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Alfred Reed's Armenian Dances


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I know corps have done this one in the past, but no one has used it as an entire show (I don't think). I think this might be the greatest work of wind ensemble literature ever written. Do you think this show would work, and if so, who should do it? Phantom Regiment? SCV? Cadets?

I'm envisioning something like this:

Opener- Arrangement of Tzirani Tzar, Gakavi Yerk, and Hoy, Nazan Eem, the first three sections of Part I

Second piece- Khoomar (Wedding Dance), second movement of Part II

Ballad- Alagyaz (section four of Part I)

Percussion Feeature- Hov Arek, movement I of Part II

Closer- Gna, Gna (of course), section four of Part I

This would...probably be the best show ever. It would take an amazing arranger (read: Jay Bocook) to condense all of that into eleven-and-a-half minutes. But I think it can be pulled off, and it would be a great way to pay homage to Alfred Reed.

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I know corps have done this one in the past, but no one has used it as an entire show (I don't think). I think this might be the greatest work of wind ensemble literature ever written. Do you think this show would work, and if so, who should do it? Phantom Regiment? SCV? Cadets?

I'm envisioning something like this:

Opener- Arrangement of Tzirani Tzar, Gakavi Yerk, and Hoy, Nazan Eem, the first three sections of Part I

Second piece- Khoomar (Wedding Dance), second movement of Part II

Ballad- Alagyaz (section four of Part I)

Percussion Feeature- Hov Arek, movement I of Part II

Closer- Gna, Gna (of course), section four of Part I

This would...probably be the best show ever. It would take an amazing arranger (read: Jay Bocook) to condense all of that into eleven-and-a-half minutes. But I think it can be pulled off, and it would be a great way to pay homage to Alfred Reed.

The band I teach has used Part II...actually twice...since 1994. Worked well.

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The marching band I instruct used it as a show. Just that piece, nothing else. Worked pretty well.

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The marching band I instruct used it as a show. Just that piece, nothing else. Worked pretty well.

Sweet...could you tell me which sections/movements were used?

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It's a good piece...but the best wind ensemble work ever written? Really? You really think so? Hammersmith, mountains rising nowhere, Terpsichore by Margolis, hell, even Ticheli's 2nd Symphony. I dunno, I've just never really been big on Alfred Reed, great orchestrator though (for band). However, I've never heard Part 2, how is it compared to Part 1.

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It's a good piece...but the best wind ensemble work ever written? Really? You really think so? Hammersmith, mountains rising nowhere, Terpsichore by Margolis, hell, even Ticheli's 2nd Symphony. I dunno, I've just never really been big on Alfred Reed, great orchestrator though (for band). However, I've never heard Part 2, how is it compared to Part 1.

Einstein... I've always appreciated your posts and more often than not agreed with your opinions. But I just lost a bit for you for even mentioning Ticheli in a discussion of great wind composers. :P

As far as using Armenian in a show, I've always wanted to at least use part 1 just so I could have an 11 person pit all playing tambourine with thumb rolls for a section. I'm a bigger fan of part 1 than part 2, but there is certainly some good music in both of those. A full show.. I'm not so sure. But definately the ending of part 1 would be a great closer.

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Einstein... I've always appreciated your posts and more often than not agreed with your opinions. But I just lost a bit for you for even mentioning Ticheli in a discussion of great wind composers. :P

As far as using Armenian in a show, I've always wanted to at least use part 1 just so I could have an 11 person pit all playing tambourine with thumb rolls for a section. I'm a bigger fan of part 1 than part 2, but there is certainly some good music in both of those. A full show.. I'm not so sure. But definately the ending of part 1 would be a great closer.

It was more like an after thought. Now that I think about it, Barnes Chance is obviously superior to Ticheli. Sorry, I didn't mean to give the impression that I like Frank Ticheli, don't worry :P

As far as Armenian Dances as a whole show, I personally don't find the piece as a whole interesting enough to gather material for an entire show. I've yet to really be sold by drum corps' treatments of wind ensemble music for the most part (ie: Cavaliers for pretty much all of the 1990s). I especially can't see Armenian Dances working, it's just so....typical symphonic band.

Edited by Einstein On The Beach
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It was more like an after thought. Now that I think about it, Barnes Chance is obviously superior to Ticheli. Sorry, I didn't mean to give the impression that I like Frank Ticheli, don't worry :P

As far as Armenian Dances as a whole show, I personally don't find the piece as a whole interesting enough to gather material for an entire show. I've yet to really be sold by drum corps' treatments of wind ensemble music for the most part (ie: Cavaliers for pretty much all of the 1990s). I especially can't see Armenian Dances working, it's just so....typical symphonic band.

Hey, Ticheli is the BEST composer who EVER wrote for Wind Ensemble !

(that is, if you don't count Karel Husa, Eric Whitacre, Francis Macbeth, Alfred Reed, John Barnes Chance, Aaron Copland, Gustav Holst, Percy Grainger, Paul Hindemith, Ron Nelson, Gordon Jacob, Ralph Vaughn Williams, H. Owen Reed, Vincent Perschetti, William Schumann, Michael Colgrass, Howard Hanson, David Manslanka, Claude T. Smith, Robert Lo Presti, Clifton Williams, Johann de Meji, Michael Daugherty, Philip Spark, Jan Van Der Roost, Jack Stamp, Sir Malcom Arnold, Leonard Bernstein, Donald Hunsberger, Vaclav Nelhybel, Morton Gould, Dana Wilson, Mark Camphouse, Edward Elgar or Arnold Schoenberg and, like, a thousand other people)

MG

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Hey, Ticheli is the BEST composer who EVER wrote for Wind Ensemble !

(that is, if you don't count Karel Husa, Eric Whitacre, Francis Macbeth, Alfred Reed, John Barnes Chance, Aaron Copland, Gustav Holst, Percy Grainger, Paul Hindemith, Ron Nelson, Gordon Jacob, Ralph Vaughn Williams, H. Owen Reed, Vincent Perschetti, William Schumann, Michael Colgrass, Howard Hanson, David Manslanka, Claude T. Smith, Robert Lo Presti, Clifton Williams, Johann de Meji, Michael Daugherty, Philip Spark, Jan Van Der Roost, Jack Stamp, Sir Malcom Arnold, Leonard Bernstein, Donald Hunsberger, Vaclav Nelhybel, Morton Gould, Dana Wilson, Mark Camphouse, Edward Elgar or Arnold Schoenberg and, like, a thousand other people)

MG

You know, I actually made some band kids very mad because I said Ticheli wasn't good...at all... but we're straying off topic hahaha

Edited by Einstein On The Beach
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It was more like an after thought. Now that I think about it, Barnes Chance is obviously superior to Ticheli. Sorry, I didn't mean to give the impression that I like Frank Ticheli, don't worry :P

As far as Armenian Dances as a whole show, I personally don't find the piece as a whole interesting enough to gather material for an entire show. I've yet to really be sold by drum corps' treatments of wind ensemble music for the most part (ie: Cavaliers for pretty much all of the 1990s). I especially can't see Armenian Dances working, it's just so....typical symphonic band.

I can't imagine using it w/o the woodwinds....

...so I guess we should wait a few years. ^0^

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