Considering that I've been reading and rereading W. Francis McBeth's book, "Effective Performance of Band Music", I figured I couldn't move on from talking about it without bringing some of his music to this blog. I mean, the man came up with the Pyramid of Sound schema, after all!
In looking around for music to feature on this blog, I discovered that he wrote "Daniel in the Lion's Den", a tuba solo with band accompaniment written for Daniel Perantoni and featured on Perantoni's solo album, "Daniel in the Lion's Den". This is a cool thing to me, because as I've mentioned before, Daniel Perantoni's was the first truly incredible tuba sound I ever heard, and it was a constant inspiration to me as a tubist, especially in high school. It was one of, if not my favorite track on the album. What a cool way to have been impacted by McBeth!
Particularly when you consider that, regretfully, I haven't had the chance to play any of McBeth's music. He's only on the Grades 3 and 4 lists on the PML. Fortunately I found a couple of good videos on Youtube of those pieces.
Estampie
But first, a piece that is not on the PML... though I can't imagine why (J.W. Pepper lists it for Basic Library). I love the intensity, and this group does a pretty good job of it. If you'd like to hear a more professional recording, though, you can find it on the J.W. Pepper page.
Chant and Jubilo
This one is on the grade 3 list. The first time I heard it was during an ATSSB All-State Band performance. Enjoy!
Kaddish
This is a really cool piece of music. It's on the grade 4 list in Texas.
Well, I hope you enjoyed listening to some of McBeth's music. There is a lot more out there, but these are a little more standard. I'm a fan of intense and exciting music, and there's a lot of that to be had with McBeth.
Do you have a favorite W. Francis McBeth piece that didn't get posted? I'd love to hear about them in the comment section!
On another cool note, this is my 50th blog post! This is the most successful month the blog has had since I started it last August, breaking a record previously held by December 2010. I'm excited about the blog's growth, and I hope that whoever is reading it finds it interesting and helpful. I enjoy sharing my music and educational thoughts. Plus, I feel like writing this blog makes me better at what I do. So thank you for reading! Until next time, take care!
Musically yours,
Mr. Cooper
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