Piece is "Armed Forces Collection". When a member's service song is played that members stands. In this order: Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard
Once again, as the arranger of the piece, the leader of the ensemble, and a performer within it, I have the right to be "hyper-critical" ... In rehearsal, the tuba was overwhelming the balance of the ensemble. So, we made adjustments to the placements of the instruments to help the balance. HOWEVER, the acoustics of the hall we played in were VERY different than our rehearsal space. So, in this recording, the tuba is overwhelmed by the other three instruments, throughout, and, in the moments where the euphonium and tuba should be equally balanced in a duet, the tuba is overwhelmed by the euph ... in this recording. Bob, the tuba player, did some really nice things that were drowned out by the rest of us, in this recording. --- Keep in mind that these videos were recorded on a smartphone, with less than optimal sound recording capabilities. Professional audio recordings were made of this performance. I'm hoping the balance was better on those. --- And, I am not happy with the ending. *I* should have made each of the last three notes longer. (I directed each of those.) In the moment, each one of those felt MUCH longer than they were.
Once again, as the arranger of the piece, and the leader of the ensemble, I have the right to be "hyper-critical" ... I thought this went VERY WELL, overall. ... there were some moments where intonation was "wonky", but it came back in. Another rehearsal or two might have fixed that. (My fault. ... This movement wasn't finished until we were about 2 weeks/rehearsals into the process of preparing this concert, as players.) ---- Overall, though, I am VERY pleased with what Bruce (trumpet), Judd (trumpet), Jean (horn), Tom (horn), and Jim (trombone) did. --- When I looked at the original choral score (5 parts), I chose what I thought were the best 5 of the 7 "Back Row Brass" to fill those roles ... and they did just that.
Okay, I have a right to be "hyper-critical" of this piece: I arranged it, I led the ensemble, and I played it in it. ... During the performance, I got so wrapped up in leading the group that I didn't play my part well. ... In fact, I got lost. ... "In the moment", I thought the piece was a disaster, until we got it back together at the change to a faster tempo near the end. Going back and listening to this, it was hard to tell, even for me, the arranger, where I got lost. ... some chords didn't resolve quite the way they were written, but, given the nature of the piece, even I had a hard time finding those moments, after the fact. ---- After listening to this, ... other than the intonation at the end, I was pretty pleased with it. --- With that said, this piece, ... and the other movements, this was a "work out" for everyone involved. And they didn't come into it fresh. ... The trumpets and horns, in particular, had been "roughed up", previously, in the concert. (Our piece was the "opener" of the second half of the concert.)
