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Welcome to our podcast, Band BFFs, the podcast where we make your music selection less complicated.

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On today's episode, we're going to be finishing up our winter concert series with three pieces

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that we have deemed to be more difficult in nature.

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And those are Ukrainian Bell Carol arranged by Richard Sauceto, Jingle Bells arranged

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by Jay Dawson, and Toboggan by Gerard Hall.

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Cheers to starting the conversation.

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This setting of Ukrainian Bell Carol by Sauceto is absolutely awesome.

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It's way full of energy.

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It's about two and a half minutes long.

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It's in the key of E flat, three, four throughout.

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You do have to have pretty strong brass, trumpets and horns especially in this one because of

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the range demands and the articulation and style demands for those sections.

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This reminds me very much, it has like a Trans-Siberian Orchestra Mannheim steamroller kind of vibe

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to it and it's high energy.

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Kids will love to play it and it will be a huge crowd pleaser.

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Yeah, it's super fun.

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And again, as Laura mentioned, it's very festive and strong.

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You have to have really good articulation because it goes super quick.

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You could play it almost in one if you needed to just for the feel.

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But it's just like any other arrangement of Bell Carol, it's very Sauceto as well with

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the brass articulation rhythms at the beginning.

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Then it has a measure not, like a big introduction at nine.

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You're going to have this waterfall starting with the lows and then mids and then highs

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come in.

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So it's just starting the Carol of the Bells theme.

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All the percussion is really important through this.

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The bells are super important.

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They have kind of some feature moments and timpani is really important.

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Timpani has several solos.

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Big timpani solo at 17, yes.

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All alone.

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And then we get into the normal Carol of the Bells theme with the upper woodwinds with

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just some interjections in the brass at 27, the horns and altos get that famous one, two,

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three, four and one.

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Two, three, one.

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Yeah, sorry.

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Two, three, one.

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Yeah.

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So they have their little flowing line over everybody else still playing the same thing

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that they had before.

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We get a little trumpet two action followed by trumpet one.

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Trumpets go all the way up to a G. So again, the range demands are pretty high in this

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piece.

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At 35, this lays very easy and the fingers, the one, two and three and one, two and three

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and one.

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But this is a softer section.

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Fingers need to move together.

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Dotted quarter notes need to be tongued firmly.

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We have thinned out percussion, of course, and brass in this section as well, except

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for the low voices do.

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Tubas get their little moment of where they get the melody for a four bar phrase before

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we get over to measure 43.

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This is all the chromaticism part and it goes so fast.

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You just want to make sure that the kids fingers are laying very evenly.

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And then it also kind of descends.

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So that in addition to the one and two and three and one and two, three, one, then we

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have a one and two and three and one and two and three and where it kind of falls down

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later on at the end.

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Fun tremolos and this is written a little bit differently in the oboe and flute part

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than what the students might be used to seeing.

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So it's a good teaching opportunity.

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This is a much softer section here.

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It's just building.

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Building.

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That's all we're trying to do is just build.

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Yeah.

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Build energy and momentum until we get to 57, which is one of my favorite parts of the

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whole entire piece.

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Horn.

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That's a really cool horn part.

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Yeah.

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The horn and saxophone here are so important.

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They do a little jingle bells over everybody else.

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Balance in this section can be a little bit of a challenge just because it's fortissimo

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for the entire ensemble.

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And you really want to make sure you're layering what's important, that you're hearing what

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in your mind is most important.

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I like that horn part to come out.

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Then we go back to the one and two and three and four, or is it one and two and three and

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one and two, three in the upper woodwinds.

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And that's the little descending part there I was talking about.

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And then at 71, the horns get to have another little jingle bells moment with the trombone

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euphonium part.

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Low reeds get to play along with them.

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Inter drum switches to brushes here and that color and texture change is really important

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and it's a cool opportunity for them to get exposed to an implement that they may not

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be used to playing.

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At 79, the woodwinds, upper woodwinds get to have the jingle bells theme now.

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And then we go back to the carol of the bells theme with horn and some of those mid voices.

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At 89, it's just like the beginning with the rhythmic brass.

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A little fanfare.

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A little fanfare.

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And then at 97, we've got that same little waterfall upwards from the lows up to the

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highs, kind of like little bell tones.

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105, we get another really strong, cool horn part.

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It's just kind of like the ending fanfare from them.

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Lots of excitement, like Laura said, and very thickly written all the way throughout.

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But to me, it's very sasato and very high energy and just a lot of fun for this piece.

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It's a great concert closer.

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I know we've talked a lot in this winter concert series about if you do elementary tours at

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this time, but it's a perfect concert closer, but it is also great for an elementary tour

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because the littles love the big brass in your face.

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It's like as marching band as you can get for winter concerts.

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So fun.

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Our next piece is Jingle Bells arranged by Jay Dawson, and we both love this piece.

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I think this is a winter concert staple that everyone needs to play at some point.

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Shout out to Melody and Mallow for making me play it all those years ago.

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It's two and a half minutes long.

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It's in the key of F, but it has a ton of accidentals throughout the key.

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Signature doesn't change, but the tonal center and key center changes several times throughout

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the piece.

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So this is one of those pieces that it's a great idea, again, to pre-mark to help those

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kids out.

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And Laura and I spoke before we started this episode just off the books that we both think

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this is maybe not the best piece to play on an elementary tour because it's a little bit

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more like classical in nature.

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It sounds like Ives in some spots.

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It's just more colorful.

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It's just a great piece of music and it's wonderful and the kids like it, but it may

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not be the most bombastic in your face type piece for a recruitment.

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And some of the settings of the jingle bells theme I don't think would be received as well

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by younger crowds.

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You need a little bit more mature listening palette.

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Yes.

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So the piece starts out with upper woodwinds and sleigh bells and bells and it's just kind

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of like...

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And that tuning is not easy in the flute.

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And in the clarinet.

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It's just, yeah, it's a lot.

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It's a mature piece of music, but it's wonderful.

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And then the full band comes in with some brass fanfare type accents at five.

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We have a random two four bar that comes in often throughout this piece.

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It happens a lot.

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So just know that there is a back and forth between four four and two four a little bit.

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Low voices get to come in and then we get forte piano followed by the upper people,

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another two four bar.

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And then the trumpets get to have the dashing through the snow part.

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And then we have a transition with flute, oboe and sleigh bells going into 15 where

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the trumpets get to have the melody and then interjections between.

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So it's always the trumpets that start off the melody dashing through the snow four

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and one and two and three and four.

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Style is so important.

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And some of the counting in this is a little tricky because it doesn't go exactly the way

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the melody goes.

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So again, just making sure that they're counting through tied notes really carefully.

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And like Laura just said, style is the most important thing on this piece because it's

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going to just now shift going from 19 to 20.

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It's got a little bit more slurs in there and the saxophone gets this really slurry

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part, which is pretty just just it's just so well written throughout all of this percussion

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plays less of a timekeeping role and way more of a color and texture role.

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So and that actually can be challenging sometimes for percussionists because they're having

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to count lots of rest and they may be transitioning to different instruments throughout.

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So again, it could be an alignment issue for your band.

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That's right.

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I'm not used to like playing eighth note staccato completely lined up with each other without

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like a snare drum behind them.

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That's right.

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Yep.

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At 23 we get our first sostenuto section.

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It's beautiful.

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It has a beautiful horn part and just like kind of like a little warm brass feature.

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Then the trumpets come in with and then the upper woodwinds.

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It's just so cute.

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Then we get a cute little like this is my personal favorite part.

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It sounds like a carousel.

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It sounds like a toy box.

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Yeah, like a little music box that you would open up.

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That's that's my favorite part.

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It's my favorite part.

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That part.

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Yeah.

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So cute.

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And it's like it's I think it's the clarinet three part isn't it that has the melody.

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Well, it's not that they have the melody but the like two three four and one.

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Yeah sorry.

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The like winding up the music box part along with tenor sax.

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It's super cute.

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And then of course the jingle bells part is in sax fluten go above them.

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It's just the woodwinds here and a little mallet percussion here and there.

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Then there's a big forte impact moment.

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Then the whole band has jingle bells together.

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Again, style is very important.

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And then we're leading into the next little section have a transitional area with some

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fun one and two and four and one.

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It's like a play on rhythm between tubas and the tenor voices here.

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And it's everybody's playing one and two and three and four but at a different time.

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So timing here can be very difficult.

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Alignment is really important.

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And it does it's mimicked in the percussion as well.

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So just making sure they know who they play with in the percussion section.

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Then of course we have jingle bells again at 40.

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Now in the upper woodwinds again and then they get a cute little...

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It sounds like almost like a quote from the Toy Soldiers part.

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Ne ne ne ne ne.

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And it's muted trumpet.

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Yes it's so cute.

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And then another two four bar and then you get this little and two and three and four

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and one in the horn part.

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That's really pretty.

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And it's just so fun.

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But this is a mature piece.

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There is not time keeping in percussion.

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It is.

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Everybody has to be feeling.

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So one and two and the entire time so that everybody can align and keep the tempo together.

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And it is not like it's structured in a way where you get the melody for an eight bar

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phrase or a 16 bar phrase.

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It might be a little two measure thing or even like half a measure.

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Exactly.

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Right here yeah at 45 the lows get one and two and three and then upper woodwinds and

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four and then the horns take over the trumpets and one and two and three.

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So it's literally just changing all the time.

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So it's a great teaching piece where you can say like OK who has the melody here.

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Let's play this part.

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You tell me who's who we're going to listen for.

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Then we have a cool horn and I love this section as you 50 as well.

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It's just this really pretty singingly pretty high up horn part going up to an F. But it's

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just beautiful.

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It's got little grace note.

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The kids love it.

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It's so fun.

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So we build it up with some more sustained style again to a grand pause and then it's

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very like grand.

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This is the part that sounds like I've got to be like yeah.

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Yes very colorful big chimes here to big percussion.

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This is the whole band playing jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way.

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Then we kind of come back down a little bit in nature and then build back up again to

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the very end with one boom horse boom.

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You know it's like very exciting.

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Then we get the one and two and three and four and one and two and it goes up and up

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passes the band.

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Yep.

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And then a nice long chord kind of like the beginning and then the whole band ends with

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three and four one.

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It is just so fun and like a staple like Laura said yes just for for a more mature group.

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I love I absolutely love this setting of jingle bells it's one of my all time faves.

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Yep.

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And our final difficult piece is Toboggan by Gerard Hall.

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And this one is by far the most challenging that we're talking about today.

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It is four and a half minutes long.

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It is in the key of B flat.

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00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:11,840
It's in three four and it will go to four four.

243
00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:12,840
Yeah it changes.

244
00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:13,840
Tempo.

245
00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:14,840
Yes.

246
00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:16,600
Lots of tempo transitions.

247
00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:22,080
Lots of range and technique required for all the players.

248
00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:26,920
Upper brass specifically some euphonium as well and lots of woodwind technique as well.

249
00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:27,920
Yep.

250
00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:36,320
Laura and I discussed that we also like this piece because it's very not it's it's not

251
00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:40,000
holiday it's not religious and it's not secular.

252
00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:41,000
It's just winter.

253
00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:42,000
It's just winter.

254
00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,360
So it's meant to be programmatic.

255
00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:48,160
You're supposed to be imagining you know you're on a toboggan ride.

256
00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:53,120
You're taking in the wonder of the snow of the mountains the woodland creatures.

257
00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:57,080
There's all kinds of ways you can go with teaching your kids what to imagine in their

258
00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:58,920
minds when they're playing this piece.

259
00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:00,880
And they're definitely here for it.

260
00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:04,640
You know if you've listened to our podcast before I'm a huge fan of imagery.

261
00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:10,360
If we can paint a mental picture with the music that we're creating and I think that

262
00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,320
Gerard does a beautiful job of that with this piece.

263
00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:15,400
And so getting the kids to bite into it.

264
00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:16,400
Yep.

265
00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:17,960
I think is pretty cool.

266
00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:24,680
It starts off with a bells solo at the beginning and it's slow and then we filter in small

267
00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:29,160
small woodwind instruments with like flute and clarinet and then the oboe comes in with

268
00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:30,380
a solo.

269
00:14:30,380 --> 00:14:33,160
It's also cued in trumpet.

270
00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:37,360
So if you don't have an oboe you could have a trumpet play the solo but the oboe is just

271
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:38,760
beautiful here.

272
00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:44,360
We have a little bit of just some cool mallet parts underneath as well.

273
00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:46,800
It is not super brass heavy.

274
00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:51,240
We are just supposed to be listening and thinking about just the majesty of snow.

275
00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:52,840
It's very white and pure.

276
00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:55,440
That's kind of what I told my students to think of.

277
00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:59,680
It's just supposed to sound kind of like just wintery snow falling and things like that.

278
00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:06,040
And I think if you were considering programming something lyrical for contest season I love

279
00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:11,600
that this has some of those opportunities to kind of start that with your students teaching

280
00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:16,760
them phrasing and all of that but it's not the whole piece.

281
00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:18,080
It's moments of it.

282
00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:21,720
So it's kind of a nice transition if you're planning to do something lyrical in spring.

283
00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:27,120
The French horns take over at 17 with a beautiful melody that I think just makes it sound very

284
00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:29,360
warm and beautiful.

285
00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:32,800
It does go up a little higher up to E flat here in the French horn.

286
00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:34,520
The horns are so important in this.

287
00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:35,600
Oh yeah for sure.

288
00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:41,320
And then like Laura mentioned even Mr. Hall did a great job of writing in some phrase

289
00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:46,040
breath marks for you with eighth rests where everybody breathes together and comes back

290
00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:47,040
in.

291
00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:51,520
But there's no pulse and percussion so it's definitely a great teaching piece where the

292
00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:56,520
students have to watch and we have to all move together and subdivide so that it stays

293
00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:57,520
together.

294
00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:03,320
Trumpets get to take over with this beautiful melody and then again another group breath

295
00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:08,400
with an eighth rest and then we kind of build it up in the upper woodwinds leading in the

296
00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:15,520
33 where the trumpets get to have a really important part and it's up real high.

297
00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:19,200
And I love the way like the technique is written in here.

298
00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:27,040
It lays really quite easy in everyone's fingers and I love the trumpet part here just kind

299
00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:29,420
of soars above everything else.

300
00:16:29,420 --> 00:16:30,420
For sure.

301
00:16:30,420 --> 00:16:33,360
And then the horns get to have another little cool part.

302
00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:37,560
It's not the melody but it's something that you can have featured.

303
00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:43,360
The low part descends down as we're kind of transitioning and then we're getting an accented

304
00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:49,160
moment and followed by a ritardando and the cool little and two and three and one and

305
00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:50,160
two.

306
00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:51,760
It's like a really cool horn part.

307
00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:52,760
Oh my gosh.

308
00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:53,760
So pretty.

309
00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:59,880
And then automatically bam you're in 4-4 and it's fast and it's supposed to go 144 to

310
00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:00,880
152.

311
00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:03,720
It's like you've started your toboggan ride down the mountain.

312
00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:04,720
That's right.

313
00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:07,040
So you could hold it all the way up to the top of the mountain.

314
00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:08,040
Yeah.

315
00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:11,800
I told kids that when we played it like you're thinking of like riding the like ski lift

316
00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:15,680
up to the top of the mountain and you're just taking in all the grandeur and beauty at the

317
00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:19,960
beginning of the mountain and the scene before you and then it's like okay it's here we go.

318
00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:21,320
It's time to go down the mountain.

319
00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:27,320
So it's very fun but rhythmically this is very difficult to put together because it's

320
00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:33,320
very it's varied where you have 16th notes or eighth notes you might be coming in on

321
00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:36,080
a downbeat but you also might be coming in on an upbeat.

322
00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:39,720
So pre marking parts again with rhythms I think is pretty important to make sure it

323
00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:41,720
lines up really well and lots of independence.

324
00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:45,640
We haven't talked about this yet but there I mean there are three trombone parts two

325
00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:50,760
horn parts three trumpet parts three clarinet parts two alto parts so lots of independence

326
00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:53,080
pick and pick a low one and two.

327
00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:54,080
Yes.

328
00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:55,080
And they're all important.

329
00:17:55,080 --> 00:18:00,040
You don't have to have piccolo that's got some it is it's got some moments that I think

330
00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:03,640
it really helps to have the color of the piccolo but it requires a lot of independence on the

331
00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:04,640
parts.

332
00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:05,640
Yeah.

333
00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:12,320
Lots of good articulation repeated articulations on the same notes in the brass here so it's

334
00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:18,000
not difficult technique technique wise but just articulation you have to be set.

335
00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,880
And even has three and one.

336
00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:21,880
Yeah.

337
00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:24,520
And it's a pretty high again in that first trumpet part.

338
00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:29,260
There's an alto saxophone solo that's the toboggan guy I guess or you know going down

339
00:18:29,260 --> 00:18:34,840
on the the alto saxophone toboggan I don't know then like the upper woodwinds have these

340
00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:39,520
little moments of da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da

341
00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:45,200
so it's like just it sounds like you're you know zooming in and out of a mountain.

342
00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,440
It's exactly not in and out but down a mountain.

343
00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:49,320
That's exactly how I pictured it.

344
00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:50,320
Yeah.

345
00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:54,640
And then at 54 we get the clarinets getting to play that alto saxophone part along with

346
00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,240
flute nobo so now it's like a woodwind feature.

347
00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:00,280
Some cool like mallet stuff happening underneath.

348
00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:02,080
The mallet stuff is super important.

349
00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:08,520
And then the brass are just holding down same little like pulse type stuff.

350
00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:14,960
Then the trumpet section all three trumpet parts get to come in at 62 with a very technical

351
00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:15,960
part.

352
00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:20,520
So it's going in on three three and a four and a one and then it's one two and three

353
00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,360
and four and one and two and three.

354
00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:25,680
So except faster than what I just counted.

355
00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,160
So it goes by really quick.

356
00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:30,040
Your trumpets need to be prepared for that.

357
00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:33,960
That's kind of more like a woodwind part in the grand scheme of things.

358
00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,880
Then it goes to the woodwinds and then it goes back to the trumpets and then the lows

359
00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:40,520
get to have a little moment of sixteenth notes.

360
00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:47,240
We have a little two four bar and then at measure 70 the vibraphone and chimes get to

361
00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:50,120
have like this really cool moment.

362
00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:53,680
And then we're kind of just transitioning here to 74.

363
00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:57,720
This is where the horns get to have a very prolonged melody section.

364
00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,440
Again it sounds very warm and introspective.

365
00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:02,020
This is a little softer here.

366
00:20:02,020 --> 00:20:03,020
It feels a little less.

367
00:20:03,020 --> 00:20:05,020
The vibas is a little different.

368
00:20:05,020 --> 00:20:06,020
Less texture.

369
00:20:06,020 --> 00:20:07,020
Less energy.

370
00:20:07,020 --> 00:20:12,920
So I kind of imagine this was the part where like the guy is on the toboggan ride and he's

371
00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:17,680
maybe like stopping to look around and he's not so worried about his life anymore.

372
00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:23,400
Now he's just looking up and enjoying the view and just taking in the majesty.

373
00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:25,200
Maybe the trail got really wide.

374
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:26,200
Yeah.

375
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,720
So you didn't have to worry so much about crashing into a tree.

376
00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,600
And then the flute and clarinet get to come in with the horn.

377
00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:36,080
The horn goes up all the way to a G here in the middle.

378
00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:38,600
So it is definitely not for young bands.

379
00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:39,600
And pretty exposed.

380
00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:40,600
Yeah.

381
00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:41,600
And pretty exposed.

382
00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:42,600
They're all basically alone.

383
00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:43,600
Yeah.

384
00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:44,900
The trumpets then get to take over.

385
00:20:44,900 --> 00:20:49,800
Not quite as high as the horns here but they get a little melodic part.

386
00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:52,480
This is all very sustained.

387
00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:54,480
Not difficult rhythms here.

388
00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:55,480
Yes.

389
00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:56,480
Yes.

390
00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:00,000
The lows get to transition us into 102.

391
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,280
Big like cymbal crash and everybody has accents.

392
00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:05,300
And it's just a beautiful section.

393
00:21:05,300 --> 00:21:10,420
And then at 106 we go slower again to 78 on the metronome.

394
00:21:10,420 --> 00:21:15,480
This is where I imagined the toboggan rider took a break.

395
00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,780
Pulled over to the side of the road and was like, okay, I'm taking a break.

396
00:21:18,780 --> 00:21:21,300
And maybe he sees little woodland creatures here.

397
00:21:21,300 --> 00:21:24,980
So it starts off with a little clarinet part.

398
00:21:24,980 --> 00:21:25,980
Clarinet one.

399
00:21:25,980 --> 00:21:28,200
Maybe that's a little bird in the tree.

400
00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:30,460
Then the alto part has a solo.

401
00:21:30,460 --> 00:21:33,720
That was a little, I don't know, wolf off to the side.

402
00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:35,880
I don't remember what I said when I taught the kids.

403
00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:37,960
But then there's a cute little flute and piccolo moment.

404
00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,880
I was like, oh, that's the cute little bunny hopping around.

405
00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:42,280
Even though they're not hopping.

406
00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:43,280
It's sustained.

407
00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:46,520
She really wanted it to be a penguin but there are no penguins on the mountain.

408
00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:47,520
On the mountain.

409
00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:48,520
I know.

410
00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:49,520
I did.

411
00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:50,520
I wanted it to be a cute penguin.

412
00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:52,600
You could just make that up and say like it came in just for the song.

413
00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:57,840
But it's like a cute little, again, you're trying to teach your kids about lyrical music.

414
00:21:57,840 --> 00:21:59,140
There's not a pulse.

415
00:21:59,140 --> 00:22:02,000
So this is a good opportunity to watch.

416
00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:07,440
Then we all are going to come in and return on together as we transition back into the

417
00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:09,360
toboggan ride at 116.

418
00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:14,520
It's supposed to go even faster than before, above 160 if possible.

419
00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:19,880
So now he's the toboggan rider is definitely going downhill again and zooming in and out

420
00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:21,360
of different sections.

421
00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:23,400
I even like that he's marked it frantically.

422
00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:24,400
Right.

423
00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:29,900
So there are often times that I will tell students, hey, it sounds frantic.

424
00:22:29,900 --> 00:22:31,580
We don't want it to sound frantic.

425
00:22:31,580 --> 00:22:33,440
We want it to sound fast, but not frantic.

426
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:35,200
You're going for frantic here.

427
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:36,200
Right.

428
00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:37,200
Absolutely.

429
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:42,000
And it's just like the beginning with the rhythmic articulations in the brass and the

430
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,840
woodwinds are doing lots of sixteenth note runs.

431
00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:49,000
And then there's an alto solo again at 124.

432
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,040
He does a great job of cueing all these solos and other instruments.

433
00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:55,240
So like you have lots of options.

434
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:59,320
There's one little cool part with the euphonium where it gets to play along with alto and

435
00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:01,760
flute on the sixteenth notes.

436
00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:08,120
Then the upper brass get to have an entrance on the and a four.

437
00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:11,280
It's just a little bit of technique in there for them.

438
00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:17,400
Then at 134 the brass are hitting and the woodwinds are doing a big sixteenth note flourish

439
00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:18,400
here.

440
00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:20,280
It sounds very like grandiose.

441
00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:23,600
So like we're at the very end of the piece.

442
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:27,360
And then there's one measure of three, four, and then there's a whip crack and everybody

443
00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:30,120
ends two and a one.

444
00:23:30,120 --> 00:23:32,920
It's like he made it to the end and slid in with the toboggan.

445
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,680
It made the like ice shoot up.

446
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:41,560
It's just the coolest piece and the kids loved working on this piece.

447
00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:46,760
This is definitely a challenging piece for that time of year if you are talking about

448
00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:47,760
a middle school.

449
00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:48,760
It's marked grade three.

450
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:49,760
That's right.

451
00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:53,920
But this is perfectly appropriate if you've got a really strong middle school band or

452
00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:55,840
for a high school ensemble.

453
00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:57,160
Yes, absolutely.

454
00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:01,480
And they would love it too because it gets a chance to feature every single instrument

455
00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:05,040
voice and Mr. Hall is really good about that.

456
00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:08,160
Making sure that everybody gets a moment of glory.

457
00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:10,080
It is just a beautiful, beautiful piece.

458
00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:15,760
So we hope one of these difficult winter concert pieces can make its way into your band hall

459
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:17,160
in the future.

460
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:22,420
We appreciate you joining us for this special series on winter concert music and we hope

461
00:24:22,420 --> 00:24:36,360
you enjoyed this episode of Band BFF.