I have had the CDs "In the Christmas Mood" and "In the Christmas Mood 2" for probably 20 years or longer now. They remain favorites of mine because I love big band music. Since my Mom was a music teacher, music and it's various forms were very important in our lives. I love the harmonies and the slight jazz edge to big band, but mostly it's the harmony that appeals to me. I love to crank up this CD and in particular "Sleigh Ride" on unsuspecting passengers in my van. That's because if you aren't expecting it, that first half note is loud, brassy and gets your attention. In fact, it puts you in the mood to listen to more big band arrangements! (Cue the rim shot or feel free to groan aloud. I did. Plus, I rolled my eyes even as I was typing it!)
It truly was a tragedy that Glenn Miller disappeared around Christmas time in 1944. It would have been really neat to hear what other music he would have composed in an era when music was still played on real instruments and not synthesized.
When I was in high school our band played the Boston Pops arrangement of this song at the correct tempo. We started rehearsal for this almost immediately after marching band because it is not an easy song to play. Our band director had taken us from a Class C band to an ensemble that was competing at State Competition in Class A and sometimes in AA. I don't mean to toot my own horn (cue the rim shot again), but we were good. However, when we performed this song at our Christmas concert, we got off to an atrocious start which required our director to stop us so we could restart the song. He was NOT happy about it. However, handling it the way he did was the only way we could have pulled off this song. The first time around, half of the band was off by a full measure and there would have been no redeeming it other than to start over. The second time we started the song, played it through to the finish and it was an outstanding performance that I believe fully overshadowed the initial bad start. I know it sure was fun to play!
Here's Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Boston Pops arrangement follows.
Enjoy!
Boston Pops
No comments:
Post a Comment