Difficult Concert Music

kiltedfreak · Post by **kiltedfreak** » Sun Aug 08, 2004 6:49 pm

yeah, billy the kid just has a lot of holes and time changes and you really have to count aggresively. it had some cool flute solos.

PertyInPank13 · Post by **PertyInPank13** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 12:48 pm

Well, are you looking for something hard to play for your band or do you want something to challege yourself as a musician?

I personally like...

BANDS:Satiric Dances
Rhapsody In Blue- Gerswin (were playing this now-the really hard stupid double flats and sharps version)

FOR PERSONAL WORKOUTS:Prelude-Prochikeff (I totally butchered that name) Lots of finger twisters...thats what im working on right now...couldnt find it in flute, but really easy to transpose...well especially for the flute, but for others its easy because alot of it is naturals and makes it easy to transpose.

BigBassClef · Post by **BigBassClef** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 4:27 pm

formermarcher wrote:
Personal wrote:Blue Shades is difficult for the Clarinet Soloist. However, one-time my band, in HS, tried to play Incantation and Dance. As far as rhythms go, it is a pretty difficult piece.
I agree...Blue Shades is pretty difficult, but not because of one particular part. Like all music, its fitting it all together. And there are ALOT of things going on in it at any given moment.

But to me, the hardest piece my ensemble played was "Dance Of the New World". Our director almost cancelled it out from our festivals, and the entire song never really came together until *the* day of the festival. Needless to say, our director almost had a heart attack after we played it as well as we did.

But look it up...its incredibly difficult.

He didnt almost cancel it. Get over it. He bluffed so we'd work harder, and it worked.

The hardest piece of all time..."Apotheosis of this Earth" for Band and Chorus, by Karel Husa.

WOW. It's a Grade 6+ (some publishers give it it's own number of 7)

It's not only difficult technically, but it requires some 20th century ideas, such as pitch bending for Quarter Tones.

It's second movement "Tragedy of Destruction" tells of Man's final days before bringing destruction on to himself. There are air raid sirens (horn and saxophopne rips) and finally, at the end of the 8:30 movement, screams of the living as Earth is, in Husa's words, "pulverized into the universe, it's voices scattered into space." THE MOST EMOTIONALLY DRAINING PIECE EVER PLAYED. At the end of it, you feel like your life was sucked from your body, its an incredible feeling.

I have a recording if anyone wants a copy...

Hostrauser · Post by **Hostrauser** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 8:10 am

It's funny that BigBassClef should have David Holsinger as his avatar, because one of the hardest pieces I personally have ever played is Holsinger's "Liturgical Dances." The baritone/euphonium part on that piece is rockin' from start to finish (all those triplets... in cut-time!!)

Festive Overture is fairly challenging, as is the vastly under-performed "Folk Dances" also by Shostakovich. While we're still on Shostakovich, "Prelude, Op. 34, No. 14" is more challenging than a lot of people might think. Yeah, it's only... what? Two and a half minutes long and 35-40 measures at a slow tempo. But there's exposure to error all over the place in the piece and no place to hide: every part has to be spot on.

Hindemith's "Symphonic Metamorphosis on themes of Carl Maria von Weber" has some challenges.

There's a lot of good, challenging music out there.

Mallet_Mike · Post by **Mallet_Mike** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 1:01 pm

The most difficult piece that I have played for my part would be Paris Sketches. The timpani part is insane. You have to constantly retune the heads and try to keep counting through constant 6/8, 9/8, 12/8 meter changes.

The most difficult piece that I've played as a band would be Tocatta Marziale by Vaughn-Williams. It's rare in that piece when an entire section is playing the same part, and the build up to the climax is insane...I loved it

The hardest piece I've heard...hmm....maybe Zion by Dan Welcher. Logan Wind Symphony played it and it threw me for a pretty good loop.

guardthepiccolo · Post by **guardthepiccolo** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 11:39 pm

haha!! we played paris sketches last year! that song was insane. and we're playing festive overture this year! exciting to see our songs in 2 consecutive posts. mmm on phantoms note,i heart shostakovich so much. our fanfare for our marching routine is from festive overture as well.

To Tame the Perilous Skies is a really challenging piece too. It has some parts that sound soo cool

Mallet_Mike · Post by **Mallet_Mike** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:27 pm

Festive Overture is a great piece! I wouldn't exactly call it the hardest piece I've played though because most of the runs are very diatonic. But then at the point where the key changed for like 4 measures

..that continues to glare at me on my 'to do' list

dudewheresmycar · Post by **dudewheresmycar** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 11:31 pm

Phantom Phan wrote:While we're still on Shostakovich, "Prelude, Op. 34, No. 14" is more challenging than a lot of people might think. Yeah, it's only... what? Two and a half minutes long and 35-40 measures at a slow tempo. But there's exposure to error all over the place in the piece and no place to hide: every part has to be spot on.

I played that piece my sophomore year in Wind Ensemble at RB. You are right that it is a pretty challenging piece - it's dark and haunting. We've also done Folk Dances - not really a fan.

bgirl781 · Post by **bgirl781** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 7:01 pm

We played Satiric Dances last year - that was fun! and we're playing Blue Shades this year - also fun, though it is a little difficult... Last year, we got handed out Sonoran Desert Holiday, by Ron Nelson, and that piece is extremely unnerving, and for me, unplayable... Also, a piece that I found on the internet in the manhattan beach music site was Terpischore, by Bob Margolis - just look at the parts (which you can view at www.manhattanbeachmusic.com) it's absolutely insane.

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bgirl781 · Post by **bgirl781** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 4:20 pm

yesterday we sight read and listened to a piece called Awayday (I forget who wrote it). It sounds amazing on the recording, but it was so difficult that we gaped at it, tried to play a couple pages and handed it back in. And it went up to a high A in my part, playing 8th notes cut time at 144 for the half note! Still, if anyone gets a chance to listen to it, I recommend doing so - it's really pretty.

Mallet_Mike · Post by **Mallet_Mike** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 5:54 pm

hoedown! that was a great song. i played it in orchestra at Stanislaus this past summer! Aaron Copland's great

Hostrauser · Post by **Hostrauser** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 10:16 am

bgirl781 wrote:yesterday we sight read and listened to a piece called Awayday (I forget who wrote it).

Adam Gorb

The Blue Devils did it in their 2001 Field Show.

Jakob der ludner · Post by **Jakob der ludner** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 9:29 pm

Our top band in school is playing Satiric Dances and Vesuvius this year, but since a large number of us have heard or played it before, it only wants cleaning.

Personally, the hardest pieces I've our band play was Carmina Burana last year. The hardest ones are reserved for symphony, and they played Rhapsody in Blue (not for competition, but nonetheless it was a part of their repertoire that they played for 2 concerts, plus one conducted outside of school) and A Night on Bald Mountain. We're also playing Hoe Down this year, but it's quite doable without much practice within the entire ensemble.

guardthepiccolo · Post by **guardthepiccolo** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 12:05 am

yeah we sightread awayday a few years ago. it was ok.

Hostrauser · Post by **Hostrauser** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:40 am

Jakob der ludner wrote:it's quite doable with practice.

Most pieces are.

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