Christmas music for Concert Band

Started by rappy, November 05, 2015, 06:04:35 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

rappy

Hi there,

I offer you a YouTube link for my newly recorded christmas piece I wrote for the LPO Baden-Württemberg. The video is not public, so the link will expire tomorrow:

http://urlgone.com/a5690c/

Enjoy! Comments are always welcome.
The melodies I used are all German christmas songs. I wonder how much of them you know in the US/GB.

AnthonyAthletic

Very, very enjoyable  :)

Being in my mid forties I was reminded of Christmas times as a child, around the age of six to ten and how Christmases have changed since the late 1970's.  A time of non technology, simpler things, family and friends within the community all sharing 'what are you getting....what did you get'?  Times when you would happily sit in together with three channels on TV, mums and dads would work hard, save hard and put on the best Christmas they could....and it was always special.  The piece brought nostalgia, better times and reminiscing.

Now it's my turn to be the dad, and it's ipad this, ipod that, play station this, new mobile that.  Since one flees the nest, I find the new community and friends hardly exists.  Kids don't look out with their friends, don't discuss Christmas, they just take it for granted as present time and spend more money.  Maybe it's just an English thing, where the spirit of Christmas is slowly leaving us, and the meaning gone.  This is music, and I guess we interpret it any way we chose.  For me it brought all the memories back of family arriving, old aunts, grandparents and friends of your parents popping in for a celebratory drink.  Something definitely lost, now it's my turn to continue the tradition.

Let me know when it's out on MP3, it's a piece I would gladly revisit on Christmas Day when my parents and in laws come to mine, time for me to thank them for the Christmases I was given forty years ago.

Lovely work encrusted with magical tunes.

"Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying"      (Arthur C. Clarke)

Karl Henning

Quote from: rappy on November 05, 2015, 06:04:35 AM
Hi there,

I offer you a YouTube link for my newly recorded christmas piece I wrote for the LPO Baden-Württemberg. The video is not public, so the link will expire tomorrow:

http://urlgone.com/a5690c/

Enjoy! Comments are always welcome.
The melodies I used are all German christmas songs. I wonder how much of them you know in the US/GB.

Has the link expired?
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

rappy

Thank you, Anthony, very nice to read your very personal impression!

The link should still work, just wait a little moment, it will redirect.

Karl Henning

This is what I'm getting, and there seems nothing for me to click through to a video:
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Luke

Ralph, as soon as I see your name I expect great things, and once again this delivers. It's perfectly done - it simply sounds fantastic, imaginative, assured, balanced, the instrumentation is done so expertly (you can hear 'Christmas' in every sonority! - not just in the glockenspiel sparkle but in much more subtle ways, too). Beautifully played, too - expressive and assured, just as the piece deserves. Really very effective and surprisingly moving, too. I loved it.

PS followed the link to your B minor waltz - I could say basically the same things about that. So imaginative and confident (the very confidence which has completely ebbed away from my own composing, not that I ever had it in the bucket-loads you seem to possess), and again played with flair and panache and a great deal of skill. Wow.

Luke


Luke

Sorry, just saw your own screenshot, clearly you're not getting the same as I do.

Karl Henning

The page isn't giving me that button  :(
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Jo498

I get the option "skip the ad" and then I am at yt with the music.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Luke


Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Bravissimo, Ralph!  Exquisitely scored, brilliantly arranged, a delight to listen to from start to finish!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

I love the rhythmic/metrical playfulness of the opening waltz.  Heck, I just love listening to the whole thing over and over again  :)  It is an expert balance of drawing from the traditional textures/voicings, and sounding completely fresh at every turn.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

North Star

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

rappy

Thank you, Luke, Karl and North Star – I am very happy about your comments! Btw, I could imagine the beginning even a bit more "con fuoco", faster and with more "waltz"-feeling. Maybe they will play it again and finally with even more self-evidence for this part.

Karl Henning

Quote from: rappy on November 08, 2015, 04:07:05 AM
Thank you, Luke, Karl and North Star – I am very happy about your comments! Btw, I could imagine the beginning even a bit more "con fuoco", faster and with more "waltz"-feeling. Maybe they will play it again and finally with even more self-evidence for this part.

'Tis the season!  Hope they do.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

rappy


Karl Henning

Again, a really fun piece!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

(poco) Sforzando

Quote from: rappy on December 24, 2016, 12:45:47 PM
One year later and still online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzOLOYvOyN8 – enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Ever thought of writing a Chanukah piece?
"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."