I thought "Air and Simple Gifts" was BEAUTIFUL!

[EraOfResponsibility]

such a beautiful piece of music. Very fitting for the Inauguration I think.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. Perfect!

[dem629]

2. Too bad they couldn't play it live.

Still sounded good though.

[Captain Hilts]

3. I was puzzled by string instruments in sub-freezing temperatures. nt

[dem629]

9. It didn't even occur to me at the time. Interesting story. n/t

[ensho]

28. I thought they must of had heaters at their feet

nt

[Captain Hilts]

29. The area appears to be heated as you don't see folks sitting there acting as if they're cold...

or see their breath when they're speaking to each other.

[EraOfResponsibility]

4. what? they were "lip synching?" for real?

btw, I want to know where I can download that.

[dem629]

7. Yep. Reported tonight on AC360. n/t

[hlthe2b]

5. they didn't play it live? It seemed so to me...

:shrug:

[dem629]

8. It was pre-recorded due to the effect the cold weather would

have had on the instruments. However, there apparently are carbon string instruments that could have been used, but they decided not to for some reason.

[HillWilliam]

12. I wondered

I'm a fiddler and I wouldn't have dared taken my modest violin out in the cold, let alone attempted to play it. I do have a carbon violin I love that would work in the cold, but it's electric and would have to be plugged in. (It sounds surprisingly "real" though.) I can't imagine Itzhak Perlman (god that he is) touching a carbon instrument in a live performance like that one... if it were me, I'd "lip sync" too. (I did notice the military orchestra had carbon instruments.)

I also use an Incredibow synthetic bow, something a classical purist would probably never touch in a live, formal performance (though they really ought to!). Those stand up to absolutely any playing condition, never break a hair, are impervious to heat or cold, rugged as hell, incredibly gorgeous, half the weight of a standard bow, and cheap at under $200. Still, I wouldn't take my fiddle out in that cold, Incredibow or not.

"Lip sync'd" or not, I'd do about anything short of killing to see Itzhak Perlman and Yo Yo Ma live. Wow. "Air and Simple Gifts" was a perfect selection. It's based on an old Shaker tune. The arrangement was just breathtakingly perfect, to me.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

14. It sounded too good to be true.

I'm a fiddler and I have only played traditional wood instruments.
You can't keep one in tune in the cold or the heat.

Yo Yo Ma, I believe, has a Guadagnini cello that belonged to Jacqueline du Pre. She also had a Strad.

Those fiddles are worth untold millions.

[HillWilliam]

15. Howdy fellow fiddler!

Though I'm not much of one. I've got the one traditional my auntie gave me and the carbon I bought for practice and fun. Got myself a chin-cello last year that I really enjoy (now, you ought to hear "Billy in the Low Ground" on that... that's odd and interesting). The wood, I wouldn't take out in the cold like that, though. The carbon doesn't mind "the evening dews and damps" a-tall. With the Incredibow, it's playable any time, anywhere.

Still, just to see that group live, just once (wistful sigh)... or Mark O'Connor... or just one or two others of that class...

:hi:

[chiefofclarinet]

17. I was wondering that as well

As an amateur clarinetist, I would never take my wooden clarinet out of the case outside, much less try to play it, much less on a winter day. Sure, I have a plastic clarinet, but it sounds like crap.

I was glad to see the arrangement had a clarinet in it, though. Winds don't get the same respect that the strings do in classical music.

[HillWilliam]

24. I started out on clarinet many moons ago

and progressed my way through the wind section. Winds are still my first love. I'm thoroughly enjoying the challenge of fiddle, though admittedly that's not something one takes up in their 40's and expects prodigious success with. Still, I can hold my own through the basics and can keep up with the local informal jug-bands.

[chiefofclarinet]

32. That's what I want to end up doing

I started on clarinet, and since then I learned saxophone well, and have dabbled with orchestral percussion (timpani, snare drum, xylophone, etc.), piano, and upright bass. (By my senior year of high school, I was the third best percussionist in the band; then again, that might be because I can read music better than the drummers I knew could.) Once I can actually afford more than what I own (clarinet and tenor sax), I would love to learn oboe, bassoon, flute, trombone, horn, and trumpet, in addition to any strings I can get my hands on. All in time, though...

[Captain Hilts]

25. Can you recommend some recordings by wind symphonies?

[chiefofclarinet]

31. That's a difficult one...

Again, I am an amateur clarinetist still in college. (aka NOT a music major) I don't know everything about clarinet or wind music in general, but I know a fair amount. So, I don't know particular groups beyond what I can find at the college music library and the local library, but I do know pieces that I have played before that I liked and continue to listen to. (I was able to find some recordings online, others I found at the library, still others I am looking for.)

One of the issues with wind ensembles/wind symphonies/concert bands (I've seen all of them used and more to describe a group of woodwind and brass musicians built like an orchestra.) is that most composers do not generally write for such groups. There is more practicality in writing a piece for orchestra, and letting some arranger reorchestrate it to a wind ensemble than it is to write it directly for a wind ensemble. This makes sense, because there are very few professional wind ensembles/concert bands and many, many professional orchestras. So, a lot of great literature for the wind ensemble is orchestral pieces arranged for wind ensemble.

One of my personal favorites to listen to (though I have never actually played it) is "The Planets" by Gustav Holst. The USAF Heritage of Music Band recorded an arrangement of this suite. Though it missing Saturn and Neptune, the suite works well in spite of that. Another is "Four Scottish Dances" by Malcolm Arnold. This one was originally an orchestral piece, but very, very few orchestras play this anymore and many of a wind ensemble has. (I personally like Arnold's style of composition, so I think all his music is good; however, I played bass clarinet on this piece a little while back, and I enjoyed it.) The recording I have of this is from the Dallas Wind Symphony.

There are several gems that are written directly for wind ensemble. In addition to his famous "The Planets Suite," Gustav Holst also wrote two little suites for military band, the early 20th century equivalent of a wind ensemble. Both suites are well written, but I have a personal preference for the Second Suite in F; I have great memories playing the 1st clarinet part on that. Percy Grainger wrote a sweet tune called "Children's March," which has a nice light-hearted air to it, though it does get weird for a bit. Frank Ticheli is famous for his wind ensemble pieces; I have played "An American Elegy," "Shenandoah," "Loch Lomond," "Blue Shades," and "Amazing Grace," and I like every one of them. And, of course, there are the marches of Sousa, Fillmore, etc.

This is just a short sampling of what I have recordings of, and most of which I have played before. There is a vast selection of wind ensemble music, some going back to Beethoven (he wrote several marches for military band) and Handel (his Royal Fireworks Music was not supposed to have strings). It can be an adventure finding anything, either in CD stores or online, but they are out there.

[SoxFan]

19. I can't really see Perlman using an electric

Steve Wickham? Sure. Bridget Reardon? Perhaps. But not Perlman.

It's sort of like picturing Segovia showing up with an Ibanaez flying V.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

18. The performers are such pros, I doubt they'd want to.

Musicians can be VERY finnicky about their gear. If the strings would have altered the sound quality, they probably would want no part of it.

[KittyWampus]

21. I didn't know that. Why couldn't they enclose a space with glass and warm it?

[Posteritatis]

30. Subzero temperatures play hell with some instruments' tuning

Strings contracting, stuff like that. It's harder to get away with for string instruments than the mostly-brass stuff in the marching bands and the like.

[patrice]

6. I listened to it a half-a-dozen times yesterday. Delightful!!! nt

[nyc 4 Biden]

16. Same here.

I've had the youtube page up on my pc since Wednesday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02Ao9jyq5Vk

[ladjf]

10. On the previous day, the Band played the "Fanfare for a Common Man"

better than I've ever heard before. It was gorgeous.

[Captain Hilts]

26. That one always makes me cry.

[Rowdyboy]

11. I've always loved "Simple Gifts" they played a version at Clinton's first inauguration too

[MilesColtrane]

13. They did a hell of a job playing to the tracks.

It fooled me.

Although, I'm baffled at why a studio recording sounded as unbalanced as it did. I guess mixing it was a rush job.

[Billy Burnett]

23. It was being mixed live using an ADAT digital system.

http://cachepe.zzounds.com/media/fit,400by400/quality,85/brand,zzounds/01V96-ca171521cfb7047554fb2f811e1bfcea.jpg

It was a live interactive mix of a pre-recording according to the camera cues.

[Bluenorthwest]

20. I assumed it was pre recorded

And I see nothing wrong with that at all. Anthony McGill was super, as were the rest. I really loved the arrangement and the clarinet parts.
I'm glad they pre recorded.

[KittyWampus]

22. too bad John Roberts wasn't prerecorded

[EraOfResponsibility]

33. roflmao n/m

[ensho]

27. me too and the musicians seemed to enjoy playing it too

nt