Toughest Hornbook of the 00's

[Invader]

I would say 2002 Crossmen. Although partially biased having taught that book, the opener "Heat of the Day" was a beast in terms of articulation and timing. It certainly caused us nervous moments each night off the line but it was a blast to teach.

Incidentally, what ultimately made the field was slightly watered down near the end to create more power and clarity.

As always, IMHO!

Peace!

I'm with you. Heat of the Day was very hard but so cool. Crossmen were a blast.

[Halcyon122]

Cadets 01 had a really smoking horn book, and I think that Cavies 03 has to be in the conversation partly b/c of how they were moving while playing some really challenging stuff in it's own right...

[Sideways]

Regiment 2001 was hard.

But I'm biased.

I forgot about that one. That Concerto for Orchestra was crazy.

[raphael18]

I think Blue Devils 2001 was the most difficult (and crazy clean) in the 00's thus far.

PR 01 is very close - it is a VERY meaty book to say the least with some great solo work, and field coverage.

Cadets 2001 is also a great book, very challenging with the dual responsibility of drill, and intonation while covering a lot of the field(not so great at times).

Santa Clara Vanguard 00/03 - just wow, great music that required the highest level of concentration at all times. Add movement responsibilities to the mix, and these were some of those most incredibly technical shows I've seen.

PR 03...I do not think it was a technically difficult show - it was difficult from a MUSICALITY standpoint - with incredibly long melodic phrases (Lord's Prayer), voicing and staging all over the field (at one point there were unison 8th notes being played by people over 50 yards apart in Wild Nights 2), and the placing of the most technical playing towards the end of the show when the performers were fatigued (Ostinato). So, no - it was not an overly technical show, but at the same time it was not meant to be.

how could I forget - PR 04 - what a great horn book, but terribly underrated. The problem being that the performers did their job so well, that audience members are able to forget the complexity of what they're being presented with. Personally, the fugue (after the introduction power arcs) is just amazing every time - just listen to those buicks rip it out as they move across the front of the arcs, and begin to fade away...not many lines could handle that. Also, the quality of sound being produced by that line was just amazing.

heh, but I admit to being somewhat biased

Edited March 2, 2006 by raphael18

[Lance]

Just talking overall difficulty, not necessarily performance, here goes:

Cadets '05

BD '00

Phantom '04

Cadets '01

BD '04

[Jared_mello]

I thought 2004 cadets was kinda hard too in certain parts.

This thread is "toughest hornbook of the 00's," not "find some way to try and phrase it so that a Cadets show comes across as difficult." That was one of their easiest books of the decade, clearly, and they weren't playing very difficult stuff except for the song before the closer, with the features and whatnot. I like the show a lot, respect the fact that they went the whole show without marching a ballad, and thought they had a GREAT, and HIGHLY UNDERRATED hornline, but considering some of the other shows mentioned in this thread, there's no way Cadets '04 should be getting mentioned here.

Where do you hear difficult parts? Or more specifically, I guess, which "certain parts" are "kinda hard?"

I'd probably say BD '01 was the hardest brass book of the decade thus far.

Crossmen '02 did a tremendous job playing their opener.

Glassmen '05, early season, had a pretty ridiculous book.

Props to SCV '03 for their staging demands, and obvious hardships for the hornline. The introduction made TONS of progress through the season.

Phantom '04 was a good book, with almost all sections of the hornline duplicating Piazzola's violin runs. '05 had more simultaneous visual demand though, which surely adds to the difficulty of a horn book.

Cavies '03, surely.

Cadets '05...glad their mello book is returning to the style of the early/mid '90's. Definitely something I admire out of that corps.

[yabetterbelieveit]

2001 The Cadets. I thought 2004 cadets was kinda hard too in certain parts.

I agree with Cadets 04.

[profhill]

Hmmm... I guess it was hard, but I don't think it would make my top ten list of hardest brass books of all time, nor my top 5 list of hardest brass books of the 00s.

I think saying it's "certainly the most difficult brass book since 2000" is a pretty bold statement.

Well, Dick Saucedo is a master of writing music that is incredibly hard that doesn't sound hard unless you know what to listen for. The difficulty in his music is very subtle.

But, let's be honest, who among the top few corps every year doesn't have a difficult horn book. But, I believe that music that requires a larger variety of skills is much more difficult that to play than it is to play 10 minutes of the same style with slightly more black notes on the page.

Now, you have stated that Cadets '01 is more difficult. The reason that I do not agree with you is that this hornbook is more limited in what it is asking the members to do. Yes, there are the mello lines that are quite spritely, but those are only in the mellos. There doesn't seem to be anything that challenging in the other parts. In fact, if I remember correctly the trumpets don't play anything technical after the first 30 seconds. The book was also written to be played successfully with the same style throughout. Even Moondance is play with the same articualtion style and gesture as the classical pieces in that show.

So I made a bold statement, no one has ever thought I was a very demure person. At least, I can back up what I say with logical, thoughtful reasons. While all you have done is made a statement and then criticized people who have a different opinion from you. I'm sure you have your reasons for your belief, but you have not stated them here.

[Phantom&Phitch]

Well, Dick Saucedo is a master of writing music that is incredibly hard that doesn't sound hard unless you know what to listen for. The difficulty in his music is very subtle.

But, let's be honest, who among the top few corps every year doesn't have a difficult horn book. But, I believe that music that requires a larger variety of skills is much more difficult that to play than it is to play 10 minutes of the same style with slightly more black notes on the page.

Now, you have stated that Cadets '01 is more difficult. The reason that I do not agree with you is that this hornbook is more limited in what it is asking the members to do. Yes, there are the mello lines that are quite spritely, but those are only in the mellos. There doesn't seem to be anything that challenging in the other parts. In fact, if I remember correctly the trumpets don't play anything technical after the first 30 seconds. The book was also written to be played successfully with the same style throughout. Even Moondance is play with the same articualtion style and gesture as the classical pieces in that show.

So I made a bold statement, no one has ever thought I was a very demure person. At least, I can back up what I say with logical, thoughtful reasons. While all you have done is made a statement and then criticized people who have a different opinion from you. I'm sure you have your reasons for your belief, but you have not stated them here.

i disagree....

and also, its easier to compose a difficult piece then to change an existing piece to make it difficult...

[newterak]

as far as books just sounding really tough I would go with

PR 04

BD 01

SCV 03 (more of environmental demands due do drill writing than anything else)

Now some corps can make tough books sound easy and sometimes that goes underappreciated.