificent 11” was received enthusiastically by DCI Nation. “A People’s House” was generally a hit in 2014, too, and would have been enough to earn the corps a return to the 13th spot, were it not for a criminal Perc1 score at prelims.

So, 14th it was. And the question: Could Americana programming provide Troop the oomph necessary to crack finals?

Clearly, Americana is welcome on Saturday night. See Cadets 2014. See Bluecoats and Scouts 2013.

The Troopers don’t yet match the talent levels of those corps, but their scores of the past two seasons indicate they are finalist-caliber musicians. What has held them back has been visual and GE captions.

(I thought Troop’s 2014 visual package was more sophisticated than the 2013 visual program, but for reasons that escape me the adjudicators didn’t see it, and I will leave the visual question alone for now.)

Instead, I am thinking about GE and the kind of music programming that might push that needle a few points higher in 2015. I don’t have the breadth of knowledge of composers to suggest specific works. So I’ll suggest concepts. Dream along with me, won’t you?

Some have suggested Troopers should forevermore put nothing but idealized notions of America on the field. I disagree. Too much saccharine induces a gag reflex.

Others have suggested Troop should turn away from ponies and rainbows and toward a postmodern, cycnical view of the West. I don’t entirely agree with this approach, either. Entertain me, don’t lecture me.

It is tricky ground, no doubt. Unlike most other corps, the Troopers programming canvas is not a wide one.

For example, 'Tilt' was cool, but what did it mean? it contained no identity cues; there was nothing about the concept of tiltedness that automatically suggested Bluecoats. If the idea of Tilt was linked to “Hymn of Axciom,” a song written about a data-mining firm, it escaped me.

The Troopers are not the same kind of blank slate, onto which just about any programming idea can be projected. Swan Lake? No (Swan Gulch, maybe). Still, there are broad themes related to the Troopers' identity that could be exploited. Drawn from a real-life Ohio cavalry unit assigned to a lonely fort on the Platte River, whose commander was killed by attacking Indians, the Troopers can tap into the physical and emotional realities of frontier life. And for the most part, it was a harsh life.

So, if they can’t pull off a concept as amorphous as Tilt, Troop might be able to build 12 minutes around cues such as:

Hell-bent

Brave

Wind

Tough justice

Alone, solitude

(big) Sky

Individualism

Fences

Horses

Mountains, the Tetons

Prairie

Cold, blizzard

Indians

Mexico

Frontier(s)

Land

Wagons

Water, lack of it

The elements

Honor

Loyalty

Dedication

Ambush

Deadeye

Gunslinger

Rodeo

Campfire

Wildfire

Exploration

Fort(s)

Cavalry charge

Devil's Tower

I can’t name the tunes, but I can hear music that is haunting, aching, spacious, gripping, full of adrenaline -- and unquestionably American. I can hear an angry corps, horns and drums ripping through the air like the relentless Wyoming wind. I can see hot breath firing out from underneath the low-slung cavalry hats like the snorts of an angry bull. And the gun on the hip of the drum major? Loaded.

I can sense a program that builds on the 2013 and 2014 Troopers mojo and channels it in a stormier, more urgent direction. Less flag waving, more gunslinging. Less blue sky, more dust storm. Less hoedown, more bucking bronco. Less Fourth of July, more Memorial Day. Less sunny optimism, more gritty determination. Less reveille, more taps. Less Howdy, more Reach for the Sky. Less beer, more whiskey. Less Americana, but no less American.

I will love whatever Troop puts on the field in 2015 because 1) I’m a fan and 2) the pros on the staff know what they’re doing. But it will be a long winter; now’s the time for imagining.

My only specific composition to recommend is this: To help set the brooding mood, I think Jeff Beal’s “House of Cards” title theme would make excellent pre-show music.

Oops, tried to add video via iPhone.

Wow, I figured out how to link video. Three cheers for the old guy.

Perhaps the music of Gustavo Santaolalla? He's written so many film scores and I think an arranger could find 11 minutes worth great music.

http://youtu.be/4etxL7f8ACE

[Rocketman]

I think that, with the new instruments allowed on the field, maybe more corps will try some Strauss, Mahler, Wagner...maybe we might finally see some Bruckner on the field?

Plus, could you imagine a show centered around Alpine Symphony? Practically writes itself.

I have mentioned this (Alpine Symphony) in the past. Great choice.

[Rocketman]

Symphony Fantastique has been mentioned however, it the current environment of what I call "chop shop" arranging, I don't think this would be a good choice. Now, if a corps doesn't care about scores and placement, I say, Go For It!

[2muchcoffeeman]

Perhaps the music of Gustavo Santaolalla?

Wow, I really liked that. I closed my eyes, and could hear Troopers playing that. Haunting, beseeching melody. Thanks for the link.

Edited August 27, 2014 by 2muchcoffeeman

[C.Holland]

someone needs to do a Zombie based show, then on finals night they chase the judges off the field.

om Nom NOM NOM NOM NOM

Edited August 28, 2014 by C.Holland