It is great to see that my very first high school band director(1962) is still leading and influencing students to achieve great heights. Mr. Reynolds, you were a great influence on me, and you made a difference in my life just being in one of your programs!
You see the smile spread across his face as the crescendo builds in horkstow grange, you can tell this man loved his job. What a conductor, what an ensemble, what a piece of art.
I have been under the direction of this wonderful man. He is truly my favourite conductor. He is very soft-spoken, gentle, very helpful, and he makes you want to learn. Fantastic individual, and brilliant rendition of Grainger's piece!
I have performed and listened to many performances of Lincolnshire Posy. Maestro Reynolds and the Ensemble have achieved a rare degree of performance. The Intonation, the clarity of melody and secondary themes is a good as anything of heard, anywhere. I can only imagine what it must have sounded like live. What talented younf musicians. Thank you sharing it .
A conductor who trusts his musicians -- and knows how to lead them -- and musicians who trust their conductor. He brings the most out of them, because he understands the music -- the main job of a conductor. His tempos are perfect. And he takes his time on the crescendos and the momentary pauses. Grainger would be proud of them all.
This has been a favorite piece of mine since the first time I heard it many years ago. Amazing performance! The conductor got every bit of talent out of these young musicians. Thanks for posting.
Just had a chance to work with Maestro Reynolds. What an incredible and unforgettable experience, and a great insight into his rehearsal philosophy as well as his mastery of the baton and the ensemble
I'm impressed by how many of them are looking directly at the conductor at key moments. It's so important, even if you aren't able to memorize your parts, to memorize key phrases (openings, transitions, and endings) so you'll have no excuse to look up from your sheet music to integrate with the conductor (and w/ the ensemble too b/c when the notes are in your memory, you're instantly better able to listen, blend, & make adjustments. I'm also impressed w/ the soprano. sax player's attire!
The band director at my school used to conduct this at stop lights and people would look at him like he was crazy. "Sigh" They truly do not understand the beauty of this music.
This piece is quite difficult, especially for the flute/picc - the Young Brisk Sailor part has those sixteenth triplets that arpeggio up and down the scale and the movement with its 2½ time signatures. As a picc player in this piece in college, I was having quite a challenging time with those two movements..lol...
The intonation is exceptional! VERY IMPRESSIVE! I really like the crescendo at 8:12 when the conductor sweeps his hands across. The tone cluster at 12:42 is awesome. It creates an image of an explosion at 12:41, leaving residual dust in the air at 12:42.
WOW, that is an incredible performance! Some of the "moves" Maestro Reynolds displays for us are magical! I can only hope to obtain Wizard like Conducting status one day. For now, it's "Stray Cat Strut" and "Pirates of the Carribean"
Percy Grainger wrote this work at University of Illinois at the behest of AA Harding. It is dedicated to JP Sousa and the American Bandmasters Association. (Sousa is the honorary President). Dr. Harry Begian played in the band, under Grainger's direction (along with Dr Ravelli and Dr Fannell) at the premiere. Harry Begian was the Percy Grainger expert in the ABA, If you want to hear Dr..Begian's interpretations of Grainger go to Harry Begian Years/ Percy Grainger/ University of Illinois Symphonic Band. This conductor is INTIMATE with the music and his musicians, It is beautifully performed with wonderful intonation. BRAVO!
This orchestra is made of players from around the world- as far as Australia, Israel, Porto Rico, the USA etc... they have met and rehear for only 5 days before this concert!
I think Linconshipe Posy is Grainger's magnum opus. Is there another Grainger work that can claim that title? Even though Grainger is not one of the "greats," I think Lincolnshire Posy is substantial and original enough that it should rank among the greatest works of the 20th century - by Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Hindemith. It wouldn't be too close to the top of the list, but it definitely belongs in the canon. This is a fantastic performance, equal to Fennell's performance in artistic merit. This band is absolutely great. While I thought Fennell's general conception of the piece was a bit brisk to the point of eliminating the dramatic flare, I find that some of Reynolds' tempi drag to the point of killing the melodic line. Nonetheless, both are superb.
Movements with Hyperlinks: 0:18 Lisbon 1:42 Harkstow Grange 4:56 Rufford Park Poachers 9:14 The Brisk Young Sailor 10:53 Lord Melbourne 14:22 The Lost Lady Found
THis is one of the most musical groups I have ever heard - I believe they have eclipsed Eastman - at least in the 2nd movement they did. Some problems in the 3rd - but that is expected - that's an incredibly difficult movement for any group to navigate - but... wow - again - musicality - outstanding with this group. Reynolds is good - but no one can force ANY group to play with such greatness. This is an excellent assembly of players. And I'm listening to the 3rd now - this entire group it seems really understands the gritty-ness of this mov. You can really hear it long-toward the climax - etc. the end of it is a bit slow - and is better played by Eastman - but... ... .. yeah - still great. THis group - dream group? perhaps?
Grainger has much of his orchestral influence from Duke Ellington, and he incorporates jazz chords and styles into his music often. You probably don't like the chords he uses because of how dissonant some of them are, but I personally love this piece because of them!
I feel like your trigger words are "chords" and "dissonant". Like how often do you just throw jargon out to make it seem like you know what you're talking about?
As some of you know, H. Robert Reynolds retired from the U of Michigan Symphony Band about 16 years ago. Go the the U of M Symphony Band youtube site to hear many great recordings under Michael Haithcock, Reynolds' successor.
What's with the rewritten third movement? Grainger's original began on a concert C (piccolo/clarinet duet). This is performed an augmented 4th lower. And the flugelhorn was replaced w/ the sop sax? Overall a beautiful perf, but keep it real:)
The original came with two versions. This was not something an editor did later, he did it because he know instrumentation and difficulty were beyond what a lot of ensembles could do. I have a score from the 60s that has it.
Grainger specifies that the Soprano Sax, an instrument he revered, was to be employed here only if the player was up to it. This one is! And Reynolds' reading is brilliant...intelligent and passionate.
@@zacharycairns7043to be fair. This is a live performance after only 4 rehearsals. I was the principal clarinet in this group. Students from 44 different countries many not speaking the same language and making this happen in 4 rehearsals. Pretty damn amazing. 😊
@@jakecamp1502- I sure hope you didn’t read my comment as saying something negative about this performance - it’s wonderful. Somebody else posted a comment with their favorite recording of this piece, and I replied with mine.
Wonderful performance! I love how I can hear all the harmonies. However, I want it to be known to everyone out there that [in my opinion] Grainger did not "compose" Lincolnshire Posy. The folk songs that he based this off of are the same melodies, with regards to a few harmonies. He arranged it for band, and arranging is not the same as composing.
I have to humbly and totally disagree. Percy Grainger definitely collected the folk tunes and transcribed them personally from the singers. But his compositional imprint is all over this work. His harmonies, his use of the tunes, yes recognisable but also very much in Grainger's very own idiomatic style and very slightly altered. I think you can say he re-composed the pieces into an absolute masterpiece. I've performed it many times and every time I play it I find something new and every time I get goose bumps. It's a magical piece.
completely agree 100%. Laurascello is way off base here. Just because you use source material doesn't mean you are NOT composing. This is a huge master work of 20th century classical.
